“In a cubic centimeter of brain tissue there are as many connections as stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Somehow our thoughts, our hopes, and our dreams are contained in these three pounds of wet biological material.” – David Eagleman
How does a three-pound mass of biological matter produce the extraordinary experience of being human? Are our brains hard-wired, or are they in fact live-wired, both shaping our reality and also shaped by it in a continuous process of transformation? In his forthcoming book, The Brain: The Story of You, David Eagleman shows, in an immediate, vivid and visceral way, the role of the brain in our physical and perceptual experience. Eagleman also explores how the brain determines our actions in ways that we are not always aware or in control of, while also creating a narrative that allows us to navigate and make sense of the world it has constructed for us.
David Eagleman is a neuroscientist and the bestselling author of many books including Why the Net Matters, Wednesday is Indigo Blue and Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain and SUM. His forthcoming book, The Brain: The Story of You, is the dramatic story of the brain’s role in creating our experience of the world. He directs the Laboratory for Perception and Action as well as the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law at the Baylor College of Medicine and is founder of the company BrainCheck. A 6-hour series based on The Brain, with Eagleman as presenter, aired on PBS October 14-November 18.