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How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better
Random House
September 2007
On Sale: September 11, 2007
240 pages ISBN: 1400064694 EAN: 9781400064694 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
In this compelling, cutting-edge book, two generations of
science writers explore the exciting science of “body mapsâ€
in the brain–and how startling new discoveries about the
mind-body connection can change and improve our lives. Why
do you still feel fat after losing weight? What makes video
games so addictive? How can “practicing†your favorite sport
in your imagination improve your game? The answers can be
found in body maps. Just as road maps represent interconnections across the
landscape, your many body maps represent all aspects of your
bodily self, inside and out. In concert, they create your
physical and emotional awareness and your sense of being a
whole, feeling self in a larger social world. Moreover, your body maps are profoundly elastic. Your self
doesn’t begin and end with your physical body but extends
into the space around you. This space morphs every time you
put on or take off clothes, ride a bike, or wield a tool.
When you drive a car, your personal body space grows to
envelop it. When you play a video game, your body maps
automatically track and emulate the actions of your
character onscreen. When you watch a scary movie, your body
maps put dread in your stomach and send chills down your
spine. If your body maps fall out of sync, you may have an
out-of-body experience or see auras around other people. The Body Has a Mind of Its Own explains how you can tap into
the power of body maps to do almost anything better–whether
it is playing tennis, strumming a guitar, riding a horse,
dancing a waltz, empathizing with a friend, raising
children, or coping with stress. The story of body maps goes even further, providing a fresh
look at the causes of anorexia, bulimia, obsessive plastic
surgery, and the notorious golfer’s curse “the yips.†It
lends insights into culture, language, music, parenting,
emotions, chronic pain, and more. Filled with illustrations, wonderful anecdotes, and even
parlor tricks that you can use to reconfigure your body
sense, The Body Has a Mind of Its Own will change the way
you think–about the way you think.
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