The Brain's Way of Healing

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NHE
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The Brain's Way of Healing

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'The Brain's Way of Healing' by Norman Doidge, 2015

"In The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge described the most important breakthrough in our understanding of the brain in four hundred years: the discovery that the brain can change its own structure and function in response to mental experience—what we call neuroplasticity.

His revolutionary new book shows, for the first time, how the amazing process of neuroplastic healing really works. It describes natural, non-invasive avenues into the brain provided by the forms of energy around us—light, sound, vibration, movement—which pass through our senses and our bodies to awaken the brain’s own healing capacities without producing unpleasant side effects. Doidge explores cases where patients alleviated years of chronic pain or recovered from debilitating strokes or accidents; children on the autistic spectrum or with learning disorders normalizing; symptoms of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and cerebral palsy radically improved, and other near-miracle recoveries. And we learn how to vastly reduce the risk of dementia with simple approaches anyone can use.

For centuries it was believed that the brain’s complexity prevented recovery from damage or disease. 'The Brain’s Way of Healing' shows that this very sophistication is the source of a unique kind of healing. As he did so lucidly in The Brain That Changes Itself, Doidge uses stories to present cutting-edge science with practical real-world applications, and principles that everyone can apply to improve their brain’s performance and health."
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NHE
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Re: The Brain's Way of Healing

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From Dr. Norman Doidge's site...

http://www.normandoidge.com/?page_id=1042

"The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity

In his first book, The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge introduced readers to the most important change in our understanding of the brain since the beginning of modern science: the discovery that the brain can change its own structure and function in response to mental experience—the phenomenon of neuroplasticity. Now, his revolutionary new book, The Brain’s Way of Healing, shows, for the first time, how the amazing process of neuroplastic healing really works.

For centuries it was believed that the price we paid for our brain’s complexity was that, compared with other organs, it was fixed and unregenerative—unable to recover mental abilities lost because of damage or disease. The Brain’s Way of Healing turns that belief on its head, as Doidge lucidly explains how the brain’s capacities are highly dynamic, and how its very sophistication makes possible a unique and gentle kind of healing. He describes natural, noninvasive avenues into the brain provided by the forms of energy around us—light, sound, vibration, movement—that can pass through our senses and our bodies to awaken the plastic brain’s own transformative capacities without surgery or medication and their unpleasant side effects or risks.

Using this more nuanced understanding of how our brains work, scientists and practitioners have learned how to use neuroplastic therapies to address many common conditions and to offer hope where prospects for healing were long denied. We see patients in whom years of chronic pain have been alleviated, and others who have recovered the ability not just to walk or talk but to live fully despite debilitating strokes, as well as cases of long-standing brain injuries cured or vastly improved. We meet children on the autistic spectrum or with learning disorders or attention deficit disorder who have used neuroplastic techniques to achieve normal lives, and sufferers who have seen symptoms of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and cerebral palsy radically diminished. And we learn how to vastly reduce the risk of dementia, or improve the brain’s performance and health, with simple approaches anyone can use.

Neuroplastic healing is truly one of the life-changing breakthroughs of modern science—“mind-bending, miracle-making, reality-busting stuff,” in the words of The New York Times, describing Doidge’s first book. Here, he uses both astonishing, moving human stories and reports from the frontiers of an exciting field in brain science, putting it all together to help us recognize how mind, brain, and body, as well as the energies around us, are all essential elements that combine in health and healing. This is a book with the potential to transform, to heal, and to offer hope."
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Re: The Brain's Way of Healing

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Here are a couple of papers utilizing some the techniques for inducing neuroplasticity discussed in Norman Doidge's book. The full text articles are freely available.

Noninvasive tongue stimulation combined with intensive cognitive and physical rehabilitation induces neuroplastic changes in patients with multiple sclerosis: A multimodal neuroimaging study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl ... 690561.pdf

Non-invasive neuromodulation to improve gait in chronic multiple sclerosis: a randomized double
blind controlled pilot trial

https://jneuroengrehab.biomedcentral.co ... entral.com
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Re: The Brain's Way of Healing

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Here's a free book chapter on PubMed with related information.

Cranial Nerve Noninvasive Neuromodulation: New Approach to Neurorehabilitation.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK299239/
Jaded
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Re: The Brain's Way of Healing

Post by Jaded »

Thanks NHE

I have been pondering ordering the book - I shall check out these links. I saw that you read his first book...

Thanks

J
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