More on Norman Doidge and The Brain That Changes Itself ...

Yesterday, I posted on Norman Doidge's book The Brain That Changes Itself, and Stephanie West Allen of Brains on Purpose has kindly forwarded me some links for Dr. Doidge:

Here's an interview with both Doidge and Jeff Schwartz, author of The Mind and the Brain, at Australia's ABC National Radio. (Note: You must scroll down to near the bottom of the list - the interview opens immediately you click the link.)

Also, here's a roundtable discussion featuring Charles Brenner, Norman Doidge, Walter Freeman, Arnold Modell, Bradley Peterson, and David Pincus on transference and the imagination.

And here's a materialist's impression of Doidge.

Which reminds me: I asked a friend whether he thought that the popularity of Doidge's work was an attempt on the part of materialists to co-opt neuroplasticity ("Okay, so your brain isn't really a machine but your mind is still an illusion!"). He replied,

I don't think it is materialist damage control at all and in fact, it actually causes some damage to materialism in my opinion.

Pop media is finally catching up.

We learned about neuroplasticity and changes in receptive fields, processing regions of the brain increasing or decreasing, how behavior and experience can change the brain's "wiring" (which incidentally is why they told us that you can't say the size of this brain area is responsible for homosexuality). This doesn't really have much to do with materialism per se.

Neurons compete for space. Behaviors or senses that are used more get more space. This is why people born without hands can do amazingly dexterous activities with their feet. The feet don't take over the hands, they simply get more space allocation in the brain.

Actually, materialism kind of got us into the mess that we have in this area. The concept of "wiring" is materialist and is completely off track when it comes to the brain.

David A. DeWitt

One of Dr. DeWitt's neuroscience publications on Alzheimer syndrome is here. Others are here.

Hey, if my mind rots in old age from too much TV and bingo, I will certainly know where to turn for help.