The brain is far more flexible than we give it credit for. Perhaps the most prevalent example from Doidge’s book is the story of a woman only born with half a brain, that reworked itself into a full one. The wonderful introduction to The Brain That Changes Itself is a remarkable set of stories about the brain recovering, and the surgeons who have made these recoveries possible.

As with the introduction, there are numerous examples in The Brain That Changes Itself about people who have recovered from seemingly life ending injuries. The work of Doidge and other scientists in his field have shown that the brain is like a muscle, which like any other muscle, can be built up over time. As the scientific tools available to us become even more sophisticated, we can expect to learn even more about the plasticity of our brains.

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Learn More: The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge