NeuroLogic: The Brain’s Hidden Rationale Behind Our Irrational Behavior

Neurologist Sternberg (Are You a Machine?) has produced a witty, knowledgeable, yet overly familiar analysis of current neuroscience, including a rough blueprint of the brain’s least charted features. Sternberg’s ambitious goal is to determine why we act in the strange ways that we do. His assessment of relevant research is thorough and engaging, and where his lively narrative is not sufficiently descriptive, illustrations are provided. The discussion is divided into wryly titled sections such as “Luke Skywalker Lives in Your Temporal Lobe”; this makes for an easier reading experience, but it also feels interruptive, with each break sacrificing some clarity in the transition between ideas. Some of the topics are well-worn; for example, mirror neurons have already been widely discussed in popular science media. Meanwhile, the individual discussions are sometimes too brief, as when a discussion of flashbulb memories doesn’t fully delve into their much-noted inaccuracies. This book would be most appropriate for someone only just becoming acquainted with the vast field of neuroscience; for better-versed readers, its path, while impressive, is already well traveled. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow and Nesbit. (Jan.)