The Future of the Brain: Essays by the World's Leading Neuroscientists

Cognitive scientist Marcus and neuroscientist Freeman intend this well organized collection of 22 essays to be an introduction to cutting-edge brain science. Yet the work suffers from three shortcomings: repetition; dense, inaccessible text; and misleading focus, i.e., rather than helping readers understand what scientists have learned about brain configuration and function, virtually every essay looks to the future and concludes that at the moment we know remarkably little. In essay after essay, the closing remarks refer to breakthroughs just over the horizon, from understanding the origin of language to the reverse engineering of the brain. A typical claim posits that "by taking advantage of an ever-growing tool kit for investigating gene function, it will at last be possible to bridge the mechanistic gaps between DNA, neurons, circuits, brains, and cognition." One essay advises readers to bear in mind that many scams were perpetrated in the name of science during the push to decipher the human genome and that scientists have a responsibility to "debunk hype, allay groundless fears, and anticipate likely ways in which efforts may be made to exploit or dupe the public." (Dec.)