What do championship soccer teams, symphonies and your brain have in common?
Plenty, according to a leading neuroscience researcher.
Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, head of Duke University’s Neuroengineering Center uses sports and music as major metaphors to explain how the brain and nervous system accomplish complex tasks.
His recent book Beyond Boundaries is a delightful read for neuro-geeks and anyone curious about the mysteries of the mind.
Warning--fans of Oliver Saks’ fluffy, pseudo-science tales will not enjoy this book. Although it is sprinkled liberally with Nicolelis’ huge Brazilian personality and passions, at times it reads like a lit review diving deep into methods and analyses.
The book begins by outlining neuroscience’s two major schools of thought.
Localizationists have long posited that neurons are not specialized and function as “one-trick ponies“. This one-neuron-one action model says that distinct brain functions are generated by highly specialized and distinct areas of the nervous system and brain. Ever seen a 19th century phrenology map?
Distributionists take a totally different tack, saying that neurons are more like a soccer team. Although individual players have specialities, “golacos” (really beautiful goals) can only be accomplished when they multitask and work together, regardless of their physical location.
Nicolelis does a masterful and respectful job of honoring the accomplishments of localizationists while offering firm, evidence-based advocacy for the distributionist model. For both the scientist and non-scientist, he takes it one step further by setting down a series of easy to understand principles formulated from his work.
He takes us deep into the lab, introducing some of the human and non-human subjects who have advanced the study of his self-described systems neurophysiology. We meet all types of collaborators, for whom he has an obvious and heartfelt affection.
To me, this was the most remarkable component of the book. In the publish or perish world of scientific one-upmanship, rarely do scientists offer insight into their thought processes, much less talk about failures along the way.
His accomplishments have no doubt advanced neuroscience and have implications for the treatment of paralysis as well as devastating disorders such as ALS, Parkinson’s and mental illness.
You’ll have to read the book to get the details, but here’s a hint--you’ll never look @ animals with whiskers the same way again.
Check out Dr. Nicolelis' appearance on the Daily Show to learn more about the book as well as the Walk Again Project.
Comments