The Dying of Enoch Wallace: Life, Death, and the Changing Brain [Hardcover]

Ira B. Black (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2000

Until recently, theories of the brain and its diseases, and how it gives rise to mind and emotions were based on the model of a static, non-renewable network of nerve cells and their connections. Then, seemingly overnight, a revolutionary new conception of the brain emerged in the mid-1990s. The sudden convergence of discoveries that had been building over decades led to the revelation that, far from being an immutable black box, the brain is a plastic, ever-changing marvel, no less dynamic than our thoughts and emotions -- a complex system that is continually shaped and reshaped by a subtle interplay of genetic cues and life experiences.

To bridge the gap between abstract concepts and real world experience, renowned neuroscientist Ira B. Black uses the decline of Enoch Wallace, a fictionalized Alzheimer's patient, to illuminate the fascinating story of modern neuroscience, drawing us into the world of discovery and scientists, with all their color, idiosyncrasies and genius.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What happens in the brain when an old dog learns a new trick--or forgets one? As our health care improves and more of us live longer, we see more neurological deficits, from Alzheimer's to stroke; fortunately, our learning is keeping pace with our aging. The Dying of Enoch Wallace: Life, Death, and the Changing Brain is physician Ira B. Black's look at the state of our understanding of the brain, its development, and its degradation. Peppering his scientific assessments with stories of neurological patients that humanize and make concrete the sometimes abstract concepts, Black keeps the reader's attention throughout. Though he occasionally lapses into strange territory (suggesting at one point that neuroscientists might one day eliminate anger and hate), his historical treatments and thorough explanations of learning, memory, and other brain tasks are engaging and informative. The stories are equally compelling, if mildly depressing--though there's been some progress through the years, most sufferers of brain damage or degeneration have to live with their condition for the rest of their lives. But Black infuses his book with hope and meaning for these patients. We're learning more and more about the brain, and someday we should have its architecture so well understood that treatment will be as simple as setting a broken bone. --Rob Lightner

Review

"A fascinating story ... presented with skill by one of our most distinguished neuroscientists." -- Steven Pinker, Peter de Florez Professor, Dept. of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, MIT, and author of How the Mind Works and Words and Rules

"Dr.Black is the ideal guide to lead us through the bewildering story behind the recent revolution in neuroscience." -- Christopher Reeve

"In an easy and informed style, neuroscientist Ira Black, allows us to enter the world of cellular and molecular biology of the human brain." -- Michael Lewis, Director, Institute for the Study of Child Development, Robert Woods Johnson Medical School, and author of Altering Fate

"This book describes the remarkable advances in the neurosciences in colorful and easily understandable language." -- Julius Axelrod, Nobel Laureate, Scientist Emeritus, National Institutes of Health

"While writing about some of the most depressing neurologic illness known, he inspires us with the knowledge that help is on the way." -- Michael S. Gazzaniga, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, and author of The Mind's Past

An extremely gifted writer, Black has produced an account that should have enormous appeal. -- Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (October 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071362088
• ISBN-13: 978-0071362085
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,866,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hopeful book, March 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dying of Enoch Wallace: Life, Death, and the Changing Brain (Hardcover)

The Death of Enoch Wallace is a hopeful book for anyone who has a family member with Alzheimer's disease. It describes, often in painful detail, the initial confusion of finding the right word for things, not remembering the way home, to the more serious functional deterioration in the most fundamental aspects of day-to-day living. Along side is the story of NGF, or Nerve Growth Factor, discovered by Rita Levi-Montalcini over 50 years ago, that sparked a revolution in brain research that has really taken off in the latter part of the 20th century, and continues into the 21st. This is a timely book for me as my mother has been deteriorating from Alzheimer's disease for the past three years. I've been her primary care giver for the past year and a half, and just recently I had to place her in a nursing home. She's in the middle stage of the disease now, often the longest lasting, and the descriptions in the book about Mr. Wallace's symptoms paralleled the one's my mother had. Although Enoch Wallace is not a real person, (as explained in the preface), the symptoms are real, and the confusion and fear that he feels, as well as his family feels, are dead on accurate.

The chapter on memory is very good, and the research on grafting cells onto affected brain areas in animals looks promising.

When my mother speaks now, it's mostly word salad, but she can answer simple questions with a yes or no - although I'm not sure if she's telling me what she really wants. You guess sometimes. Often she'll be seem to be speaking to someone who isn't there and sometimes her attention will spill over to include me, and for that I'm grateful. I live in hope.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most common brain deficits explained with optimism, March 20, 2001

By 

John F Brinster (Skillman, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dying of Enoch Wallace: Life, Death, and the Changing Brain (Hardcover)

Dr Black employs his talents as a cutting edge researcher to bring both technology and disease to public attention. In simple language he accomplishes this with a clever mix of scientific explanation of brain function and description of common brain diseases. The titled character is a fictitious successful banker in the process of developing Alzheimers and another is afflicted with Parkinsons. Black's dramatic account weaves in symptoms and underlying causative changes as he reviews scientific developments and laboratory experiments.

Drawing from many years of training and research at prominent institutions, he reminds us that the human brain is an ever-changing flexible organ the function of which constitutes the amazing plastic mind. The brain, previously considered a relatively static and non-renewable assembly of nerve cells, is described as a very dynamic structure whose growth factors convert experience into intercellular connections which mediate learning, memory and emotion. He suggests that new discoveries mark only the beginning of understanding, not only with respect to possible cellular transplantation but also with respect to replication of existing cells to replace dying cells of the diseased brain.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN BRAIN DISORDERS, April 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dying of Enoch Wallace: Life, Death, and the Changing Brain (Hardcover)

This is the best book I've read by far on the human brain -- from both scientific and humanistic perspectives. It's a must read for anyone with a loved one affected by brain disorders. It helps guide you through the human trauma of the degenerative journey of Alzheimers as well as a very broad and informative view of the past and current state of research on the brain.