Ian Robertson explains in fascinating detail how who and what we are is sculpted throughout our lifetime, second by second, by our interactions with the world, by our relationships with other people. “Your brain is changed physically by the conversations you have, the events you witness and the love you receive. This is true all through your life, not just when you are an infant,” writes Prof. Robertson. This process, which he calls “sculpting the brain,” occurs despite the genetic hard-wiring of Darwinian evolution. Indeed, evolution's gift to us, he says, is that we are no longer slaves of our biology, even if that biology hasn't endowed us with perfection. The evolutionary gift we have allows us to modify our inclinations in countless ways in a process which constantly shapes and reshapes us, as a trembling web of 100 billion brain cells fires off cascades of impulses which ultimately create the experiences which make us what we are.
Mind Sculpture shows:
• Why your brain is physically changed by what you do, see, feel and think
• How you can become physically stronger from the comfort of your armchair by carrying out mental exercises in your imagination
• Why learning molds the brain structurally, growing new connections between brain cells
• How education builds brain power — it's not all down to genes.
• How increasing your education over your lifetime will make you more likely to be mentally healthy in old age.
• Why stress can cause brain cells to shrink or even die.
• How keeping mentally active as you get older keeps your brain working better
• Why love grows the brain
