The Brain, a special edition of National Geographic compiled by Julia Skylar is an hour’s read from cover to cover and has four sections which encompass Neurodiversity, Perception, Neural Injury and Consciousness. Of course, this is not core reading for neurologists, although UK Neurology gets a mention, with Sanjay Manohar. Furthermore, the content inclines very much towards Human Brain and Systems Neuroscience topics likely to be of interest to us, rather than neural Cell Biology.
As you’d expect, the journalistic style of writing is very clear and engaging. The images are glossy, and err somewhat on the attention-seeking side. Having picked it up as the least unpromising of the options in an airport bookshop, I expected nothing less. By contrast, however, I was pleasantly surprised by the text, and its measured turn of phrase.
There are some very clever decisions as to content and presentation. The easily misrepresented subject of Neurodiversity, rather than the more obvious, is represented by developmental prosopagnosia. The potentially controversial topic of traumatic encephalopathy is framed by being presented alongside congenital insensitivity to pain. The vexed topics of consciousness, responsiveness and identity are described with reference both to Neuroscience and Philosophy.
We are fortunate to have the British Neuroscience Association visiting Liverpool for its annual conference in 2025, a few weeks before the ABN is here. I must say, this slim volume is as efficient a re-primer on fundamental Neuroscience as a clinician of the nervous system is likely to get hold of, whether the intention is to attend a Neuroscience meeting or otherwise. With the 2024 work experience season for 6th formers well under way, I think it is also a good recommendation for our colleagues of the future, alongside Sacks, Marsh, O’Sullivan and others.
