The Brain in Context: A Pragmatic Guide to Neuroscience

Moreno (Mind Wars), a bioethicist and philosopher at the University of Pennsylvania, and Schulkin (Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Pragmatism and Neuroscience), a neuroscientist at Georgetown University, offer a wide-ranging if frustrating book exploring various ways the brain functions. Many of the subjects touched on—the possibility of using neurotechnology in the courtroom to determine veracity; the ethics of employing neuroscience in warfare, politics, and advertising; and the prospect of brain-machine interfaces to help physically challenged people, among others—are fascinating, but none are explored in the depth necessary to yield meaningful insight. Instead, the authors hopscotch from topic to topic with such abandon that the text reads like one tangent piled upon another. Similarly, the prose bounces between technical neuroscience jargon and equally arcane philosophical parlance. In perhaps the most rewarding section, Moreno and Schulkin take an evolutionary approach to determining the origin and function of the brain, concluding that there is “no separation at all” between brains and bodies, and that “fluidity between brain and body systems is a feature of our evolution and of our success as a species.” Despite this and a few other intriguing concepts, those looking to learn about the intricacies of the brain or the neuroscience field in general are likely to be disappointed. (Dec.)