Your Brain on Food: How Chemicals Control Your Thoughts and Feelings

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Your Brain on Food: How Chemicals Control Your Thoughts and Feelings
By Gary Wenk




Publisher:  Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Pages:  200
Publication Date:  2010-07-30
ISBN-10 / ASIN:  0195388542
ISBN-13 / EAN:  9780195388541


Product Description:

Why is eating chocolate so pleasurable? Can the function of just one small group of chemicals really determine whether you are happy or sad? Does marijuana help to improve your memory in old age? Is it really best to drink coffee if you want to wake up and be alert? Why is a drug like PCP potentially lethal? Why does drinking alcohol make you drowsy? Do cigarettes help to relieve anxiety? What should you consume if you are having trouble staying in your chair and focusing enough to get your work done? Why do treatments for the common cold make us drowsy? Can eating less food preserve your brain? What are the possible side effects of pills that claim to make your smarter? Why is it so hard to stop smoking? Why did witches once believe that they could fly?

In this book, Gary Wenk demonstrates how, as a result of their effects on certain neurotransmitters concerned with behavior, everything we put into our bodies has very direct consequences for how we think, feel, and act. The chapters introduce each of the main neurotransmitters involved with behavior, discuss its role in the brain, present some background on how it is generally turned on and off, and explain ways to influence it through what we consume.




Contents



Preface ix

chapter 1 - Introduction - Food, Drugs, and You 1

chapter 2 - Memories, Magic, & a Major Addiction 23

chapter 3 - Euphoria, Depression, & Madness 51

chapter 4 - Your Brain’s Anchor to Reality 81

chapter 5 - Marijuana in the Brain 97

chapter 6 - Simple Molecules That Turn You On and Off 107

chapter 7 - Sleeping Versus Waking 123

chapter 8 - Remnants of an Ancient Past 131

chapter 9 - Brain Enhancement and Other Magical Beliefs 145

A Little Quiz 167

Suggested Readings 169

Index 171


Summary: Your Brain On Food
Rating: 5
The title of the book interested me. So I bought it and it was much more than I ever expected. I learned so much from the book about the human brain. It was written with much humor and in a way I could understand our most complex organ. It is without a doubt the best book I have ever read on the brain. It is an easy to read book that everyone could benefit from. I could not put it down. Thank you Dr. Wenk for the fascinating book.



Summary: A fast and interesting read
Rating: 5

I have had the pleasure of taking Dr. Wenk's class titled \"Drugs and Behavior\" at The Ohio State University as an undergraduate and I have to say that this book incorporates the best things from the class including Dr. Wenk's own research, odd stories from college students experimenting with drugs such as caffeine and marijuana, his extensive knowledge on neuroscience and its history - all influenced in the telling by his hilarious, dry humor.

The book explores an incredible number of topics ranging from the history of the drug which killed King Hamlet in Shakespeare's play to how Advil works in your brain to stop you from aching in pain. Although Dr. Wenk describes a lot of neuroscience concepts and terms, he always does an excellent job of explaining background information while simultaneously teaching you something new. This is including the concise paragraphs of summary at the end of every chapter which state the big picture.

I'm particularly interested in how the brain works and different types of the neurotransmitters but what I enjoyed most about this book is the cultural and historical contexts of drugs from around the world. For example, there exists a certain mushroom which, when ingested, produces a type of hallucination which causes people to see normal objects a lot bigger or smaller than they actually are. This mushroom and its effect could very well have influenced Lewis Carroll while he was writing Alice in Wonderland (as seen in Alice's adventure in a land of size disproportions). Now this statement is definitely something everyone would be interested in learning, especially at cocktail hour!

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