Strange Behavior: Tales of Evolutionary Neurology

by Harold Klawans

Book Overview

As a sympathetic--and brilliant--brain detective, Harold Klawans treated people with a huge array of troubles, all of which boiled down to one complaint: something was wrong with their brains. From the woman suffering from painful foot and moving toe syndrome to the Indiana farmer who contacted a variant of mad cow disease from his herds of livestock, Klawans deduced a great deal from his patients, not only about the immediate causes of their ailments,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393321843
• ISBN13: 9780393321845
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

One of the few books that has kept my attention through its entirety...

This book will definitely capture your attention and get you interested in how the brain works. It is easy to read and explains all the presented theories very clearly. I am currently a student taking a neuroscience class, which definitely helps me understand some of the concepts in the book. However, even if you don't know much about neuroscience or have a related field in your background, you will still enjoy reading this book! Strange Behavior is definitely one of the most interesting books I've ever read. The author provides a good balance of theory, case study, and physiological principles in each chapter in order to inform the reader about why the brain functions the way it does. Also, the book never gets monotonous because each chapter presents different physiological concepts. Strange Behavior is a collection of stories that talk about the evolution of the brain and how it came to be one of the most complex organs in all species. It gives insightful information to why we are more advanced than other animals and how the brain has evolved over time. It also explains naturally occurring phenomenon that we don't think about everyday. For example, did you know that genetic mutations affect which hand you use? Or that "the physiological systems of our brains were never selected to read text at the same time we are trying to watch...events unfold," like in subtitled films. In each chapter, the author usually starts out by telling the story of a clinical patient, while he incorporates scientific explanations of how the brain works. He slowly builds on each story by going over the thought process he went through while trying to solve the patient's "brain problem". As the reader learns more and more about the patient in the clinical tale, he explains theories on how the human brain has developed specific functions. In the end, he summarizes why scientists believe the brain has developed the way it has. The book is divided into two parts and each part has 6-7 chapters. I have listed the chapter titles and a short description below that will help to understand what each chapter is about: Part One- The Ascent of Cognitive Function: 1. Defending the Cavewoman: The Window of Opportunity for learning- how a critical period for learning language is built into our maturing brain 2. A Lucy of My Very Own: Locating Handedness and Speech- how handedness and which part of the brain controls speech is decided 3. The Gift of Speech: Frank Morrell and the Treatment Acquired Epileptic Aphasia-why speech stimulation is crucial to a developing brain 4. Manganese Miners: Hard Wiring for Movement- explains why some humans are more susceptible to brain conditions that affect movement 5. I Never Read a Movie I Liked: The Architecture of Reading- clarifies why human brains were never built to read and watch events at the same time 6. One of These Things Is Not Like The Others: How Literacy Changes the Brain- talks about how each generations environment affects

Great Book ! Cumulation of all of author's writings

This was Dr. Klawans final book, and it was a fitting end to his Neurological non-fiction books. It is a mature work - more dense and conclusive then his prior works. Any fan of Dr. Klawans has to read this last book. New readers would probably find his earlier works easier to read (eg, Newton's Madness). -WGL-

The Brain Revealed

Fascinating, enlightening, challenging and highly readable. You will never see the human brain the same again and begin to appreciate both the complexity and mystery that is the human brain. His stories of his patients with neurological disorders are told in a way that is accessible by all, including lay-people, compelling to read, sympathetic to the patients and reveal incredible insights into how the human brain functions and also what can go wrong. This is one of the best books I have read this year.

Interesting and intelligent.

Klawans puts forth many interesting examples and case studies to explain the implications of our ancient evolution. This is not a good starting point for those interested in evolution but a must read for anyone fascinated by current examples of evolutionary mishaps and accomplishments.