‘Who's Who of the Brain: A Guide to Its Inhabitants, Where They Live and What They Do' is a unique book that sets out to simplify the complexity associated with understanding the brain and its functioning.
It does this by describing the brain's constituent structures as metaphorical inhabitants of a community called ‘Cephalton-upon-Ridge'. Each inhabitant is assigned a character with his own individual attributes and qualities. Collectively, each structure contributes to the overall functioning of the whole community – just as each of the brain's structures has its own functions that contribute to the overall brain functioning.
The book divides the discussion of the brain areas into five sections. Section 1 introduces the reader to the community as a whole; Section 2 deals with the inhabitants of the cortex; Section 3 discusses subcortical structures; Section 4 deals with the brain stem, cerebellum and associated areas and Section 5 returns to celebrate the community as a whole.
For example, in the chapter that deals with the frontal lobes, this region is described as ‘Fredrick Foresight', with the authors characterising its function as the ‘ultimate big picture person'. Progressing through the book, the reader is further introduced to characters such as ‘Annie Almond' (the amygdala), ‘Sage Seahorse' (the hippocampus) and ‘Rosie Reaction' and the ‘Downtown Dream Team' (the autonomic nervous system and reticular formation). The information contained in each chapter is further enhanced through the inclusion of illustrations of each key character, with Cherry and Charles Chatterley (Broca's and Wernicke's areas) and Sage Seahorse (hippocampus) that are particularly apt. In addition to learning the story behind each inhabitant, the chapters also comprise sections containing technical information on the various brain structures. The authors have included the necessary information about the location, structure and connections of brain areas and further the implications of dysfunction in these areas. Some chapters also contain vignettes which offer real-life examples of the impact of dysfunction in everyday life. The inclusion of these vignettes enriches the text and is an important point of reference for those seeking to understand the manifestations of various dysfunctions.
If anything is lacking in this book, it is further elaboration of the role that modern developments of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) play in linking dysfunction to certain brain areas. As these procedures are common in both clinical practice and research, the inclusion of MRI, fMRI and PET findings would perhaps further enhance the information in each chapter.
Despite this, for a small book tackling a topic that is so detailed, it is quite an achievement to present each chapter in a succinct and informative manner. The authors have indeed accomplished this, utilising a creative but still scientifically accurate format. For those wishing to pursue further reading on a particular topic, the authors have included relevant references in each chapter.
The authors have successfully linked structures and their respective functions and by using such a creative concept have made this difficult subject matter more comprehensible. As such, this book should appeal to those from a broad range of areas and disciplines: for those starting out with little to no knowledge of the brain, this book is a fascinating introduction and for those who have some knowledge or expertise, this book is an interesting albeit somewhat unconventional representation of its complex structure.
In sum, it is an engaging text and one that this reviewer will revisit repeatedly.
