When people think of what a neuroscientist is, I’m sure they think of a socially-awkward nerd, with a brain in one hand, and a piece of chalk in another (in case you walk by an empty chalk board and need to write down some clever stuff). Instagram: is t he most misunderstood thing about neuroscience and being a Neuroscientist? Although, it is his prominent rise as a science communicator, opening up the world of neuroscience to everybody, that he enjoys the most. After a PhD in neuroscience, he spent years in research labs all over the world, studying how the brain works. Mostly, the questions and topics are well chosen, so much that a word as big as neuroscience finds its space in the everyday life.ĭr Mike Tranter is from the North of England and studied how drugs work in our body, but it wasn’t long before he found his true calling as a neuroscientist. It’s light, without losing sight of how subject’s importance. To sum it up, the book is knowledgeable but not bogged down by medical terms and concepts. The last part, where we’re going, is fascinating. The main question/topic opens to multiple other connected sub-questions/topics, so you have a bigger picture. The answers/topics don’t stop at their exact explanation, so that we can quickly move one to another. But it’s friendly and simple enough that even someone like me can easily follow up the narration. I mean, it’s science, and it has to have some dignity after all. The tone is not overly funny or comical, and it shouldn’t be. The topics are not too quirky, and they revolve around everyday things- dreams, brain freeze, addiction, bilingualism, for example. The middle section is made of actual questions. I’m sure he gets way more questions than what’s in the book, but I like the choice. It’s kind of technical, but not too much that makes you put the book down, and it’s quick. There’s a short introduction, something that lays down what is what. But there is something to say about the book’s structure and how it’s written. I don’t see how there could be any with that title. So, if you ever have a sudden impulse to jump off the top of Mount Everest, just remember that it is normal, but please don’t do it anyway.
The resulting signals are interpreted by our brain – now somewhat confused, for it to relay this rather bizarre message and we experience the high place phenomenon. Another signal coming from our more logical brain tells us that we are relatively safe where we are, and there is no real threat to our survival. One signal is based on our survival instinct that notices danger and tells us that we should avoid it, such as falling from a great height, or a train hitting us in the face. Science has revealed to us that high place phenomenon is possibly the result of a split-second delay between two opposing brain signals. The research team asked 431 students about such episodes in their personal lives, and a surprising 55% acknowledged that they have experienced them at some stage in their lives. Thankfully, the person generally doesn’t follow through, and although most accounts of this phenomenon are anecdotal, there is one team of scientists in Florida, USA, who decided to take another look. There are also reports of impulses to jump in front of a train, stick a hand in a fire, or turn a steering wheel into traffic. As it turns out, neuroscience has a name for such an occurrence, high places phenomenon, sometimes termed the call to the void, and it is actually very normal and common. Have you ever been standing at the top of a tall building or cliff edge and had a sudden but brief urge to jump? You have no real thought of actually doing it, and you are not depressed, suicidal, or otherwise distressed, but that urge appears nonetheless.