Reading in the brain: the science and evolution of a cultural invention

Book Cover
Your Rating: 0 stars
Star rating for Reading in the brain

Publisher:
Viking
Publication Date:
c2009
Language:
English

Description

Description Not Provided

More Like This

Loading...

Table of Contents

Loading Table Of Contents...

Author Notes

Loading Author Notes...

More Details

ISBN:
9780670021109

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

In a work of most benefit to reading teachers, Dehaene, a leading neuroscientist based in France, presents the latest developments in his field that apply to children's acquisition of the skill. A preview: Dehaene criticizes the so-called whole-language method because, according to his research, the brain doesn't process complete words. The way it really works, well, that's the substance of his text, which is filled with images of high-tech brain scans. Dehaene explains that word processing begins in an area of the cortex he colloquially calls the letterbox. Neuroscientists believe that the letterbox evolved to visually define the outlines of objects, and it found a new application with the invention of writing thousands of years ago. Describing experiments on cognition, Dehaene pulls in sound, and a child's lexical memory, to arrive at an integrated, though by no means experimentally final, theory of how we read. His discussion of reading problems offers encouragement to sufferers and teachers alike as it illuminatingly informs reading teachers of the underlying science of what they are doing.--Taylor, Gilbert Copyright 2009 Booklist

Powered by Syndetics

Publisher's Weekly Review

The transparent and automatic feat of reading comprehension disguises an intricate biological effort, ably analyzed in this fascinating study. Drawing on scads of brain-imaging studies, case histories of stroke victims and ingenious cognitive psychology experiments, cognitive neuroscientist Dehaene (The Number Sense) diagrams the neural machinery that translates marks on paper into language, sound and meaning. It's a complex and surprising circuitry, both specific, in that it is housed in parts of the cortex that perform specific processing tasks, and puzzlingly abstract. (The brain, Dehaene hypothesizes, registers words mainly as collections of pairs of letters.) The author proposes reading as an example of "neuronal recycling"-the recruitment of previously evolved neural circuits to accomplish cultural innovations-and uses this idea to explore how ancient scribes shaped writing systems around the brain's potential and limitations. (He likewise attacks modern "whole language" reading pedagogy as an unnatural imposition on a brain attuned to learning by phonics.) This lively, lucid treatise proves once again that Dehaene is one of our most gifted expositors of science; he makes the workings of the mind less mysterious, but no less miraculous. Illus. (Nov. 16) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Powered by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

What's behind the invention of reading? Well, for starters, brain plasticity, the evolution of neurocircuits capable of processing visual with audio information, and the expansion of the prefrontal cortex leading to a behavior described as consciousness. The evolutionary infusion of these elements along with a novel hijacking from their evolved use intersects with human culture and incites a revolution: a culture with texts and brains that read those texts. All this drives neuroscientist Dehaene's (experimental cognitive psychology, CollEge de France) thesis that the invention of reading has less to do with constructs, such as alphabets, words, and sentence structures, than the mechanics and limits of our brains. Simply, our brains didn't evolve to read, but they are flexible enough to learn new tricks. Dehaene supports his thesis with references to a smorgasbord of research, traversing such subjects as anatomy, reading mechanics, primate evolution, history of linguistics, literacy, dyslexia, and brain symmetry. VERDICT This will appeal to a broad audience interested in the cognitive sciences, reading, and linguistics. Some chapters will attract those who teach reading and languages and parents of children with reading disabilities.-Scott Vieira, Johnson Cty. Lib., KS (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Powered by Syndetics

Reviews from GoodReads

Loading GoodReads Reviews.

Staff View

Grouping Information

Grouped Work ID3dee6353-4a9e-57e7-fccd-0091ed408793
Grouping Titlereading in the brain the science and evolution of a cultural invention
Grouping Authorstanislas deheane
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-12-02 08:34:32AM
Last Indexed2024-12-03 00:30:04AM

Enrichment Information

Novelist Primary ISBN
none
Review ISBN
9780670021109

Solr Fields

accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
author
Deheane, Stanislas
author_display
Deheane, Stanislas
detailed_location_hm
Hamden/Miller Adult Nonfiction 3rd Floor
display_description
format_category_hm
Books
format_hm
Book
id
3dee6353-4a9e-57e7-fccd-0091ed408793
isbn
9780670021109
itype_hm
ADULT BOOK
last_indexed
2024-12-03T07:30:04.798Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_hm
418.401/DEH
owning_library_hm
Hamden Public Libraries
owning_location_hm
Hamden Public Libraries
primary_isbn
9780670021109
publishDate
2009
publisher
Viking
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Reading -- Physiological aspects
Reading, Psychology of
title_display
Reading in the brain : the science and evolution of a cultural invention
title_full
Reading in the brain : the science and evolution of a cultural invention / Stanislas Deheane
title_short
Reading in the brain
title_sub
the science and evolution of a cultural invention
topic_facet
Physiological aspects
Reading
Reading, Psychology of

Solr Details Tables

item_details

Bib IdItem IdShelf LocationCall NumFormatFormat CategoryNum CopiesIs Order ItemIs eContenteContent SourceeContent URLDetailed StatusLast CheckinLocation
ils:.b19639946.i52085971Hamden/Miller Adult Nonfiction 3rd Floor418.401/DEH1falsefalseOn Holdshelfhmanb
ils:.b19639946.i36715359East Lyme Public Adult Non-Fiction418.4019 Dehaene1falsefalseOn Shelfelan
ils:.b19639946.i36745224Guilford Adult Non-Fiction418.4 D1falsefalseOn Shelfguan
ils:.b19639946.i42907883North Branford/Atwater Adult Nonfiction418.4 Dehaene1falsefalseOn Shelfnban
ils:.b19639946.i36816528Woodbridge Adult NF 400-499418.4/DEH1falsefalseOn Shelfwdan4

record_details

Bib IdFormatFormat CategoryEditionLanguagePublisherPublication DatePhysical DescriptionAbridged
ils:.b19639946BookBooksEnglishVikingc2009xi, 388 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

scoping_details_hm

Bib IdItem IdGrouped StatusStatusLocally OwnedAvailableHoldableBookableIn Library Use OnlyLibrary OwnedIs Home Pick Up OnlyHoldable PTypesBookable PTypesHome Pick Up PTypesLocal Url
ils:.b19639946.i52085971Checked OutOn Holdshelftruefalsetruefalsefalsetruetrue
ils:.b19639946.i36715359On ShelfOn Shelffalsetruetruefalsefalsefalsetrue
ils:.b19639946.i36745224On ShelfOn Shelffalsetruetruefalsefalsefalsetrue
ils:.b19639946.i42907883On ShelfOn Shelffalsetruetruefalsefalsefalsetrue
ils:.b19639946.i36816528On ShelfOn Shelffalsetruetruefalsefalsefalsetrue