Overloaded: How Every Aspect of Your Life Is Influenced by Your Brain Chemicals
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-21 07:51:20
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Ginny Smith
- ISBN：1472969340
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Summary
This mind-bending， eye-opening book provides readers with an enjoyable route through the remarkable world of neurotransmitters， the chemicals inside each of us that touch every aspect of our lives。
From adrenaline to dopamine， most of us are familiar with the chemicals that control us。 They are the hormones and neurotransmitters that our brains run on， and Overloaded looks at the role they play in every aspect of our lives， from what we remember， how we make decisions and who we love to basic survival drives such as hunger， fear and sleep。
Author Ginny Smith gets to the bottom of exactly what these tiny molecules do。 What role do cortisol and adrenaline play in memory formation？ Is it our brain chemicals that cause us to be 'hangry'？ How do hormones and neurotransmitters affect the trajectory of our romantic relationships？ These are just some of the questions that Ginny will answer as she meets the scientists at the cutting-edge of research into the world of brain chemistry who are uncovering the unexpected connections between these crucial chemicals that touch every aspect of our lives。
From adrenaline to dopamine， most of us are familiar with the chemicals that control us。 They are the hormones and neurotransmitters that our brains run on， and Overloaded looks at the role they play in every aspect of our lives， from what we remember， how we make decisions and who we love to basic survival drives such as hunger， fear and sleep。
Author Ginny Smith gets to the bottom of exactly what these tiny molecules do。 What role do cortisol and adrenaline play in memory formation？ Is it our brain chemicals that cause us to be 'hangry'？ How do hormones and neurotransmitters affect the trajectory of our romantic relationships？ These are just some of the questions that Ginny will answer as she meets the scientists at the cutting-edge of research into the world of brain chemistry who are uncovering the unexpected connections between these crucial chemicals that touch every aspect of our lives。
Reviews
Kristine
，
Overloaded by Ginny Smith is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late May。For what it is/appears， this is about how can a brain function and work over a lifetime without it being overly crammed with information by way of its neural/chemical/electrical processes。 All of this cognitive/compartmentalized information is dispensed through a long series of loosely connected case studies， research information， and illustrative stories that are quite babblesome。 There might've been a better way to go Overloaded by Ginny Smith is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late May。For what it is/appears， this is about how can a brain function and work over a lifetime without it being overly crammed with information by way of its neural/chemical/electrical processes。 All of this cognitive/compartmentalized information is dispensed through a long series of loosely connected case studies， research information， and illustrative stories that are quite babblesome。 There might've been a better way to go about this， i。e。 a few more editor passes， but， as is， this isn't it。 。。。more
Carolyn Amate
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Thank you Bloomsbury and Netgalley for this wonderful advanced copy in exchange for my honest review This was a wonderful and fairly easy explanation of how the brain works in detail。 Coming from someone who loves neuroscience， I very much enjoyed this book。 It was written so anyone from any background could understand it and it was fascinating。 I give it 5 stars and recommend this to anyone especially those interested in the brain and behavior。
Andrea Wenger
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This book provides an entertaining and easy-to-read overview of the latest findings in the field of neuroscience。 Covering topics as diverse as addiction， falling in love， and pain perception， the book is like a user manual for the human brain。 I especially appreciated how the author pointed out weaknesses in the science regarding things that are supposedly common knowledge （like human perception of pheromones）。 As she points out， this is a snapshot of a rapidly changing field， and knowledge wil This book provides an entertaining and easy-to-read overview of the latest findings in the field of neuroscience。 Covering topics as diverse as addiction， falling in love， and pain perception， the book is like a user manual for the human brain。 I especially appreciated how the author pointed out weaknesses in the science regarding things that are supposedly common knowledge （like human perception of pheromones）。 As she points out， this is a snapshot of a rapidly changing field， and knowledge will evolve over time。 Much of the information in this book is eye-opening—our knowledge of the brain is incomplete， which can lead to oversimplifications or faulty conclusions。 If you have any interest in how the brain works， this is a must-read。 Thanks， NetGalley， for the ARC I received。 This is my honest and voluntary review。 。。。more
Nicola
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This book was so so interesting and shined a new light into aspects and areas of the brain that I had never heard about and hadn’t even come across before， and if I did， it was information that was outdated or not as cut and dry as was previously thought。 I knew the brain had all sorts of complex interactions and one thing didn’t necessarily always mean and lead onto something else in a way we thought it would， but ‘Overloaded’ definitely opened up my eyes to just how much this was the case。 The This book was so so interesting and shined a new light into aspects and areas of the brain that I had never heard about and hadn’t even come across before， and if I did， it was information that was outdated or not as cut and dry as was previously thought。 I knew the brain had all sorts of complex interactions and one thing didn’t necessarily always mean and lead onto something else in a way we thought it would， but ‘Overloaded’ definitely opened up my eyes to just how much this was the case。 The brain is such a complex organ and things that were thought were straight forward are most definitely not。 I think we’ve all heard serotonin is the ‘happy hormone’ but just how correct is this？ How much of a role does dopamine play in reward responses and the effects into addiction and emotion were incredibly interesting to read， as well as be chapters on sleep， food and how we make decisions as well。 This is the sort of book you can learn an awful lot about and I loved how the author emphasised that neuroscience is a massively growing field and can really change from one week to the next with just what we know and learn about the brain。 I really loved reading about all sorts of difference ongoing research and experiments in this field too。 The book was written really well in terms of teaching the reader all about brain anatomy， chemistry and physiology meaning you don’t need any prior or previous knowledge to help in your understanding - it just means it’s very detailed so there’s plenty to read and understand。 It made for a very enjoyable read and it was definitely humorous and funny in places with the footnotes having me laugh out loud on many an occasion。 I love reading about the brain and think anyone else with an interesting in psychology， neuroscience or brain studies would find this a really stimulating and enjoyable read。 Thank you to the author and publishers for an advanced reading of this via NetGalley， in return for my honest thoughts and review。 。。。more
Brian Clegg
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In Overloaded， Ginny Smith gives a light， entertaining view of the way that the chemicals that act both as messengers and controls in the brain influence our behaviour， feelings， memory and more。 Smith's writing style is conversational and fun。 For non-biologists， many books on the brain spend far too much time mapping and describing various parts and structures of the brain， when what we're really interested in is what it does。 Smith deals neatly with this by not telling us much at all about th In Overloaded， Ginny Smith gives a light， entertaining view of the way that the chemicals that act both as messengers and controls in the brain influence our behaviour， feelings， memory and more。 Smith's writing style is conversational and fun。 For non-biologists， many books on the brain spend far too much time mapping and describing various parts and structures of the brain， when what we're really interested in is what it does。 Smith deals neatly with this by not telling us much at all about these structures， just naming them and getting on with it。 I found this extremely refreshing - especially not to be told yet again that the hippocampus is so-named because it looks like a seahorse。 It really doesn't。As a result of liking Smith's approach， I feel quite guilty that I found the book hard to read all the way through。 This isn't down to Smith's writing - it's all the fault of biology。 The workings of evolution rarely manage to produce simple systems， and while the basic workings of neurons and receptors is relatively straight-forward and interesting， the way the brain uses different chemicals to carry messages， enhance the strength of a signal or suppress a response is messy and requires Smith to describe over and over the way that different molecules act。 After a while this got a touch tedious。 Again， I stress it's not the writing， it's the subject。 Yes， it's fascinating to hear once how the manipulation of various chemicals at the interstices between brain cells enable our brains to the many ways that we act and respond as humans。 But by the time we get to the fifth or sixth different system doing the same kind of things in different ways， it gets distinctly samey。This is a real shame as we learn about the mechanisms behind all kinds of behaviours and responses: memories， motivation， moods， fear， sleep， hunger and satiation， logic， love and pain。 My only small criticism of Smith's work is that where the inputs are primarily from brain studies， a lot of the work on outputs here are based on the results of psychological/sociological studies。 Since the reproducibility crisis， we have been strongly aware how poor many of these studies have been - it would have been helpful if we had some indication of the quality of the studies relied on in the observations we read about。If this is a subject you specifically want to find out more about， Overloaded is a great introduction。 And the first few chapters work really well for the general reader。 But after that， the inclination is strong to dip in and out， which is a real shame。 。。。more
Peter Smith
，
This fascinating book highlights both how much we know about the brain and how it works – and how little。 We are beginning to understand for instance that it is networks that matter， not different defined “areas” of the brain。 But the way in which brain chemicals interact and （for instance） why the same chemical can sometimes cause totally different effects are still not fully understood。 The author trained as a natural scientist at Cambridge – specializing in neuroscience – then became a scienc This fascinating book highlights both how much we know about the brain and how it works – and how little。 We are beginning to understand for instance that it is networks that matter， not different defined “areas” of the brain。 But the way in which brain chemicals interact and （for instance） why the same chemical can sometimes cause totally different effects are still not fully understood。 The author trained as a natural scientist at Cambridge – specializing in neuroscience – then became a science communicator， educating， speaking and writing about psychology and neuroscience topics。 Those communication skills help her put over some quite advanced topics clearly and she has done a very good job of researching the current position。 She talks to many scientists who are working at the leading edge of brain science， and puts all this information and knowledge into clear language so the book is accessible to any interested and reasonably bright reader。 You don’t need a PhD in neuroscience to enjoy it and learn something！ What you won’t get is certainty in some areas， and while you will learn a lot about sleep， for instance， it is not a self-help book that guarantees you 8 hours a night once you have read it。 Similarly the chapter on hunger provides great explanation for what is happening in our brain， but can’t stop you reaching for that extra slice of cake！ But as long as you read it for the right reasons， this is an enlightening and stimulating read for anyone interested in how our amazing brains actually work。 。。。more
Rory Fox
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