Publication date:
09 August 2012Length of book:
175 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442218239
Sensations of hunger, thirst, sexual attraction, and love can dominate our thoughts to the exclusion of almost everything else, but until the last 10 years or so, the precise reasons why these passions arise have not been understood very well. We now know that these, and other drives like the urge to sleep, are controlled by a small portion of the brain called the hypothalamus. This book presents the latest information about how the brain controls our most basic drives.
In a series of fascinating anecdotes, Young tells the tale of how scientists have discovered the role of the hypothalamus in our basic drives and in medical conditions in which these drives are drastically altered. Covering our need for food, water, sex, sleep, and other life essentials, he reveals the brain’s part in how we provide for each, and how in some cases, those needs can swing wildly out of control resulting in problems such as obesity, diabetes, insomnia, or narcolepsy. He shows how regulating body temperature can affect the lifespan, how the aging process affects sexual behavior, how empathy and love develop in relationships with family members or with love interests, and how all these functions and more can go awry.
Like other science writers before him, Young illuminates even the complex inner workings of the brain in a way that anyone can understand, so that readers are treated to a tour of a tiny part of the brain that is responsible for so many fundamental aspects of life.
In a series of fascinating anecdotes, Young tells the tale of how scientists have discovered the role of the hypothalamus in our basic drives and in medical conditions in which these drives are drastically altered. Covering our need for food, water, sex, sleep, and other life essentials, he reveals the brain’s part in how we provide for each, and how in some cases, those needs can swing wildly out of control resulting in problems such as obesity, diabetes, insomnia, or narcolepsy. He shows how regulating body temperature can affect the lifespan, how the aging process affects sexual behavior, how empathy and love develop in relationships with family members or with love interests, and how all these functions and more can go awry.
Like other science writers before him, Young illuminates even the complex inner workings of the brain in a way that anyone can understand, so that readers are treated to a tour of a tiny part of the brain that is responsible for so many fundamental aspects of life.
Young (anatomy, Howard Univ.; Introduction to Cell Biology) explains the oversize role played by a relatively small area of the brain; the hypothalamus region controls many bodily functions, including hunger, thirst, sex and emotions, sleep, and hormones. Young organizes the book in five principal chapters, four of which includes a scientific history and explanation of one of these processes (e.g., hunger, sleep), as well as their connections to related diseases (e.g., diabetes, cancer). Young does a good job of anticipating readers’ questions, such as why all animals need sleep. He writes in a fairly informal manner, incorporating first-person recollections and anecdotes throughout....For the nonscientist, each chapter includes references along with instructions on how to look them up in the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed database (pubmed.gov)....VERDICT For readers with some background in science who want to learn more about the hypothalamus’s role in everyday life.