A deep venture into the brain and neuroscience to discover why we feel like we do.
Dates Read: 15/12/2022 to 07/02/2023
Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Word to describe: Informative
Genre: Non Fiction
Set amongst the impending doom of the Covid-19 pandemic and UK lockdown in 2020, Dr Emma Kavanagh set her sights on improving her mental health and discovering the truth behind our brains. Why do we react a certain way? What is it that triggers the stress response? Encouraged by her fears and isolated Dr Kavanagh created a light-hearted book filled with snippets of her hectic life and simplified neuroscience that anyone could understand.
I loved the informal language in this book and how personal the story felt. As a reader, you can knowingly sympathise with Dr Kavanagh and her stress-induced panic over the pandemic. We were all a part of the coronavirus pandemic and were all subjected to the everlasting unknowing that came with the numerous lockdowns and rule changes. Influenced by her feelings, Dr Kavanagh put into words all of her research into neuroscience and the brain's unique reaction to stress. From a further development into the well-known fight or flight response and a compassionate understanding of trauma responses. Dr Kavanagh uses her experience with trauma, mental health problems, and generalised anxiety to add a respite between each chapter of overflowing scientific terminology and factoids. These breaks created a sense of comradery between the author and the reader. Mutual respect and understanding of breakdowns.
On the other hand, I also loved how scientific and precise the information relayed to the reader was. Without skipping a beat. Dr Kavanagh explains trauma response in terms of the brain's different sectors and how they work. In particular, I found it incredibly fascinating that Dr Kavanagh expanded on the fight or flight response by adding a new term. Fight, flight, or freeze. As someone who commonly falls into the frozen category, it was certainly interesting to see what it was within my brain that caused that response.
The author expertly breaks down the sequence of events that take place in the brain, from the frontal cortex being overpowered during stress inducing a preference for the amygdala's ability to assess the problem. Freezing occurs when the frontal cortex gets stuck and cannot regain control. When compared to one another, the frontal cortex is the decision-making sector of the brain whereas; the amygdala is the emotional response sector responsible for the release of adrenaline. Fascinating right? The simplified explanations offered a great sense of achievement when, as a reader, I could understand the context of the facts, and be able to make my inference from them without relying on information overload.
Overall, Dr Kavanagh offers a fresh perspective on neuroscience and lets us common folk understand our brains too!
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