Name: Matthew Zabel's review of Future of the Brain by Gary Marcus
Item: Future of the Brain
Rating: 3
Author: Matthew Zabel

Gary Marcus

Jeremy Freeman

Edvard I. Moser

May-Britt Moser

Essays by the World's Leading Neuroscientists

Future of the Brain

Matthew Zabel

This amalgamation of relatively short and approachable essays brings together a group of renowned neuroscientists who discuss our current knowledge of the human brain. If there are parts that seem too technical, it is because of the novelty of the field (e.g. neurotechnology). I believe that with time, maturity of these sub-disciplines will be made more approachable to the casual observer (such as myself).

However, as a neuroscientist who studies neuroglia, specifically microglia—the innate immune cells of the brain—I found this book wanting on this topic. It came up a handful of times and contributed only one paragraph to the entire book. At least it was a pro-glia paragraph. But this brings up a bigger issue and that is that we can not have a complete understanding of the nervous system without a complete understanding of the so-called ‘supporting’ cells, which make up half of the brain’s total volume. Current research has delved into the function of this non-neuronal, but very dynamic cell population and shown how important it is for appropriate brain function. For anyone wanting a more detailed story of how the ‘other half’ of brain is involved in normal brain development and homeostasis, I suggest 
  
 by R. Douglas Fields. 

On a broader note, because of the rapid acceleration in neuroscience information due to technological advances, which will only continue to grow through newly developed initiatives (i.e. the United States’ BRAIN initiative), this body of work is a delightful platform to look back on five to ten (or 50, as the last chapter presciently attempts) years down the scientific road and see how far we have come from the year 2015. Unfortunately, according the authors in the last essay, it may not be as much of a utopia as we might like, but progress will be made and this selection of essays informs us of how that will be accomplished.

Matthew Zabel &
Future of the Brain by Gary Marcus

Reviews

Join the club

Matthew Zabel &Future of the Brain by Gary Marcus

Reviews

Join the club

Matthew Zabel &
Future of the Brain by Gary Marcus