The Scientific American Brave New Brain offers a fast-forward look at what's in store for our brains in the very near future-a world where science fiction becomes science fact.Lightning-quick advances in neuroscience are bringing amazing treatments and startling predictions of what we can expect to both better and boost our brains. This remarkable book reveals what lies ahead over the next few decades and what exists now in brain treatments with biochemistry, drugs, computers, electrical treatments, stem cells, brain chips, and gene manipulation-and the legal, ethical, and moral fallout of all this change and progress.The Scientific American Brave New Brain explains how our brains make new neurons and what we have to do to keep them, tells how our very thoughts and feelings can change our brains and our genes, and introduces the tremendous promises of nanomedicine-the science of the unimaginably small.Today, brain pacemakers control tremors and seizures; tomorrow, advances in biochemistry and bioengineering could make Alzheimer's, brain damage, and perhaps even mental retardation preventable, curable, and reversible. Microchips in the brain could enhance memory, restore mental functions, store data, and even control our cell phones.Bionic or biological spare brain parts that now restore hearing and give sight to the blind could restore movement to the paralyzed-and give the healthy super powers. Brain surgery may be rare, thanks to nanomedicine, and brain scans will identify mental illness and brain disease before symptoms show, "read" minds, and predict and control behavior.

This comprehensive and entertaining look at the wonders in your brain's very near future is written and edited by Judith Horstman, based on the newest research and articles from Scientific American and Scientific American Mind magazines.