Bristol
Synaptic Self: How our brains become who we are by Joseph LeDoux,
Viking, $29.95 ISBN 0670030287
If you think of your 鈥渟elf鈥� as that special inner being that makes your
decisions and has your experiences, then be warned that this book is not about
that sort of self. It does not even consider the odd fact that we think of
ourselves as something different from our brains. The 鈥渟elf鈥� of the title is
more like personality, or the sum of our brain鈥檚 activities.
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Synaptic Self succeeds as a clearly written overview of how synapses
work and how neurotransmitter and neuromodulator substances carry out their
functions. LeDoux outlines a 鈥渕ental trilogy鈥�: the mind as an amalgam of
cognition, emotion and motivation. When so many authors concentrate entirely on
cognition, it is refreshing to have the balance redressed鈥攅ven if much of
the research reported is on fear in rats, and the section on human love is based
on pair-bonding in prairie voles.
LeDoux argues that synaptic changes, not specific molecules, underlie mental
illness. He gives fascinating detail on how synapses change in normal memory, in
the processes of ageing and in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. But his stirring conclusion
that 鈥淵ou are your synapses鈥� is less than convincing.