The Idea of the BrainMatthew CobbBasic Books, $32

Neuroscientistslove a good metaphor. Through the years, plumbing, telegraph wires and computershave all been enlisted to help explain how the brain operates, neurobiologistand historian Matthew Cobb writes in The Idea of the Brain. And like anymetaphor, those approximations all fall short.

Cobb leads afascinating tour of how concepts of the brain have morphed over time. Hiswriting is clear, thoughtful and, when called for, funny. He describesexperiments by neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield, who zapped awake patients brainswith electricity to provoke reactions. Zapping certain places consistentlydredged up memories, which Cobb calls oneiric experiences. His footnote onthe term: Look it up. Its exactly theright word. I did, and it was.

Cobb runs though the history of certain concepts used to explain how the brain works, including electricity, evolution andneurons. Next comes a section on the present, which includes discussions ofmemory, circuits and consciousness. Cobb offers tastes of the latest research, anda heavy dose of realism. Memory studieshave made progress, but we are still far from understanding what ishappening when we remember, Cobb writes. Despite big efforts, we still onlydimly understand what is going on when we see.Our understanding of how antidepressants work? Virtually non-existent.

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This real talk isrefreshing, and Cobb uses it to great effect toargue that neuroscience is stymied. There have been many similarmoments in the past, when brain researchers became uncertain about how toproceed, he writes. Scientists have amassed an impressive stockpile of brain facts,but a true understanding of how the brain works eludes us.

Dont expect a computer metaphor to help. Like a computer, the brainsmain job is to process information. But some experts argue that because brains are biologicalthey evolved within the vagaries of a bodythey operate in ways that a machine doesnt (SN: 8/23/16).

Cobb reckonsthat, among other reasons, the mere existenceof such objections is a harbinger of the end of the computer metaphor.But that doesnt mean the comparison was awaste. Metaphors clarify thoughts, he writes, and scientists would do well toponder what might replace the concept.

He ends the book with a creative exercise inlooking ahead to what the future might hold. The possibilities include the creation of conscious machines, or even having toaccept that there is no brain theory to be found. Still, our currentignorance should not be viewed as a sign of defeat, Cobb writes, but as achallenge.

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