What's on your mind?

November 7, 2022 5:09 AM

I want to buy a book(s) for a teenager (16) who has become interested in neurology. I need recommendations for something engaging, accessible, and appropriate for a kid who loves anatomy class, but isn't a huge reader.
posted by papergirl to Science & Nature (13 answers total)

Best answer: Oliver Sacks is super readable: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat
posted by mochapickle at 5:15 AM on November 7, 2022 [17 favorites]

Also a great read from the same author, if they enjoy music: Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
posted by ddaavviidd at 5:23 AM on November 7, 2022 [6 favorites]

The Neuroscience of You was published this year, and it's a good read--light and fun while not oversimplifying the science.
posted by box at 5:51 AM on November 7, 2022

The Brain that Heals Itself, by Norman Doidge.
posted by Enid Lareg at 6:09 AM on November 7, 2022

I have enjoyed Netter's Neuroanatomy Coloring Book. It would make a great gift combined with some nice colored pencils.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 7:26 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Harold Klawans wrote a number of books of clinical neurology case studies aimed at the general reader, many of which I read and enjoyed as a teenager. Sadly, I think they're all out of print, but definitely recommended if you can lay your hands on them.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 8:36 AM on November 7, 2022

Here's a free collection of good info

Here's a simulation to play with showing membrane activity during a nerve impulse

There are lots of good simulations (some free, some not) at sites like human.biodigital.com
posted by Acari at 9:08 AM on November 7, 2022

I'm a fan of the book Phantoms In The Brain, by V.S. Ramachandran. Great profile of him available here.
posted by sockshaveholes at 9:59 AM on November 7, 2022

Science Comics are written in graphic novel / comic book style, but with detailed scientific explanations. They have one on The Brain that might be a good fit for a teenager interested in neurology.
posted by ewok_academy at 11:31 AM on November 7, 2022

I fricking LOVED this Anatomy Coloring Book as a teen. YMMV.
posted by nkknkk at 12:09 PM on November 7, 2022

I haven't read it yet, but I bet the book based on the Say Why To Drugs podcast would fit.
posted by brainwane at 1:28 PM on November 7, 2022

I really enjoyed When The Air Hits Your Brain.

It's focused on a neurosurgeon in training and is quite funny and irreverent.
posted by Kangaroo at 3:46 PM on November 7, 2022

Jill Bolte Taylor's My Stroke of Insight. She is a brain scientist who has a stroke. The book is a description of the events, her scientific perspective on these, and her recovery. She also has a highly-watched TED talk.
posted by oflinkey at 8:16 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]