All posts tagged: brain science

NYT bestselling author Bob Kolker talks about his oprah book club pick HIDDEN VALLEY ROAD, the history–and future–of schizophrenia, family trauma, resillience, & so much more

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By Leslie Lindsay  A razor-sharp tale of one American family ravaged by the devastating effects of mental illness, schizophrenia, in particular. ~WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ WEDNSDAYS WITH WRITERS OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOKS OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL TOP TEN BOOKS OF THE YEAR PEOPLE’S #1 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR  Named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, TIME, Slate, Smithsonian, The New York Post, and Amazon  Meet the Galvins. They are your all-American family living in Colorado in the 1950s-70s, except they have one big secret, and one big family: half of the dozen children are afflicted with mental illness. Welcome home to HIDDEN VALLEY ROAD: Inside the Mind of an American Family (Doubleday, April 2020) and meet Don and Mimi, their ten good-looking boys, and equally stunning daughters. After WWII, Don’s work with the Air Force brings them to Colorado, where the baby-making doesn’t seem to cease. But not to worry, Mimi has it all under control. She’s …

Fiction Friday: Novel Newspaper Article

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By Leslie Lindsay Here’s a glimpse into one of my newer characters, Nolan Baxter.  He’s a journalist for the Chicago Tribune who mostly writes things in the fluffy section of the paper–which just so happens to be my favorite section.  This is a mock newspaper article that will fit somewhere into that novel of mine…   Nolan Baxter Wednesday, May 22, 2013      Chicago Tribune           Every opera you’ve ever heard, every painting you’ve ever admired, every book you’ve ever read is reducible to a chemical released in the artist’s, composer’s, or author’s brain.  We can even map where in the brain that work got done.  Some may have occurred in the occipital lobe where imagery lives; some in the insula which feels emotion, and some in the prefrontal cortex where problem-solving and language take place.  It isn’t artistic beauty, it’s biology.            At least that is one way to look at it—but not the way we prefer.  Instead, we prefer the more esoteric way: that creativity is a flash in the pan summoned to you …

The Teacher is Talking: The Whole Brain Child

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By Leslie Lindsay The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson (image retrieved from Amazon.com on 8.7.12) I don’t know about you but I have about had it with summer vacation.  It’s not the heat or the long days that is driving me wild, it’s the constant fussing and bickering that comes from the tiny redheaded girls who call me mom.  So when I learned about this new parenting book, THE WHOLE BRAIN CHILD by Daniel J. Siegel, MD and Tina Payne Bryson, PhD I figured it couldn’t hurt.  The book promises you will be able “survive everyday parenting struggles and help your family thrive.”  I nodded in appreciation and flipped open the binding, inhaling that new-book smell I adore.  The audience: parents of children birth to 12 years.  It covers 12 basic principles a parent or devoted caregiver can give a child to help them become better at managing their own emotions, thus beoming a more well-balanced child.  Again, I nod in …

The Teacher is Talking: Imagine How Creativity Works

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By Leslie Lindsay  (image retrieved from Amazon.com on 7.17.12)  I have this new book and I am pretty much loving every minute I am reading.  At first glance, though I will admit that I wasn’t too keen on it.*  I know, cringe.  Who can’t love a book about creativity?  I am shaking my head right now.  Ooops, that may be a little piece of my creativity falling out… Here’s the thing: Jonah Lehrer does a fantastic job of taking all of this brain hullabaloo and making it readable.  Okay, sure there are some big words in there like dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior superior temporal gyrus.  But he breaks it all down into terms we can all understand (jeez, where was this book when I was in nursing school?!).  And he makes things seems practical, realistic, and attainable.  All qualities we can appreciate.  In just the first sitting with this book, I learned more about creativity–and harvesting it–than I have in well, maybe my whole life.  It’s not that the book is a “how-to” by …