Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone
i recently bought a book ‘neurosceience For dummies’ in an attempt to understand the mechanics of the autistic mind. May not be the first stop for some people but I really wasn’t too sure where to go to with their being so much to choose from online. I prefer to go straight to the foundation. Do you have any opinions on where I am best to pry into? I’m not too good with having a book in front of me unless I know what I am going to focus on, it overwhelms me. This often happens, I get something because I am aware that it will be helpful, but I can’t tackle it unless I am fully aware of a small area I can begin with. Does this happen to any of you?
Any other doses of advice? I’m interested in basically what areas of the brain are supposedly non typical, why, behaviours induced, along with self help techniques.
Best wishes!
NAS37690 said:Sorry guys, if it seems like i don't reply to all posts.
I'd try not to worry about it too much. I have that problem too very often; not just here, either, but with my emails, texts, snail-mail, and, of course, face-to-face conversation.
It's good to have you around, no matter how much or how little you're able to contribute. Take it at your own pace, and if it starts to feel overwhelming, give yourself a bit of rest when you need it. This isn't Facebook - most people here understand what it feels like to be over-stimulated and the need to take a step back to mentally digest things.
Sorry guys, if it seems like i don't reply to all posts.
I find it extremely difficult to keep up with responses at times and come up with what to say in return as it gets very complicated in my mind.
This is exactly the type of thing that I'm wanting to learn more of and overcome the best I can.
Reading more technical books, especially in a subject that's new to you isn't really the same as reading a novel where you can generally progress from front to back without much problem. It takes time to "tune into" the language etc. and a good dictionary may be helpful. You may find yourself having to go backwards and forwards before bits start to make sense to you. It also helps to take a break when you feel stuck - letting your subconscious mull over things in the background or going back to it later often helps to provide that moment of inspiration needed. So don't be surprised if it takes longer - that's not unusual! For some reason teachers etc. don't tend to set that expectation though and people tend not to talk about it so people think they are "being thick" or something when it's just perfectly normal.
It also sometimes helps to have books by different authors so you can "compare and contrast" - one might have an explanation that works better for you in some areas and vice-versa. As you get more into the subject you'll probably find that things start to speed up for you.
The thing when starting to learn a new subject is to keep in mind "this is marathon not a sprint." With a bit of perseverance you'll be surprised how much progress you can make.
You could try coursera, as that's an online lecture, you don't have to read a lot: https://www.coursera.org
They have quite a few neuroscience-related courses. Introduction to psychology seems really good for beginners, https://www.coursera.org/learn/introduction-psych#, and there's a slightly more advanced-looking one called medical neuroscience https://www.coursera.org/learn/medical-neuroscience
There's also an introduction to psychology in the Open Yale Courses: https://oyc.yale.edu/NODE/231
Hmm, I usually don't have any issues with reading. I just focus on whichever page I'm on and read from beginning to end. I do not think about how much I have left. It's like when you watch a movie you really enjoy, you just focus on (or be immersed in) the present and not think when will it ever end.
By the way, the textbooks I mentioned do have lots of colorful figures, so that might be able to help. I'm sure you can pick up a lot of the main ideas by looking at the pictures and their captions. This might be a good way to begin?
Hello, thank you to my two responders.
In my post, I mentioned that, I can not get my head around a book a lot of the time. I have to be able to visually follow the words I'm expected to process. When I can't develop a clear mental image in some cases, I can't keep my focus, I look to see how much I've got to read, it starts to seem impossible a task, and I give up. This has caused me great frustration growing up. It's meant that I've stuck to more imagery based topics. I'm wondering if any of you have this issue. With it being a new topic, I will specifically find it difficult to make a start and follow it through.
"Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind" might be a little intense to read if you are completely new to the field (but should be ok if you have a psychology or biology background). So if you want to start off with something easy, you can look at his "Psychological Science" textbook aimed for beginners. Another way to find good books is to go to look at the Psychology 101 Syllabuses in various university websites. They might include a textbook they use for the course. You can also take "Introduction to Psychology" courses online for free like coursera: www.coursera.org/.../introduction-psych
If you want to go to the foundation of neuroscience, I would recommend Michael Gazzaniga's textbooks (they are widely used in undergraduate psychology classes). Gazzaniga is one of the leading researchers in cognitive neuroscience and knows a lot about pretty much everything in the field. Here's one of the books below (and is quite up-to-date):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cognitive-Neuroscience-Biology-Michael-Gazzaniga/dp/0393922286/ref=dp_ob_image_bk
I would prefer these compared to autism-specific books as well, because it covers everything (attention, memory, visual perception, cognitive control, social neuroscience), it gives a much fuller picture of how the mind works.