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The Awakened Brain - Lisa Miller ****

Publishers are like sheep: once a couple of books on a topic do well they follow in droves, and at the time of writing, the flock is thundering down the path of human brain books. These really have got distinctly samey - but Lisa Miller does something entirely different with The Awakened Brain, which despite being very much on the familiar topic of a link between an everyday concept and mechanisms in the brain gives us two real innovations.

Firstly, this is a book, as the subtitle describes it, on the psychology of spirituality. Specifically, it describes how having a spiritual belief (religious or not) has a significant effect on the brain, particularly in the ability withstand or recover from depression - this, Miller (a professor of clinical psychology) points out is a hugely timely discovery when depression, and pharmacological treatment of it, seems to be significantly on the rise.

Secondly, this is as much a memoir as a science book - it contains significant details of Miller's personal and professional life, giving real insights into the way that scientific work is undertaken and is changing in what has been one of the softer sciences.

Part of the reason I like the book, I confess, is that it will almost certainly wind up the Dawkins brigade, for whom saying anything positive about religion is horrendous, doubly so when what's said has any kind of scientific basis. Miller initially gets considerable resistance to her research because of this attitude. But although many of her examples are benefits from religious spirituality, Miller does make it clear that exactly the same applies whether the approach is through a traditional religion or through the kind of spiritual feeling about connections with the universe that bears little connection to a traditional religious mindset. The fact seems to be that having a spiritual outlook, one of a connected universe, looking outwards instead of focusing purely on our individuality, is deeply beneficial to aspects of the functioning of the brain.

In a sense, what we're getting here has been evident for some time at a common sense level. The current me-centred culture, particularly strong in the US, is not good for you. We need to feel connected and to see what we do in a bigger picture than just 'What's in it for me?' But Miller does this from the viewpoint of someone trying to help psychiatric patients and finding conventional methods failing, and someone who has been able to use fMRI and more to give a clear picture of how these different approaches are influencing the brain.

To an extent, I'm giving this book four stars despite its flaws. Although I found Miller's description of her work with patients really useful, I felt there was too much about her and her family. The book can feel quite repetitive and I did find myself skip-reading quite a few pages to get to a point where it had something new to say. Also it did play the dreaded quantum-out-of-place card (mangling some quantum physics along the way), which would usually totally put me off, but I was prepared to forgive the book because the topic was so interesting.

Just to clarify that quantum physics moan, Miller uses a common ploy along the lines of 'quantum physics includes spooky action at a distance, so the importance of connections between people and such could be a kind of quantum thingy.' Using quantum theory this way is just about acceptable as a metaphor, but not to provide a mechanism. Unfortunately, though, the quantum physics itself is not well-handled. So, for example, the uncertainty principle is totally misunderstood, using Heisenberg's original incorrect assertion that the uncertainty (to quote Miller) 'is because you can't make an observation without perturbing the system you are measuring.' Bohr tore a strip off Heisenberg over this, resulting in a rapid change of heart - the uncertainty principle is nothing to do with the observer effect, it is a fundamental of quantum nature.

Although the quantum bit is brought back a couple of times in passing, thankfully it isn't necessary for any of the real science here, so I can (grumblingly) forgive it. Not a perfect book by any means, then, but a brain book I was happy to read because it was so different, and because the premise is genuinely engaging and one that needs far greater consideration in what remains a largely personal identity-focussed society.

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Review by Brian Clegg
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