A few years ago, a colleague of mine told me about the concept of neuro-plasticity, which is the brain reconnecting neural receptors through synaptics. I was instantly intrigued and fascinated by the idea of improving my own brain and reconditioning myself through changing some of my less than desirable habits. As a result of my interest, I picked up “The Mind & The Brain”, which is a doctor’s account of how he learned that he could treat psychiatric disorders and particularly OCD through the use of neuro-plasticity and the history of the experiments that led to the science itself.

Any animal lover would be absolutely horrified by his account of the experiments on monkeys that led to a crucial breakthrough. Taub, who was a researcher, performed a series of experiments that would never be allowed in this day and age. His idea was to de-tatch the nerves of monkeys connected to their limbs to see if they could use the “deafferented” limb. Initially, the monkeys just used their good limbs instead. Ever the cunning experimenter, Taub then performed the experiment on two limbs, after which point the monkeys learned to use one of their arms, albeit with limited functionality. Taub was taken to court for this horrific act, but still contends that his work was the genesis of the scientific evidence that helped stroke victims recover.

The monkeys, known as the Silver Springs Monkeys, did not fare so well. Scientists received permission to perform brain surgery on the monkeys before putting them to sleep. Through the experiments, the idea of behavioral modification was generated.

The author of this particular book, however, had nothing to do with the experiments but has since followed up on the ideas generated by these and other experiments on how to help out his patients with their own OCD issues. His main idea is that the “Mind can change the brain.” His focus is more than neurological as he examines the philosophical idea of free will and whether free will can be physiologically buried before it begins. In his eyes, healing OCD patients starts with retraining their compulsive OCD thoughts by having the patients identify their impulses quickly. To reinforce the concept, the doctor would show them actual brain scans of what their brain looked like while feeling impulsive.