What an amazing organ the human brain is!  It has an almost limitless capacity to learn new things, right up to the end of life.  I have recently read or listened to, three books that talk about the brain and its ability to cope with and adapt to new circumstances.  In a word, it’s a property called neuroplasticity.  It’s too complex for me to try to explain here, so the best way to understand it is to start with Norman Doidge’s book, “The Brain that Changes Itself”.  The most remarkable chapter in this book is about a woman who was literally born with half a brain.

After that, try Oliver Sacks’ book, “The Mind’s Eye” about how the brain copes with brain disease and injury.  Sacks includes a chapter on his loss of sight in his right eye due to cancer.

Next, I suggest Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.”  Yes, you are being influenced even as you read this blog posting.

Other suggestions: “Thinking in Pictures” by Temple Grandin, a woman with autism who specializes in the design of large-scale livestock handling facilities.

If you prefer fiction: “Memory Book” by Howard Engel in which the detective hero, Benny Cooperman, find himself in hospital, with no memory of how he got there.  He must use his deductive powers to piece together events.  The story parallels Engel’s own experience with stroke and the loss of his ability to read.  A detailed account of his experience can be found in Sacks’ book mentioned above.