a few quotes from 'The Brain that Changes Itself'

"thinking, learning, and acting can turn our genes on or off, thus shaping our brain anatomy and our behavior" (Doidge)

"skin and its touch receptors could substitute for a retina, because both the skin and the retina are two dimensional sheets, covered with sensory receptors, that allow a "picture" to form on them." (Doidge, p.16)

"conceive of the brain as "polysensory' --that its sensory areas were able to process signals from more than one sense. " (Doidge, p.17)

"the brain can be improved so that we learn and perceive with greater precision, speed, and retention. ... we can also change the very structure of the brain itself and increase its capacity to learn. Unlike a computer, the brain is constantly adapting itself." (Doidge 48)

"The cerebral cortex... is actually selectively refining its processing capacities to fit each task at hand." It doesn't simply learn; it is always "learning how to learn." (Doidge 48)

brain maps "are neither immutable wintin a single brain nor universal but vary in their borders and size from person to person. ...our brain maps changes depending upon what we do over the course of our lives." (Doidge 48)

the human brain forms maps to represent the body and the world. 'Maps were dynamic."