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Journal of Child and Family Studies, Vol. 13, No. 1, March 2004 (C© 2004), pp. 125–127

Book Review

The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force.By JeffreyM. Schwartz and Sharon Begley. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers,Inc.

Over centuries, philosophy and conventional science have failed to bridge thegap between mind and matter, offering views that ranged from pure materialism(i.e., the mind as nothing but brain processes) to a dualistic split (i.e., the mind andthe brain as irreconcilable). Renowned neuropsychiatrist and researcher Dr. JeffreyM. Schwartz has decades of experience working with patients who suffer fromobsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Schwartz has formulated and presentedin this book an innovative and persuasive hypothetical model of the mind-bodyrelationship that is a scientific first.

The model is based on Dr. Schwartz’s successful drug-free treatment of OCDpatients using a mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy. By learning toexperience OCD symptoms as faulty brain messages and focusing their attentionaway from the negative urges and thoughts onto more adaptive actions, Schwartz’spatients were able to effect positive and lasting changes in both their behaviorand their neurochemical processes. Informed by this groundbreaking finding, theauthors demonstrate that the mind exists as separate from but dependent on thebrain. Their findings illustrate that, contrary to mainstream science, the adult brainis capable of neuroplasticity—that is, rewiring itself—and that the mind can shapethe function and structure of the physical brain. In a daring exploration of recentfindings from neuroscience and quantum physics, the authors present integratedevidence that supports their model.

In this work, the authors confront a question of immense philosophical andmoral implications. By demonstrating the primacy of the mind over the brain, theyoffer a humane solution to the mind/body dilemma and bring contemporary scienceinto alignment with the human ideals of free will, morality and responsibility.

The book is divided into an introduction, 10 chapters and an epilogue. Theintroduction contains a repudiation of the failures of behaviorism, psychoanaly-sis and materialistic neuroscience in recognizing the role or even the existenceof the mind. Integrating principles of the ancient Buddhist practice of mindful-ness and new neuropsychiatric discoveries, the authors propose the experiences of

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OCD-diagnosed patients as an example of how directed willed mental activity cangenerate a force that constructively alters the brain (i.e., directed neuroplasticity).

Chapter 1, “The Matter of Mind,” is a rundown of the main philosophicaland scientific theories that have wrestled with the mind/body quandary. In the suc-ceeding chapters, the authors systematically evaluate the evidence of the existenceof the mind, a mental force closely related to the concept of mindfulness that caneffect positive changes in the brain.

In chapter 2, a neurobiological theory of OCD is presented based on ananalysis of imaging studies of OCD patients and recent neuroscientific findings.The authors postulate the presence of pathologically overactive neural circuits inwhich patients are unable to shift gear from one thought and its related behaviorto the next, dubbed ‘brain lock.” Prompted by this understanding, a new treatmentof mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy based on a four-step methodwas introduced. Dr. Schwartz presents evidence of positive behavioral changes inhis patients accompanied by corrective changes in brain metabolic activity.

Chapter 3, “Birth of a Brain,” contains a review of the neural mechanisms thatunderlie plasticity of the developing young brain and an examination of the olddoctrine of the loss of such plasticity in adult life. In Chapter 4, “The Silver SpringMonkeys,” there is a review of animal studies that support a new paradigm—thatadult brains are capable of neuroplasticity. Chapter 5, “The Map Maker,” exploresthe potential of the human adult brain to change in response to various influences.The ability of stroke patients to regain some of their lost functions is presented asan example of neuroplasticity in response to reduced stimulation.

Chapter 6, “Survival of the Busiest,” presents another stimulus for brainchange—highly attended repetitive activity such as in violin players. In Chap-ter 7, “Network Remodeling,” the authors discuss neuroplasticity in response toa change in the quality, not just amount, of stimulation as well as in response toa mental force through the application of mindfulness. The authors review thesuccesses of mindfulness in helping children with Tourette’s syndrome and inreducing relapse rates in depressed patients.

In Chapter 8, “The Quantum Brain,” the authors provide an overview of thefield of quantum physics, which departs from classical physics on the issue ofthe interplay between consciousness and physical states. Dr. Schwartz then de-scribes his collaboration with noted physicist Henry Stapp in applying quantumtheory to the mind/body connection to establish an active causal role for humanconsciousness in shaping the brain. In Chapter 9, “Free Will and Free Won’t,” theauthors integrate OCD data, quantum theory, Buddhist philosophy and recent neu-roscience. The result is an overarching formulation of the free will acting throughthe process of conscious thought to generate a high-order force that changes thebrain.

In the final chapter, “Attention Must Be Paid,” the authors examine the roleof active focusing of attention on a particular stream of consciousness as thecritical mechanism in this force. The epilogue contains a summary review of

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the hypothesis and a discussion of its implications in human capacity to makechoices and to change.

Readers will be impressed by the creativity, intellectual power and elegancewith which this text is written. The authors’ arguments are profound and stirring,and their synthesis of the philosophical, scientific and clinical foundations of theirthinking captivates the reader. The demonstration of how free will and conscious-ness operate to change the brain is coherent, bold and compelling. In addition toits implications for human capacity for moral choice, the authors offer the firstscientific proof that validates the power of mindfulness in shaping the brain. Thiswork opens new vistas for revolutionary applications of mindfulness-based treat-ment in neuropsychiatric dysfunction. “The Mind and The Brain” is invaluablereading for clinicians, philosophers and neuroscientists who are intrigued by thequestion of where the mind belongs in the natural world. Publication is partic-ularly timely given the surging interest in mental health-related applications ofmeditation practices such as mindfulness.

Mohamed SabaawiGeorge Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

e-mail: drelsabaawi@aol.com