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{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Proust Was a Neuroscientist
|author=Jonah Lehrer
|reviewer=George Care
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=256
|publisher=Canongate Books
|isbn=978-1847677853
|website=http://www.jonahlehrer.com/
|videocover=1847677851|amazonukaznuk=<amazonuk>1847677851</amazonuk>|amazonusaznus=<amazonus>1847677851</amazonus>
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In Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare wrote,''Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, wherin he puts alms for oblivion''. This fully accords with the discoveries of modern brain science. Proust in his famous novel, ''In Search of Lost Time'' anticipates such discoveries by neuroscientists, such as Rachel Hertz, that smell and taste are the only senses that connect directly to the hippocampus. Thus the taste of a petit madeleine evokes a rediscovery by Proust of Combray and a flow of associations - it is the part of the brain in which long term memory is centred. Lehrer in ''Proust was a Neuroscientist'' weaves an intriguing argument about the relationship between recent neuroscientific discoveries and the novels of George Eliot, Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf. A scientist, who has researched with Nobel Prize-winning, [[:Category:Eric R Kandel|Eric Kandel]], has a taste for philosophy; Lehrer intends to heal the rift between what C.P.Snow termed the ''Two Cultures''. He wishes to accord respect to the truths and the intuitive discoveries, especially of modernist writers and painters.
'Proust was a Neuroscientist' illustrates how researchers have, for instance, located those receptors that are responsible for discerning new tastes and smells. In an interesting and amusing chapter, Lehrer explains how the latter discerning receptors take up a huge amount of DNA-about 3 per cent of the human genome. The nose contains at least 350 receptor types. Millisecond pulses detected in fruit flies have been doctored with fluorescent proteins which flash when an odour impinges. Scientists have studied the resulting flashes under high powered microscopes and mapped the resulting patterns as neon flashes in the fly brain. This is part of the melange contained in a light-hearted chapter about the French gastronomic chef, Auguste Escoffier, who created culinary symphonies by means of glutamate laden veal stock sauces that so delighted the Parisian haute bourgeoisie in the Hotel César Ritz.
'Proust was a Neuroscientist' teems with ideas and makes demands upon the reader tying together unfamiliar themes in a manner which finds a parallel in the author's treatment of the music of Stravinsky. Yet it is mostly very clear in its exposition of complex physiology, although a glossary might have been usefully employed for physiological structures. Lehrer writes from a tradition which includes William James, and of course his brother, the esteemed novelist Henry. Pluralism and pragmatism, Rorty and Wittgenstein are all positively appraised. Dissecting self-awareness, as in his chapter on Virginia Woolf has harrowing aspects, however, two factors make this a thoroughly engaging read; it's energetic pace and its provocative style. For instance, Lehrer doesn't mention that Woolf was a victim of child abuse and this will have deeply traumatised her lonely sense of herself. However, being moved to sometimes argue with an exposition does not make it any the less valuable experience.
There is a growing interest; it would seem in both Proust and in neuroscience. In Nicholas Carr's 'The Shadow landsShallows', he poses the question whether new internet technology etc. and how it actually changes the brain. Merzenich and Kandel have both emphasised the plasticity of the organ. As we get more adept at scanning and highlighting in the new media, we are also damaging our ability to read, concentrate and thoughtfully reflect. The implication for child development adds to such concerns, as Maryanne Wolf has pointed out in 'Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain'. This being an investigation into word poverty and dyslexia; learning literacy for which there seems to be little in built genetic planning. Hence, this short and accessible book of Jonah Lehrer is a valuable contribution to this debate and the fascinating discussion about how truth is variously constructed and validated in science and in literature.
Many thanks to the publishers, Canongate, for sending this copy to Bookbag.
[[How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like by Paul Bloom]]
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