Norman Doidge quotes

We must be learning if we are to feel fully alive, and when life, or love, becomes too predictable and it seems like there is little left to learn, we become restless - a protest, perhaps, of the plastic brain when it can no longer perform its essential task. (Norman Doidge)
Psychoanalysis is often about turning our ghosts into ancestors. View quote
Norman Doidge
Analysis helps patients put their unconscious procedural memories and actions into words and into context, so they can better understand them. View quote
Norman Doidge
The brain is a far more open system than we ever imagined, and nature has gone very far to help us perceive and take in the world around us. It has given us a brain that survives in a changing world by changing itself. View quote
Norman Doidge
Thought changes structure... I saw people rewire their brains with their thoughts, to cure previously incurable obsessions and trauma. View quote
Norman Doidge
Mind training matters. It is not just a luxury, or a supplementary vitamin for the soul. It determines the quality of every instant of our lives. View quote
Norman Doidge
Everything having to do with human training and education has to be re-examined in light of neuroplasticity. View quote
Norman Doidge
Ironically, some of our most stubborn habits and disorders are products of our plasticity. View quote
Norman Doidge
...an effective psychotherapist or psychoanalyst is a "microsurgeon of the mind" who helps patients make needed alterations in neuronal networks. View quote
Norman Doidge
All of us have worries. We worry because we are intelligent beings. Intelligence predicts, that is its essence; the same intelligence that allows us to plan, hope, imagine, and hypothesize also allows us to worry and anticipate negative outcomes. View quote
Norman Doidge
Not all activities are equal in this regard. Those that involve genuine concentration-studying a musical instrument, playing board games, reading, and dancing-are associated with a lower risk for dementia. Dancing, which requires learning new moves, is both physically and mentally challenging and requires much concentration. Less intense activities, such as bowling, babysitting, and golfing, are not associated with a reduced incidence of Alzheimer's. (254) (Norman Doidge)
Neuroplasticity contributes to both the constrained and unconstrained aspects of our nature. It renders our brains not only more resourceful, but also more vulnerable to outside influences. View quote
Norman Doidge
We all have what might be called a culturally modified brain, and as cultures evolve, they continually lead to new changes in the brain. View quote
Norman Doidge
Language development, for instance, has a critical period that begins in infancy and ends between eight years and puberty. After this critical period closes, a person's ability to learn a second language without an accent is limited. In fact, second languages learned after the critical period are not processed in the same part of the brain as is the native tongue. View quote
Norman Doidge
We often praise 'the ability to multi-task.' While you can learn when you divide your attention, divided attention doesn't lead to aiding change in your brain maps [lasting changes]. View quote
Norman Doidge

Norman Doidge

Occupation: Psychiatrist
Quotes count: 15

Related authors

Michael Merzenich  4 
American Scientist
Oliver Sacks - thumbnail
Oliver Sacks  27 
British Neurologist
Daniel J. Siegel  11 
Author
Vilayanur S. Ramachandran - thumbnail
Vilayanur S. Ramachandran  42 
Indian Scientist
Jill Bolte Taylor - thumbnail
Jill Bolte Taylor  12 
American Author
John Medina  31 
 
Atul Gawande - thumbnail
Atul Gawande  27 
American Scientist
Bruce H. Lipton - thumbnail
Bruce H. Lipton  47 
American Scientist
Steven Novella - thumbnail
Steven Novella  20 
American Neurologist
Louann Brizendine  3 
Author