Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are

The audacious effort to map the brain—and along with it our personalities and mental afflictions, from autism to schizophrenia—by a star in neuroscience.

Every person is unique, but science has struggled to pinpoint where, precisely, that uniqueness resides. Our genome may determine our eye color and even aspects of our character. But our friendships, failures, and passions also shape who we are. The question is: how?

Sebastian Seung is at the forefront of a revolution in neuroscience. He believes that our identity lies not in our genes, but in the connections between our brain cells—our particular wiring. Seung and a dedicated group of researchers are leading the effort to map these connections, neuron by neuron, synapse by synapse. It's a monumental effort, but if they succeed, they will uncover the basis of personality, identity, intelligence, memory, and perhaps disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

Connectome is a mind-bending adventure story that presents a daring scientific and technological vision for understanding what makes us who we are, both as individuals and as a species.

"This is complicated stuff, and it is a testament to Dr. Seung's remarkable clarity of exposition that the reader is swept along with his enthusiasm...sketching out a spectacularly illustrated giant map of the universe of man."—Abigail Zuger, MD, New York Times

"Accessible, witty, imminently logical and at times poetic, Connectome...puts him on par with cosmology's Brian Greene and the late Carl Sagan."—Cleveland Plain Dealer