The Brain is a rather complex thing !

   There is no "gene for", no "brain region for",
and no "transmitter chemical for" a particular human
behaviour or cognitive function. I.e. we will
not be able to express a sophisticated brain function
in terms of one feature alone, Susan Greenfield tells us.
   
   Rather, genes, chemicals and brain regions work together
in a complex and highly intricate way to produce a
behaviour.
   So, the book offers no swift catchphrases, as those
so often seen on TV, e.g.: "The chemical dopamine is 
a molecule for pleasure, all human activity therefore 
evolves around obtaining higher dopamine levels in the brain".
   Instead, Susan Greenfield offers a thorough (and,
must be said, sometimes complex bordering the selfcontradictory)
neuroscientific explanation of mental states,
the effect of drugs, how emotion will ebb and flow in
inverse relation to selfconsciousness etc.

   I was particular pleased with the chapter on the effects
of drugs in the brain. Here I really felt I learned something
about what is really going on inside a brain under the influence
of drugs. Which also gives an inside into the workings
of a normal brain.
   However I wasn't completely swayed by her explanations
concerning consciousness I.e.: Emotions are found to be 
"the most basic form of consciousness" Greenfield states,
but how does that help us to know what consciousness IS?
The book could have digged deeper here.

-Simon