How the mind changed

A Human History of Our Evolving Brain

In Pursuit of Memory

The Fight Against Alzheimer's

How the Mind Changed

How the Mind Changed

The extraordinary story of how the human brain evolved… and is still evolving.

We’ve come a long way. The earliest human had a brain as small as a child’s fist; ours are four times bigger, with spectacular abilities and potential we are only just beginning to understand.

This is How the Mind Changed, a seven-million-year journey through our own heads, packed with vivid stories, groundbreaking science, and thrilling surprises. Discover how memory has almost nothing to do with the past; meditation rewires our synapses; magic mushroom use might be responsible for our intelligence; climate accounts for linguistic diversity; and how autism teaches us hugely positive lessons about our past and future.

Dr Joseph Jebelli’s In Pursuit of Memory was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize and longlisted for the Wellcome. In this, his eagerly awaited second book, he draws on deep insights from neuroscience, evolutionary biology, psychology, and philosophy to guide us through the unexpected changes that shaped our brains. From genetic accidents and environmental forces to historical and cultural advances, he explores how our brain’s evolution turned us into Homo sapiens and beyond.

A single mutation is all it takes.

About Joseph

Joseph Jebelli is a neuroscientist and writer. He received a PhD in neuroscience from University College London for his work on the cell biology of neurodegenerative diseases, then worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Washington, Seattle. His much acclaimed first book, In Pursuit of Memory, was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize and longlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize. He lives in London.

Books

How The Mind Changed

How The Mind Changed

In Pursuit of Memory

In Pursuit of Memory

‘How did humans develop such a runaway mind? Joseph Jebelli masterfully illuminates the neurobiological road by which we arrived, and where it might reach from here.’

– DAVID EAGLEMAN, bestselling author of Livewired and The Brain

‘Jebelli writes with aplomb and an eye for arresting asides… This is a slim, accessible and thought-provoking book – a springboard to further reading.’

– THE TIMES

‘An eye for thrilling details makes his approachable, sometimes provocative book an aptly mind-expanding experience for the curious reader.’

– THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

‘In Pursuit of Memory is a remarkable combination of fine writing, personal honesty and deep scientific insight – about a devastating and baffling disease that is becoming all too common. Jebelli weighs up all the evidence and all the theories about Alzheimer’s and even allows us a glimpse of optimism about a cure.’

– MATT RIDLEY, bestselling author of Genome and How Innovation Works

‘Joseph Jebelli’s wonderfully clear, vividly readable and comprehensive survey of the search for a cure . . . The world is closing in on Alzheimer’s. There is nowhere left for it to hide.’

– THE TIMES

‘A fascinating quest at the frontiers of neurodegeneration… and a moving, sober and forensic study of the past, present and future of Alzheimer’s from the point of view of a neuroscientist who has lived with the disease, at home and in the lab, from a very young age. The story Jebelli tells illustrates the tantalising mystery of Alzheimer’s: it’s both highly visible yet agonizingly elusive…a timely analysis [that] might give comfort.’

– ROBERT McCRUM, THE OBSERVER

‘Elegant, thorough, compelling and touchingly personal… You should read this book. Each of us ignores Alzheimer’s at our peril. No one wants to think about it. But we must.’

– WALL STREET JOURNAL

‘A personal story and smart scientific thinking reveal the history and humanity behind an epidemic that affects 44 million people worldwide.’

– NEW SCIENTIST

‘An overview of Alzheimer’s that never once sacrifices the human story for the scientific one…sensitive, humanising, and poetic… a masterful overview of the disease.’

– NPR

‘A riveting debut… the very human story of the disease that is now an epidemic.’

– BOOKSELLER, SCIENCE BOOK OF THE MONTH

‘An accessible, diligently researched and well-travelled overview of the disease that is more deadly than cancer. Jebelli poignantly weaves the current science with the tragic stories of affected families, not least his own.’

– SUNDAY TIMES

‘On the surface it’s about Alzheimer’s disease but more than that it demonstrates how challenging it is to understand the brain.’

– Suzanne O’Sullivan, OBSERVER, BOOKS OF THE YEAR

‘The definitive portrait of Alzheimer’s disease – an illness that is rapidly becoming the defining plague of the 21st century.’

– BIG ISSUE

‘An elegant and precise writer, Jebelli follows every lead for a cure with the panache of a detective novelist, giving readers much to hope for despite the devastation Alzheimer’s has left in its wake. Based on his meticulous and wide-ranging research, he makes a convincing argument that Alzheimer’s will be defeated in the decades to come. Jebelli analyzes every facet of Alzheimer’s with personal empathy and scientific rigor, a combination that makes for enthralling reading.’

– KIRKUS, STARRED REVIEW