April 13, 2025
Neurosurgeon Dr. Theodore Schwartz argues in his 2024 book, Gray Matters, that your brain defines you. He contends that “soul” and “mind” are English language constructs without scientific foundation.
Millions of neurons, the brain’s nerve cells, transmit messages that store a person’s memories, knowledge, habits, and sensory details. These clusters of neurons form different lobes or regions of the brain, each responsible for specific functions such as vision, hearing, language comprehension, and pain perception.
I’m fascinated by how neurosurgeons chart brain functions using electrodes and electrical pulses in individual lobes. For example, stimulating one lobe with an electrode can cause leg movement or relieve a cramp. By repeating this procedure, neurosurgeons create a detailed brain map, akin to a world atlas, showing areas connected to sensory and other stimuli.
Personal decisions and actions are shaped by neurons storing one’s identity, history, and knowledge. People can broaden these factors by learning, traveling, and having new experiences.
This thought process is reminiscent of artificial intelligence (AI). AI can solve problems and generate responses based on information stored in its memory, derived from sources like the Internet. Our decision-making processes mirror AI’s use of available data, the data we have stored by neurons in our brains.
Dr. Schwartz raises a thought-provoking point: Are our decisions truly free, given the information constraints within our brains, limited by what is stored in the neurons in one’s brain? Decisions are often shaped by information from sources such as car salespeople or tour guides. Their insights, combined with our resources and aspirations stored in neurons in our brains, lead us to our conclusion. This prompts the question of whether our decisions are truly free or predetermined.
Dr. Schwartz concludes with a chapter on “brain-computer interfaces” (BCI). This emerging field allows electrodes to connect with the brain, and future technologies may enable wireless connections to the brain. Surgeons implant electrodes in the brain to treat Parkinson’s disease; these electrodes stimulate motor function neurons to improve movement control. While BCI holds promise for enhancing intelligence and physical performance, its early development raises complex ethical questions relative to changing human behavior. Employing BCI in this manner is rather disturbing.
However, Gray Matters encompasses significantly more than just describing brain mapping and discussing free will and BCI. Dr. Schwarz also describes the history of neurosurgery and training neurosurgeons in easy-to-read language, sharing anecdotes about well-known individuals who have undergone neurosurgery resulting from shootings and sports accidents, including JFK and President Biden. He also examines the crucial choices neurosurgeons face in emergencies, choices with potentially severe outcomes.
Neurosurgeons are interesting because they can perform long surgeries without breaks, which requires excellent physical stamina. The author portrays brain surgery as “the ultimate in mindful meditation,” where surgeons ignore all bodily needs, even the urge to use the restroom, until the operation is finished.
Despite its length of five hundred pages on a complex subject, the book targets the general reader. The illustrations show the brain’s parts and neurosurgical instruments. Learning that early practitioners used drills and saws to open skulls for brain access is fascinating. Today, however, computerized equipment has become the standard. I found the book extremely interesting because of what its content portends for our future as individuals. Neurosurgeons will be able to change personality by influencing brain functions. Would these changes be initiated by the individuals themselves, or could some authorities mandate them? These are troublesome questions that need a response.
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