This review is intended to give a thorough summary of the book for those who are interested in learning about the brain and its connection with the human body, whether that be for personal or scientific reasons.SynopsisThe book starts out by the author giving a simple explanation of the "peripheral space" and that it includes the area around us, as far as we can reach. She begins by introducing the different areas of the brain and how they map to various parts of the body. Later on, the author gets into the topic of why people hear what they want to hear and see what they want to see--explaining that the body actually creates maps based on filters which change incoming inputs in order to output signals or the inputs that the maps expect. She describes how this may be the reasons behind the illusions that people fall for, as what people see are only what they expect and not always what is actually there; this can actually lead to a variety of potential problems such as anorexia, where one may seem to be overweight in their minds while contrastingly being healthy. On the other hand, utilizing mental training of body map expectations alongside with physical practice is what helps martial arts professionals adept in their field. The author also made a point to see that congruent mental plus physical training is proved to be much prosperous than training performing mental or physical training alone. During the middle of the book, the author takes another direction focusing on what might happen if the body maps mess up or degrade. Five and Six explore what happens when body maps blur or break. Near the end of the book, the author starts to discuss where exactly the body maps end and how they can exclude different things that are not actually a part of the body. She also discusses the insula and how it is the biggest in humans, which may be the reason behind our emotions.Overall Writing StyleThe whole book is definitely thought-provoking; the whole time I read it, I kept wondering to myself whether what I was reading was true or whether I might be able to apply this knowledge to myself and will it actually make a difference. I definitely really liked that--books that can gage your interest by making you think about reality and about yourself and your body and its maps. The author does a very good job explaining this incredible topic though a focused outline. Her writing style was definitely something great as she was able to clearly express her thoughts, knowledge and opinions in a clear and simplistic manner; however, there is a downside to this as I believe she probably was not able to technically explain a lot of the processes and information translation that takes place while creating and executing body maps. So if you are in search of a book detailing out the technicalities of the body maps, then this may not be the right choice; in addition to this point, the author also does not cite any of her resources that she used to gather the scientific information presented, which may have some people doubt the legitimacy of what is presented, but this is not a scientific journal so I was fine with that.Content ReviewI always figured that there was some obvious connection between the brain and the motor system, but I never thought (and am still in a bit of skepticism) that this connection can extend past simply the body parts one can control and into the peripheral area around each one of us. The author definitely does a very good job explaining this; however, the only reason I am skeptical is because none of her statements were cited, but she does apologize in the epilogue to the readers for that. She did a good job explaining the peripheral area as well as neuroplasticity and body maps, surprisingly. Interestingly, your body reached out past your hands or body to even tools that you might using or activities that you might be doing and your brain uses the feedback received from this and starts to create various maps based on the type of tool you are using or activity you are doing. I definitely think Blakeslee gave a very useful insight to how the brain works, how it creates maps, and how we can utilize and take advantage of these maps. In addition to easily communicating to the readers how the brain map and body connection works, the author also goes into a decent amount of detail about different things that might happen if the body maps mess up. These problems can stem from cultural problems, emotions, the environment, or family and can include disorders such as anorexia and synesthesia. The author also mentions various neuroanatomy and their functions when it comes to mind and body mapping, and whether you are familiar with parts of the brain, such as the neurons and cortex, or not, you will be able to clearly understand how they tie into creating body maps. I really liked the way she ended the book, leaving the readers to question your perception, awareness, and the existence of the mind.RecommendationOverall, I found this book to not only be very interesting but also enjoyable to read. In many cases, being able to spread a high level of information through simple novel writing is very difficult to successfully pull off.I definitely think that if you have ever had any interest in how the mind works or why your body can behave it does or how the mind and body work together, then you should definitely read this book. You will learn so much about how your brain can map your body and the space around you and the meaning of your space or your bubble. This book will definitely make you appreciate your mind and body to much greater extent.