The Performance Cortex: How Neuroscience Is Redefining Athletic Genius

Zach Schonbrun

abr 2018 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrado por Thomas Vincent Kelly

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Athletic genius explained. A groundbreaking new perspective on the science of elite sporting performance.

Why couldn't Michael Jordan, master athlete that he was, hit a baseball? Why can't modern robotics come close to replicating the dexterity of a five-year-old? Why do good quarterbacks always seem to know where their receivers are?

In this deeply researched book, Sports and Business reporter Zach Schonbrun explores what actually drives human movement and its spectacular potential. The groundbreaking work of two neuroscientists in Major League Baseball is only the beginning. Schonbrun traces the fascinating history of motor research and details how new investigations in the brain are helping explain the extraordinary skills of talented performers like Stephen Curry, Tom Brady, Serena Williams, and Lionel Messi; as well as musical virtuosos, dancers, rock climbers, race-car drivers, and more.

Whether it is timing a 95-mph fastball or reaching for a coffee mug, movement requires extraordinary computation that many take for granted--until now. The Performance Cortex ushers in a new way of thinking about the athletic gifts we strain to see in our cavernous arenas. It's not about the million-dollar arm anymore. It's about the million-dollar brain.

*Includes a Bonus a PDF with Charts and Graphs

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Zach Schonbrun  is a senior editor for business & technology at The Week and has been a longstanding contributor to the New York Times. He has also written for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Fast Company, ESPN The Magazine, Newsday, The Washington Post, SB Nation, VICE, and other outlets. He is the author of One Great Shoe, which was selected as one of the best Kindle Singles of the year in 2015. He lives in New York City with his wife and their son.