Why do we feel the way we feel? How do our thoughts and emotions affect
our health? Are our bodies and minds distinct from each other or do they
function together as parts of an interconnected system? In her
groundbreaking book "Molecules of Emotion, " Candace Pert -- a
neuroscientist whose extraordinary career began with her 1972 discovery
of the opiate receptor -- provides startling and decisive answers to
these and other challenging questions that scientists and philosophers
have pondered for centuries.
Her pioneering research on how the chemicals inside our bodies form a
dynamic information network, linking mind and body, is not only
provocative, it is revolutionary. By establishing the biomolecular basis
for our emotions and explaining these new scientific developments in a
clear and accessible way, Pert empowers us to understand ourselves, our
feelings, and the connection between our minds and our bodies -- or
bodyminds -- in ways we could never have imagined before. From
explaining how there is a scientific basis to popular wisdom about
phenomena such as 'gut feelings, ' to making recent breakthroughs in
cancer and AIDS research comprehensible, Pert provides us with an
intellectual adventure of the highest order.
The journey Pert takes us on in "Molecules of Emotion" is one of
personal as well as scientific discovery. Woven into her lucid
explanations of the science underlying her work is the remarkable story
of how, faced with personal and professional obstacles, she has grown as
a woman and a mother and how her personal and spiritual development has
made possible her remarkable scientific career. "Molecules of Emotion"
is a landmark work, full of insight and wisdom andpossessing that rare
power to change the way we see the world and ourselves. Pert's striking
conclusion that it is our emotions and their biological components that
establish the crucial link between mind and body does not, however,
serve to repudiate modern medicine's gains; rather, her findings
complement existing techniques by offering a new scientific
understanding of the power of our minds and our feelings to affect our
health and well-being.
