{"id":15875,"date":"2021-02-16T17:58:07","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T17:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/?p=15875"},"modified":"2025-07-01T16:19:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T16:19:32","slug":"the-brains-behind-the-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/2021\/02\/16\/the-brains-behind-the-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"The Brains Behind the Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Article by Allison Ebner | Photos courtesy of Lucia O’Neill<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the second in a series of articles highlighting the winners of the second annual<\/span> Seth Trotter Book Collecting Contest<\/span><\/a>, hosted by the Friends of the University of Delaware Library. UD students can submit their applications for this year\u2019s contest by June 1, 2021.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Every book tells a story, and those stories can help us understand our own.<\/span><\/p>\n

Six years ago, Lucia O’Neill, now a sophomore in the Honors College, felt overcome by someone else\u2019s thoughts. \u201cThoughts flashed around my mind, fierce and untamed,\u201d Lucia said. \u201cBut they did not feel like my thoughts. They felt foreign, nagging me to fixate\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was that night when Lucia first learned she may have inherited obsessive compulsive disorder, and when a new determination awoke within her to understand everything about the brain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not long after that evening, she found herself in the psychology section of Barnes and Noble, where a book with a bright yellow cover called out to her. Positioning the mind as a civil war, <\/span>Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain<\/span><\/em> by David Eagleman resonated deeply with Lucia from its very first chapter, titled \u201cThere\u2019s Someone in My Head, but It\u2019s Not Me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The thought-provoking book delved into the brain with the depth and exactness Lucia sought. With this new knowledge, she had new questions. In her quest to keep learning, her collection was born.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

A few of the titles from Lucia O’Neill’s collection.<\/p><\/div>\n

Her growing collection of books on the brain and behavior wasn\u2019t just filled with titles that sat on her shelves. She read each book, ready and willing to apply what she learned to her own life in order to best understand the human brain.<\/span><\/p>\n

From <\/span>The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life<\/span> and Business<\/span><\/em> by Charles Duhigg, Lucia came to understand why habits are important by understanding her own. She could see the three parts of a habit delineated by Duhigg\u2014cue, routine and reward\u2014in her experiences dancing ballet and playing the piano. She could also see habit\u2019s role in her mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs someone who had evidently struggled with compulsive circular thinking, I began to recognize that a habit had taken hold of me, triggered by unsettling intrusive thoughts; alleviated by orderly, systematic thinking; and rewarded by the feeling I was defeating the invasion,\u201d Lucia explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Malcolm Gladwell\u2019s <\/span>Outliers<\/span><\/em>, she reflected on his 10,000-hour rule\u2014the idea that anyone can become an expert with 10,000 hours of practice\u2014and how it requires the implementation of habits, self-control, and arbitrary circumstances. While skeptical of Gladwell\u2019s conclusions, Lucia could still consider how particular incidents shaped her life.<\/span><\/p>\n

If she hadn\u2019t had two reparative hip surgeries as a result of years of dance\u2014surgeries that left her unable to dance for months\u2014she wouldn\u2019t have joined her high school\u2019s musical and met one of her role models. If it weren\u2019t for her OCD, she may never have begun to write music as a means of catharsis. \u201cI used to loathe practicing, but when my mind seemed to erupt in 2015, I sat down [at the piano] and started playing for myself,\u201d Lucia said.<\/span><\/p>\n

As her knowledge and collection expanded, so did her interests. With a broader understanding of the brain, Lucia, who is majoring in cognitive science and music, naturally shifted to topics that spoke to the brain and creativity. \u201cA possible link between my blazing brain and my fervor for music kindled a new kind of curiosity in me: How did creativity work in the brain?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In search of these answers, Lucia turned to books such as <\/span>Musicophilia<\/span><\/em> by Oliver Sacks and <\/span>This Is Your Brain on Music<\/span><\/em> by Daniel Levitin, which combine science, music and, at times, philosophy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through reading these books, she gained a better understanding of her initial question while exploring tactics that helped her grow as a musician.<\/span><\/p>\n

After reading <\/span>Musicophilia<\/span><\/em>, which Lucia described as \u201carguably the most captivating book on music ever written,\u201d her interest was piqued by questions around when the brain is most suited for artistic experiences and whether creativity is more abundant in a physically tired brain. With <\/span>This Is Your Brain on Music<\/span><\/em>, she delved into topics like the role of genetics and environment in musical ability alongside the idea that, regardless of talent, those who practice most are better.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her desire to learn about the brain goes beyond her own personal interests, though. \u201cI want to understand the human person,\u201d Lucia said. \u201cWhen you can recognize [behavioral] patterns in yourself, then you can start to recognize the patterns in other people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Lucia O’Neill and a sample of her collection.<\/p><\/div>\n

This prevailing interest is the inspiration for the next likely expansion of Lucia\u2019s collection: the decisions and behaviors of leaders throughout history.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the future, I see my collection going toward history, in a sense,\u201d she explained. \u201cI want to now connect my interest in the brain and behavior to understand leaders in the past, decisions in the past, and why things came to be. Then, hopefully, get a better understanding of where things are now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While her knowledge about the brain and behavior is more comprehensive than the average person\u2019s, talking to others about what she\u2019s learned and applied to her own life has proven to be the most rewarding part of her collecting journey.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people that I\u2019ve spoken to who have not studied the brain still find the information very interesting,\u201d Lucia said. \u201cHuman functions and tendencies, I think they are pretty universal interests.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

These interests remain at the core of her collection, while her growing knowledge and expanding interests shape its evolution. It\u2019s a collection she sees as infinite, filled with unending possibilities to learn more about the brain, its power and its implications.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do not expect to ever know it all, but I want to explore and understand as much as possible,\u201d Lucia admitted. \u201cThere is a universe to uncover, and I have only just begun my inquiry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Seth Trotter Book Collecting Contest<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Lucia O\u2019Neill is one of three winners of the Friends of the University of Delaware Library\u2019s 2020 Seth Trotter Book Collecting Contest. The other winners are <\/span>Edward Benner<\/span><\/a> and Eileen Symons. The Friends created the contest to encourage reading and research, the creation of personal libraries, and an appreciation of printed or illustrated works for pleasure and scholarship among UD undergraduate and graduate students. Students can learn more about the 2021 Seth Trotter Book Collecting Contest, including how to submit their applications, <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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