[1] After winning the E. J. Pratt Prize for Poetry at age 19, Doidge was given early recognition by literary critic Northrop Frye, who wrote that his work was "really remarkable... haunting and memorable.
[6] More recently, Doidge published an important and critical article discussing and examining the impact the COVID-19 narrative has had on scientific development of COVID treatments and management in addition to policy.
He has been sole author of academic papers on neuroplasticity, human limitations and notions of perfectibility, psychotherapy treatment outcomes, dreams about animals, Schizoid personality disorder and trauma,[8] psychoanalysis, and neuroscience, such as a popular article he wrote in 2006 for Maclean's magazine in which he argues, using empirical studies, that understanding unconscious thought is important in modern-day psychiatry and psychology.
[10] Doidge's first book, The Brain that Changes Itself (2007), was an international bestseller and is widely recognized to have introduced the concept of neuroplasticity to broader scientific and lay audiences alike.
It was a New York Times bestseller and also received praise from both lay and specialized readership, with Ramachandran stating that it is “a treasure trove of the author's own deep insights and a clear bright light of optimism shines through every page.”[19] The psychiatrist Stephen Porges wrote that it was “paradigm challenging.
She argues that Doidge's mechanisms of change in his book are "vague" and do not meet scientific standards, writing: "Most of the treatments he describes rely on the brain's capacity to rewire and reorganize, activating 'dormant' areas here, quieting 'noise' there, building new connections through repeated micro-practices, sometimes in combination with traditional rehab.
In 2008, Doidge co-wrote an award-winning documentary based on The Brain That Changes Itself for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in which he presents case studies and examples of neuroplasticity described in the book.