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veRGe1421

If you have an interest in psychology, the brain, and/or neuroscience-

I would highly recommend checking out Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind, by Sandra Blakeslee and V. S. Ramachandran. Fascinating book and super interesting to read. He recounts how his work with patients who have bizarre neurological disorders has shed new light on the deep architecture of the brain, and what these findings tell us about who we are, how we construct our body image, why we laugh or become depressed, why we may believe in God, how we make decisions, deceive ourselves and dream, perhaps even why we're so clever at philosophy, music and art. Some of his most notable cases are explored. Ramachandran is well-known and has a lot of popular readings, if you enjoy this work or the subject in general. I am not personally familiar with Sandra Blakeslee or any of her other works.

Another favorite from Ramachandran is The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human - where he "investigates strange, unforgettable cases―from patients who believe they are dead to sufferers of phantom limb syndrome. With a storyteller’s eye for compelling case studies and a researcher’s flair for new approaches to age-old questions, Ramachandran tackles the most exciting and controversial topics in brain science, including language, creativity, and consciousness."

Secondly, another great author on this subject, who is also prolific and well-known/respected in neuroscience, would be Oliver Sacks. He may be more popular even, as he is/was both a great scientist, but also a great narrative storyteller. He has a lot of great books published, and they are very easy to read. It's a scientific subject, but a very human perspective in discussing the cases and his patients.

If you like this subject matter and want to dig into such but with a narrative format, rather than more textbook-esque information - check out Ramachandran, as well as Oliver Sacks' books. They are incredible really, and they both have many popular books on varying topics in the field. I have read more Sacks myself, so I'll list some of my favorites here as well:

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat - "tells the stories of individuals afflicted with fantastic perceptual and intellectual aberrations: patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; who are stricken with violent tics and grimaces or who shout involuntary obscenities; whose limbs have become alien; who have been dismissed as retarded yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents."

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain - "In Musicophilia, he shows us a variety of what he calls “musical misalignments.” Among them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to become a pianist at the age of forty-two; an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; people with “amusia,” to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans; and a man whose memory spans only seven seconds-for everything but music."

Hallucinations - "To many people, hallucinations imply madness, but in fact they are a common part of the human experience. These sensory distortions range from the shimmering zigzags of a visual migraine to powerful visions brought on by fever, injuries, drugs, sensory deprivation, exhaustion, or even grief. Hallucinations doubtless lie behind many mythological traditions, literary inventions, and religious epiphanies. Drawing on his own experiences, a wealth of clinical cases from among his patients, and famous historical examples ranging from Dostoevsky to Lewis Carroll, the legendary neurologist Oliver Sacks investigates the mystery of these sensory deceptions: what they say about the working of our brains, how they have influenced our folklore and culture, and why the potential for hallucination is present in us all."

tl;dr - if you like psychology, the brain, and/or neuroscience with the human-element of narrative storytelling emphasized as the medium to explore such, check out books by V.S. Ramachandran and Oliver Sacks. Some favorites of mine are listed above :)

Posted Jun 4, 2019, 3:30 PM UTC · edited

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