Book Review: Lessons Learned From the Wayward Brain

Image caption: A neuron (green and white) in an insect brain (blue). Visual: N. Gupta, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH. Article by Elizabeth Landau. Undark – July 16, 2021.

Two new books about neuroscience explore the biology of the brain and the mysteries of mental illness.

When someone close to you develops signs of mental illness, you spring into detective mode. You ask questions, but the answers seem vague and incomplete. You scour your memory for any years-old signs, any warnings that might have seemed innocuous in the moment but raise red flags in retrospect.

You wonder: If anyone had noticed then, would things be different now? And if they refuse to seek treatment, you think, it doesn’t have to be this way — if only you could figure out how to break through.

If this sounds familiar, you might be interested in “Projections: A Story of Human Emotions” by Karl Deisseroth and “A Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are” by Veronica O’Keane, two recent entrants in the vast arena of nonfiction books that explore both the biology of mental illness and how the brain works in general. Both authors use patient stories as conduits to talk about advancements in neuroscience, illuminating the brain’s various structures and the connections between them. […]

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