The strange title I gave this post is the title of the book I just finished. It’s by a neurologist and tells strange clinical stories of the odd things that neurological disorders can do to you. There were some pretty interesting, funny and sad ones.
1. The man who only remembers things before 1945 and thinks he’s 20 when he’s an old old man.
2. The man who thought his wife was a hat had lost the ability to process faces. They meant nothing to them. He couldn’t even tell you it was a face.
Sadly, I can’t really recommend this book to people who aren’t nurses or doctors. This book is written in such a way where the reader is expected to have a certain amount of knowledge about neurological disorders and the function of the brain and if you don’t, I think you’d be pretty confused.
I don’t have any great quotes since doctors telling case study stories don’t often say quotable things. I will instead, distill for you the lesson that I took from this book which is, I’m sure, not the intended lesson: The brain is a giant jumble of who knows what and we have no idea why things happen to it or what causes things to happen to it but if things happen to it you’re going to be an absolute nut job. Protect the brain. Don’t bounce it around. Don’t let anyone touch your head. Try not to think too hard about anything that is/will/could happen to you. Wear a helmet.
Yep, pretty sure this wasn’t the intended lesson. But, after reading a book like this, you start to wonder if it’s possible not to have a neurological disorder. Luckily, I have yet to mistake Meghan or Lisa for a hat, so I think I’m okay so far. I’ll keep you posted.
