![]() ![]() I also love the story of Phineas Gage, the railroad worker who had a spike blown through his skull. Memories are so much a part of who we are, deep down, that life without them seems impossible - yet they live on, for decades! And in many ways, despite this enormous deficit, you can relate to them. ![]() I’m also fascinated by the people like Clive Wearing or H.M. The woman who can’t feel fear anymore (because of damage to her amygdala) fascinates me - it would be so liberating and fun in some ways, and so dangerous in others. And I realized that you could probably write a whole book about the greatest injuries in neuroscience history and what they taught neuroscientists about the inner workings of the brain.ĪI: You include so many wonderful characters in the book. But it turns out that not only are both stories true, they reveal a lot about how the brain works. Both of the injuries seemed impossible to me. Then a few weeks later, I heard about a woman who suffered an injury to a different part of her brain and lost the ability to speak - but she could still swear just fine. Because a few years ago, I was reading about someone who suffered an injury to one specific part of his brain, and his behavior changed in a bizarre way afterward: he suddenly couldn’t recognize animals. Sam Kean: Honestly, it was disbelief - or doubt, skepticism, mistrust, whatever you want to call it. ![]()
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