This volume offers a unique look at the effects of brain damage seen through the eyes of physicians and neuroscientists who have suffered a brain injury or illness. More than 50 personal stories cover a wide range of conditions, including memory, language, and visual disorders, Parkinson's disease, stroke, brain tumor, head injury and epilepsy. An introduction to each of these sections provides background information. Each of the personal accounts, written over the past 120 years, is accompanied by commentary by the author which critically examines the experiences of the sufferer, relating them to current issues in clinical neurology and cognitive neuroscience. An overview chapter summarizes the lessons learned from the various sections. Injured Brains of Medical Minds: Views from Within presents extraordinary stories and provides a highly original introduction to neurology and neuropsychology. It is also an invaluable resource for anyone involved in neurological or neuropsychological research.

There are three aims of Injured Brains of Medical Minds II - Firstly, to provide perceptive accounts of symptoms and the natural history of brain disorders by people specially trained in the art of observing and reporting, thus yielding unique insights into the lived experience of what it is like to be a patient and to be disabled. Secondly, to offer insights into how the brain works, since the articles are written by patients who are uniquely privileged in view of their understanding of the brain. Thirdly, to highlight ways in which the conditions described in the book can be best managed and treated by healthcare professions and carers. Each chapter includes a set of articles by doctors and other healthcare professionals who have suffered a brain injury illness or brain injury, recounting their experience, accompanied by a commentary for each article. The commentaries critically examine the piece, relating it to current issues in neuropsychology, neurology and cognitive neuroscience. Accounts from over 40 individuals cover a wide range of conditions including: stroke, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia, brain tumour, infectious and inflammatory conditions, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy. Summaries are also included of recent books written by doctors/scientists who suffered a brain disorder. This second volume includes totally new articles and commentaries, providing a valuable insight into what it is like to suffer from a brain disorder as well as advice both to patients and practitioners as to what can best be done to improve everyday limitations resulting from a brain disorder. The first volume was published by Oxford University Press in 1997.

Joseph J. Fins calls for a reconsideration of severe brain injury treatment, including discussion of public policy and physician advocacy.

A Caregiver’s Tale When Eve suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm, Madonna Siles, her housemate and friend, too quickly found herself making critical short- and long-term medical care decisions without any help. When the insurance and financial resources ran out and the conventional therapy providers discharged zombie-like Eve to the homecare of a solitary caregiver, both their futures seemed hopeless. Instead of giving up, Madonna Siles drew on life experience and her marketing career to develop a rehabilitation program that harnessed the power of the subconscious mind. Using motivational techniques borrowed from the advertising world, she appealed to Eve’s subconscious to bypass the brain damage and restore normal functioning. In three short years, even the doctors were amazed at Eve’s recovery and return to a near-normal life. Part memoir, part recovery manual, Brain, Heal Thyself is a guidebook for thousands of shell-shocked individuals who suddenly find themselves having to make life and death decisions for those they love. With humor, warmth, and arresting honesty, Madonna Siles’s lively narrative closely examines not only the patient’s recovery, but also the crucial role of caregivers—and the emotional, financial, and practical pressures they face.

A moving account of what happens to a person whose brain has been injured by accident, disease or a stroke - and what a sensitive investigation of these persons can teach us about our own minds.

The dramatic story of one man’s recovery offers new hope to those suffering from concussions and other brain traumas In 1999, Clark Elliott suffered a concussion when his car was rear-ended. Overnight his life changed from that of a rising professor with a research career in artificial intelligence to a humbled man struggling to get through a single day. At times he couldn’t walk across a room, or even name his five children. Doctors told him he would never fully recover. After eight years, the cognitive demands of his job, and of being a single parent, finally became more than he could manage. As a result of one final effort to recover, he crossed paths with two brilliant Chicago-area research-clinicians—one an optometrist emphasizing neurodevelopmental techniques, the other a cognitive psychologist—working on the leading edge of brain plasticity. Within weeks the ghost of who he had been started to re-emerge. Remarkably, Elliott kept detailed notes throughout his experience, from the moment of impact to the final stages of his recovery, astounding documentation that is the basis of this fascinating book. The Ghost in My Brain gives hope to the millions who suffer from head injuries each year, and provides a unique and informative window into the world’s most complex computational device: the human brain.

In the past decade, few subjects at the intersection of medicine and sports have generated as much public interest as sports-related concussions - especially among youth. Despite growing awareness of sports-related concussions and campaigns to educate athletes, coaches, physicians, and parents of young athletes about concussion recognition and management, confusion and controversy persist in many areas. Currently, diagnosis is based primarily on the symptoms reported by the individual rather than on objective diagnostic markers, and there is little empirical evidence for the optimal degree and duration of physical rest needed to promote recovery or the best timing and approach for returning to full physical activity. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture reviews the science of sports-related concussions in youth from elementary school through young adulthood, as well as in military personnel and their dependents. This report recommends actions that can be taken by a range of audiences - including research funding agencies, legislatures, state and school superintendents and athletic directors, military organizations, and equipment manufacturers, as well as youth who participate in sports and their parents - to improve what is known about concussions and to reduce their occurrence. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth finds that while some studies provide useful information, much remains unknown about the extent of concussions in youth; how to diagnose, manage, and prevent concussions; and the short- and long-term consequences of concussions as well as repetitive head impacts that do not result in concussion symptoms. The culture of sports negatively influences athletes' self-reporting of concussion symptoms and their adherence to return-to-play guidance. Athletes, their teammates, and, in some cases, coaches and parents may not fully appreciate the health threats posed by concussions. Similarly, military recruits are immersed in a culture that includes devotion to duty and service before self, and the critical nature of concussions may often go unheeded. According to Sports-Related Concussions in Youth, if the youth sports community can adopt the belief that concussions are serious injuries and emphasize care for players with concussions until they are fully recovered, then the culture in which these athletes perform and compete will become much safer. Improving understanding of the extent, causes, effects, and prevention of sports-related concussions is vitally important for the health and well-being of youth athletes. The findings and recommendations in this report set a direction for research to reach this goal.

Neuroscientists once believed your brain was essentially "locked down" by adulthood. No new cells. No major changes. If you grew up depressed, angry, sad, aggressive, or nasty, you'd be that way for life. And, as you grew older, there'd be nowhere to go but down, as disease, age, or injury wiped out precious, irreplaceable brain cells. But over the past five, ten, twenty years, all that's changed. Using fMRI and PET scanning technology, neuroscientists can now look deep inside the human brain and they've discovered that it's amazingly flexible, resilient, and plastic. Pictures of the Mind: What the New Neuroscience Tells Us About Who We Are shows you what they've discovered and what it means to all of us. Through author Miriam Boleyn-Fitzgerald’s masterfully written narrative and use stunning imagery, you'll watch human brains healing, growing, and adapting to challenges. You'll gain powerful new insights into the interplay between environment and genetics, begin understanding how people can influence their own intellectual abilities and emotional makeup, and understand the latest stunning discoveries about coma and "locked-in" syndrome. You'll learn about the tantalizing discoveries that may lead to cures for traumatic brain injury, stroke, emotional disorders, PTSD, drug addiction, chronic pain, maybe even Alzheimer's. Boleyn-Fitzgerald shows how these discoveries are transforming our very understanding of the "self", from an essentially static entity to one that can learn and change throughout life and even master the art of happiness.

This book brings together narrative approaches and brain injury rehabilitation, in a manner that fosters an understanding of the natural fit between the two. We live our lives by narratives and stories, and brain injury can affect those narratives at many levels, with far-reaching effects. Understanding held narratives is as important as understanding the functional profile of the injury. This book explores ways to create a space for personal stories to emerge and change, whilst balancing theory with practical application. Despite the emphasis of this book on the compatibility of narrative approaches to supporting people following brain injury, it also illustrates the potential for contributing to significant change in the current narratives of brain injury. This book takes a philosophically different approach to many current neuro-rehabilitation topics, and has the potential to make a big impact. It also challenges the reader to question their own position, but does so in an engaging manner which makes it difficult to put down.

“Fascinating. Doidge’s book is a remarkable and hopeful portrait of the endless adaptability of the human brain.”—Oliver Sacks, MD, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat What is neuroplasticity? Is it possible to change your brain? Norman Doidge’s inspiring guide to the new brain science explains all of this and more An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable, and proving that it is, in fact, possible to change your brain. Psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity, its healing powers, and the people whose lives they’ve transformed—people whose mental limitations, brain damage or brain trauma were seen as unalterable. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety disorders successfully treated, and lifelong character traits changed. Using these marvelous stories to probe mysteries of the body, emotion, love, sex, culture, and education, Dr. Doidge has written an immensely moving, inspiring book that will permanently alter the way we look at our brains, human nature, and human potential.