Our Brains, Our Selves: WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRIVEDI SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE

Front Cover
Canongate Books, Feb 13, 2025 - Psychology - 288 pages

'Powerful' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Thought-provoking' NEW SCIENTIST
'Fascinating' DAILY MAIL

WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRIVEDI SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE
A FINANCIAL TIMES, THE TIMES AND GUARDIAN BEST SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR

What makes us who we are?

Through the stories of seven of his patients, acclaimed Oxford University neurologist Masud Husain shows us how our brains create, change and can even restore our identity. Husain introduces us to a man who ran out of words, a woman who lost all inhibitions and another who believed she was having an affair with the man who was really her husband.

These compelling human dramas reveal how our identities are created by different functions within the brain. It will ignite new ideas about who we really are – and why we act in the ways we do.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Preface
A little miracle
The man who ran out of words
Losing my memory?
Visitors in the night
Neglecting me quietly
The woman who didnt care
Is that your hand or mine?
The self and identity
Acknowledgements
Index
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Our Brains, Our Selves: What a Neurologist's Patients Taught Him about the Brain
Masud Husain
No preview available - 2025
Our Brains, Our Selves: What a Neurologist's Patients Taught Him about the Brain
Masud Husain
No preview available - 2026
Our Brains, Our Selves: What a Neurologist's Patients Taught Him about the Brain
Masud Husain
No preview available - 2025
View all »

Common terms and phrases

Alan alright Alzheimer's disease amyloid Anna Anna's apathy apparently apraxia asked basal ganglia become behaviour belong brain disorders brain scan clinic cognitive functions condition considered consulting room crucial cyst David developed diagnosis difficult doctor dopamine drug dysfunction episodic memory example explained eyes friends frontal lobe frontotemporal dementia going hand happened hippocampus impaired Kelvin Lewy bodies looked lose mean Michael motivation neurodegenerative neurological neurologists neurons neuroscience neuroscientists nodded normal objects Oxford parietal cortex parietal lobe Parkinson's disease patients personal identity primary visual cortex problem psychologists response reveal right parietal rivastigmine Sarah seemed seizure semantic dementia semantic memory sensory short-term memory side slowly smiled social identity someone sometimes Steve stroke suffered sure symptoms tell temporal lobe Thank things thought trazodone Trish turned understand visual field visual hallucinations Wahid Winston words worried Yasmin

About the author (2025)

Masud Husain is Professor of Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford and Professorial Fellow at New College, Oxford. Unusually, he works across departments of neuroscience, brain imaging and psychology to understand cognitive functions in both healthy people and patients with brain disorders. Masud is Editor-in-Chief of Brain, a leading international journal of neurology. First established in 1878, Brain is widely considered to be one of the most influential publications in the field, with its monthly editorials being a key source of authoritative perspectives.

@MasudHusain | masudhusain.org

Bibliographic information

TitleOur Brains, Our Selves: WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRIVEDI SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE
AuthorMasud Husain
PublisherCanongate Books, 2025
ISBN183726032X, 9781837260324
Length288 pages
Subjects › 

Psychology / Neuropsychology
  
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