Patient Hm

Author : Luke Dittrich
Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 067964380X
Total Pages : 480 pages
Book Rating : 4.07/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Patient H.M. written by Luke Dittrich and published by Random House. This book was released on 2016-08-09 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Oliver Sacks meets Stephen King”* in this propulsive, haunting journey into the life of the most studied human research subject of all time, the amnesic known as Patient H.M. For readers of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks comes a story that has much to teach us about our relentless pursuit of knowledge. Winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • New York Post • NPR • The Economist • New York • Wired • Kirkus Reviews • BookPage In 1953, a twenty-seven-year-old factory worker named Henry Molaison—who suffered from severe epilepsy—received a radical new version of the then-common lobotomy, targeting the most mysterious structures in the brain. The operation failed to eliminate Henry’s seizures, but it did have an unintended effect: Henry was left profoundly amnesic, unable to create long-term memories. Over the next sixty years, Patient H.M., as Henry was known, became the most studied individual in the history of neuroscience, a human guinea pig who would teach us much of what we know about memory today. Patient H.M. is, at times, a deeply personal journey. Dittrich’s grandfather was the brilliant, morally complex surgeon who operated on Molaison—and thousands of other patients. The author’s investigation into the dark roots of modern memory science ultimately forces him to confront unsettling secrets in his own family history, and to reveal the tragedy that fueled his grandfather’s relentless experimentation—experimentation that would revolutionize our understanding of ourselves. Dittrich uses the case of Patient H.M. as a starting point for a kaleidoscopic journey, one that moves from the first recorded brain surgeries in ancient Egypt to the cutting-edge laboratories of MIT. He takes readers inside the old asylums and operating theaters where psychosurgeons, as they called themselves, conducted their human experiments, and behind the scenes of a bitter custody battle over the ownership of the most important brain in the world. Patient H.M. combines the best of biography, memoir, and science journalism to create a haunting, endlessly fascinating story, one that reveals the wondrous and devastating things that can happen when hubris, ambition, and human imperfection collide. “An exciting, artful blend of family and medical history.”—The New York Times *Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Author : Suzanne Corkin
Publisher : Penguin UK
ISBN 13 : 0141931566
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.62/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Permanent Present Tense written by Suzanne Corkin and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2013-05-15 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Permanent Present Tense Suzanne Corkin tells the incredible story of the amnesiac Henry Gustave Molaison - known only as H.M. until his death in 2008 - and what he taught medical science, neuroscience and the world. In 1953, at the age of twenty-seven, Molaison underwent an experimental psychosurgical procedure intended to alleviate his debilitating epilepsy. The outcome was devastating - when Molaison awoke he was unable to form new memories and for the rest of his life would be trapped in the moment. But Molaison's tragedy would prove a gift to humanity, illuminating functions and structures of the brain and revolutionizing the neuroscience of memory. His amnesia became a touchstone for memory impairment in other patients. For nearly five decades, distinguished neuroscientist Suzanne Corkin studied Molaison and oversaw his care. Her account of his life and legacy in Permanent Present Tense reveals an intelligent man who, despite his profound amnesia, was altruistic, friendly, open, and humorous. She explores how his case transformed an entire field, helping to address eternal questions. How do we store and retrieve memories? How do we know that there are different kinds of memory, controlled by different brain circuits? Is our identity bound up with remembering? If you can recall people or events for only a few seconds and cannot learn from the past or plan the future, can you still live a meaningful life? Permanent Present explores the astonishing complexity of the human brain with great clarity, sensitivity, and grace, showing how one man's story challenged our very notions of who we are. Suzanne Corkin is Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience and head of the Corkin Lab at MIT. The author of nine books, Corkin lives in Charlestown, Massachusetts. 'A fascinating account of perhaps the most important case study in the history of neuroscience, rich with implications for our understanding of the brain, our experience, and what it means to be human' Steven Pinker, author of 'How the Mind Works' and 'The Stuff of Thought' 'The best way to understand memory is to witness the ways it can disassemble. In this remarkable book, Suzanne Corkin gifts us with a rare insider's view, revealing how a man who could not remember his immediate past so profoundly influenced science's future' David Eagleman, neuroscientist and New York Times-bestselling author of 'Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain' 'Suzanne Corkin has written an enjoyable and sensitive story of H.M.'s life and what it has taught us about memory. Millions of patients have been the source of advances in science but few are celebrated as individuals. We learn through H.M. that 'Our brains are like hotels with eclectic arrays of guests-homes to different kinds of memory, each of which occupies its own suite of rooms' Philip A. Sharp, Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 'Drawing on her unique investigations over more than four decades, neuroscientist Suzanne Corkin relates the fascinating story of how one severely amnesic man transformed our understanding of mind, brain, and memory' Howard Gardner, author of 'Multiple Intelligences'

Author : Donald G. MacKay
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 1633884074
Total Pages : 402 pages
Book Rating : 4.76/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Remembering written by Donald G. MacKay and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book summarizes the results of a revolution in the scientific understanding of memory, mind, and brain that began in 1953 when a twenty-seven-year-old man underwent brain surgery to remedy life-threatening epilepsy. His name was Henry Moliason, but until recently, the general public knew him only as H.M. Henry's operation inadvertently destroyed his hippocampus, the brain's engine for forming new memories. He suffered catastrophic memory failures for the rest of his life. Henry soon became the most studied amnesiac patient in the history of the world and also the most famous. Dr. MacKay worked with Henry for fifty years. This book focuses primarily on the lessons of the still ongoing revolution that Henry inspired for readers wishing to maintain the everyday functioning of their memory, mind, and brain. The research done with Henry has shown how to keep memory sharp at any age and acquire ways to offset the degradation that aging and infrequent use inflict on memory. It has also given scientists insights into the different types of memory-- for example, memories of events, facts, skills, words, and visual experiences-- and the likelihood of forgetting each type of memory. Finally, it has revealed the profound importance of memory- memory decline impacts even such seemingly unrelated aspects of mind as the ability to plan, to comprehend, to detect and correct errors, to appreciate humor, to perceive the visual world, to imagine hypothetical events, and to create novel ideas. Written in an accessible style, this engaging narrative combines personal vignettes into Henry's life with important new findings about memory and brain functions.

Author : Larry R. Squire
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 0080534058
Total Pages : 446 pages
Book Rating : 4.53/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography written by Larry R. Squire and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 1998-10-16 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the second volume of autobiographical essays by distinguished senior neuroscientists; it is part of the first collection of neuroscience writing that is primarily autobiographical. As neuroscience is a young discipline, the contributors to this volume are truly pioneers of scientific research on the brain and spinal cord. This collection of fascinating essays should inform and inspire students and working scientists alike. The general reader interested in science may also find the essays absorbing, as they are essentially human stories about commitment and the pursuit of knowledge. The contributors included in this volume are: Lloyd M. Beidler, Arvid Carlsson, Donald R. Griffin, Roger Guillemin, Ray Guillery, Masao Ito. Martin G. Larrabee, Jerome Lettvin, Paul D. MacLean, Brenda Milner, Karl H. Pribram, Eugene Roberts and Gunther Stent. Key Features * Second volume in a collection of neuroscience writing that is primarily autobiographical * Contributors are senior neuroscientists who are pioneers in the field

Author : Institute of Medicine
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309068371
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.76/5 ( download)

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Download or read book To Err Is Human written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-03-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts estimate that as many as 98,000 people die in any given year from medical errors that occur in hospitals. That's more than die from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDSâ€"three causes that receive far more public attention. Indeed, more people die annually from medication errors than from workplace injuries. Add the financial cost to the human tragedy, and medical error easily rises to the top ranks of urgent, widespread public problems. To Err Is Human breaks the silence that has surrounded medical errors and their consequenceâ€"but not by pointing fingers at caring health care professionals who make honest mistakes. After all, to err is human. Instead, this book sets forth a national agendaâ€"with state and local implicationsâ€"for reducing medical errors and improving patient safety through the design of a safer health system. This volume reveals the often startling statistics of medical error and the disparity between the incidence of error and public perception of it, given many patients' expectations that the medical profession always performs perfectly. A careful examination is made of how the surrounding forces of legislation, regulation, and market activity influence the quality of care provided by health care organizations and then looks at their handling of medical mistakes. Using a detailed case study, the book reviews the current understanding of why these mistakes happen. A key theme is that legitimate liability concerns discourage reporting of errorsâ€"which begs the question, "How can we learn from our mistakes?" Balancing regulatory versus market-based initiatives and public versus private efforts, the Institute of Medicine presents wide-ranging recommendations for improving patient safety, in the areas of leadership, improved data collection and analysis, and development of effective systems at the level of direct patient care. To Err Is Human asserts that the problem is not bad people in health careâ€"it is that good people are working in bad systems that need to be made safer. Comprehensive and straightforward, this book offers a clear prescription for raising the level of patient safety in American health care. It also explains how patients themselves can influence the quality of care that they receive once they check into the hospital. This book will be vitally important to federal, state, and local health policy makers and regulators, health professional licensing officials, hospital administrators, medical educators and students, health caregivers, health journalists, patient advocatesâ€"as well as patients themselves. First in a series of publications from the Quality of Health Care in America, a project initiated by the Institute of Medicine

Author : Oliver Sacks
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0593466683
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.81/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat written by Oliver Sacks and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2021-09-14 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his most extraordinary book, the bestselling author of Awakenings and "poet laureate of medicine” (The New York Times) recounts the case histories of patients inhabiting the compelling world of neurological disorders, from those who are no longer able to recognize common objects to those who gain extraordinary new skills. Featuring a new preface, Oliver Sacks’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat tells the stories of individuals afflicted with perceptual and intellectual disorders: patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; whose limbs seem alien to them; who lack some skills yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents. In Dr. Sacks’s splendid and sympathetic telling, his patients are deeply human and his tales are studies of struggles against incredible adversity. A great healer, Sacks never loses sight of medicine’s ultimate responsibility: “the suffering, afflicted, fighting human subject.”

Author : Michael D. Lemonick
Publisher : Anchor
ISBN 13 : 1101872535
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Perpetual Now written by Michael D. Lemonick and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2018-01-16 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the aftermath of a shattering illness, Lonni Sue Johnson—a renowned artist who regularly produced covers for The New Yorker, a gifted musician, a skilled amateur pilot, and a joyful presence to all who knew her—lives in a "perpetual now." Lonni Sue has almost no memories of the past and a nearly complete inability to form new ones. Remarkably, however, she retains much of the intellect and artistic skills from her previous life. As such, Lonni Sue's story has become part of a much larger scientific narrative—one that is currently challenging traditional wisdom about how human memory and awareness are stored in the brain. In this probing, compassionate, and illuminating book, award-winning science journalist Michael D. Lemonick tells the unique drama of Lonni Sue Johnson's day-to-day life and explains the groundbreaking revelations about memory, learning, and consciousness her unique case has uncovered. This is his nuanced and intimate look of the science that lies at the very heart of human nature.

Author : Keith Frankish
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 0521691907
Total Pages : 349 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Cambridge Handbook of Cognitive Science written by Keith Frankish and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-07-19 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authoritative, up-to-date survey of the state of the art in cognitive science, written for non-specialists.

Author : Hilde Østby
Publisher : Greystone Books Ltd
ISBN 13 : 1771643455
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.50/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Adventures in Memory written by Hilde Østby and published by Greystone Books Ltd. This book was released on 2018-10-09 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A novelist and a neuroscientist uncover the secrets of human memory. What makes us remember? Why do we forget? And what, exactly, is a memory? With playfulness and intelligence, Adventures in Memory answers these questions and more, offering an illuminating look at one of our most fascinating faculties. The authors—two Norwegian sisters, one a neuropsychologist and the other an acclaimed writer—skillfully interweave history, research, and exceptional personal stories, taking readers on a captivating exploration of the evolving understanding of the science of memory from the Renaissance discovery of the hippocampus—named after the seahorse it resembles—up to the present day. Mixing metaphor with meta-analysis, they embark on an incredible journey: “diving for seahorses” for a memory experiment in Oslo fjord, racing taxis through London, and “time-traveling” to the future to reveal thought-provoking insights into remembering and forgetting. Along the way they interview experts of all stripes, from the world’s top neuroscientists to famous novelists, to help explain how memory works, why it sometimes fails, and what we can do to improve it. Filled with cutting-edge research and nimble storytelling, the result is a charming—and memorable—adventure through human memory.

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780916110000
Total Pages : 64 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Brain Facts written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: