Our Brains, Our Selves: WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRIVEDI SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE
Masud Husain
Feb 2025 · Canongate Books
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WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRIVEDI SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE
What makes us who we are? Is it our background that creates our identities? Or our families, where we lived, how we were brought up and educated, the jobs we’ve held? Yes, all of the above, but more fundamental than any of these is our brain.
This is never more evident than if we lose even a single one of our cognitive abilities. People who develop a brain disorder can find that their identity, their sense of self, can undergo dramatic changes. Through the stories of seven of his patients, acclaimed Oxford University neurologist Masud Husain shows us how our brains create our identity, how that identity can be changed, and sometimes even be restored. Among the people we encounter is a man who ran out of words, a woman who stopped caring what others thought of her and another who, losing her memory, started to believe 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. They show how modern neuroscience can help to explain the changes in behaviour that occur when our perception, attention, memory, motivation or empathy are altered. By understanding how our brains normally function, neurologists are bringing hope to patients with brain disorders and illuminating the human experience. The resulting journey will ignite new ideas about who we really are and why we act in the ways we do.
What makes us who we are? Is it our background that creates our identities? Or our families, where we lived, how we were brought up and educated, the jobs we’ve held? Yes, all of the above, but more fundamental than any of these is our brain.
This is never more evident than if we lose even a single one of our cognitive abilities. People who develop a brain disorder can find that their identity, their sense of self, can undergo dramatic changes. Through the stories of seven of his patients, acclaimed Oxford University neurologist Masud Husain shows us how our brains create our identity, how that identity can be changed, and sometimes even be restored. Among the people we encounter is a man who ran out of words, a woman who stopped caring what others thought of her and another who, losing her memory, started to believe 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. They show how modern neuroscience can help to explain the changes in behaviour that occur when our perception, attention, memory, motivation or empathy are altered. By understanding how our brains normally function, neurologists are bringing hope to patients with brain disorders and illuminating the human experience. The resulting journey will ignite new ideas about who we really are and why we act in the ways we do.
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About the author
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 the most influential publication in the field, with its monthly editorials being a key source of authoritative perspectives.
@MasudHusain | masudhusain.org
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