Word of Basse has spread around the town. Now, whenever he goes out in public, people make him jump. “Everyone knows me, it happens everywhere,” he says. “They’ll do it when I’m out at the shops. Sometimes I just say to my wife, ‘You go get the food, I can’t face it!’”
When Basse is in a restaurant he has to sit in the corner. “That way, none of the waiters will need to tap me on the shoulder.”
“Does it happen even when you’re expecting it?” I say. “Like if I suddenly threw my arms up in the air?” I make the action after a short pause.
“Arghhh!” Basse’s whole body instantly flies out of his chair, his feet kick the floor and send the chair backward into the glass. He thrashes his arms about as he lets out a huge, deep scream. I thought I’d given him enough time to anticipate my sudden movement, but I can see his heart pounding though his sweater as he catches his breath. He looks, just for an instant, exactly like the old lumberjack in the La-Z-Boy chair. And then his face quickly crinkles into laughter. “Oh my, and here I thought I was safe with you!”
AS I GET READY to leave the office, I remember to ask Basse whether he is okay with me using his full name in my book, or whether he wishes to remain anonymous.
“It’s okay to use it,” he says. “Except Basse is just my nickname.”
“Oh yeah?”
“My real name is Hans Christian.”
My heart does a little skip of its own. “So your full name is Hans Christian Andersen?”
“Yes.” He laughs again. “I’m like a little fairy tale.”
It seemed oddly appropriate.
Hans Christian Andersen was famous for telling wonderful tales of extraordinary beings whose actions would teach us something important about ourselves. It seemed like the ideal metaphor for what I had been trying to do all year.
* * *
Some scientists would argue that focusing on single people and the stories of their lives is far too subjective a way to teach us anything about the brain. I disagree. True, science prides itself on explaining the parts of our life that can be measured and tested. Objectivity is, rightly so, the backbone of science. But I’d argue that subjectivity is its flesh and blood. Each is necessary, but not sufficient alone. Alexander Luria called this individual portraiture “romantic science,” a term that I would like to borrow. Let’s inject a little more romance into the study of the brain—it may be the only way we will ever form a complete picture of what it has to offer.
I hope you’ve learned a little something about your own brain from the stories in this book. And when I say your brain, I really mean you. Because all too often we think about our brains as being somehow separate from ourselves. This is wrong. Waking up in the morning, feeling love for our children, searching for the answer to a desperately difficult problem—all of the things that make us who we are—are just functions of the activity whizzing through the squishy substance in our skull. All of our values, our emotions, our ideas are not, as Descartes would have it, floating around immaterial, they are all rooted in biology. Despite having worked with neuroscientists for my whole adult life, I have never fully appreciated that until now. It took seeing with my own eyes just how incredibly strange one’s life can get when that activity is misplaced for me to truly understand that my brain and I are not two different things. We are our brains.
We don’t have any adequate explanations yet for why our brain knows about itself. We so often eat whole meals without ever really tasting, arrive home without ever considering a direction, perhaps even spend whole days without really giving any thought to what we are doing. Why doesn’t the brain just get on with the business of eating, fighting and procreating without the “me” that pops up to keep stock? Even with the advent of higher-resolution scanners, genetic manipulation and top-of-the-range medical technology, it’s not a question we’ll likely answer anytime soon. Our inability to understand our own minds is the price we pay for the ability to question them in the first place. Back in that first lesson with Clive, I was told by my professor that “if the brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t.”
It goes without saying that we should relish the lives that it creates—particularly those that aren’t “normal.” The people who feature in this book are extraordinary, but my hope is that you have marveled at their humanity, rather than their eccentricity, that you have been surprised at the things we have in common, rather than the ways we are different. They have taught me that we each have an extraordinary brain. We may not have a memory as good as Bob’s, but we can all reach back into our pasts and furnish our minds with millions of special moments. We may not hear music that doesn’t exist or see colorful auras floating in the air, but we do hallucinate—our entire reality relies on it. We may never feel another person’s pain as acutely as Joel, but thanks to our mirror neurons we do, indeed, feel it.
We all possess a remarkable feat of neural engineering that gives us intense feelings of love, that makes others laugh, that produces an unpredictable life that is utterly unique. It gives us the ability to remember an infinite amount of knowledge, to create an idea that has never been considered, to find an answer in the beating of our hearts. Our brain is a mystery that has not yet revealed the extent of the unimaginable lands it is capable of producing. And when it does, I think that will be the most romantic story of all.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to start by thanking Bob, Sharon, Rubén, Tommy, Shillo, Sylvia, Matar, Louise, Graham, Joel, Basse and all of their family and friends—the wonderful people who welcomed me into their homes, work and lives to let me tell their extra ordinary stories. I am incredibly grateful to you all.
I would also like to express my greatest thanks to all of the scientists who gave up their time to talk to me about their work to ensure that it was depicted correctly in these pages.
Next, to my amazing editors: Georgina, Kate and Denise—thank you for your unceasing patience, guidance and incredible insight. You have been an absolute pleasure to work with at all times. On that same note, I’d also like to thank Cat, Jessica, Tiffany and Michael, whose editorial advice has lifted me on numerous occasions, and whose friendships I treasure.
To Max, my agent: I am so glad to be a part of the Brockman “family”—thank you for inviting me into it.
I also owe a considerable amount of gratitude to everyone at New Scientist who helped me develop as a journalist and an editor. This project would not exist without you. Jeremy, you get a special mention: thank you for taking a chance on me all those years ago, even though you thought I was—what was it?—“completely unqualified for the job!”
I must also mention the rest of my friends, who willingly provide a nonjudgmental ear and a glass of wine at the drop of a hat—especially Be, Emily, Fatema and Sarah.
Although he is sadly no longer with us, I’d like to take a second to express my unwavering respect and love for the late Oliver Sacks, whose writing has inspired me throughout my life. I only got to speak to him in person once, but it was—of course—the most wonderful conversation I have ever had.
Finally, to my family: particularly my dad and my sisters, whose constant support and love has made it possible for me to embark on this adventure. I love you all so much. I have dedicated this book to Mum—I think she would have liked that—but there’s a part of you all within it.
Last but not least, Alex. Thank you for your enduring love and infinite patience and encouragement, particularly over the past two years. I will be forever thankful for the fish-finger sandwiches that brought us together.
Notes and Sources
INTRODUCTION
1.The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, Case 1 (1, 1-12). Translation by James P. Allen of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
2.Clarke, E., and O’Malley, C. D., “The Human Brain and Spinal Cord,” American Journal of Medical Sciences, 17, 1968, pp. 467–69.
3.Caron, L., “Thomas Willis, the Restoration and
the First Works of Neurology,” Medical History, 59(4), 2015, pp. 525–53.
4.Ancient Greek and Roman physicians believed that four humors flowed throughout the brain and body. These were black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm. Hippocrates taught that an excess or deficit of any humor would result in ill health—an idea that was commonly held for centuries among European physicians.
5.Jay, Mike, This Way Madness Lies: The Asylum and Beyond, Thames & Hudson, 2016.
6.Sacks, Oliver, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Touchstone, 1985.
BOB
1.Corkin, Suzanne, Permanent Present Tense: The Man with No Memory, and What He Taught the World, Penguin, 2013.
2.Milner, B., et al., “Further Analysis of the Hippocampal Amnesic Syndrome: 14-Year Follow-Up Study of H.M.,” Neuropsychologia, 6, 1968, pp. 215–34.
3.From Suzanne Corkin’s account of her time with H.M.: “Henry Molaison: The Incredible Story of the Man with No Memory,” The Telegraph, May 10, 2013.
4.Buñuel, Luis, My Last Breath, Vintage Digital, 2011, p. 121.
5.If you’d like to find out more about Solomon Shereshevsky and his fascinating memory, see: Luria, Alexander, The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book about a Vast Memory, Harvard University Press, 1987.
6.McGaugh, J. L., et al., “A Case of Unusual Autobiographical Remembering,” Neurocase, 12, 2006, pp. 35–49.
7.Foer, Joshua, Moonwalking with Einstein, Penguin Books, 2011.
8.Maguire, E., “Routes to Remembering: The Brains behind Superior Memory,” Nature Neuroscience, 6(1), 2002, pp. 90–95.
9.McGaugh, J. L., et al., “A Case of Unusual Autobiographical Remembering.”
10.Penfield, W., and Perot, P., “The Brain’s Record of Auditory and Visual Experience: A Final Summary and Discussion,” Brain, 86(4), 1963, pp. 595-696.
11.For a wonderful description of memory, please see Clare Wilson’s feature: “What Does a Memory in My Brain Look Like?”, New Scientist, 3049, November 28, 2015.
12.James, William, Text-book of Psychology, Macmillan, 1892.
13.Akers, K. G., et al., “Hippocampal Neurogenesis Regulates Forgetting during Adulthood and Infancy,” Science, 344(6184), 2014, pp. 598–602.
14.Chris’s story is described by Elizabeth Loftus in Implicit Memory and Metacognition, ed. Lynne Reder, Psychology Press, 1996.
15.You can find out more about Holland College and the Golden Knights here: www.cbsnews.com/news/a-60-minutes-story-you-will-never-forget.
16.LePort, A. K., et al., “Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory: Quality and Quantity of Retention over Time,” Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 2016, p. 2017.
SHARON
1.Iaria, G., et al., “Developmental Topographical Disorientation: Case One,” Neuropsychologia, 47(1), 2009, pp. 30–40.
2.Ibid.
3.Maguire, E. A., et al., “Navigation-Related Structural Change in the Hippocampi of Taxi Drivers,” PNAS, 97(8), 2000, pp. 4398–403.
4.Woollett, K., and Maguire, E. A., “Acquiring ‘the Knowledge’ of London’s Layout Drives Structural Brain Changes,” Current Biology, 21(24), 2011, pp. 2109–14.
5.O’Keefe, J., “A Review of the Hippocampal Place Cells,” Progress in Neurobiology, 13(4), 1979, pp. 419–39.
6.Hafting, T., et al., “Microstructure of a Spatial Map in the Entorhinal Cortex,” Nature, 436, 2005, pp. 801–6.
7.“Geraldine Largay’s Wrong Turn: Death on The Appalachian Trail,” New York Times, May 26, 2016.
8.“Use or Lose Our Navigational Skills,” Nature, March 31, 2016.
9.Woollett, K., et al., “Talent in the Taxi: A Model System for Exploring Expertise,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 364, 2009, pp. 1407–16.
10.Sharon says she has recently come across two other people with developmental disorientation disorder who spin around to reset their mental maps. Both contacted her after hearing her describe the disorder on a podcast. One woman, like Sharon, had discovered the spinning technique as a child and has used it ever since.
11.Barclay, S. F., et al., “Familial Aggregation in Developmental Topographical Disorientation (DTD),” Cognitive Neuropsychology, 6, 2016, pp. 1–10.
RUBÉN
1.Haraldsson, Eriendur, and Gissurarson, Loftur, Indridi Indridason: The Icelandic Physical Medium, White Crow Productions, 2015.
2.Gissurarson, L. R., and Gunnarsson, A., “An Experiment with the Alleged Human Aura,” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 91, 1997, pp. 33–49.
3.A translation of Sachs’s dissertation appears in the following paper: Jewanski, J., et al., “A Colourful Albino: The First Documented Case of Synaesthesia, by Georg Tobias Ludwig Sachs in 1812,” Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 18(3), 2009, pp. 293–303.
4.Nabokov, Vladimir, Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited, Penguin Modern Classics, 2012, pp. 23–25.
5.Bor, D., et al., “Adults Can Be Trained to Acquire Synesthetic Experiences,” Nature Scientific Reports, 4, 2014, p. 7089.
6.Ramachandran explores this subject in greater depth in: Ramachandran, V. S., The Tell-Tale Brain: Unlocking the Mystery of Human Nature, Cornerstone Digital, 2012.
7.Atkinson, J., et al., “Synesthesia for Manual Alphabet Letters and Numeral Signs in Second-Language Users of Signed Languages,” Neurocase, 22(4), 2016, pp. 379–86.
8.Chun, C. A., and Hupe, J.-M., “Mirror-Touch and Ticker Tape Experiences in Synesthesia,” Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 2013, p. 776.
9.Nielsen, J., et al., “Synaesthesia and Sexuality: The Influence of Synaesthetic Perceptions on Sexual Experience,” Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 2013, p. 751.
10.Kayser, D. N., et al., “Red and Romantic Behavior in Men Viewing Women,” European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 2010, pp. 901–8.
11.Attrill, M. J., et al., “Red Shirt Colour Is Associated with Long-Term Team Success in English Football,” Journal of Sports Sciences, 26(6), 2008, pp. 577–82.
12.Hill, R. A., and Barton, R. A., “Red Enhances Human Performance in Contests,” Nature, 435, 2005, p. 293.
13.I have written more about the evolutionary rules of attraction in: “Darwinian Dating: Baby, I’m Your Natural Selection,” New Scientist, 2799, February 12, 2011.
14.For this, I have relied heavily upon the excellent explanations given by Adam Rogers, in: “The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of This Dress,” Wired, February 26, 2015.
15.Milán, E. G., et al., “Auras in Mysticism and Synaesthesia: A Comparison,” Consciousness and Cognition, 21, 2011, pp. 258–68.
16.Ramachandran, V. S., and Hubbard, E. M., “Psychophysical Investigations into the Neural Basis of Synaesthesia,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 268, 2001, pp. 979–83.
TOMMY
1.Burns, J. M., and Swerdlow, R. H., “Right Orbitofrontal Tumor with Pedophilia Symptom and Constructional Apraxia Sign,” Archives of Neurology, 60, 2003, pp. 437–40.
2.For more details of all of these studies, please see: Segal, Nancy, Born Together—Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study, Harvard University Press, 2012.
3.Segal, N., et al., “Unrelated Look-Alikes: Replicated Study of Personality Similarity and Qualitative Findings on Social Relatedness,” Personality and Individual Differences, 55(2), 2013, pp. 169–74.
4.Gatz, M., et al., “Importance of Shared Genes and Shared Environments for Symptoms of Depression in Older Adults,” Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101(4), 1992, pp. 701–8.
5.Kosslyn, Stephen, and Miller, G. Wayne, Top Brain, Bottom Brain: Surprising Insights into How You Think, Simon & Schuster, 2013.
6.Some of Tommy’s artwork has been published online at: www.tommymchugh.co.uk.
7.Flaherty explores her own overwhelming urge to write and that of others in: Flaherty, Alice, The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and the Creative Brain, Mariner Books, 2005.
8.Woollacott, I. O., et al., “Compulsive Versifying after Treatment of Transient Epileptic Amnes
ia,” Neurocase, 21(5), 2015, pp. 548–53.
9.Woolley, A. W., et al., “Using Brain-Based Measures to Compose Teams: How Individual Capabilities and Team Collaboration Strategies Jointly Shape Performance,” Social Neuroscience, 2(2), 2007, pp. 96–105.
SYLVIA
1.Jardri, Renaud, et al., eds., The Neuroscience of Hallucinations, Springer, 2013.
2.Sacks, Oliver, Hallucinations, Picador, 2012.
3.Part of this chapter has been adapted from a feature I wrote: “Making Things Up,” New Scientist, 3098, November 5, 2016.
4.Ffytche, D. H., et al., “The Anatomy of Conscious Vision: An fMRI Study of Visual Hallucinations,” Nature Neuroscience, 1(8), 1998, pp. 738–42.
5.Charles Bonnet, 1760, as quoted by Oliver Sacks, TED talk: “What Hallucination Reveals about Our Minds,” 2009.
6.Rosenhan, D. L., “On Being Sane in Insane Places,” Science, 179, 1973, pp. 250–58.
7.McGrath, J. J., et al., “Psychotic Experiences in the General Population,” JAMA Psychiatry, 72(2), 2015, pp. 697–705.
8.Wackermann, J., et al., “Ganzfeld-Induced Hallucinatory Experience, Its Phenomenology and Cerebral Electrophysiology,” Cortex, 44, 2008, pp. 1364–78.
9.Frith, Chris, Making Up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental World, Wiley-Blackwell, 2007, p. 111.
10.Kumar, S., et al., “A Brain Basis for Musical Hallucinations,” Cortex, 52(100), 2014, pp. 86–97.
11.Daniel, C., and Mason, O. J., “Predicting Psychotic-Like Experiences during Sensory Deprivation,” BioMed Research International, 2015, 439379.
MATAR
1.Woodwood, Ian, The Werewolf Delusion, Paddington Press, 1979, p. 48.
2.As recounted by Russell Hope Robbins in The Encyclopaedia of Witchcraft and Demonology, Springer Books, 1967, p. 234.
3.Moselhy, H. F., “Lycanthropy, Mythology and Medicine,” Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 11(4), 1994, pp. 168–70.
Unthinkable Page 24