Unthinkable
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Kayser, Daniela, 84
Keysers, Christian, 231
Khalsa, Sahib, 187
kidney failure, 209–210
Knowledge (cab driver test), 54
Koch, Christof, 202–203
Koltanowski, George, 22–23
Kosslyn, Stephen, 113–115, 127
Koubeissi, Mohamad, 203
Largay, Geraldine, 57–58
Larson, John Augustus, 180–181
Laureys, Steven, 199–200, 204–205
left- and right-brained theory, 111–113
Lemaitre, Anne-Laure, 155
Lemnius, Levinus, 196–198
letter synesthesia, 79, 80, 82, 220, 233, 237
Lewis, Jim, 104–105
lie detector tests, 180–181
Lindén, Thomas, 209–210
localization, 5–6
Loftus, Elizabeth, 38–39, 40
long-term memory, 20, 21
lost, experience of being. See developmental topographical disorientation disorder
Loughner, Jared Lee, 158
Luria, Alexander, 22, 249
lycanthropy. See clinical lycanthropy
magic, as explanation for brain disorders, 46–47, 79, 147–149
Maguire, Eleanor, 27, 53–54, 59
Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, The (Sacks), 13
Marc, Franz, 89
Mason, Oliver, 142–144
McGaugh, James, 23–24, 28–29, 35, 41–44
McGeoch, Paul, 166
McGinty, Beth, 158
McGrath, John, 137
McHugh, Tommy, 100–103, 106–111, 115–120, 123–125, 128
McKinlay, Roger, 58–59
Medford, Nick, 183–184, 185–186
meditation, 134, 187, 220, 231–232
memory
disorders of. See autobiographical memory; developmental topographical disorientation disorder
emotions and, 32–33
false memories, 38–40
memorization strategies, 22–23, 25–28
memory storage, 19–21, 32, 34–38, 40–44
nature of, 21–28
neurological explanation, 25–28, 31–32, 37, 40, 42–44
vivid memories and, 32–34, 35–36
Mental Disorder in Earlier Britain (Clarke), 196
mental illness
defined, 9
delusions of turning into animals, 149. See also clinical lycanthropy
hallucinations associated with, 130, 137, 143
historical background on, 9–11
violence and, 158
mental maps, 25–28, 44, 52–53, 55–57, 67–69, 70–71
Milner, Brenda, 20
mind palaces, 25–28, 44
Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart, 104–105
mirror neuron system, 216–217, 225–226, 238–239
mirror-touch synesthesia, 215–239
case study, 215–216, 218–224, 226–230, 232–239
coping mechanisms, 226–230, 234, 235, 236–237
neurological explanation, 216–218, 224–226, 230–234, 238–239
Mitchell, Silas Weir, 164
Molaison, Henry, 19–20, 32
monks, 231–232
Moonwalking with Einstein (Foer), 25
Moselhy, Hamdy, 149–150, 152, 156–161, 167–169
Moser, Edvard, 55
Moser, May-Britt, 55
motor cortex, 162, 239
motor cortical maps, 162–164
Mullen, Alex, 25–26
Munch, Edvard, 177–178
mundane experiences, 34–35
music
hallucinations of, 130, 134–138, 141–146
personality changes and, 121
synesthesia and, 79, 82–83
Nabokov, Vladimir, 79
Nature (journal), on navigation skills, 58–59
nature-nurture debate, 104–106
navigation
cognitive maps and, 25–28, 44, 52–53, 55–57, 67–69, 70–71
disorder of, 45–72. See also developmental topographical disorientation disorder
technological crutches for, 58–59
Nelson (lord), 164
network theory for navigation, 67–68
neural plasticity, 164–165
neurons and neural activity
Cotard’s syndrome and, 205–207, 210
depersonalization disorder and, 184
depression and, 210
description of, 7
inhibitory and excitatory activity of, 143–144
memory and, 31–32, 37, 40
mirror neuron system and, 216–217, 225–226, 238–239
navigation abilities and, 54–57, 66–68
personality and, 7
phantom limbs and, 164–165, 226
schizophrenia and, 144, 153–155
synesthesia and, 80–82, 216–217, 225–226, 238–239
Neuropsychologia (journal), on ability to orient, 47
neuroticism, 103–104
New York Times, on lost hiker, 57
Nightline (television program), segment on psychics, 77
number-color synesthesia, 79, 82, 92–94, 220–224
nurture-nature debate, 104–106
obsessive compulsiveness, 41–44
occipital lobe, 6, 113
O’Keefe, John, 55–56
olfactory hallucinations, 130, 133, 144
openness (personality trait), 103
orbitofrontal lobe, 100
orgasm-color synesthesia, 82
orientation, disorders of. See developmental topographical disorientation disorder
Owen, Adrian, 199
panic attacks, 45, 49, 62, 174–175, 178–179, 186–187
parietal lobe, 7, 113, 162, 163–164, 166, 167
passive aggressiveness, 226–227
Paulus Aegineta, 147–148
pedophilia, 99–100
Penfield, Wilder, 31, 161–163
permanently lost, feeling, 45–72. See also developmental topographical disorientation disorder
personality and personality changes, 99–128
background, 99–100
case study, 100–103, 106–111, 115–120, 123–125, 128
coping mechanisms, 118–122, 124–125
historical study of, 4–5
nature vs. nurture debate, 104–106
neurological explanation, 7, 8, 9, 99–100, 111–118, 122–123, 125–128
overview, 14
personality traits, 103–106, 221–224
sudden artistic output and, 118–123
traumatic brain injuries and, 8, 9, 114–115
tumors and, 99–100
phantom limb, 164–167, 226
photoreceptors, 88, 91, 94
phrenology, 5
pilots, 140
pineal gland, 4
place cells, 55, 56
plasticity, 164–165
Plato, 2–3
Plomin, Robert, 106
prediction model
for depersonalization disorder, 185
for hallucinations, 141–142, 143
premotor cortex, 216
Price, Jill, 23–24, 28–29, 35, 41
primary motor cortex, 162
primary somatosensory cortex, 162–163
proprioceptive map, 163–164
prosopagnosia, 65–66
putamen, 43
qualia, 90–93, 94–95, 96–97
Rahim, Rafia, 151–152, 156–160, 168–170
Ramachandran, Vilayanur, 81–82, 85, 94–95, 165–166, 190–191, 193, 221, 238
Randi, James, 77
reinforcement, of behavior, 243, 247–248
retrosplenial cortex, 58
right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, 207
right superior parietal lobe, 166
Rizzolatti, Giacomo, 216
rods (photoreceptors), 88
Romans (ancient), 2–3
Romney, Mitt, 38
Rosenhan, D
avid, 137
Ryle, Gilbert, 214
Sachs, Georg Tobias Ludwig, 78–79
Sacks, Oliver, 12, 13, 65, 130, 140, 144
Saint-Hilaire, Marie-Hélène, 244–245
Salinas, Joel, 215–239
San Francisco Call and Post, on lie detector testing, 180–181
Sarkin, Jon, 121
savikalpa samadhi, 134
schizophrenia
clinical lycanthropy and, 149, 152–153, 161, 167–168
vs. depersonalization, 176–177
hallucinations associated with, 137, 144
misconceptions about, 158–159
neurological explanation, 144, 153–155, 167–168
Scream in Nature, The (Munch), 177–178
Segal, Nancy, 104–105
self-referential images and text, 187–188
sense of self, 171–172. See also depersonalization disorder
senses
agency and, 153–155, 203
memory and, 20, 22
processing of, 116–117. See also synesthesia
and schizophrenia, 153–155
sensory loss and hallucinations, 132–133, 135–136, 143, 144
sensory cortical maps, 162–164
sensory homunculus, 163–164
Seth, Anil, 141, 200–201
Shereshevsky, Solomon, 22
short-term memory, 20, 21, 32
Simonides of Ceos, 17–18, 26
Singer, Tania, 231–232
sleep
deprivation of, 40, 200
hallucinations and, 131–132, 133–134, 139
SM (patient), 8–9
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, on empathy and heartbeats, 182
social contagion, 230–232
spatial memory. See developmental topographical disorientation disorder
Sperry, Roger, 112
spinning, as navigation coping mechanism, 52, 61, 68
split brain, symptoms of, 206–207
Springer, Jim, 104–105
startle response, 12–13, 242–249
strokes, 124, 164. See also case study under personality changes
Stroop test, 92
sudden artistic output, 118–123
suicide attempts, 193–194, 198
superior parietal lobe, 163–164, 166
synapses, of neurons, 31–32
synesthesia, 73–97, 215–239
background, 73–75
case study of color synesthesia, 74–75, 77–78, 82–83, 85–90, 92–97
case study of mirror-touch synesthesia, 215–216, 218–224, 226–230, 232–239
color blindness and, 88–90, 91–95
coping mechanisms, 86–87, 95–96, 226–230, 234, 235, 236–237
defined, 79
with letters, 79, 80, 82, 220, 233, 237
memory recall and, 22
music and, 79, 82–83
neurological explanation of color synesthesia, 80–82, 85, 88–89, 92–95
neurological explanation of mirror-touch synesthesia, 216–218, 224–226, 230–234
of numbers and/or colors, 78–79, 82–83, 86–89, 92–97, 220–224
personality traits and, 221–224
taxi drivers, 54, 59
team players, 114
temporal lobe, 6, 113, 116–117, 205–206
temporoparietal junction, 226, 233
thalamus, 7
This Way Madness Lies (Jay), 9
ticker-tape synesthesia, 82
tics, 233–234
tiger, delusion of becoming. See clinical lycanthropy
top brain, 113–115, 126–128
Top Brain, Bottom Brain: Surprising Insights into How You Think (Kosslyn), 114–115
topographical disorientation disorder, 45–72. See also developmental topographical disorientation disorder
Touchstone of Complexions, The (Lemnius), 196–198
transgender persons, 166–167
transient Cotard’s syndrome, 209
traumatic brain injuries, 8, 9, 114–115
twin personality studies, 104–105
Urbach-Wiethe disease, 8–9
vegetative state, 199–200
ventricles of brain, 3–4
ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, 184
violence, 158
visual cortex, 88, 91, 94–95
visual hallucinations, 129–130, 132–133, 139, 144, 157
vivid hallucinations, 148
vivid memories, 32–34, 35–36
von Essen, Jonas, 26–28
Wackermann, Jiří, 139
waking up dead. See Cotard’s syndrome
Ward, Jamie, 82
Waters, Flavie, 144
werewolves, 147–149. See also clinical lycanthropy
Wilgus, Beverly, 7–8
Wilgus, Jack, 7–8
Willis, Francis, 10
Willis, Thomas, 4–5, 10
witchcraft, as explanation for brain disorders, 46–47, 79, 147–149
Wonder Woman impression, 52, 61, 68
Woolley, Anita, 126–127
World Memory Championships, 25, 27
xenomelia, 165–167
Zeman, Adam, 193, 199, 200, 203–205, 207, 210
About the Author
HELEN THOMSON is a writer and consultant with New Scientist magazine and was shortlisted for Best Science Journalist in the British Journalism Awards. She has won several other awards, including media fellowships at both Harvard and MIT and the Best Newcomer in the ABSW Science Writers Awards for Britain and Ireland in 2010. She has also written for The Guardian (UK), the Washington Post, the Daily Mail (UK), and Nature. She lives in London.
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Copyright
UNTHINKABLE. Copyright © 2018 by Helen Thomson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
COVER ARTWORK © MARTIN O’NEILL
COVER PHOTOGRAPHS: TIGER © FUSE/GETTY IMAGES; WOMAN © EVERETT COLLECTION/SHUTTERSTOCK; PIANO KEYS © ANDREA ZABIELLO/SHUTTERSTOCK; SKELETON © WILLROW HOOD/SHUTTERSTOCK
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by John Murray (Publishers)
A Hachette UK company.
FIRST U.S. EDITION
Digital Edition JUNE 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-239118-6
Version 05222018
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-239116-2
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