luxon@bookwyrm.social apžvelgė autoriaus Karl Deisseroth knygą Projections
Review
5 žvaigždutės
I really, really liked this book. The author is a researcher who pioneered the field of optogenetics, which basically lets him stimulate and study particular neural pathways in rats in order to assess how the neural structure correlates to behaviour. He is also a psychiatrist and still occasionally works as one, as well as a gifted writer. He brings these traits together to talk about mental illnesses – each chapter is generally dedicated to one illness, exemplified by the story of one patient he saw, along with the author's study of that illness from a neurological perspective.
I found the author's descriptions of his patient interactions very compassionate and they in themself helped me gain a better understanding of what mental illness can feel like for those afflicted. But it was the combination with his research on what the neurological underpinnings of those illnesses were, and how misfirings of neural …
I really, really liked this book. The author is a researcher who pioneered the field of optogenetics, which basically lets him stimulate and study particular neural pathways in rats in order to assess how the neural structure correlates to behaviour. He is also a psychiatrist and still occasionally works as one, as well as a gifted writer. He brings these traits together to talk about mental illnesses – each chapter is generally dedicated to one illness, exemplified by the story of one patient he saw, along with the author's study of that illness from a neurological perspective.
I found the author's descriptions of his patient interactions very compassionate and they in themself helped me gain a better understanding of what mental illness can feel like for those afflicted. But it was the combination with his research on what the neurological underpinnings of those illnesses were, and how misfirings of neural pathways show up in the experience of the patients, that made this book so compelling.
I'm not sure I learned anything particular about mental illness here, except for some factoids I now remember better. But I do feel like I've gained a lot of understanding and compassion, and I recommend this book without hesitation.