How the Brain Lost Its Mind by Allan H. Ropper, Brian Burrell

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How-the-Brain-Lost-Its-Mind-by-Allan-H.-Ropper,-Brian-Burrell:A-noted-neurologist-challenges-the-widespread-misunderstanding-of-brain-disease-and-mental-illness.How-the-Brain-Lost-Its-Mind-tells-the-rich-and-compelling-story-of-two-confounding-ailments,syphilis-and-hysteria,-and-the-extraordinary-efforts-to-confront-their-effects-on-mental-life.How-does-the-mind-work?-Where-does-madness-lie,-in-the-brain-or-in-the-mind?-How-should-it-be-treated?Throughout-the-nineteenth-century,-syphilis–a-disease-of-mad-poets,-musicians,-and-artists–swept-through-the-highest-and-lowest-rungs-of-European-society-like-a-plague.-Known-as-“the-Great-Imitator,”-it-could-produce-almost-any-form-of-mental-or-physical-illness,-and-it-would-bring-down-a-host-of-famous-and-infamous-characters–among-them-Guy-de-Maupassant,-Vincent-van-Gogh,-the-Marquis-de-Sade,-Friedrich-Nietzsche,-and-Al-Capone.-It-was-the-first-truly-psychiatric-disease-and-it-filled-asylums-to-overflowing.-At-the-same-time,-an-outbreak-of-bizarre-behaviors-resembling-epilepsy,-but-with-no-identifiable-source-in-the-body,-strained-the-diagnostic-skills-of-the-great-neurologists.-It-was-referred-to-as-hysteria.For-more-than-a-century,-neurosyphilis-stood-out-as-the-archetype-of-a-brain-based-mental-illness,fully-understood-but-largely-forgotten,-and-today-far-from-gone.-Hysteria,under-many-different-names,-remains-unexplained-and-epidemic.These-two-conditions-stand-at-opposite-poles-of-the-current-debate-over-the-role-of-the-brain-in-mental-illness.Hysteria-led-Freud-to-insert-sex-into-psychology.-Neurosyphilis-led-to-the-proliferation-of-mental-institutions.The-problem-of-managing-the-inmates-led-to-the-abuse-of-lobotomy-and-electroshock-therapy,and-ultimately-the-overuse-of-psychotropic-drugs.Today-we-know-that-syphilitic-madness-was-a-destructive-disease-of-the-brain-while-hysteria-and,more-broadly,-many-varieties-of-mental-illness-reside-solely-in-the-mind.-Or-do-they?Afflictions-once-written-off-as-“hysterical”-continue-to-elude-explanation.Addiction,-alcoholism,-autism,-ADHD,-Tourette-syndrome,-depression,-and-sociopathy,-though-regarded-as-brain-based,-have-not-been-proven-to-be-so.In-these-pages,-the-authors-raise-a-host-of-philosophical-and-practical-questions.What-is-the-difference-between-a-sick-mind-and-a-sick-brain?If-we-understood-everything-about-the-brain,-would-we-understand-ourselves?By-delving-into-an-overlooked-history,-this-book-shows-how-neuroscience-and-brain-scans-alone-cannot-account-for-a-robust-mental-life,-or-a-deeply-disturbed-one.