Main description:

Aimed at general readers, this book spans Ancient Egypt and Greece, the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the modern day, providing a fascinating collection of brain-related facts and stories. It covers the dreadful techniques of early surgery, trepanning and frontal lobotomies, electroshock therapy, the use of phrenology, psychosurgery and mind control. It describes the contributions of scientists like Thomas Willis and notable patients such as Phineas Gage and his catastrophic brain injuries, and it tells us where to find such famous brains. It gives insight into the major functions of the brain, the degenerating brain, the female brain and the sleep deprived brain, and offers glimpses into the future of brain research.

Contents:

Introduction
Chapter 1 Hole-y moly! Prehistoric brain surgery and where it all began
Chapter 2 Ancient Egypt and the earliest descriptions of the human brain
Chapter 3 Ancient Greece---serious thoughts about the human brain
Chapter 4 When in Rome---The Empire and the brain
Chapter 5 The Golden Age of Islam
Chapter 6 The messy Middle Ages
Chapter 7 The da Vinci brain and the Renaissance
Chapter 8 "I think, therefore I am"---Descartes and the origins of rational thought
Chapter 9 The truly terrific Thomas Willis
Chapter 10 Phrenology---more madness?
Chapter 11 The phenomenal story of Phineas Gage
Chapter 12 The seat of language
Chapter 13 Sexism and the brain---who said size matters?
Chapter 14 The birth of psychosurgery
Chapter 15 Aloysius Alzheimer and degenerating brains
Chapter 16 Brodmann and his brain areas
Chapter 17 Frontal lobotomies---uses and abuses
Chapter 18 The shocking truth about electroshock therapy
Chapter 19 The man who fought a bull with mind control
Chapter 20 The man who forgot tomorrow
Chapter 21 The split brain
Chapter 22 The sleep-deprived brain
Chapter 23 The woman who had no fear
Chapter 24 Measuring the brain and brain activity
Chapter 25 Last but not least---some honourable mentions
Chapter 26 Famous brains and where you can see them
Chapter 27 20 Amazing facts about the human brain
Glossary
Suggested Reading
Chapter References