If you're anything like me, you've wondered what happens to your brain when an iron rod is driven through your skull. In 1848, we found out. Railroad construction foreman Phineas Gage was busy blasting rock when, in a freak explosion, a thirteen-pound iron rod shot right through his brain. Miraculously, he could still walk, talk and perform his duties, but his personality completely changed, making him one of the most famous case studies in neurology. He also makes a good subject for this morbid children's book.
You might have also wondered what happens when a neuroscientist has a stroke. I know I have. It turns out she writes one heck of a book. Jill Bolte Taylor's My Stroke of Insight chronicles her sudden mental emergency from her perspective, using a heart-wrenching tale to reveal the remarkable ways the brain operates. As a bonus, she narrates the audiobook herself, and I could hear the emotions at play in her voice as she recounts her terrifying, difficult and ultimately enlightening story.
But it's not just explosions and burst blood vessels that can knock you out of commission. Your body can turn on its own brain. Brain on Fire recounts Susannah Cahalan's descent into a mysterious madness that left family members and doctors quickly losing all hope of recovery. At the last minute, they discovered Susannah had been suffering from a rare autoimmune disorder, and from there she began her long road to wellness.
There's nothing like books about brains to both teach you and terrify you at the same time. Take care of your brains, people.
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