Fractured Minds: A Case-Study Approach to Clinical Neuropsychology

by Jenni Ogden

Fractured Minds introduces the reader to clinical neuropsychology through vivid case descriptions of adults who have suffered brain damage. At one level, this is a book about the courage, humor, and determination to triumph over illness and disability that many "ordinary people" demonstrate when coping with the extraordinary stress of a brain disorder. At another level, it is a well-referenced and up-to-date textbook that provides a holistic view of the practice of clinical neuropsychology. Included are reader-friendly descriptions and explanations of a wide range of neurological disorders and neuroscientific concepts. Two introductory chapters are followed by 17 chapters that each focus on a specific disorder and include research, clinical assessment, rehabilitation, and a detailed case study. Disorders range across the full spectrum from common ones such as traumatic brain injury and dementia, to rare disorder such as autotopagnosia. Each of the 16 chapters retained from the first edition has been revised to reflect current research and clinical advances. Three new chapters on multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease incorporate discussion of important current topics such as genetically-transmitted diseases, genetic counseling, gene transplantation, functional neurosurgery, and the complex ethical issues that go hand-in-hand with these new techniques. This informative and engaging book will be of interest to students of clinical psychology, neuropsychology, and neurology, health professionals who work with neurological patients, neurological patients and their families, and lay readers who are simply fascinated by the mind and brain.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Neuroscience, Textbooks, School, Science, Medicine

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Reading and writing fiction is my passion, along with walking, swimming, reading and sleeping on beaches. Husband John and I live off-grid on spectacular Great Barrier Island, 100 kms off the coast of New Zealand, a perfect place to write, and we often spend time in Australia, preferably close to a coral reef. My latest novel, 'Dancing with Dragons' the winner of the 2024 GOLD Independent Publisher Book Awards for Fiction, Australia/New Zealand-Aotearoa/Pacific Rim, was published in July, 2024.. 'Call My Name' , a great read for bookclubs, set mainly in Queensland, Australia, is the story of two women, bound together by contrasting personalities, friendship, love and home—until motherhood rips them apart. My debut novel, 'A Drop in the Ocean', won multiple awards and has sold over 85,000 copies. 'The Moon is Missing', is a domestic suspense/family drama set partly in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Before I wrote fiction, I was a clinical neuropsychologist, which I also loved (but we move through different stages in our lives; the important thing is always to have a passion) and became well-known for my books featuring my amazing patients’ moving stories: 'Fractured Minds: A Case-Study Approach to Clinical Neuropsychology', and 'Trouble In Mind: Stories from a Neuropsychologist’s Casebook'. (The same sort of tales that the late and great Oliver Sacks was known for.)
I'd love to send you my very occasional e-newsletter so I can share my off-grid tales and favorite books with you! To sign up, go to https://tinyurl.com/2u736m6c. On the way you’ll come across my author page (www.jenniogdenauthor.com). And do follow me on Goodreads, and indeed, friend and follow me wherever you hang out!

Reviews

[Jenni Ogden · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems inappropriate to give one's own book a 5 star rating, or indeed any rating, but I note that many authors do! Given that 5-star means "it was amazing" I have decided that in concert with this review, I can give it 5 stars because the stories I tell are amazing; not because of how I tell them‚how well I do or do not do that is not for me to say— but because of the patients and their families and friends whose stories these are. These people are truly amazing and I am forever humble that they let me into their lives. I can only hope I have done their stories justice.

[Elita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for my neuropsych class. Learned so many cases. Appreciated the format of case and discussions

[LuisJ · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

The structure of the book is odd; starting off with coverage of various testing standards with little practical detail, which makes it very boring, and one wonders if it's actually aimed at an audience or is included because it is somebody's idea of completeness or thoroughness.
After that we get some pretty interesting case studies (if one can ignore the cross-cultural sections in which one feels the author is perhaps not in her element) but these are followed by an extremely generic chapter on severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) followed by one of mild TBI. This feels a very odd choice because based on the chapters in the book, most (but not all) specific conditions/issues discussed so far are kinds of (severe) TBI (i.e. a subset).
A more conventional structure would have been to start with more general TBI chapters and progress to specific issues. As it was, by the time I'm reading about TBI's it feels more than a bit repetitious and vague compared with preceding chapters.

I honestly felt that the TBI chapter should have been much shorter (although the mild TBI chapter was interesting) and the chapter on testing standards left either to the end or dropped entirely. I would have preferred in their place a slightly expanded explanation of some of the testing done in the case studies.

I had bought this book primarily for the split-brain chapter and in that sense it was a little bit of a let-down in that it didn't teach me much that I didn't already know from doing Psychology at A-level (granted I was a bit precociously interested in such topics).

The other aspect of the book is that it's intended to provide a more human look at the people behind the case-studies. Pertly this is through a better account of their backgrounds, personalities etc and I think is a good thing. It doesn't read like Sach's, but it usually gives you the right feeling and shows that one reason that tests have become so diagnostically sensitive is that people can often have issues in real-life that are not obvious in a clinical setting (and vice versa). On the other hand, there are quite a few retrospective/summing-up type chapters; these often feel overly repetitious in-themselves (i.e. brain patients need a multi-disciplinary approach, etc.) but sometimes entire sections feels like they exist to preserve the existing formula and are repetitious between sections (for the same case).

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous exploration of neurologic disorders! The author does a great job taking us through the detailed medical diagnoses, neuropsychological tests and assessment and current research. Similar to Oliver Sacks, she takes great care to treat patients as people and not simply as detached medical records. She calls attention to the common misconceptions of certain disease and the multidisciplinary approach needed for their treatment. She discusses the pitfalls in certain standardized neuropsychological assessment tests across different cultures. There are even thought-provoking concepts of the moral and ethical dilemmas associated with genetic counseling and HD and even euthanasia. Well done.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book makes me want to become a neuropsychologist and go to New Zealand (at least to visit, it sounds awesome). Inspiring, touching stories of brain damaging trauma/illnesses and recovery, taking into account the family, the story, the personality, the medical and psychological aspects. Awesome to accompany your neuropsychology studies.

[Leila Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

i was required to read like 8 chapters of this book for my neuropsychology class and voluntarily read the rest of it so i feel like that counts for something!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

creative, insightful look into unique and rare disorders of the brain.

[Jonathan Ridenour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Case study books are always great to get a "feel" for what a patient with this disorder would look like. An excellent and original book in clinical np.

[Sheela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great case studies that are informal, yet very informative.