Brainology: The Curious Science of Our Minds

by Will Storr, John Walsh, Emma Young

16 revealing stories about the human brainEver wondered how Scandinavians cope with 24-hour darkness, why we feel pain - or whether smartphones really make children stupid?Have you heard about the US army's research into supercharging minds?You need some Brainology. Written for Wellcome, the health charity, these stories follow doctors as they solve the puzzle of our emotions, nerves and behaviour.Discover fascinating and intriguing stories from the world of science.ContentsOuch! The science of pain - John WalshWhy doctors are reclaiming LSD and ecstasy - Sam WongInside the mind of an interpreter - Geoff WattsHow should we deal with dark winters? - Linda GeddesSmartphones won't* make your kids dumb (*Probably) - Olivia SolonYou can train your mind into 'receiving' medicine - Jo MarchantCharting the phenomenon of deep grief - Andrea VolpeThe mirror cure for phantom limb pain - Srinath PerurCan you think yourself into a different person? - Will StorrHow to survive a troubled childhood - Lucy MaddoxWhat tail-chasing dogs reveal about humans - Shayla LoveA central nervous solution to arthritis - Gaia VinceCould virtual reality headsets relieve pain? - Jo MarchantWhat it means to be homesick in the 21st Century - John OsborneLighting up brain tumours with Project Violet - Alex O'BrienThe US military plan to supercharge brains - Emma Young  EXTRACTOuch! The science of painJohn WalshOne night in May, my wife sat up in bed and said, 'I've got this awful pain just here.' She prodded her abdomen and made a face. 'It feels like something's really wrong.' Woozily noting that it was 2am, I asked what kind of pain it was. 'Like something's biting into me and won't stop,' she said.'Hold on,' I said blearily, 'help is at hand.' I brought her a couple of ibuprofen with some water, which she downed, clutching my hand and waiting for the ache to subside.An hour later, she was sitting up in bed again, in real distress. 'It's worse now,' she said, 'really nasty. Can you phone thedoctor?' Miraculously, the family doctor answered the phone at 3am, listened to her recital of symptoms and concluded, 'It might be your appendix. Have you had yours taken out?' No, she hadn't. 'It could be appendicitis,' he surmised, 'but if it was dangerous you'd be in much worse pain than you're in. Go to the hospital in the morning, but for now, take some paracetamol and try to sleep.'Barely half an hour later, the balloon went up. She was awakened for the third time, but now with a pain so savage and uncontainable it made her howl like a tortured witch face down on a bonfire. The time for murmured assurances and spousal procrastination was over. I rang a local minicab, struggled into my clothes, bundled her into a dressing gown, and we sped to St Mary's Paddington at just before 4am.

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 3, 2018

About the author

Will Storr is a long-form journalist, novelist and reportage photographer. His features have appeared in The Guardian Weekend, The Telegraph Magazine, The Times Magazine, The Observer Magazine, The Sunday Times Style and GQ, and he is a contributing editor at Esquire. He has reported from the refugee camps of Africa, the war-torn departments of rural Colombia and the remote Aboriginal communities of Australia, and has been named New Journalist of the Year, Feature Writer of the Year and has won a National Press Club award for excellence. His critically acclaimed first book, Will Storr versus The Supernatural is published by Random House in the UK. The Hunger and the Howling of Killian Lone is his first novel.