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Connections: A Story of Human Feeling
In this riveting journey through the hidden realms of the human mind, a world-renowned psychiatrist and neuroscientist explores the origins of human emotion, and examines what mental illnesses reveal about all of us - how the broken can illuminate the unbroken.Why do we feel what we feel?Mental illness is one of the greatest causes of human suffering, but the reasons we bear this burden, and the nature of these diseases, have remained mysterious. Now, our understanding has reached a tipping point. In Connections , Professor Karl Deisseroth intertwines gripping case studies from his experience as an emergency psychiatry physician, with breakthrough scientific discoveries from astounding new technology (including optogenetics, which he developed to allow turning specific brain cells on or off, with light).By linking insights from this technology to deeply moving stories of his patients and to our shared evolutionary history, Deisseroth tells a larger story about the origins of human emotion. A young woman with an eating disorder reveals how the mind can rebel against the brain's most primitive drives of hunger and thirst; an older man, smothered into silence by dementia, shows how humans evolved to feel joy and its absence; and a lonely Uyghur woman far from her homeland teaches both the importance - and challenges - of deep social bonds.Addressing some of the most timeless questions about the human condition while illuminating the roots of misunderstood disorders such as depression, psychosis, schizophrenia and sociopathy, Connections transforms the way we understand the brain, and our selves.
231 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2021
79 people are currently reading
1254 people want to read
About the author
Karl Deisseroth
4 books101 followersKarl Deisseroth is a professor of bioengineering and psychiatry at Stanford University. The winner of the Kyoto Prize and the Heineken Prize, Deisseroth has five children and lives near Stanford University, where he teaches and directs Stanford’s undergraduate degree in bioengineering and treats patients with mood disorders and autism.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 30, 2024
Karl Deisseroth este medic psihiatru și cercetător. Cartea este o colecție de studii de caz emoționante.
M-a impresionat partea de optogenetică, domeniu creat și dezvoltat de către autor. Optogenetica presupune stimularea neuronilor cu ajutorul laserului. Neuronii, în mod normal, nu sunt sensibili la lumină. Dar pot fi făcuți sensibili prin inginerie genetică. Cercetătorii iau o genă de la bacterii ce codifică o proteină sensibilă la lumină (canalrodopsină) și o introduc în genomul unui șoarece de laborator.
Cu ajutorul optogeneticii putem stimula neuronii motori și determina animalul să se miște. Sau putem scoate în evidență, în cazul bolilor psihice, circuitele relevante. Spre exemplu, la persoanele anxioase sunt foarte active circuitele ce leagă amygdala de nucleul parabrahial din trunchiul cerebral (responsabil de creșterea ritmului respirator), de hipotalamus lateral (responsabil de comportamentul evitant) și de zona tegmentală ventrală (responsabilă de senzația de rău).
Recomand
M-a impresionat partea de optogenetică, domeniu creat și dezvoltat de către autor. Optogenetica presupune stimularea neuronilor cu ajutorul laserului. Neuronii, în mod normal, nu sunt sensibili la lumină. Dar pot fi făcuți sensibili prin inginerie genetică. Cercetătorii iau o genă de la bacterii ce codifică o proteină sensibilă la lumină (canalrodopsină) și o introduc în genomul unui șoarece de laborator.
Cu ajutorul optogeneticii putem stimula neuronii motori și determina animalul să se miște. Sau putem scoate în evidență, în cazul bolilor psihice, circuitele relevante. Spre exemplu, la persoanele anxioase sunt foarte active circuitele ce leagă amygdala de nucleul parabrahial din trunchiul cerebral (responsabil de creșterea ritmului respirator), de hipotalamus lateral (responsabil de comportamentul evitant) și de zona tegmentală ventrală (responsabilă de senzația de rău).
Recomand
June 17, 2021
Connections: A Story of Human Feeling is a groundbreaking tour of the human mind, in which a renowned psychiatrist and neuroscientist explores the biological and evolutionary origins of human emotions through poignant, and at times shocking, clinical stories. Karl Deisseroth has spent his life pursuing truths about the human mind, both as a practicing clinical psychiatrist and as a researcher who created the revolutionary field of optogenetics, which allows us to decipher the brain's inner workings using light. In Projections, he combines his groundbreaking access to the brain's inner circuitry with a deep empathy for his patients to examine what mental illness reveals about the mind and the origin of human feelings--how the broken can illuminate the unbroken. An internationally acclaimed professor of bioengineering and psychiatry at Stanford, Deisseroth's true passion is clinical psychiatry, and it is the stories of his patients that form the backbone of Projections. Through these case studies, he tells the larger story of how we can understand the physical and biological origins of human emotion in the brain.
As such, he describes vividly how humans experience feelings both in the simple and ancient circuits of our brains and in the poignant moments of suffering in our daily lives. The stories of Deisseroth's patients are rich with humanity and shine an unprecedented light on the self and the ways in which it breaks down. A young woman with an eating disorder reveals how the mind can rebel against the brain's most primitive drives of hunger and thirst; while an older gentleman, smothered into silence by depression and dementia, illuminates how humans evolved to feel joy and its absence; and a lonely Uyghur woman far from home teaches the importance of rich social bonds. An illuminating and essential work, Projections transforms the way we understand the brain as a biological and as an emotional object. This a fascinating, accessible and lyrical book packed with intriguing information about how our feelings arise and the aspects that make up our emotions. It illuminates said emotions and mental illness through vivid and engaging case studies in order to hammer points home. Highly recommended.
As such, he describes vividly how humans experience feelings both in the simple and ancient circuits of our brains and in the poignant moments of suffering in our daily lives. The stories of Deisseroth's patients are rich with humanity and shine an unprecedented light on the self and the ways in which it breaks down. A young woman with an eating disorder reveals how the mind can rebel against the brain's most primitive drives of hunger and thirst; while an older gentleman, smothered into silence by depression and dementia, illuminates how humans evolved to feel joy and its absence; and a lonely Uyghur woman far from home teaches the importance of rich social bonds. An illuminating and essential work, Projections transforms the way we understand the brain as a biological and as an emotional object. This a fascinating, accessible and lyrical book packed with intriguing information about how our feelings arise and the aspects that make up our emotions. It illuminates said emotions and mental illness through vivid and engaging case studies in order to hammer points home. Highly recommended.
September 18, 2022
I don't want to offend anyone with this, but god, it's been one of the worst reads of my entire timeline. I've had the pleasure of talking to highly drugged people with more sense and clearer lines of argument than this book. Too many metaphors, symbolisms and story changes in the same chapter that disconnect you from the main thread over and over again. A bunch of nonsense with no order in each chapter to end up with conclusions that are either common sense or not even scientific fact. The guy's writing is completely narcissistic, he talks about himself 90% of the time under any excuse. Too much complex vocabulary for people with no background in science and too uninteresting for people with a scientific background. I'm just thankful I didn't buy it. Use the libraries, folks.
June 13, 2021
Published in North America as Projections: A Story of Human Emotions
Dr. Karl Deisseroth is a Renaissance man: He is a psychiatrist with a special interest in autism and treatment-resistant depression; he has a Ph.D. in neuroscience; and he is a professor of bioengineering at Stanford, where he spends much of his time running a lab. His interactions with patients who are challenged by a range of psychiatric or neurological issues raise provocative questions and inform his work in the lab. He’s also a lover of literature, which he regards as important for “understanding patients” and which can “at times provid[e] a window into the brain [that is] more informative than any microscopic objective.” Deisseroth is a proponent of cross-fertilization between disciplines—the humanities, engineering, and various scientific fields. Ideas and influences from unexpected directions can be transformative, he says, and if science is too biased towards solving disease-related questions, innovation is curtailed. Projections reflects its polymathic author’s philosophy. It’s a rich, fascinating, and exciting amalgam of stories of patients with particular psychiatric diseases and symptoms, including mania, paranoia, multi-infarct dementia, autism, borderline personality disorder, eating disorders, and depressive illness. The narratives are offered with the view that the broken can provide insight into the unbroken—abnormal function helps us understand what is normal. Deisseroth’s book also contains elements of personal memoir and scientific expository writing about genetics, evolution, and the role that a technology called optogenetics can play in exposing the complex neural circuitry and components involved in certain emotional states and diseases.
Unlike other medical specialists who can use a range of diagnostics—including blood work and imaging—to home in on and identify disease, psychiatrists are reliant on patient history and clinical presentation. Deisseroth writes: “The challenge of trying to perceive and experience unconventional realities from the patient’s perspective is the heart of psychiatry, working through the distortions of both the observer and the observed.” To practise well, he intimates, psychiatrists have to have a measure of self-awareness. They must be careful not to over-identify with patients and be mindful not to ascribe their own emotions or experiences to those they are treating. Sometimes, however, psychiatric diagnoses can be reached when the clinician notes the feelings a patient evokes in him. For example, in dealing with borderline patients, who are “maestros” at eliciting emotion in others—bringing forth powerful positive or negative feelings that approach patients’ own intense states—Deisseroth has found it useful to be attentive to the “rising tingle” up his back “in that sensation of defensive rage that we feel in our skin when personal boundaries are violated.”
Physicians are trained to see brains as biological objects. With psychiatric illnesses, however, the organ itself is not obviously damaged, and there are few explanations for why patients are suffering and what their diseases mean in a biological sense. A new technology called optogenetics (much of it developed in Deisseroth’s own Stanford bioengineering lab) is changing that. This technology allows scientists to see specific nerve cells firing as well as activity patterns in brain “circuits” created by the “projections”—the axons (extensions or threads)—of neurons across the brain.
Optogenetics involves taking genes responsible for making light-responsive proteins from such microorganisms as ancient algae and delivering them to specific neurons in laboratory animals, usually mice. Amazingly, this genetic material can be carried to its target by a virus. Once it reaches the intended nerve cell, the microbial DNA provides instructions so that the mammalian neuron can now produce a light-sensitive protein called a rhodopsin. Later, scientists can administer laser light to the transformed neuron by means of thin flexible fibers of glass (fiber optics). The genetically-altered lab animal’s neuron fires in response to that light—it’s excited or inhibited. Throughout the process, the animal brain is left intact; researchers are able to study the components that give rise to neurological function without taking the system apart. Deisseroth’s team has also developed and employed another technology called hydrogel-tissue chemistry, which helps to turn the normally dense and opaque brain into a state which permits light to pass through freely. This allows high-resolution visualization of the physical components of certain brain functions and emotional states.
Deisseroth explains early in his book that optogenetics technology has allowed scientists to learn that emotional states typically involve several brain areas. (Knowledge gained through this method may ultimately lead to treatments for afflictive states.) Anxiety, for example, begins in a region of the brain called the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), an extension of the amygdala (a part of the brain involved with experiencing emotion). Threads from the BNST radiate out and activate several other brain areas. One projection travels to the parabrachial nucleus in the pons, which is part of the brainstem. When activated, this area increases the breathing rate of an anxious individual. The risk aversion (fearful avoidance) we see in an anxious person is controlled by a different thread, one travelling from the BNST to the lateral hypothalamus. Finally, the negative feeling or “valence” associated with anxiety is handled by a third projection, which extends to the ventral tegmental area, a part of the mammalian brain’s reward-and-motivation network.
Projections is organized around patient stories. Deisseroth walks the reader through the symptomatology of each condition, what is known about its genetics, and the ways in which optogenetics has shed light on what is going on. The author often considers the social context in which the patient’s illness has developed, whether it be the ruptured early family life of a borderline patient or the state-sponsored persecution of a patient from a Uyghur community in China. I appreciated his reminder that “nothing in biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution.” If something does not matter for survival, it disappears. It’s very possible, then, that what we now consider psychiatric illness once served a purpose. For example, the elevated state of being that we see in mania may have allowed some people to lead others in past times of existential threat; the euphoria of the manic individual may have uplifted and inspired his fellows. The decreased need for sleep, the abundant energy, and the intense commitment to projects may have served ancient societies well in times of migration or rebuilding. On the other hand, humans may have had periods during which the conservation of energy was critical for survival. The roots of depression may lie there.
Deisseroth acknowledges that there are ethical concerns about how new technologies like optogenetics are used. Neuroscience can target specific cells and connections to make animals more or less aggressive, defensive, energetic, sexual, social, hungry, thirsty, or sleepy. To what extent might these findings ultimately be applied to transform dysfunctional or suffering humans? Which changes are socially and morally acceptable and which are not? Deisseroth opines that the scientific community has a duty to explain its work to the general public, who must become engaged in the discussions about how new neuroscientific technologies are applied.
I am grateful to Random House for approving my Net Galley request for an early review copy of Karl Deisseroth’s book. It is one of the most stimulating works I’ve read in some time. I think other motivated readers interested in the workings of the brain will find it very rewarding, too.
Dr. Karl Deisseroth is a Renaissance man: He is a psychiatrist with a special interest in autism and treatment-resistant depression; he has a Ph.D. in neuroscience; and he is a professor of bioengineering at Stanford, where he spends much of his time running a lab. His interactions with patients who are challenged by a range of psychiatric or neurological issues raise provocative questions and inform his work in the lab. He’s also a lover of literature, which he regards as important for “understanding patients” and which can “at times provid[e] a window into the brain [that is] more informative than any microscopic objective.” Deisseroth is a proponent of cross-fertilization between disciplines—the humanities, engineering, and various scientific fields. Ideas and influences from unexpected directions can be transformative, he says, and if science is too biased towards solving disease-related questions, innovation is curtailed. Projections reflects its polymathic author’s philosophy. It’s a rich, fascinating, and exciting amalgam of stories of patients with particular psychiatric diseases and symptoms, including mania, paranoia, multi-infarct dementia, autism, borderline personality disorder, eating disorders, and depressive illness. The narratives are offered with the view that the broken can provide insight into the unbroken—abnormal function helps us understand what is normal. Deisseroth’s book also contains elements of personal memoir and scientific expository writing about genetics, evolution, and the role that a technology called optogenetics can play in exposing the complex neural circuitry and components involved in certain emotional states and diseases.
Unlike other medical specialists who can use a range of diagnostics—including blood work and imaging—to home in on and identify disease, psychiatrists are reliant on patient history and clinical presentation. Deisseroth writes: “The challenge of trying to perceive and experience unconventional realities from the patient’s perspective is the heart of psychiatry, working through the distortions of both the observer and the observed.” To practise well, he intimates, psychiatrists have to have a measure of self-awareness. They must be careful not to over-identify with patients and be mindful not to ascribe their own emotions or experiences to those they are treating. Sometimes, however, psychiatric diagnoses can be reached when the clinician notes the feelings a patient evokes in him. For example, in dealing with borderline patients, who are “maestros” at eliciting emotion in others—bringing forth powerful positive or negative feelings that approach patients’ own intense states—Deisseroth has found it useful to be attentive to the “rising tingle” up his back “in that sensation of defensive rage that we feel in our skin when personal boundaries are violated.”
Physicians are trained to see brains as biological objects. With psychiatric illnesses, however, the organ itself is not obviously damaged, and there are few explanations for why patients are suffering and what their diseases mean in a biological sense. A new technology called optogenetics (much of it developed in Deisseroth’s own Stanford bioengineering lab) is changing that. This technology allows scientists to see specific nerve cells firing as well as activity patterns in brain “circuits” created by the “projections”—the axons (extensions or threads)—of neurons across the brain.
Optogenetics involves taking genes responsible for making light-responsive proteins from such microorganisms as ancient algae and delivering them to specific neurons in laboratory animals, usually mice. Amazingly, this genetic material can be carried to its target by a virus. Once it reaches the intended nerve cell, the microbial DNA provides instructions so that the mammalian neuron can now produce a light-sensitive protein called a rhodopsin. Later, scientists can administer laser light to the transformed neuron by means of thin flexible fibers of glass (fiber optics). The genetically-altered lab animal’s neuron fires in response to that light—it’s excited or inhibited. Throughout the process, the animal brain is left intact; researchers are able to study the components that give rise to neurological function without taking the system apart. Deisseroth’s team has also developed and employed another technology called hydrogel-tissue chemistry, which helps to turn the normally dense and opaque brain into a state which permits light to pass through freely. This allows high-resolution visualization of the physical components of certain brain functions and emotional states.
Deisseroth explains early in his book that optogenetics technology has allowed scientists to learn that emotional states typically involve several brain areas. (Knowledge gained through this method may ultimately lead to treatments for afflictive states.) Anxiety, for example, begins in a region of the brain called the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), an extension of the amygdala (a part of the brain involved with experiencing emotion). Threads from the BNST radiate out and activate several other brain areas. One projection travels to the parabrachial nucleus in the pons, which is part of the brainstem. When activated, this area increases the breathing rate of an anxious individual. The risk aversion (fearful avoidance) we see in an anxious person is controlled by a different thread, one travelling from the BNST to the lateral hypothalamus. Finally, the negative feeling or “valence” associated with anxiety is handled by a third projection, which extends to the ventral tegmental area, a part of the mammalian brain’s reward-and-motivation network.
Projections is organized around patient stories. Deisseroth walks the reader through the symptomatology of each condition, what is known about its genetics, and the ways in which optogenetics has shed light on what is going on. The author often considers the social context in which the patient’s illness has developed, whether it be the ruptured early family life of a borderline patient or the state-sponsored persecution of a patient from a Uyghur community in China. I appreciated his reminder that “nothing in biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution.” If something does not matter for survival, it disappears. It’s very possible, then, that what we now consider psychiatric illness once served a purpose. For example, the elevated state of being that we see in mania may have allowed some people to lead others in past times of existential threat; the euphoria of the manic individual may have uplifted and inspired his fellows. The decreased need for sleep, the abundant energy, and the intense commitment to projects may have served ancient societies well in times of migration or rebuilding. On the other hand, humans may have had periods during which the conservation of energy was critical for survival. The roots of depression may lie there.
Deisseroth acknowledges that there are ethical concerns about how new technologies like optogenetics are used. Neuroscience can target specific cells and connections to make animals more or less aggressive, defensive, energetic, sexual, social, hungry, thirsty, or sleepy. To what extent might these findings ultimately be applied to transform dysfunctional or suffering humans? Which changes are socially and morally acceptable and which are not? Deisseroth opines that the scientific community has a duty to explain its work to the general public, who must become engaged in the discussions about how new neuroscientific technologies are applied.
I am grateful to Random House for approving my Net Galley request for an early review copy of Karl Deisseroth’s book. It is one of the most stimulating works I’ve read in some time. I think other motivated readers interested in the workings of the brain will find it very rewarding, too.
June 20, 2021
I’m no scientist and yet I found I couldn’t put this book down. Occasionally I struggled a little with comprehension of the neuroscience, but it didn’t matter in the end. Every patient’s illness was described with the greatest humanity and with each chapter my understanding built.
I loved the mix of case studies, science, evolutionary theory and autobiographical elements, but it is the human stories that made the deepest impression. And the writing, the writing was beautiful:
‘Our selves are not the contour of that landscape available to us, in this complex topography we travel - rather, they are the chosen path.’
‘Our most mysterious instinctual impressions of loveliness, then, may be just accidental fingerprints - left by artists of survival, on the cave wall of our genome.’
This was an incredible read full of hope and humanity, but ended with what were, for me, disturbing philosophical questions.
I loved the mix of case studies, science, evolutionary theory and autobiographical elements, but it is the human stories that made the deepest impression. And the writing, the writing was beautiful:
‘Our selves are not the contour of that landscape available to us, in this complex topography we travel - rather, they are the chosen path.’
‘Our most mysterious instinctual impressions of loveliness, then, may be just accidental fingerprints - left by artists of survival, on the cave wall of our genome.’
This was an incredible read full of hope and humanity, but ended with what were, for me, disturbing philosophical questions.
February 20, 2024
Este libro no lo recomiendo. La idea del libro es buena y no sería el primero que leo acerca del tema y con este "estilo" pero nada más no.
El autor no se define, describe al inicio que quiso ser escritor antes que científico y en el libro busca sacar eso. Oraciones larguísimas sin sentido. Metáfora tras metáfora tras metáfora y luego analogía tras analogía tras analogía.
Uno le pierde el sentido y el interés con tanta verborrea que no aporta absolutamente nada al libro. Bueno, páginas nada más.
Un par de capítulos al menos también no tienen mucho sentido en como se narran. Y uno de ellos, visto desde la perspectiva del paciente, honestamente no se entiende ni que quiso contar.
Para mi al menos, muy mal libro.
El autor no se define, describe al inicio que quiso ser escritor antes que científico y en el libro busca sacar eso. Oraciones larguísimas sin sentido. Metáfora tras metáfora tras metáfora y luego analogía tras analogía tras analogía.
Uno le pierde el sentido y el interés con tanta verborrea que no aporta absolutamente nada al libro. Bueno, páginas nada más.
Un par de capítulos al menos también no tienen mucho sentido en como se narran. Y uno de ellos, visto desde la perspectiva del paciente, honestamente no se entiende ni que quiso contar.
Para mi al menos, muy mal libro.
July 21, 2023
I received this book as a present, because of my personal and professional interest in neuroscience and mental disorders. While I loved the idea of patients' stories, insights on optogenetics and the psychiatrist's perspective, I found it extremely hard to read. Very verbose, super long sentences filled with metaphors, quite unorganized with not clear flow. I found myself reading pages twice and thrice to keep track of the author's thought process. Only powered through it because of the interesting stories. Would probably not recommend
April 5, 2025
Es un libro muy interesante en torno a la dinámica de la psiquiatría para hacer un mundo mejor a través de diversas historias que se cuentan en el libro. Es un libro en el cual vas a aprender mucho literal, de la historia de las emociones.
December 10, 2022
Tengo que admitir que es un libro complicado al que estuve a punto de renunciar. Sin embargo, con un poco de paciencia, le terminé por agarrar mucho cariño. Algunas partes tuve que leerlas dos o hasta tres veces.
Pongamos por ejemplo la mismísima columna vertebral del libro: la optogenética. Karl hace una descripción bastante detallada de cómo funciona y a la que siento que incluso le faltaron algunas ayudas visuales. Sencillamente no logro entenderla en su totalidad, pero, a grandes rasgos, puedo describirla como un avance científico que permite inducir de manera muy precisa y específica la actividad eléctrica a través de haces de luz en neuronas manipuladas genéticamente. En dichas células se han introducido genes provenientes de bacterias o algas que se encargan de generar proteínas que reaccionan a la luz y generan corrientes eléctricas. En las neuronas, estos impulsos eléctricos controlan comportamientos muy específicos del comportamiento animal y como puede suponerse, las posibilidades de estudio y aplicaciones son tan prometedoras como preocupantes.
Cada uno de los capítulos se centra en algún trastorno mental, con al menos un paciente de la vida real, y todos se conectan en algún momento con la optogenética y lo que esta herramienta ha podido desvelar sobre dichos trastornos. El capítulo 1 nos habla de un paciente incapaz de llorar y nos lleva las teorías del origen de las lágrimas emocionales. El capítulo 2 nos habla de las manías y el trastorno bipolar. El capítulo 3 se centra en el autismo y las interacciones humanas. El capítulo 4 sobre el trastorno límite de personalidad. El capítulo 5 es sobre la esquizofrenia. El capítulo 6 sobre los trastornos alimenticios y el capítulo 7 es sobre la demencia. Todos aportando infinidad de detalles interesantes.
Las aplicaciones de la optogenética, como ya adelantaba, son tan increíbles como atemorizantes. En cierto experimento, la ira o pasividad de un ratón puede ser controlada por un simple haz de luz. Esto plantea grandes interrogantes éticas y también, inevitablemente, nos hace cuestionar el libre albedrío y la misma naturaleza del ser humano. Parece un terreno de la ciencia ficción que en momentos hasta me resulta difícil de creer. La realidad es que se trata de un campo relativamente nuevo que apuesto que podría dar grandes sorpresas en un par de años. Por supuesto, lo ideal sería que primero nos ayude a entender y tratar los trastornos mentales, un área donde estamos aún en pañales.
Pongamos por ejemplo la mismísima columna vertebral del libro: la optogenética. Karl hace una descripción bastante detallada de cómo funciona y a la que siento que incluso le faltaron algunas ayudas visuales. Sencillamente no logro entenderla en su totalidad, pero, a grandes rasgos, puedo describirla como un avance científico que permite inducir de manera muy precisa y específica la actividad eléctrica a través de haces de luz en neuronas manipuladas genéticamente. En dichas células se han introducido genes provenientes de bacterias o algas que se encargan de generar proteínas que reaccionan a la luz y generan corrientes eléctricas. En las neuronas, estos impulsos eléctricos controlan comportamientos muy específicos del comportamiento animal y como puede suponerse, las posibilidades de estudio y aplicaciones son tan prometedoras como preocupantes.
Cada uno de los capítulos se centra en algún trastorno mental, con al menos un paciente de la vida real, y todos se conectan en algún momento con la optogenética y lo que esta herramienta ha podido desvelar sobre dichos trastornos. El capítulo 1 nos habla de un paciente incapaz de llorar y nos lleva las teorías del origen de las lágrimas emocionales. El capítulo 2 nos habla de las manías y el trastorno bipolar. El capítulo 3 se centra en el autismo y las interacciones humanas. El capítulo 4 sobre el trastorno límite de personalidad. El capítulo 5 es sobre la esquizofrenia. El capítulo 6 sobre los trastornos alimenticios y el capítulo 7 es sobre la demencia. Todos aportando infinidad de detalles interesantes.
Las aplicaciones de la optogenética, como ya adelantaba, son tan increíbles como atemorizantes. En cierto experimento, la ira o pasividad de un ratón puede ser controlada por un simple haz de luz. Esto plantea grandes interrogantes éticas y también, inevitablemente, nos hace cuestionar el libre albedrío y la misma naturaleza del ser humano. Parece un terreno de la ciencia ficción que en momentos hasta me resulta difícil de creer. La realidad es que se trata de un campo relativamente nuevo que apuesto que podría dar grandes sorpresas en un par de años. Por supuesto, lo ideal sería que primero nos ayude a entender y tratar los trastornos mentales, un área donde estamos aún en pañales.
July 4, 2024
Nörobilimci ve klinik psikiyatr Karl Deisseroth önsözünde, ‘duygu gibi gizemli bir konuyu hücre düzeyinde anlamak mümkün olabilir mi diye düşünmeye başladım’ diyor. Bu cümle kitabın başlangıç noktası ve özeti niteliğinde.
Kitap Deisseroth’un hastalarını anlattığı hikayelerle ilerliyor, yazar bunları daha çok bir başlangıç noktası gibi kullanıp hastalıkların ve insanlığın karanlık ve bilinmeyen yönleriyle tanıştırıyor bizi.
İnsanı anlama konusunda gelinen nokta son derece etkileyici olmasına rağmen bazı yönlerimizin gizemini koruyor olması da epey şaşırtıcı. Duygusal ağlamanın başka canlılarda neden görülmediği ya da zaaflarımızın derinliklerinin bilinmemesi gibi.
“Kişiye özgü dokular ve renkler, anılarımız ve deneyimlerimizden oluşan ipliklerin kesişimlerine benzer.”
Her Temas, bilimsel açıdan epey doyurucu, insanı, yaşamı ve kendimizi tanımaya ve anlamaya dair güzel bir yolculuk 🌱
Kitap Deisseroth’un hastalarını anlattığı hikayelerle ilerliyor, yazar bunları daha çok bir başlangıç noktası gibi kullanıp hastalıkların ve insanlığın karanlık ve bilinmeyen yönleriyle tanıştırıyor bizi.
İnsanı anlama konusunda gelinen nokta son derece etkileyici olmasına rağmen bazı yönlerimizin gizemini koruyor olması da epey şaşırtıcı. Duygusal ağlamanın başka canlılarda neden görülmediği ya da zaaflarımızın derinliklerinin bilinmemesi gibi.
“Kişiye özgü dokular ve renkler, anılarımız ve deneyimlerimizden oluşan ipliklerin kesişimlerine benzer.”
Her Temas, bilimsel açıdan epey doyurucu, insanı, yaşamı ve kendimizi tanımaya ve anlamaya dair güzel bir yolculuk 🌱
June 17, 2021
Thanks to @PenguinUKbooks and @NetGalley for providing me with a proof copy in advance of publication. 📚
Connections is a deep dive into human emotions, what mental health reveals about us and how "the broken can illuminate the unbroken". It's one of the more brilliant examples that I've read of literary non-fiction, how Deisseroth uses his language poetically to convey his points. It covers some of the more timeless questions about humankind, looking into often misunderstood disorders and it can even transform how we understand ourselves.
If anyone has a penchant for psychology and interpersonal relationships, you're going to love this book!
Connections is a deep dive into human emotions, what mental health reveals about us and how "the broken can illuminate the unbroken". It's one of the more brilliant examples that I've read of literary non-fiction, how Deisseroth uses his language poetically to convey his points. It covers some of the more timeless questions about humankind, looking into often misunderstood disorders and it can even transform how we understand ourselves.
If anyone has a penchant for psychology and interpersonal relationships, you're going to love this book!
February 4, 2024
Empieza bien abordando el tema de la optogenética, dando detalle de su investigación y resultados en el ámbito de la regulación de emociones, pero después se pierde en el resto del libro contando historias (mal hiladas) en donde no se aprecia la conexión con la optogenética y el problema que está abordando en dichas historias. Al final, vuelve a abordar el tema central. Un libro sin estructura. Buena intención, pésima ejecución.
October 30, 2021
Wow so good 13/7
November 27, 2023
I bought the book because the title seems intriguing enough but I regret doing so. Perhaps I have high expectation assuming a Professor wrote the book.
February 26, 2024
Ya puedo reseñarlo. Ya lo comenté junto al karma en nuestro pequeño club. Y diré lo mismo que escribí dentro del libro:
ES EL MEJOR LIBRO QUE HE LEÍDO EN AÑOS.
Dudo mucho de que un libro consiga conectar conmigo, de la misma forma en que este lo hizo. No solo fueron los temas revisados, sino la pasión con la que fue escrito, el amor y el respeto que el autor dirige hacia sus lectores a través de sus casos clínicos.
Hubo muchos paralelismos con mi vida personal, y por eso conecté más. Si a eso se le agrega que la prosa es más digerible que un vaso de agua, sin pecar de absurda, es completamente genial.
El libro habla de varios padecimientos psiquiátricos y sus posibles diagnósticos diferenciales, pero además, explica investigaciones que el mismo autor ha conseguido y es algo completamente asombroso.
Hay un capítulo que me recordó a cuando David Quammen se volvió literario de ficción y explicó el posible origen del VIH en Contagio, ya que todo ese capítulo está contando desde la perspectiva de un paciente y es absolutamente bonito.
En otros capítulos se sumerge en los cuestionamientos de nuestros orígenes y de nuestras posibles motivaciones, me recordó a Ed Yong, cuando cuestionaba sobre qué era lo que movía los hilos.
Me hizo cuestionar nuevamente sobre el origen de todo, cosa que solo Yuval Noah Harari había conseguido, y eso me hizo sentir más emocionado.
También me gustó el apartado filosófico y cómo una crisis de identidad puede deformar la realidad de algunas personas. Ese capítulo en especial, fue muy denso de leer, no por su estructura, sino porque una persona que es importante para mí, está viviendo eso y es difícil saber qué hacer sin terminar empeorando todo. Se sintió como una bocada sólida que no pasa y se atora en la garganta.
Por último, también me hizo cuestionar sobre mi actuar como médico. Aprendí nuevas cosas. Nuevas formas de abordar a personas y eso para mí, tiene un valor mayor.
Sin duda alguna, este será un libro que relea seguido y uno, que recomiende a todos mis amigues.
ES EL MEJOR LIBRO QUE HE LEÍDO EN AÑOS.
Dudo mucho de que un libro consiga conectar conmigo, de la misma forma en que este lo hizo. No solo fueron los temas revisados, sino la pasión con la que fue escrito, el amor y el respeto que el autor dirige hacia sus lectores a través de sus casos clínicos.
Hubo muchos paralelismos con mi vida personal, y por eso conecté más. Si a eso se le agrega que la prosa es más digerible que un vaso de agua, sin pecar de absurda, es completamente genial.
El libro habla de varios padecimientos psiquiátricos y sus posibles diagnósticos diferenciales, pero además, explica investigaciones que el mismo autor ha conseguido y es algo completamente asombroso.
Hay un capítulo que me recordó a cuando David Quammen se volvió literario de ficción y explicó el posible origen del VIH en Contagio, ya que todo ese capítulo está contando desde la perspectiva de un paciente y es absolutamente bonito.
En otros capítulos se sumerge en los cuestionamientos de nuestros orígenes y de nuestras posibles motivaciones, me recordó a Ed Yong, cuando cuestionaba sobre qué era lo que movía los hilos.
Me hizo cuestionar nuevamente sobre el origen de todo, cosa que solo Yuval Noah Harari había conseguido, y eso me hizo sentir más emocionado.
También me gustó el apartado filosófico y cómo una crisis de identidad puede deformar la realidad de algunas personas. Ese capítulo en especial, fue muy denso de leer, no por su estructura, sino porque una persona que es importante para mí, está viviendo eso y es difícil saber qué hacer sin terminar empeorando todo. Se sintió como una bocada sólida que no pasa y se atora en la garganta.
Por último, también me hizo cuestionar sobre mi actuar como médico. Aprendí nuevas cosas. Nuevas formas de abordar a personas y eso para mí, tiene un valor mayor.
Sin duda alguna, este será un libro que relea seguido y uno, que recomiende a todos mis amigues.
January 2, 2025
Fascinating book that interweaves cutting edge science in neurology with the personal experiences and stories of the psychiatrist (author) and his patients. Beautifully told, with some of the most poetic and well-crafted writing I've ever encountered in non-fiction, this book explores not just how scientific advances are helping us better understand the inner workings of the brain and it's impact on the human experience, but also touches on key questions about what it means to be human, to share our individual human experiences within the context of wider society and our norms of health and wellbeing.
October 18, 2022
A story of a hospital psychiatrist encountering people afflicting with certain brain-related disorders, from psychiatric to neurodegeneration, and how the current science and investigations are shedding light to the myriad connections in the brain. It is a good mix of personal anecdotes alongside discussions in science - would recommend to other scientists, particularly in the field of neuroscience, but also the general science-interested public.
Read
November 26, 2023Insightful read, Professor and doctor Karl Diesseroth has written about his exciting experiences in psychiatry and nuerosciencie with a lot of heart.This book will take you on a journey into the depths of human brain and its deviations from normalcy making you look at it as a psychiatrist , a scientist and from an evolutionary perspective ,thus evoking emotions of empathy , sadness and curiosity at the same time .
October 8, 2022
It uses stories of mental illness patients to talk about the brain. It had some useful takeaways about neuroscience, behaviors, brain and even free-will, but I was expecting more of the science part and in a more organized way. The writing was nice but it was a bit too abstract and poetic for my liking.
September 10, 2023
4.0 / 5.0
The stories were great, the subject matter fascinating. I found the prose to be unnecessarily convoluted in the initial parts, so it was a relatively harder book to pick up but once I got used to it was tolerable. Though as a nonfiction book it could be organized in a more sensible way. Most probably it was Deisseroth's unconventional writing style I had a problem with.
~ 09/09/2023
The stories were great, the subject matter fascinating. I found the prose to be unnecessarily convoluted in the initial parts, so it was a relatively harder book to pick up but once I got used to it was tolerable. Though as a nonfiction book it could be organized in a more sensible way. Most probably it was Deisseroth's unconventional writing style I had a problem with.
~ 09/09/2023
June 25, 2024
Realmente no lo he podido terminar, es decepcionante llegar a la mitad y que el título “el libro de las emociones” es engañoso, al menos a la mitad del libro, nunca se habla de ello y son puros términos que sino conoces sobre anatomía se vuelve tedioso, realmente creo que está 100 % enfocado para psiquiatras, nada que un mortal normal pueda o deba leer porque al final será pérdida de tiempo
July 9, 2024
Malo.
Está escrito (o traducido) de una pésima manera. La mayoría de las oraciones son largas y contienen más de una idea. Y los párrafos parecen inconexos y en su totalidad carece de sentido. Me parece estar repleto de ideas novedosas y muy interesantes. Sin embargo, es una lástima que esté tan mal escrito.
Está escrito (o traducido) de una pésima manera. La mayoría de las oraciones son largas y contienen más de una idea. Y los párrafos parecen inconexos y en su totalidad carece de sentido. Me parece estar repleto de ideas novedosas y muy interesantes. Sin embargo, es una lástima que esté tan mal escrito.
August 29, 2021
Meandering at times but with some interesting insights
Found the prose and poetry labored at times. Struggled to get through some of the passages that seemed verbose and overly poetic. Enjoyed the research he shared (optogenetics) and his experiences as psychiatrist.
Found the prose and poetry labored at times. Struggled to get through some of the passages that seemed verbose and overly poetic. Enjoyed the research he shared (optogenetics) and his experiences as psychiatrist.
September 13, 2022
I tried hard, but I couldn't finish it. I think it was expectations vs reality thing- I didn't expect this book to be written in such flowery and poetic language. Some will love it, others will not. Just be aware.
Read
October 2, 2021One-of-a-kind type of book. Highly recommend to anyone interested in psychitatry - I particularly like his way of describing verbal/non communication between 'doctor' and 'patient'.
March 2, 2025
No me quedó mucho del libro.
July 22, 2025
Combina muchísimo la literatura narrativa/poética con la ciencia, lo que de pronto puede hacer que sea un poco pesado de leer, pero es un libro maravilloso, distinto a lo que esperaba.
November 20, 2022
The author, a renowned neuropsychiatrist & researcher, weaves through his personal & professional experiences in this book. Deisseroth recounts the emotional toll of being a medical professional, and his brief switch to research after diagnosing a particularly triggering case. He specialises in complex autism and eating disorders, and describes a few of his most bizzare and atypical cases.
I have honestly never read a better description of eating disorders. Don’t think I fully appreciated the gravity of this debilitating condition, which has the highest suicide rate of *any* mental illness. The author also pioneered a research method known as optogenetics, and personally I was hoping to read more about that but the book was quite focused on his medical career.
There were a few suspenseful moments where the author described high pressure clinical situations. His writing can be gripping at times, though as a whole, I didn’t feel like the book flowed in a logical order. He also often went on long tangents, particularly in suspenseful moments, that were pretty anticlimactic.
Overall, it’s 3.5/5 stars from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
I have honestly never read a better description of eating disorders. Don’t think I fully appreciated the gravity of this debilitating condition, which has the highest suicide rate of *any* mental illness. The author also pioneered a research method known as optogenetics, and personally I was hoping to read more about that but the book was quite focused on his medical career.
There were a few suspenseful moments where the author described high pressure clinical situations. His writing can be gripping at times, though as a whole, I didn’t feel like the book flowed in a logical order. He also often went on long tangents, particularly in suspenseful moments, that were pretty anticlimactic.
Overall, it’s 3.5/5 stars from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
August 3, 2021
A beautifully written insight how our minds work using the nascent technology of neuro-optics.
March 4, 2024
Takes concentration and energy to read but well worth the effort. Remarkable insights into the workings of the brain and the moral and philosophical implications of emerging knowledge.
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