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Kaip mes kuriame atsiminimus ir kaip atsiminimai kuria mus
Sunday Times metų knyga.
Kiekvieno iš mūsų gyvenime pasitaiko tokių įvykių, kuriuos patirdami jau žinome, kad jie visam laikui įsirėš į mūsų atmintį. Kartais ši nuojauta būna ypač stipri, nors nėra praregėjimas, ir ima atrodyti, kad aptikai naują suvokimo lygmenį.
Liūdesio šešėlis, meilės pliūpsnis, netekties gėla, nevilties ar apgailestavimo šuoras. Atsiminimai gali mus sujaudinti, dažniausiai tai atsitinka tada, kai mažiausiai tikimės. Jie žymi procesą, nuolat vykstantį mūsų kasdienybės fone. Šis procesas mus formuoja – filtruoja aplinkinį pasaulį, paveikia elgseną ir maitina vaizduotę.
Veronica O'Keane, garsi psichiatrė, profesorė, daug metų stebėjo atminties sąsajas su patirtimi. Knygoje „Kaip mes kuriame atsiminimus ir kaip atsiminimai kuria mus" autorė kelia daug klausimų.
• Kodėl atsiminimai gali būti išgyvenami taip tikroviškai?
• Kaip su jais siejasi mūsų pojūčiai ir suvokimas?
• Kodėl atminčiai labai svarbi yra vieta?
• Ar egzistuoja tokie dalykai, kaip „tikri" ir „apgaulingi" atsiminimai?
• Ir svarbiausia, kas vyksta, kai atminties procesą sutrikdo psichinė liga?
Pasitelkdama skaudžias savo pacientų istorijas, daugybę pavyzdžių iš literatūros kūrinių, žinomų pasakų ir naujausius neuromokslo tyrimus, Veronica O'Keane keičia mūsų supratimą apie nepaprastas žmogaus smegenų paslaptis – nuo vaikystės ir paauglystės iki gyvenimo pabaigos.
Kiekvieno iš mūsų gyvenime pasitaiko tokių įvykių, kuriuos patirdami jau žinome, kad jie visam laikui įsirėš į mūsų atmintį. Kartais ši nuojauta būna ypač stipri, nors nėra praregėjimas, ir ima atrodyti, kad aptikai naują suvokimo lygmenį.
Liūdesio šešėlis, meilės pliūpsnis, netekties gėla, nevilties ar apgailestavimo šuoras. Atsiminimai gali mus sujaudinti, dažniausiai tai atsitinka tada, kai mažiausiai tikimės. Jie žymi procesą, nuolat vykstantį mūsų kasdienybės fone. Šis procesas mus formuoja – filtruoja aplinkinį pasaulį, paveikia elgseną ir maitina vaizduotę.
Veronica O'Keane, garsi psichiatrė, profesorė, daug metų stebėjo atminties sąsajas su patirtimi. Knygoje „Kaip mes kuriame atsiminimus ir kaip atsiminimai kuria mus" autorė kelia daug klausimų.
• Kodėl atsiminimai gali būti išgyvenami taip tikroviškai?
• Kaip su jais siejasi mūsų pojūčiai ir suvokimas?
• Kodėl atminčiai labai svarbi yra vieta?
• Ar egzistuoja tokie dalykai, kaip „tikri" ir „apgaulingi" atsiminimai?
• Ir svarbiausia, kas vyksta, kai atminties procesą sutrikdo psichinė liga?
Pasitelkdama skaudžias savo pacientų istorijas, daugybę pavyzdžių iš literatūros kūrinių, žinomų pasakų ir naujausius neuromokslo tyrimus, Veronica O'Keane keičia mūsų supratimą apie nepaprastas žmogaus smegenų paslaptis – nuo vaikystės ir paauglystės iki gyvenimo pabaigos.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
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May 31, 2021This book has a gorgeous cover and starts with a fabulous quote: "This heart within me I can feel, and I judge that it exists. This world I can touch and I likewise judge that it exists. There ends all my knowledge and the rest is construction." Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus.
June 7, 2021
This book defies a proper review. Or at least anything remotely resembling a traditional book review. It is a book, but it is more than that. It is a perspective. And it just might change the way you look at the world.
I make things for a living. Mine is a world of numbers and fire and gauges of pressures and temperatures and time. But I have always been an armchair philosopher. Philosophy, back in the days of Newton, was a catchall term for all knowledge, including what has come to be known (rather narrowly, to my mind) as scientific knowledge. And that is the way I continue to think of it. Everything is part of the big picture at some level.
Physicists used to believe that the world was composed of matter. Until, of course, Einstein and others realized that matter doesn’t really exist. The universe is moving, always. Even the most static elements of our reality are in motion, even if imperceptibly slowly.
I am fascinated by that change in perspective because it aligns with my own belief that the discovery of knowledge will never end. There will never come a day, even generations down the road, when the masters of thought and discovery can let out a deep sigh, put their hands on their thighs, and say, “Well, that’s it. We’re done. Let’s call it a lifetime of lifetimes.”
This book is all about the brain. And that means, as the author so deftly explains, it’s all about memory – past, present, and future. (No, future memory is not an oxymoron.) She does, by necessity, resort to the language of medicine, but she uses it only for a lack of a viable alternative and never more than necessary, and she always explains things in alternative terms that any of us can easily comprehend.
She does so, in part, by sharing the stories of herself and her patients. They are probably not stories that mirror your own, but you can easily relate to them. They mirror your narrative, whatever that may be, and that mirroring is all so critical to understanding the brain, as she so competently explains.
She also explains things in literary and artistic terms that give depth and color to the science. She quotes Proust, if you can believe it. And Albert Camus. And Dylan Thomas. And Samuel Beckett. Have you ever heard of such a thing? A clinical psychiatrist and neuroscientist?
But it fits. Because the greatest contribution of this book is the convincing narrative that the worlds of psychiatry and physics - and the rest of science and medicine, for that matter - are converging. That, in fact, the world of all knowledge is converging. Reality isn’t just energy, it is something we haven’t even considered yet. And it is far grander and more poetic than anything we can imagine. But it’s all one big picture – the biggest.
I am a bit older than the author. And I have to tell you that her perspective brings me a peace that I have only dabbled in up until now. She truly helped me to align my personal kaleidoscope into a picture of peaceful clarity about life and living.
She also helped me to bring clarity to some of the anxiety I feel about the world today. We should be consolidating. Instead, we’re specializing. The division of labor is now a division of knowledge. Nobody studies the big picture stuff any more, unless they intend to go into academia. We’ve all become specialists in some narrow field of knowledge, often something to do with data, which isn’t knowledge at all.
She doesn’t have all of the answers. She doesn’t pretend to. She has the corners and the outside pieces of the puzzle, however. Or at least enough to form an image. It’s not quite a Seurat, but it’s recognizable.
Read it. It will lay down a memory. And while that memory will be overlaid again and again, it will have a lasting impact, conscious or not, on the narrative you ultimately define for yourself.
I make things for a living. Mine is a world of numbers and fire and gauges of pressures and temperatures and time. But I have always been an armchair philosopher. Philosophy, back in the days of Newton, was a catchall term for all knowledge, including what has come to be known (rather narrowly, to my mind) as scientific knowledge. And that is the way I continue to think of it. Everything is part of the big picture at some level.
Physicists used to believe that the world was composed of matter. Until, of course, Einstein and others realized that matter doesn’t really exist. The universe is moving, always. Even the most static elements of our reality are in motion, even if imperceptibly slowly.
I am fascinated by that change in perspective because it aligns with my own belief that the discovery of knowledge will never end. There will never come a day, even generations down the road, when the masters of thought and discovery can let out a deep sigh, put their hands on their thighs, and say, “Well, that’s it. We’re done. Let’s call it a lifetime of lifetimes.”
This book is all about the brain. And that means, as the author so deftly explains, it’s all about memory – past, present, and future. (No, future memory is not an oxymoron.) She does, by necessity, resort to the language of medicine, but she uses it only for a lack of a viable alternative and never more than necessary, and she always explains things in alternative terms that any of us can easily comprehend.
She does so, in part, by sharing the stories of herself and her patients. They are probably not stories that mirror your own, but you can easily relate to them. They mirror your narrative, whatever that may be, and that mirroring is all so critical to understanding the brain, as she so competently explains.
She also explains things in literary and artistic terms that give depth and color to the science. She quotes Proust, if you can believe it. And Albert Camus. And Dylan Thomas. And Samuel Beckett. Have you ever heard of such a thing? A clinical psychiatrist and neuroscientist?
But it fits. Because the greatest contribution of this book is the convincing narrative that the worlds of psychiatry and physics - and the rest of science and medicine, for that matter - are converging. That, in fact, the world of all knowledge is converging. Reality isn’t just energy, it is something we haven’t even considered yet. And it is far grander and more poetic than anything we can imagine. But it’s all one big picture – the biggest.
I am a bit older than the author. And I have to tell you that her perspective brings me a peace that I have only dabbled in up until now. She truly helped me to align my personal kaleidoscope into a picture of peaceful clarity about life and living.
She also helped me to bring clarity to some of the anxiety I feel about the world today. We should be consolidating. Instead, we’re specializing. The division of labor is now a division of knowledge. Nobody studies the big picture stuff any more, unless they intend to go into academia. We’ve all become specialists in some narrow field of knowledge, often something to do with data, which isn’t knowledge at all.
She doesn’t have all of the answers. She doesn’t pretend to. She has the corners and the outside pieces of the puzzle, however. Or at least enough to form an image. It’s not quite a Seurat, but it’s recognizable.
Read it. It will lay down a memory. And while that memory will be overlaid again and again, it will have a lasting impact, conscious or not, on the narrative you ultimately define for yourself.
January 24, 2021
Rating: 3.5
Veronica O’Keane has been a practising psychiatrist and researcher for over thirty-five years. She has worked in both England and Ireland and has particular expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of post-partum psychosis and depressive illness. She explains that when she was training, Freudian theory and therapeutic technique dominated the field of psychiatry, but that from the late 1990s on discoveries in neuroscience have shed light on the biological underpinnings of mental illness. In The Rag and Bone Shop she provides case studies of psychiatric patients she has cared for over the years, reflecting on their illnesses—from anorexia and borderline personality disorder to mania and schizophrenia—in light of discoveries about brain anatomy, circuitry, and the neurophysiology of memory. Psychologist William James’s observation that the study of abnormal mental function can help us to better understand what is normal resonates strongly for O’Keane, forming the bedrock of her book. In addition to her own clinical experience with mentally ill patients, she draws on the findings of psychologists, philosophers, neurosurgeons, and researchers—historical and current—and on the literary works of greats from Samuel Beckett to Virginia Woolf, who, she declares, were highly observant and even prescient about the workings of the brain.
Rich in detail, fascinating, and informative, O’Keane’s book is ambitious, possibly too much so. (I think the forays into physics and folklore, for example, could quite safely be cut.) Early on, she writes that she is interested in the question of memory. However, her work ranges well beyond that subject, her stated focus seemingly ironically forgotten. I found the title, taken from Yeats, rather misleading. O’Keane invokes “the rag and bone shop of the heart” in her discussion of the prefrontal cortex and insula of the brain, regions which interpret and regulate our emotional responses to the external and internal worlds. Since the book is about so much more than these areas of the brain, I would have liked to see a more general and inclusive title.
I read an uncorrected proof provided by the publisher. It was abundantly clear that the text was still in its own “rag-and-bone” form—that is, still in need of a fairly significant clean-up. There were numerous distracting typos, dangling modifiers, pronoun agreement and reference problems, punctuation issues, and many baggy, ungrammatical sentences. Since the material is fairly dense and complex for the lay reader, I do hope the prose undergoes a rigorous editing. I would especially love to see someone correct O’Keane’s tendency to refer to research subjects, not in the expected plural—i.e., as “rats”, “monkeys”, or “babies”—but in the singular, as proper nouns. Her writing about how seven-month-old babies learn that their parents are separate people is particularly grating and awkward: “If Baby is left alone too long or if they are not soothed . . . difficulty in forming trustful relationships may start” and “About eighteen months later Baby begins to become aware of themself.”
I have no doubt that O’Keane’s subject matter would fascinate many. Having said that, I think some expert revision and editing are in order before this book is sent out into the larger world.
Many thanks to Allen Lane/Penguin for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Veronica O’Keane has been a practising psychiatrist and researcher for over thirty-five years. She has worked in both England and Ireland and has particular expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of post-partum psychosis and depressive illness. She explains that when she was training, Freudian theory and therapeutic technique dominated the field of psychiatry, but that from the late 1990s on discoveries in neuroscience have shed light on the biological underpinnings of mental illness. In The Rag and Bone Shop she provides case studies of psychiatric patients she has cared for over the years, reflecting on their illnesses—from anorexia and borderline personality disorder to mania and schizophrenia—in light of discoveries about brain anatomy, circuitry, and the neurophysiology of memory. Psychologist William James’s observation that the study of abnormal mental function can help us to better understand what is normal resonates strongly for O’Keane, forming the bedrock of her book. In addition to her own clinical experience with mentally ill patients, she draws on the findings of psychologists, philosophers, neurosurgeons, and researchers—historical and current—and on the literary works of greats from Samuel Beckett to Virginia Woolf, who, she declares, were highly observant and even prescient about the workings of the brain.
Rich in detail, fascinating, and informative, O’Keane’s book is ambitious, possibly too much so. (I think the forays into physics and folklore, for example, could quite safely be cut.) Early on, she writes that she is interested in the question of memory. However, her work ranges well beyond that subject, her stated focus seemingly ironically forgotten. I found the title, taken from Yeats, rather misleading. O’Keane invokes “the rag and bone shop of the heart” in her discussion of the prefrontal cortex and insula of the brain, regions which interpret and regulate our emotional responses to the external and internal worlds. Since the book is about so much more than these areas of the brain, I would have liked to see a more general and inclusive title.
I read an uncorrected proof provided by the publisher. It was abundantly clear that the text was still in its own “rag-and-bone” form—that is, still in need of a fairly significant clean-up. There were numerous distracting typos, dangling modifiers, pronoun agreement and reference problems, punctuation issues, and many baggy, ungrammatical sentences. Since the material is fairly dense and complex for the lay reader, I do hope the prose undergoes a rigorous editing. I would especially love to see someone correct O’Keane’s tendency to refer to research subjects, not in the expected plural—i.e., as “rats”, “monkeys”, or “babies”—but in the singular, as proper nouns. Her writing about how seven-month-old babies learn that their parents are separate people is particularly grating and awkward: “If Baby is left alone too long or if they are not soothed . . . difficulty in forming trustful relationships may start” and “About eighteen months later Baby begins to become aware of themself.”
I have no doubt that O’Keane’s subject matter would fascinate many. Having said that, I think some expert revision and editing are in order before this book is sent out into the larger world.
Many thanks to Allen Lane/Penguin for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 11, 2022
O'Keane completează ,,biografia memoriei" cu decenii de experiență în cercetarea creierului, în special a depresiei, povești ale pacienților săi, cazuri celebre (precum cel al lui Henry Molaison, despre care puteți citi mai multe în Pacientul H.M. O poveste despre memorie, nebunie și secrete de familie), supoziții (pe care nu le-am apreciat întotdeauna, pentru că nu despre asta este știința, zic eu), studii de caz, teorii, experimente și chiar analize ale unor opere din punct de vedere neuroștiințific, printre care cele ale lui Charles Dickens și Patrick Modiano.
I-am dat patru steluțe pentru că m-a plesnit cu o frază. Susține că, în loc să judecăm și să pedepsim psihopații, ar trebui să încercăm să îi ajutăm să își dezvolte empatia, întrucât sistemul lor emoțional oglindă insula-cingulum nu este activ, acesta fiind responsabil de a înțelege nu doar propria durere, dar și pe a celorlalți. În rest, mi-a plăcut foarte mult. Scrisă cu simplitate și empatie, foarte explicită și cuprinzătoare. Dacă sunteți pasionați de neuroștiințe, atunci clar e de trecut pe listă. Recenzia aici: https://bit.ly/3uv9au2.
P.S. Atunci când simțim intens un moment din prezent și cumva știm că ni-l vom aminti întotdeauna, formăm o amintire prescientă. Altfel spus, conștientizăm formarea unei amintiri. Nu am mai găsit alte informații despre acest tip de memorie, dar multe amintiri presciente splendide să aveți!
,,Imixtiunea durerii în actualitate se reduce pe măsură ce rețelele de memorie se schimbă, iar persoana depășește, încet, trecutul, pentru a reveni în prezent. Oare încercăm să inhibăm, în durerea consecutivă pierderii unei ființe iubite, inevitabila reconfigurare a rețelelor, care ne permite să ne continuăm viața? Oare încercăm să punem memoria pe pauză, inconștient? Oare cel îndurerat simte că, fără persoana pe care a pierdut-o, devine un intrus și mai alienat în această lume acum înstrăinată și aparent nepăsătoare în care se află?''
I-am dat patru steluțe pentru că m-a plesnit cu o frază. Susține că, în loc să judecăm și să pedepsim psihopații, ar trebui să încercăm să îi ajutăm să își dezvolte empatia, întrucât sistemul lor emoțional oglindă insula-cingulum nu este activ, acesta fiind responsabil de a înțelege nu doar propria durere, dar și pe a celorlalți. În rest, mi-a plăcut foarte mult. Scrisă cu simplitate și empatie, foarte explicită și cuprinzătoare. Dacă sunteți pasionați de neuroștiințe, atunci clar e de trecut pe listă. Recenzia aici: https://bit.ly/3uv9au2.
P.S. Atunci când simțim intens un moment din prezent și cumva știm că ni-l vom aminti întotdeauna, formăm o amintire prescientă. Altfel spus, conștientizăm formarea unei amintiri. Nu am mai găsit alte informații despre acest tip de memorie, dar multe amintiri presciente splendide să aveți!
,,Imixtiunea durerii în actualitate se reduce pe măsură ce rețelele de memorie se schimbă, iar persoana depășește, încet, trecutul, pentru a reveni în prezent. Oare încercăm să inhibăm, în durerea consecutivă pierderii unei ființe iubite, inevitabila reconfigurare a rețelelor, care ne permite să ne continuăm viața? Oare încercăm să punem memoria pe pauză, inconștient? Oare cel îndurerat simte că, fără persoana pe care a pierdut-o, devine un intrus și mai alienat în această lume acum înstrăinată și aparent nepăsătoare în care se află?''
June 2, 2021
Published in the UK as The Rag and Bone Shop: How We Make Memories and Memories Make Us
Rating: 3.5
Veronica O’Keane has been a practising psychiatrist and researcher for over thirty-five years. She has worked in both England and Ireland and has particular expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of post-partum psychosis and depressive illness. She explains that when she was training, Freudian theory and therapeutic technique dominated the field of psychiatry, but that from the late 1990s on discoveries in neuroscience have shed light on the biological underpinnings of mental illness. In The Rag and Bone Shop she provides case studies of psychiatric patients she has cared for over the years, reflecting on their illnesses—from anorexia and borderline personality disorder to mania and schizophrenia—in light of discoveries about brain anatomy, circuitry, and the neurophysiology of memory. Psychologist William James’s observation that the study of abnormal mental function can help us to better understand what is normal resonates strongly for O’Keane, forming the bedrock of her book. In addition to her own clinical experience with mentally ill patients, she draws on the findings of psychologists, philosophers, neurosurgeons, and researchers—historical and current—and on the literary works of greats from Samuel Beckett to Virginia Woolf, who, she declares, were highly observant and even prescient about the workings of the brain.
Rich in detail, fascinating, and informative, O’Keane’s book is ambitious, possibly too much so. (I think the forays into physics and folklore, for example, could quite safely be cut.) Early on, she writes that she is interested in the question of memory. However, her work ranges well beyond that subject, her stated focus seemingly ironically forgotten. I found the title, taken from Yeats, rather misleading. O’Keane invokes “the rag and bone shop of the heart” in her discussion of the prefrontal cortex and insula of the brain, regions which interpret and regulate our emotional responses to the external and internal worlds. Since the book is about so much more than these areas of the brain, I would have liked to see a more general and inclusive title.
I read an uncorrected proof provided by the publisher. It was abundantly clear that the text was still in its own “rag-and-bone” form—that is, still in need of a fairly significant clean-up. There were numerous distracting typos, dangling modifiers, pronoun agreement and reference problems, punctuation issues, and many baggy, ungrammatical sentences. Since the material is fairly dense and complex for the lay reader, I do hope the prose undergoes a rigorous editing. I would especially love to see someone correct O’Keane’s tendency to refer to research subjects, not in the expected plural—i.e., as “rats”, “monkeys”, or “babies”—but in the singular, as proper nouns. Her writing about how seven-month-old babies learn that their parents are separate people is particularly grating and awkward: “If Baby is left alone too long or if they are not soothed . . . difficulty in forming trustful relationships may start” and “About eighteen months later Baby begins to become aware of themself.”
I have no doubt that O’Keane’s subject matter would fascinate many. Having said that, I think some expert revision and editing are in order before this book is sent out into the larger world.
Many thanks to Allen Lane/Penguin for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 3.5
Veronica O’Keane has been a practising psychiatrist and researcher for over thirty-five years. She has worked in both England and Ireland and has particular expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of post-partum psychosis and depressive illness. She explains that when she was training, Freudian theory and therapeutic technique dominated the field of psychiatry, but that from the late 1990s on discoveries in neuroscience have shed light on the biological underpinnings of mental illness. In The Rag and Bone Shop she provides case studies of psychiatric patients she has cared for over the years, reflecting on their illnesses—from anorexia and borderline personality disorder to mania and schizophrenia—in light of discoveries about brain anatomy, circuitry, and the neurophysiology of memory. Psychologist William James’s observation that the study of abnormal mental function can help us to better understand what is normal resonates strongly for O’Keane, forming the bedrock of her book. In addition to her own clinical experience with mentally ill patients, she draws on the findings of psychologists, philosophers, neurosurgeons, and researchers—historical and current—and on the literary works of greats from Samuel Beckett to Virginia Woolf, who, she declares, were highly observant and even prescient about the workings of the brain.
Rich in detail, fascinating, and informative, O’Keane’s book is ambitious, possibly too much so. (I think the forays into physics and folklore, for example, could quite safely be cut.) Early on, she writes that she is interested in the question of memory. However, her work ranges well beyond that subject, her stated focus seemingly ironically forgotten. I found the title, taken from Yeats, rather misleading. O’Keane invokes “the rag and bone shop of the heart” in her discussion of the prefrontal cortex and insula of the brain, regions which interpret and regulate our emotional responses to the external and internal worlds. Since the book is about so much more than these areas of the brain, I would have liked to see a more general and inclusive title.
I read an uncorrected proof provided by the publisher. It was abundantly clear that the text was still in its own “rag-and-bone” form—that is, still in need of a fairly significant clean-up. There were numerous distracting typos, dangling modifiers, pronoun agreement and reference problems, punctuation issues, and many baggy, ungrammatical sentences. Since the material is fairly dense and complex for the lay reader, I do hope the prose undergoes a rigorous editing. I would especially love to see someone correct O’Keane’s tendency to refer to research subjects, not in the expected plural—i.e., as “rats”, “monkeys”, or “babies”—but in the singular, as proper nouns. Her writing about how seven-month-old babies learn that their parents are separate people is particularly grating and awkward: “If Baby is left alone too long or if they are not soothed . . . difficulty in forming trustful relationships may start” and “About eighteen months later Baby begins to become aware of themself.”
I have no doubt that O’Keane’s subject matter would fascinate many. Having said that, I think some expert revision and editing are in order before this book is sent out into the larger world.
Many thanks to Allen Lane/Penguin for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 7, 2021
Many people don't realise how recently medicine has come to be scientific. This didn't really occur comprehensively with most areas of medicine until the second half of the twentieth century. The area that has arguably lagged far behind the rest is mental health, where outdated Victorian ideas (such as those of Freud) with no scientific basis have clung on, as if we still resorted to bleeding people to make them better.
Although the book centres on memory, Veronica O'Keane shows impressively how the increasing awareness of the impossibility of divorcing aspects of the mind from the physical aspects of the brain make it necessary to have a very different understanding of mental health issues. Often an understanding of physical problems with the brain have been developed from medical cases, and O'Keane takes us effectively and interestingly through some of these cases and the functions of the different parts of the brain relevant to memory and how problems with them can induce anything from amnesia to hallucinations.
There was a small issue with a brief foray into history of science, where O'Keane comments that heliocentrism 'effectively removed Earth from the creationist dogma of the Church. At that time, the belief systems of the Church had dominated thinking for one and a half thousand years.' This sounds like a recycling of the Victorian attempt to blame Christianity for the non-existent 'dark ages' and (leaving aside the fact the 'Church' didn't exist in this sense 1500 years before Copernicus and Galileo) totally overlooks the fact that Aristotelian physics - the norm in the 1500s - would simply not work without the Earth at the centre of the universe.
The only reason I haven't rated the book higher, though, is that I didn't enjoy reading it. The scientific content is great, but the way it's presented just didn't work for me. Sometimes the writing can be rather long-winded. For example, the entire chapter 2 boils down to 'we encounter/learn things through our senses', as if this is some sort of revelation. But for the rest, it's more about style: if some popular science is like a good action thriller this is more like reading literary fiction. If you enjoy literary fiction and 'intellectual' plays, this will make the book a delight. If you find the likes of Samuel Beckett and Proust pretentious and boring, (Beckett particularly is heavily referenced here) then it will make for a difficult read.
Overall, then, this is a marmite book. The content is great, but the presentation of that content will be wonderful to some and irritating to others.
Although the book centres on memory, Veronica O'Keane shows impressively how the increasing awareness of the impossibility of divorcing aspects of the mind from the physical aspects of the brain make it necessary to have a very different understanding of mental health issues. Often an understanding of physical problems with the brain have been developed from medical cases, and O'Keane takes us effectively and interestingly through some of these cases and the functions of the different parts of the brain relevant to memory and how problems with them can induce anything from amnesia to hallucinations.
There was a small issue with a brief foray into history of science, where O'Keane comments that heliocentrism 'effectively removed Earth from the creationist dogma of the Church. At that time, the belief systems of the Church had dominated thinking for one and a half thousand years.' This sounds like a recycling of the Victorian attempt to blame Christianity for the non-existent 'dark ages' and (leaving aside the fact the 'Church' didn't exist in this sense 1500 years before Copernicus and Galileo) totally overlooks the fact that Aristotelian physics - the norm in the 1500s - would simply not work without the Earth at the centre of the universe.
The only reason I haven't rated the book higher, though, is that I didn't enjoy reading it. The scientific content is great, but the way it's presented just didn't work for me. Sometimes the writing can be rather long-winded. For example, the entire chapter 2 boils down to 'we encounter/learn things through our senses', as if this is some sort of revelation. But for the rest, it's more about style: if some popular science is like a good action thriller this is more like reading literary fiction. If you enjoy literary fiction and 'intellectual' plays, this will make the book a delight. If you find the likes of Samuel Beckett and Proust pretentious and boring, (Beckett particularly is heavily referenced here) then it will make for a difficult read.
Overall, then, this is a marmite book. The content is great, but the presentation of that content will be wonderful to some and irritating to others.
February 5, 2021
I received this book prior to publication date from Netgalley after request in exchange for an honest review.
This book I found so interesting, with an in depth look into the subject matter on the complexities of the brain and how memories are made and formed (along with instances of how this can sometimes go wrong or be affected in different ways!). The author discussed and brought to the reader the information in an entertaining and informative way and was broken up into digestible chunks to prevent things from getting a little overwhelming!
The brain is such an amazing thing and I think within every person is a child-like fascination into the brain and how it works. So with all of those who are awe struck by the brain and all it can do, this book is beyond perfect. I think many would benefit from reading this in so many ways. It’s impossible to read this book, not be mind-blown or come away with at least one very interesting and astounding thing you’ve learnt. I definitely learnt a lot.
It’s true, I’m a scientist and a science lover so topics like these will always fascinate and interest me but I think anyone with a passing interest in the brain will find interest. I learnt and took in a lot and found it to be structured so well that the information flowed easily from one point to another.
I loved that the author included case studies and her own experiences which was just so interesting to read. I was enraptured! It has a great balance between science, providing the basis for understanding on the subject, the authors own encounters and case studies. There’s also some great illustrations, pictures and drawings which really help to bring a visual aspect to some of the more technical parts. I loved the references to literature too and the relationship to the illnesses that the characters may have been experiencing at the time. As well as the writings on the links between physics, time and our brains on time and perception.
It was great to read about the authors career and her encounters too and overall, I found the book very informative and enjoyable with many notable sections that I think will stay with me for some time to come!
This book I found so interesting, with an in depth look into the subject matter on the complexities of the brain and how memories are made and formed (along with instances of how this can sometimes go wrong or be affected in different ways!). The author discussed and brought to the reader the information in an entertaining and informative way and was broken up into digestible chunks to prevent things from getting a little overwhelming!
The brain is such an amazing thing and I think within every person is a child-like fascination into the brain and how it works. So with all of those who are awe struck by the brain and all it can do, this book is beyond perfect. I think many would benefit from reading this in so many ways. It’s impossible to read this book, not be mind-blown or come away with at least one very interesting and astounding thing you’ve learnt. I definitely learnt a lot.
It’s true, I’m a scientist and a science lover so topics like these will always fascinate and interest me but I think anyone with a passing interest in the brain will find interest. I learnt and took in a lot and found it to be structured so well that the information flowed easily from one point to another.
I loved that the author included case studies and her own experiences which was just so interesting to read. I was enraptured! It has a great balance between science, providing the basis for understanding on the subject, the authors own encounters and case studies. There’s also some great illustrations, pictures and drawings which really help to bring a visual aspect to some of the more technical parts. I loved the references to literature too and the relationship to the illnesses that the characters may have been experiencing at the time. As well as the writings on the links between physics, time and our brains on time and perception.
It was great to read about the authors career and her encounters too and overall, I found the book very informative and enjoyable with many notable sections that I think will stay with me for some time to come!
September 13, 2021
I believe O’Keane is a poet who happens to be a psychiatrist. Through her stories and her patients, she maps our brains and how memories work- that we know so far. She admits her limitations and her failures with patients, and what she learned from hard cases. In the same paragraph of explaining dendrites mapping, quotes Proust and various movies. Her range of connections between science and art to explain the brain is reason enough to read this!
January 27, 2021
Psychiatrist Veronica O'Keane explores the meaning and nature of memory.
Drawing on clinical observation, and referencing literature, film and folklore, O’Keane covers the latest research in neuroscience, as well as giving a potted history of what we understand of memory and the mind, a tour of the brain, and an explanation of biographical and cultural memory.
The aspects covered are so wide-ranging, this book is likely to be one which the average reader will dip in and out – I’ve marked several passages I want to return to in future.
Well-researched, accessible and enthralling.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Press UK for the ARC.
Drawing on clinical observation, and referencing literature, film and folklore, O’Keane covers the latest research in neuroscience, as well as giving a potted history of what we understand of memory and the mind, a tour of the brain, and an explanation of biographical and cultural memory.
The aspects covered are so wide-ranging, this book is likely to be one which the average reader will dip in and out – I’ve marked several passages I want to return to in future.
Well-researched, accessible and enthralling.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Press UK for the ARC.
March 15, 2024
Įdomi knyga, kurioje psichiatrė ne tik pasakoja apie prisiminimų atsiradimą, bet kartu dalijasi darbo praktika. Pateikia įdomius tyrimus, faktus, kurie aiškiau apibūdiną smegenų veiklą.
Knyga tikrai pilna geros informacijos.
Knyga tikrai pilna geros informacijos.
May 20, 2023
A really sensitive look at the way our brains work laying down, then filing the memories that build up what becomes our personalities.
This is dense reading in parts, as O'Keane begins examining this process from a cellular level on up, but her compassionate glimpses of troubled patients illustrate the process - especially when it goes wrong - well.
Her writing is similar, but much mote technical, to the wonderful Oliver Sachs.
This is dense reading in parts, as O'Keane begins examining this process from a cellular level on up, but her compassionate glimpses of troubled patients illustrate the process - especially when it goes wrong - well.
Her writing is similar, but much mote technical, to the wonderful Oliver Sachs.
May 12, 2021
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. From its title I expected a factual examination of Memory and its affect oh human emotions that was accessible to the lay reader. I am a retired ICU nurse with 40 years of medical experience and more than a working knowledge of neurology and yet at times I felt that i was reading a densely packed text book aimed at those undertaking a PhD in how to use the longest and most convoluted sentences to explain a simple fact.
I enjoyed the vignettes of actual cases and I feel like the author would have been better to put her thesaurus aside and focus more on the people than the words. I worked for a consultant who use to write WTF (what the...) on charts and accounts of care when he felt that someone was over egging the pudding - my notes on this book would be littered with the same initials
Let me give you some examples
" even this word"position- like topic (from Latin for placetopos) counterplace, position, situation (latin for place situare) - the mind or at least my mind simply boggles
"child in a sibship" - what the hell is wrong with the word family?
"a sheltered microcosm of normalised human encounter"
Frances is a patient of minewho was ensnared by an enmeshment of toxic xhildhood memories"
This book is a medical text, not a very enthralling one, and should perhaps be called notes for neuro psychologists. This is not a book that i would recommend to anyone for general reading.
In my mind it is probably only a one star book except for the patient vignettes I am giving it the benefit of the doubt and a 2 star rating.
I enjoyed the vignettes of actual cases and I feel like the author would have been better to put her thesaurus aside and focus more on the people than the words. I worked for a consultant who use to write WTF (what the...) on charts and accounts of care when he felt that someone was over egging the pudding - my notes on this book would be littered with the same initials
Let me give you some examples
" even this word"position- like topic (from Latin for placetopos) counterplace, position, situation (latin for place situare) - the mind or at least my mind simply boggles
"child in a sibship" - what the hell is wrong with the word family?
"a sheltered microcosm of normalised human encounter"
Frances is a patient of minewho was ensnared by an enmeshment of toxic xhildhood memories"
This book is a medical text, not a very enthralling one, and should perhaps be called notes for neuro psychologists. This is not a book that i would recommend to anyone for general reading.
In my mind it is probably only a one star book except for the patient vignettes I am giving it the benefit of the doubt and a 2 star rating.
January 19, 2022
I am often frustrated by my poor memory and with a family history of Dementia it is a subject that holds great personal interest to me so this book appealed instantly to me.
A practising psychiatrist O’Keane seeks to explore the topic of memory through poignant stories of her patients, literature, fairy tales, genetic history as well as the latest neuroscientific research in a bid to decipher the puzzle that is the human brain from birth through to adolescence and old age.
O’Keane’s belief is that through developing an understanding of serious mental illness and how that manifests within the brain we will unlock everything we know and feel as humans, and in turn lead to advancements in the treatment of mental health.
This was a fascinating read and I learnt so much about my brain, the way I think and about memory formation. It made me reflect some of the potential causes for my poor memory. The inclusion of case studies within the text proved to be of most interest and it was clear the impact these people had on the author.
At times this did get a little bit scientific but I commend O’Keane’s ability to deliver the information and then explain and summarise with context so that as a lay person I was able to understand and follow her work.
Anyone who has an interest in the human brain, what makes us human and or mental health this is one to pick up.
A practising psychiatrist O’Keane seeks to explore the topic of memory through poignant stories of her patients, literature, fairy tales, genetic history as well as the latest neuroscientific research in a bid to decipher the puzzle that is the human brain from birth through to adolescence and old age.
O’Keane’s belief is that through developing an understanding of serious mental illness and how that manifests within the brain we will unlock everything we know and feel as humans, and in turn lead to advancements in the treatment of mental health.
This was a fascinating read and I learnt so much about my brain, the way I think and about memory formation. It made me reflect some of the potential causes for my poor memory. The inclusion of case studies within the text proved to be of most interest and it was clear the impact these people had on the author.
At times this did get a little bit scientific but I commend O’Keane’s ability to deliver the information and then explain and summarise with context so that as a lay person I was able to understand and follow her work.
Anyone who has an interest in the human brain, what makes us human and or mental health this is one to pick up.
July 22, 2023
Sėdžiu ir trečią dieną mėginu aprašyti šią knygą. Arba tiksliau ruošiuosi prisėsti aprašyti. Ir vis rankos nekyla. Verčiu vėl ir vėl. Vis noras kuo daugiau aiškiau suprasti, kad galėčiau tinkamai ir suprantamai aprašyti. Skaitau ką pasižymėjau, ką pasibraukiau. Aš skaitydama knygas, ypač negrožines, daug žymiuosi, braukau, rašau, reflektuoju. Toks tarsi gyvas rankraštis gaunasi. Dialogas su knygos autore apie tai ką man jos mintys sukėlė.
O iš tiesų šioje knygoje tiek daug visko, kad net sunku išskirti apie ką būtent. Apie smegenis, bendrai kalbant. Apie tai kaip veikia mūsų smegenys, iš neuro mokslo perspektyvos. Taip pat apie tai kaip menininkai, dažnai rašytojai, pasitelkdami savo introspekcines patirtis aprašė procesus kurie vyksta mūsų smegenyse, dar iki neuromokslas galėjo tai suprasti, ištirti ir paaiškinti mums mokslo pagalba. Menas priekyje mokslo. Arba filosofija. O filosofija tai kogero tam tikra prasme menas arba mokslas. Arba ir menas ir mokslas.
Veronica O’Keane - profesorė ir praktikuojanti psichiatrė, gyvenanti Airijoje. Šioje knygoje remdamasi tiek savo ilgamete psichiatrijos praktika, tiek įvairiais moksliniais (daugiausia neuromokslo) tyrimais, tiek įvairiais literatūros kūriniais pateikia kaip mes suvokiame pasaulį, kaip veikia mūsų smegenys, kaip mes formuojame savo atsiminimus, ir vėliau, kaip tie atsiminimai veikia mus. Sakyčiau jog tai pakankamai eklektiškas rinkinys įvairių paaiškinimų ir pavyzdžių nuo ribinių psichozės ar šizofrenijos atvejų, kurių pavyzdžius autorė pateikia, iki paprastų kasdieniškų situacijų kaip veikiame kas dieną. Apie tai kaip veikia mūsų smegenys, kaip mes suvokiame pasaulį, kaip suvokiame vietą ir laiką. Ir apskritai kas yra laikas. Kas yra praeitis, ateitis ir dabartis. Apie sąmoningumas ir meta-sąmoningumą (meta conciousness). Apie emocijas ir tai kaip mūsų kūnas mums išties yra reikalingas, kad suvoktume savo emocijas. Nes pirmiausia emocijas pajaučiame kūne, vėliau jas apdorojame smegenyse (insula dalyje) ir tuomet smegenys išverčia mūsų pojūčius mums taip, kad juos suprastume.
Apie tai kaip depresija atsispindi mūsų smegenyse ir kaip depresija ir/ar trauminės patirtys blokuoja atmintį. Apie daug daug įdomių dalykų iš kurių kolkas sau dar negaliu suvesti vienos vieningos sistemos ir pasakyti apie ką tiksliai ši knyga.
Vienok, rekomenduoju, ypač kiekvienam besigilinančiam į save ar dirbančiam su kitais žmonėmis. Kaip ir pacituota knygos viršelyje: “A must read for every councellor, psychotherapist, life coach and psychiatrist” P. Perry. Tai antrinu ir rekomenduoju. O mano lentynoje, manau, ši knyga neužsigulės, bet dirbs tarsi vadovėlis, prie kurio sugrįšiu vėl ir vėl, kad geriau suprasčiau save ir kitus aplink.
Aš pirkau Eurekoje!, skaičiau anglų kalba, tiesą sakant pas juos knygą ir atradau. Šiandien pasižiūrėjau, kad yra išleista ir lietuviškai, Alma Littera 2022 metais išleido lietuvių kalba, pavadinimu: “Kaip mes kuriame prisiminimus ir kaip prisiminimai kuria mus”.
O iš tiesų šioje knygoje tiek daug visko, kad net sunku išskirti apie ką būtent. Apie smegenis, bendrai kalbant. Apie tai kaip veikia mūsų smegenys, iš neuro mokslo perspektyvos. Taip pat apie tai kaip menininkai, dažnai rašytojai, pasitelkdami savo introspekcines patirtis aprašė procesus kurie vyksta mūsų smegenyse, dar iki neuromokslas galėjo tai suprasti, ištirti ir paaiškinti mums mokslo pagalba. Menas priekyje mokslo. Arba filosofija. O filosofija tai kogero tam tikra prasme menas arba mokslas. Arba ir menas ir mokslas.
Veronica O’Keane - profesorė ir praktikuojanti psichiatrė, gyvenanti Airijoje. Šioje knygoje remdamasi tiek savo ilgamete psichiatrijos praktika, tiek įvairiais moksliniais (daugiausia neuromokslo) tyrimais, tiek įvairiais literatūros kūriniais pateikia kaip mes suvokiame pasaulį, kaip veikia mūsų smegenys, kaip mes formuojame savo atsiminimus, ir vėliau, kaip tie atsiminimai veikia mus. Sakyčiau jog tai pakankamai eklektiškas rinkinys įvairių paaiškinimų ir pavyzdžių nuo ribinių psichozės ar šizofrenijos atvejų, kurių pavyzdžius autorė pateikia, iki paprastų kasdieniškų situacijų kaip veikiame kas dieną. Apie tai kaip veikia mūsų smegenys, kaip mes suvokiame pasaulį, kaip suvokiame vietą ir laiką. Ir apskritai kas yra laikas. Kas yra praeitis, ateitis ir dabartis. Apie sąmoningumas ir meta-sąmoningumą (meta conciousness). Apie emocijas ir tai kaip mūsų kūnas mums išties yra reikalingas, kad suvoktume savo emocijas. Nes pirmiausia emocijas pajaučiame kūne, vėliau jas apdorojame smegenyse (insula dalyje) ir tuomet smegenys išverčia mūsų pojūčius mums taip, kad juos suprastume.
Apie tai kaip depresija atsispindi mūsų smegenyse ir kaip depresija ir/ar trauminės patirtys blokuoja atmintį. Apie daug daug įdomių dalykų iš kurių kolkas sau dar negaliu suvesti vienos vieningos sistemos ir pasakyti apie ką tiksliai ši knyga.
Vienok, rekomenduoju, ypač kiekvienam besigilinančiam į save ar dirbančiam su kitais žmonėmis. Kaip ir pacituota knygos viršelyje: “A must read for every councellor, psychotherapist, life coach and psychiatrist” P. Perry. Tai antrinu ir rekomenduoju. O mano lentynoje, manau, ši knyga neužsigulės, bet dirbs tarsi vadovėlis, prie kurio sugrįšiu vėl ir vėl, kad geriau suprasčiau save ir kitus aplink.
Aš pirkau Eurekoje!, skaičiau anglų kalba, tiesą sakant pas juos knygą ir atradau. Šiandien pasižiūrėjau, kad yra išleista ir lietuviškai, Alma Littera 2022 metais išleido lietuvių kalba, pavadinimu: “Kaip mes kuriame prisiminimus ir kaip prisiminimai kuria mus”.
March 2, 2024
I picked this up because I'd recently been reading about the changes in the brain as we age, and thought it might have some insight for me as I caretake my parents. This wasn't the right book for that particular question (there's a couple pages on the topic, but it's much more about neurological disorders, how they represent or show up in brain structure, and what that sensate experience is like for the people living inside of it), and I'm particularly glad to have picked it up anyway. The author's lyrical voice and reaching for literary examples to explain the lived experiences of people with various brain malfunctions or disorders really helps to make these states relatable, and provokes some deeper thinking about how one ought to interact with people who are experiencing reality in these ways. It's a book written with scientific rigor, deep compassion, and literary beauty. I also appreciated the small details of culture shared by the author as she describes her own background in her discussion of memory formation and recollection -- in some ways like my own childhood, but more often different, that also provided grounds for reflection.
September 30, 2023
One of the most interesting psychology books I've read to date. I remember starting this audiobook a few months ago while working and not getting into it, and I'm glad I gave it another shot. I ended up listening to half of it in one day. Anyway, O'Keane describes memory and how other mental health issues can impact our memory in a clear and understanding way. The author also finds a way to apply real life patient examples which make the science understandable to someone who isn't in a neurology field. Overall, I think it's a quick read for anyone interesting in psychology.
September 12, 2022
This jumped out at me in the bookshop and didn't disappoint. It's a fascinating mix of explanation of technical neurological workings and exploration of the impact on human experience and memory. I found it really easily digestible despite the scientific nature because of the rich and intriguing case studies included, and this kept me reaching for it like a fiction.
March 10, 2022
One of the best books I’ve read in ages, this is an excellent explanation of our current knowledge of brain physiology and pathophysiology, told in a wonderfully lyrical prose that I think maybe only the Irish can produce, by a woman who is clearly a knowledgeable and skilled professional, but also a humble human being.
February 21, 2024
Great book and well written. Very thought provoking and a nice review of current understandings of neuroscience, memory, experience, and more.
April 14, 2024
A brilliant book about the power of the brain.
January 16, 2025
Labai įdomu. Sužinojau tikrai įdomių dalykų apie atmintį.
Bet nespoilinsiu :)
Bet nespoilinsiu :)
May 31, 2023
Interessant.
January 21, 2021
This is a fascinating book, extremely accessible to the layperson, which walks the tightrope between clinical experience and science (and neuroscience) at its cutting edge. It is centrally a discussion on what memory is, how memories are made and stored, and what they mean to us. So oddly it is interesting that its greatest impact on me was not so much about memory at all, but rather the repeated examples of psychotic patients experience sensations created by their own brains and the impact both of the memories of this psychosis, but also the ability of anti-psychotic drugs to cure the sensate issues, if not those caused by the memories. As a philosophy graduate I am pretty comfortable with the idea of how memory makes us, and how all we are is our experiences, what O'Keane does a good job at trying to explain is how and why.
Why do we have very few memories of our youth? why is it that memory seems to be a negotiation between our initial sensations and our own retelling, and re-editing of a story. In talking about how short term memory is formed (and how much it is tied to emotion) and how it slowly gets archived she also powerfully explains partly how aspects of grief fade but grief memories can still conjure up copies of those emotions. She is in a tricky position here, as with all psychology and brain science, there is the challenge of dealing with subjective experiences (mapped sometimes to brain bits firing). There are a few throwaway bits I would have liked to see explored more - there is often a split between visual and linguistic brains, people who have a high internal narrative and I would have been interested to explore how people who might describe their own memories more with words are editing their memories more. But she is robust on some sloppy areas of terminology, she has little truck with false memory as a term because to some degree all memory is false. She certainly has dealt with enough people with trauma to feel its a tiny subset of what you might deal with in memory disorders.
If I had a problem with the Rag And Bone Shop, is I wanted a bit more.As said the philosophical aspect I am up to date with, the brain chemistry was new to me, and this is a still a fast moving area of neuroscience. So there are probably things I want that we don't know yet, though O'Keane is happy to speculate in places, entertainingly so. It certainly goes beyond its promise of what memory is, and really flips it to what are we without memory. Our memory, short or long term, is intractably tied to our sense of self and how we sense the world.
Why do we have very few memories of our youth? why is it that memory seems to be a negotiation between our initial sensations and our own retelling, and re-editing of a story. In talking about how short term memory is formed (and how much it is tied to emotion) and how it slowly gets archived she also powerfully explains partly how aspects of grief fade but grief memories can still conjure up copies of those emotions. She is in a tricky position here, as with all psychology and brain science, there is the challenge of dealing with subjective experiences (mapped sometimes to brain bits firing). There are a few throwaway bits I would have liked to see explored more - there is often a split between visual and linguistic brains, people who have a high internal narrative and I would have been interested to explore how people who might describe their own memories more with words are editing their memories more. But she is robust on some sloppy areas of terminology, she has little truck with false memory as a term because to some degree all memory is false. She certainly has dealt with enough people with trauma to feel its a tiny subset of what you might deal with in memory disorders.
If I had a problem with the Rag And Bone Shop, is I wanted a bit more.As said the philosophical aspect I am up to date with, the brain chemistry was new to me, and this is a still a fast moving area of neuroscience. So there are probably things I want that we don't know yet, though O'Keane is happy to speculate in places, entertainingly so. It certainly goes beyond its promise of what memory is, and really flips it to what are we without memory. Our memory, short or long term, is intractably tied to our sense of self and how we sense the world.
January 16, 2021
One of the most interesting and deeply engaging books I’ve read for a long time. I was sad to get to the final page as it was such a fascinating read.
Veronica O’Keane, with a background in psychiatry and neuroscience, explores the idea of memory in this book. What a memory is, what memories do and the effect memories have on us. With a mixture of scientific literature, case studies and personal anecdotes this is packed full of fascinating information. I feel I’ve learned lots and it’s made me reflect about how wrong the stigma of mental ill health is as well as how much is changing about what we know (and still don’t know) about the brain. While this is fairly academic, there are easy to understand explanations and it’s a very readable and accessible book. The only thing I maybe would have liked to have seen is a section on the idea of inherited trauma and whether trauma can be genetically passed on as a memory and how this effects biology, neurons and the brain. O’Keane also employs multiple examples from novels and literary figures to present her arguments and examples which I found really added to the book and really helped the reader to understand and apply the information.
Think this may have just sparked an interest in neuroscience for me. A very strong five stars!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for a honest review
Veronica O’Keane, with a background in psychiatry and neuroscience, explores the idea of memory in this book. What a memory is, what memories do and the effect memories have on us. With a mixture of scientific literature, case studies and personal anecdotes this is packed full of fascinating information. I feel I’ve learned lots and it’s made me reflect about how wrong the stigma of mental ill health is as well as how much is changing about what we know (and still don’t know) about the brain. While this is fairly academic, there are easy to understand explanations and it’s a very readable and accessible book. The only thing I maybe would have liked to have seen is a section on the idea of inherited trauma and whether trauma can be genetically passed on as a memory and how this effects biology, neurons and the brain. O’Keane also employs multiple examples from novels and literary figures to present her arguments and examples which I found really added to the book and really helped the reader to understand and apply the information.
Think this may have just sparked an interest in neuroscience for me. A very strong five stars!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for a honest review
February 8, 2021
I was very curious about how memories are actually formed as I've read a little about it before, but I never thought of the way memories do form us in a way.
This book was full of discoveries for me. I was taking my time with it as so many things needed to be digested slowly. Definitely wasn't the one to rush.
It is written in a language that is easy to read and understand, but it gives you such an indepth look into how our brain works in the memory department and how it may affect us in all different ways.
It was a brilliant and indulgent read. I have thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thank you #NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for feedback
This book was full of discoveries for me. I was taking my time with it as so many things needed to be digested slowly. Definitely wasn't the one to rush.
It is written in a language that is easy to read and understand, but it gives you such an indepth look into how our brain works in the memory department and how it may affect us in all different ways.
It was a brilliant and indulgent read. I have thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thank you #NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for feedback
January 19, 2021
This is a very thorough examination of how memory works,cleverly illustrated by several case studies. It is very in depth - with a lot of scientific facts, but it reads well and the case studies were well-chosen. I find memory a fascinating topic and I learned so much reading this - how we form memories, and maybe more crucially, how we lose them - there were a=many stories of tragic accidents or illnesses - some temporary - that caused patients to lose their memories. An excellent book and pleasantly written.
Free copy sent by Netgalley.
Free copy sent by Netgalley.
February 25, 2022
Memories define us as humans. This books is a wonderful way of talking about memories, emotions, neuroscience and psychology
September 4, 2023
Pamenu, kaip būdama 20-ies skaičiau S.Kingo “Kerė” viena leisdama dienas namelyje ant ežero kranto. Lijo, o medžių šakos braižė stiklą. Ar šiurpo oda? Ne. Tačiau skaitant : „Kaip mes kuriame atsiminimus ir atsiminimai kuria mus” – šiurpo. Buvo akimirkų kai gebėjau perskaityti vos vieną puslapį prisėdimu, rankos sviro, o galvoje ūžė “o tai...“. Trumpai: mano galva, knyga privaloma visiems tėvams ir tiems kas dirba su vaikais. Veronica O’Keane psichiatrė, profesorė, kuri daug metų stebėjo žmogaus smegenų ligų, hormonų ir atminties sąsajas.
Jūsų vaikas artėja link paauglystės- must read skirsnį apie lytinius hormonus, nes „Lytinio brendimo metu išsiskiriantys lytiniai hormonai prisideda prie daugelio impulsyvaus ir emociškai nevaldomo elgesio formų, visuotinai pasireiškiančių paauglystėje ir lemiančių didžiąją dalį mirtingumo priežasčių: eismo įvykius, savižudybes ir piktnaudžiavimą narkotikais.“
Jūsų atmintis sušlubavo? - must read visą knygą. Laukiatės? – čia rasite atsakymus kaip prenatalinė aplinka turi lemiamą įtaką neuronų tinko formavimuisi.
Esate vyresniųjų klasių moksleivis?- must read, nes profesorė O‘Keane žvelgia į istorijas lygindama jas su garsių rašytojų kūriniais. Virginia Woolf ir „Ponia Delovėj“, T.Kilroy‘us ir „Už kiemo tvoros“, L.Carroll ir „Alisa stebuklų šalyje“, Beethoveno fenomenu, filmu Matrica ir t.t.
Praktikuojate saviugdą, dvasingumą, sielovadą – must read, nes čia atsakymai kaip sielos kalba susijusi su smegenimis, bei vaikystės traumos.
Knyga visiems, nes „GIRDĖTI BALSUS – dar ne šizofreniją, kaip ir LIŪDESYS- dar ne depresija, didelis net GRIEŽTAS ORGANIZUOTUMAS – dar ne obsesinis kompulsinis sutrikimas, PRASTI BENDRAVIMO ĮGŪDŽIAI – dar ne autizmas, o EMOCINIS nenuspėjamumas – dar ne bipolinis sutrikimas.“
Jūsų vaikas artėja link paauglystės- must read skirsnį apie lytinius hormonus, nes „Lytinio brendimo metu išsiskiriantys lytiniai hormonai prisideda prie daugelio impulsyvaus ir emociškai nevaldomo elgesio formų, visuotinai pasireiškiančių paauglystėje ir lemiančių didžiąją dalį mirtingumo priežasčių: eismo įvykius, savižudybes ir piktnaudžiavimą narkotikais.“
Jūsų atmintis sušlubavo? - must read visą knygą. Laukiatės? – čia rasite atsakymus kaip prenatalinė aplinka turi lemiamą įtaką neuronų tinko formavimuisi.
Esate vyresniųjų klasių moksleivis?- must read, nes profesorė O‘Keane žvelgia į istorijas lygindama jas su garsių rašytojų kūriniais. Virginia Woolf ir „Ponia Delovėj“, T.Kilroy‘us ir „Už kiemo tvoros“, L.Carroll ir „Alisa stebuklų šalyje“, Beethoveno fenomenu, filmu Matrica ir t.t.
Praktikuojate saviugdą, dvasingumą, sielovadą – must read, nes čia atsakymai kaip sielos kalba susijusi su smegenimis, bei vaikystės traumos.
Knyga visiems, nes „GIRDĖTI BALSUS – dar ne šizofreniją, kaip ir LIŪDESYS- dar ne depresija, didelis net GRIEŽTAS ORGANIZUOTUMAS – dar ne obsesinis kompulsinis sutrikimas, PRASTI BENDRAVIMO ĮGŪDŽIAI – dar ne autizmas, o EMOCINIS nenuspėjamumas – dar ne bipolinis sutrikimas.“
March 19, 2025
我覺得歐洲人（作者是愛爾蘭人，好像也不能算很歐洲？）和美國人的寫作風格就是很不一樣。
美國人，尤其是可以變成自然科普暢銷書作者的美國人，寫作風格都蠻單刀直入。
就算有一點曲折和鋪陳，但是原則上一整本書有一句主題句，章節是支撐的血肉和細節；每一個章節有各自的主題句，各個段落是支撐的血肉細節。總之，就是綱舉目張，一目瞭然。
但我覺得��洲的作者，就比較纏纏繞繞，大概是哲學訓練比較多的關係？總之不會開門見山的討論，要經過一些曲折、一點鋪陳，才會柳暗花明又一村。
比方說這個作者，就會引述很多文學作品，然後用精神醫學的角度來分析。我覺得很有趣。
但副作用是，讀完之後，感覺很難簡短的總結我讀這本書的收穫⋯？
不過這本書是本讓人會重新考慮「缸中之腦」這種古典的哲學命題，或是重看一下 Matrix 之類的。
——
我喜歡第二部分的討論，尤其是討論自傳式記憶，和自我意識的部分。
自我意識一份很重要的部分就是邊界感。
提到思覺失調症（schizophrenia)裡面的 他做情緒made emotions (外來情緒alien emotions)，覺得這情緒不是自己的，是別人的（書裡舉了一個覺得自己不斷心電感應到虐童/戀童的受害人的漢娜的例子）。
而就算這樣的症狀透過精神藥物治療好了，但記憶卻留存下來了，對於人格的影響也一併保存了。
他其中也提到對於LSD等讓人喪失自我邊界感、解離的部分，諸多的文字和作品，以及以此為治療精神病症如憂鬱症等的研究。
並提到1960年代連恩嘗試以此治療思覺失調——作者說明這個嘗試失敗的原因是因為思覺失調的病人需要強調邊界感而不是更加解離他們的人我邊界感。
第一部分一開始提到的：
「我在產後精神病患身上經常看到一種狀況，這些婦女多半深信她們親近的人被調包了，特別是自己剛生下的孩子被換成另一個替身，一個冒牌貨。這種現象稱為「卡普葛拉症候群」（Capgras syndrome），病名顯然來自首次描述這種病的醫生。我說「顯然」的原因是換孩子的想法其實可追溯到人類最古老的傳說，一些童話故事，在本書最後我們還會回到這些故事。」
後面講到的童話和神話，像是愛爾蘭的換小孩的小妖精。
由於他在第一部分花了很多篇幅來討論感官其實都是大腦神經系統放電的作用，因此我們即使認為是幻聽、幻覺，對於病人本身都是真切不過的主觀感覺：
「對精神病的任何解釋都要從主觀體驗開始談起。所有的感覺，包括聲音、氣味、觸摸、視覺影像；無論是「精神錯亂」還是「真實的」感覺，無論是受到外界事物的刺激，或是因為大腦無緣無故，在沒有外來刺激下自己放電，這些感受都是真的。當時伊迪絲的感受是真的親身感受，是真實發生的，因此毫無疑問，在她的主觀上就是真的，在這點上我與伊迪絲都有共識。但是當我們需要指出這些感受是真的時，也就暗示我們了解它們是精神錯亂的幻覺。」
第二部分討論與他人分離的時候，引用了卡繆的文字：
卡繆（Albert Camus）在《薛西弗斯神話》（The Myth otSisyphus）中寫了這麼一段：
「如果我是樹林中的一棵樹，動物裡的一隻貓，我這一生應該就會有意義了，或者這個問題根本不會出現，因為我就屬於這世界的一部分。
我應該就是那個我以全部意識對抗的世界……這構成衝突的基礎，或者這就是造成我的世界與我的心智斷絕的原因，這原因除了是我的意識之外還能是什麼！」
其實我小時候就沒搞懂卡繆，但在一本討論精神醫學、神經科學的書裡遇到他（的文字），還是覺得非常有趣。
然後因為這部分談的是人我邊界感，從這個角度讀這篇引文，又覺得很有意思！
美國人，尤其是可以變成自然科普暢銷書作者的美國人，寫作風格都蠻單刀直入。
就算有一點曲折和鋪陳，但是原則上一整本書有一句主題句，章節是支撐的血肉和細節；每一個章節有各自的主題句，各個段落是支撐的血肉細節。總之，就是綱舉目張，一目瞭然。
但我覺得��洲的作者，就比較纏纏繞繞，大概是哲學訓練比較多的關係？總之不會開門見山的討論，要經過一些曲折、一點鋪陳，才會柳暗花明又一村。
比方說這個作者，就會引述很多文學作品，然後用精神醫學的角度來分析。我覺得很有趣。
但副作用是，讀完之後，感覺很難簡短的總結我讀這本書的收穫⋯？
不過這本書是本讓人會重新考慮「缸中之腦」這種古典的哲學命題，或是重看一下 Matrix 之類的。
——
我喜歡第二部分的討論，尤其是討論自傳式記憶，和自我意識的部分。
自我意識一份很重要的部分就是邊界感。
提到思覺失調症（schizophrenia)裡面的 他做情緒made emotions (外來情緒alien emotions)，覺得這情緒不是自己的，是別人的（書裡舉了一個覺得自己不斷心電感應到虐童/戀童的受害人的漢娜的例子）。
而就算這樣的症狀透過精神藥物治療好了，但記憶卻留存下來了，對於人格的影響也一併保存了。
他其中也提到對於LSD等讓人喪失自我邊界感、解離的部分，諸多的文字和作品，以及以此為治療精神病症如憂鬱症等的研究。
並提到1960年代連恩嘗試以此治療思覺失調——作者說明這個嘗試失敗的原因是因為思覺失調的病人需要強調邊界感而不是更加解離他們的人我邊界感。
第一部分一開始提到的：
「我在產後精神病患身上經常看到一種狀況，這些婦女多半深信她們親近的人被調包了，特別是自己剛生下的孩子被換成另一個替身，一個冒牌貨。這種現象稱為「卡普葛拉症候群」（Capgras syndrome），病名顯然來自首次描述這種病的醫生。我說「顯然」的原因是換孩子的想法其實可追溯到人類最古老的傳說，一些童話故事，在本書最後我們還會回到這些故事。」
後面講到的童話和神話，像是愛爾蘭的換小孩的小妖精。
由於他在第一部分花了很多篇幅來討論感官其實都是大腦神經系統放電的作用，因此我們即使認為是幻聽、幻覺，對於病人本身都是真切不過的主觀感覺：
「對精神病的任何解釋都要從主觀體驗開始談起。所有的感覺，包括聲音、氣味、觸摸、視覺影像；無論是「精神錯亂」還是「真實的」感覺，無論是受到外界事物的刺激，或是因為大腦無緣無故，在沒有外來刺激下自己放電，這些感受都是真的。當時伊迪絲的感受是真的親身感受，是真實發生的，因此毫無疑問，在她的主觀上就是真的，在這點上我與伊迪絲都有共識。但是當我們需要指出這些感受是真的時，也就暗示我們了解它們是精神錯亂的幻覺。」
第二部分討論與他人分離的時候，引用了卡繆的文字：
卡繆（Albert Camus）在《薛西弗斯神話》（The Myth otSisyphus）中寫了這麼一段：
「如果我是樹林中的一棵樹，動物裡的一隻貓，我這一生應該就會有意義了，或者這個問題根本不會出現，因為我就屬於這世界的一部分。
我應該就是那個我以全部意識對抗的世界……這構成衝突的基礎，或者這就是造成我的世界與我的心智斷絕的原因，這原因除了是我的意識之外還能是什麼！」
其實我小時候就沒搞懂卡繆，但在一本討論精神醫學、神經科學的書裡遇到他（的文字），還是覺得非常有趣。
然後因為這部分談的是人我邊界感，從這個角度讀這篇引文，又覺得很有意思！
April 9, 2025
Para hablar de la memoria desde una perspectiva neurológica/psiquiátrica, evidentemente hay que usar términos técnicos—y sí, hay bastantes en esta lectura—pero Verónica logra equilibrarlos bastante bien con experiencias empíricas junto a sus pacientes, fragmentos de poesía, cuentos y pedacitos de líricas que no solo alivianan la lectura, sino que también la humanizan. Hace que el lector no solo entienda la construcción de la memoria, sino que la sienta.
El libro responde preguntas importantes: ¿cómo afecta el estrés nuestra capacidad de memorizar?, ¿cómo es que los delirios psicóticos tienen un sentido dentro de la autonarrativa de quien los vive?, ¿cómo puede tener lógica la intuición? Todo esto, sin caer en explicaciones frías o desconectadas de la experiencia humana.
Me quedo con este fragmento que me resonó mucho:
"Ahora creo que todos somos hasta cierto punto como Frances: vivimos nuestras vidas en un equilibrio entre un mundo exterior en potencia amenazador y nuestras a veces sensibilísimas memorias. El asunto crucial es no cejar en el empeño de desarrollar un equilibrio saludable (...) Si hay algo que he aprendido de mi trabajo con pacientes que sufren enfermedades mentales es que conseguir un fácil equilibrio entre uno y el mundo es lo que determina la felicidad."
Y sí, nada más cierto.
El libro responde preguntas importantes: ¿cómo afecta el estrés nuestra capacidad de memorizar?, ¿cómo es que los delirios psicóticos tienen un sentido dentro de la autonarrativa de quien los vive?, ¿cómo puede tener lógica la intuición? Todo esto, sin caer en explicaciones frías o desconectadas de la experiencia humana.
Me quedo con este fragmento que me resonó mucho:
"Ahora creo que todos somos hasta cierto punto como Frances: vivimos nuestras vidas en un equilibrio entre un mundo exterior en potencia amenazador y nuestras a veces sensibilísimas memorias. El asunto crucial es no cejar en el empeño de desarrollar un equilibrio saludable (...) Si hay algo que he aprendido de mi trabajo con pacientes que sufren enfermedades mentales es que conseguir un fácil equilibrio entre uno y el mundo es lo que determina la felicidad."
Y sí, nada más cierto.
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