Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology

In an informative if less than riveting casebook, neurologist O’Sullivan (Is It All in Your Head?) draws on clinical experiences with patients suffering from epilepsy to examine the mysterious connections between memory, imagination, fear, and seizure. She dubs epilepsy “the ultimate disease chameleon” and in 12 case studies tries to shed light on the much misunderstood affliction. Though the storytelling is disappointingly pedestrian, the author succeeds both in showing the brain as the most sophisticated of all puzzles and in giving a sense of the intricate problem solving that goes into the diagnosis and treatment of brain ailments. She is candid about her uncertainties—the risks of surgery, the side effects of medications, the limitations of technology. Movingly, she recounts her struggle to understand a medical puzzle—a healthy-looking patient with an abnormal brain scan—and her sense of helplessness when another patient has a seizure during a clinic visit. However, the frequent asides on the history of brain research tend to impede the stories’ flow, and the excitement of “detective stories” promised by the subtitle never arrives. However, the various viewpoints included from patients coping with epilepsy will make this a valuable resource for anyone interested in the topic. (Aug.)