A Molecule Away from Madness: Tales of the Hijacked Brain

by Sara Manning Peskin Narrated by Ann Richardson

Overview

A neurologist regales readers with extraordinary stories of the brain under siege.

Our brains are the most complex machines known to humankind, but they have an Achilles heel: the very molecules that allow us to exist can also sabotage our minds. Here are true accounts of unruly molecules and the diseases that form in their wake, from total loss of inhibitions to florid psychosis to compulsive lying.

Cognitive neurologist Sara Manning Peskin demystifies the most curious neurological phenomena through the perspective of patients, researchers, and science. She introduces us to a woman stuck in the Walking Dead, a family wracked with Alzheimer's disease, and an entire region gripped by a baffling epidemic. By tracing the molecular causes for neurologic diseases, Peskin highlights cutting-edge developments in cognitive research, making the case that these are the stories that will one day teach us how to cure dementia and other diseases of the brain. A Molecule Away from Madness offers a captivating, singular view of the human brain.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Peskin writes...with a grace and humanity that recall Oliver Sacks. [She is] a dazzling stylist and a compassionate observer."— Annie Murphy Paul New York Times Book Review

"Peskin provides the reader with an acute and evocative demonstration of the fragility and interchangeability of mental, emotional and behavioral states, and shows how they may be affected by the misbehavior of the molecules defining them."— Adrian Woolfson Wall Street Journal

"Gripping accounts…scaffolded in clear explanations of their causes, and neuroscientific opportunities towards possible cures."— Harvard Magazine

"Sara Manning Peskin is remarkably skillful at breaking down complex neuroscience into easily digestible components and explaining the mysteries of the brain with profound elegance. Rarely has a writer been able to depict the devastating consequences of neurologic illness through such poignant patient stories. Like Oliver Sacks before her, she is sure to inspire a generation of future neurologists, neuroscientists, and students of the brain."— Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, president of the American Academy of Neurology

"Sara Manning Peskin’s elegant, empathic portrait of the vulnerable brain is both absolutely terrifying and wonderfully optimistic."— Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind

"Readable and well-researched… with added appeal for anyone with a loved one suffering from brain disease. Fascinating popular science."— Kirkus

"Neurologist Peskin debuts with an impressive account of the search for cures for a number of neurologic diseases including dementia and psychosis...There’s much to savor in this powerful survey."— Publishers Weekly

"Captivating and convincing…should bring hope and confidence to general readers as well as general practitioners, and to the millions living with neurodegenerative illness and their families. An exemplary work."— Library Journal (starred review)

Kirkus Reviews

2021-11-03
A neurologist looks at how “the very molecules that make our brains work can also co-opt our personalities and destroy our ability to think.”

Peskin has been a firsthand witness to the suffering of Alzheimer’s patients she has been powerless to cure. In this book, she delves into the three known molecular causes of cognitive decline. The first includes DNA mutations, like those present in Huntington’s disease. Nancy Wexler, a Huntington’s sufferer and medical scientist, was one researcher who worked tirelessly to discover the exact nucleotide sequence of the Huntington’s gene. This breakthrough led to an experimental drug that, as of 2018, proved 85% successful in short-circuiting the mechanisms responsible for setting Huntington’s in motion in those predisposed to the disease. Peskin then examines how protein molecules that the body creates to defend against infection can attack brain cells, as in the case of a young woman thought to be having a psychotic break. Doctors instead discovered that protein antibodies her own body created were responsible for her cognitive dysfunction. Outside of the body, a group of small molecules Peskin calls “invaders” (which include “environmental toxins, illicit drugs, and pharmaceuticals that are not normally part of the human body”) can also wreak havoc, of the kind periodically experienced by Abraham Lincoln. Peskin speculates that his periodic bouts of aggression resulted from ingesting “blue mass,” a mercury-based medication. The author further suggests that the key to succeeding against all cognitive disabilities in the future will be to understand the particular kind of molecular abnormality afflicting a given patient rather than assume that brain diseases like dementia function the same way in different people. This readable and well-researched book will undoubtedly satisfy those seeking the nature of neurological dysfunction and the most current research being done in this field, with added appeal for anyone with a loved one suffering from brain disease.

Fascinating popular science.

2023 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, Long-listed

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175141697
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	05/10/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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