Connections

An elegant and empathetic account that traces the origins of our emotions through fascinating clinical case studies.

Karl Deisseroth has dedicated his life to understanding the mind and is one of the few neurologists who is also a practicing psychiatrist. This combination leads to an extremely original approach that seeks the biological basis of mental illnesses.

Based on cutting-edge research and experience with his own patients, he narrates, with deep empathy, the grand story of the origins of human emotions. Thus, the case of a young woman with an eating disorder explains how the mind can rebel against such primitive impulses as hunger and thirst; that of an elderly man, overwhelmed by depression and dementia, shows how humans evolved to feel not only joy, but also its absence; and that of a lonely Uighur woman, far from her homeland, reveals the importance and challenges of social bonds.

A work that transforms what we know about ourselves and vividly illustrates, through human stories—always essential—our search for connection and meaning.

Praise:
"Recalls Oliver Sacks' cases and the broad scope of Sapiens. He writes with true love for words, but also with a clear line of scientific inquiry."
The Guardian

"A brilliant and moving analysis of the human brain and emotions. A great read."
Nature

"Achieves the difficult feat of moving and illuminating the reader at the same time. A beautiful book to read and packed with cutting-edge science."
The Observer

"A perceptive psychiatrist and a fascinating writer who wonderfully connects the inner feelings of all human beings with the profound insights of modern psychiatry and neuroscience."
Robert Lefkowitz, Nobel laureate

"Deisseroth writes about heartbreaking and desperate clinical cases with the insights of a physician and the narrative skill of a novelist. I was fascinated; I couldn't put it down."
May-Britt Moser, Nobel laureate

"An impressive writer. This book is a tour de force."
Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

"Poetic, mind-blowing, and profoundly human from beginning to end."
Daniel Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music