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summary:perhaps, the most distant, strange, and unique thing in this world is the brain of each of us.

in the vast ocean of human knowledge, neuroscience, with its endless complexity and profound unknowns, attracts countless curious eyes and displays fascinating charm.it wanders through the deep and tortuous neural circuits time and time again. every damage and repair is a profound insight into human beings themselves. every discovery and breakthrough brings us closer to the brain, the magical engine of human intelligence.

from brain surgery in the renaissance to breakthroughs in modern neurological medicine, the development of neurology over the past five hundred years is like a magnificent epic, and the book "mad brain: five hundred years of neurological mysteries" (hereinafter referred to as "mad brain") is a wonderful annotation of this epic. the book selects a series of thrilling and representative real cases, in which history and reality are intertwined, and fear and emotion are permeated and blended, leading readers through time and space, returning to countless "first scenes", and taking a look at those amazing intracranial legends. this article is the editor's note of the book.

a different history of neuroscience

the author of crazy brain is sam keen, a cutting-edge american popular science writer who is familiar to chinese readers. he is a well-known "king of popular science stories" and has written many bestsellers. sam keen has a double degree in physics and english literature. his works reflect keen insight, easy-to-understand writing and extensive knowledge reserves, which have won the love of readers around the world. at the same time, he is also a writer with a distinctive personal style. he can always approach from an angle that few people pay attention to, and is good at transforming boring scientific concepts and scientific history into interesting and exciting anecdotes.

previously, many of his works have been introduced into china. "mad brain", as another of his masterpieces, is also a new york times bestseller and amazon's annual popular science book. it will lead readers to once again enter the world of scientific wonders created by sam keen.

crazy brain is very different from other popular science books i have done before.i would describe it as a dramatic neurological museum, a unique psychotherapeutic journey, and an unconventional natural history of the brain.keane uses a novelist's narrative style to skillfully connect the major discoveries, bizarre cases and unsolved mysteries in the field of neuroscience over the past five hundred years, making people feel as if they are immersing in a blockbuster movie that combines suspense, thriller, brain-burning and fantasy. each chapter of the book is introduced with a peculiar case, and through strange stories about the brain, it goes straight to the operating mechanism of the nervous system, explaining where the brain stops, where the mind starts, how the brain tells honest lies, and how neurology reveals universal truths.

maybe many people felt that neuroscience was far away from them before, but after reading this book, they will find that it is deeply rooted in our daily lives, and many unsolved mysteries can be easily answered from it. for example, nightmares that many people have experienced, or the so-called "ghost pressing on the bed", are not some "mysterious power", but sleep paralysis. such "supernatural phenomena" in life may just be a byproduct of miscommunication in the brain. there are also obsessive-compulsive disorder, indecisive disorder, and face blindness that we always talk about. their real clinical manifestations and mechanisms can be traced in the brain.

not only that, the book also explores a common topic in philosophy, religion, and psychology - the mind-body duality problem. who are we? how to distinguish between reality and illusion? does free will really exist? for these big questions that humans have been pursuing for a long time, perhaps neuroscience provides us with a new perspective for thinking.in fact, the brain is closely related to human's higher functions such as memory, mind, and emotion.

in addition to the bizarre and climax-filled narration, the book often contains some philosophical and witty remarks, which often allow people to chew on some life situations when they are amused or frightened, re-examine themselves and life, and redefine health and disease, completeness and incompleteness. for example, the blind explorer holman was puzzled and ridiculed by others. although he traveled around the world and wrote a thick travelogue, no publishing house was willing to publish it. before his death, he said: "does anyone think that if i lose my eyesight, i will definitely lose the ability to enjoy spiritual life? those people actually walked into the darkness in spirit, so they have such wrong ideas. i think they are very pitiful."

see every tough ordinary person

at first, i gave the book the subtitle "the neuroscience history of trauma and repair". of course, it is consistent with the content of the book, but i always feel that it is "not right", and it seems to have obliterated the uniqueness of this book, because it is by no means an ordinary medical history book, but a work full of humanistic care and social significance.

in this book, real and vivid lives appear one after another: king henry ii of france, who was stabbed in the eyes by a spear and millions of neurons were broken; a patient with face blindness who brushed past his closest friend without blinking; a soldier who underwent high amputation of both legs and felt cramps in both calves when he woke up; an old man who lost his memory due to a stroke, a child in trouble due to epilepsy, and a family who lost their loved ones due to infectious diseases... from princes and nobles to ordinary people, in the face of the trauma and pain of neurological diseases, they are all ordinary people. they live in their own lives, in the flowing history, and in the process of neurology. their fate has changed because of science, and their experiences have also influenced science. keane uses delicate brushstrokes to inject life into patients, depicting the struggle and tenacity of every ordinary person, and illuminating the characters lying on the examination table.

what laid the foundation for the progress of neuroscience is not the cold scalpels and instruments as we imagine, not the shocking blurred flesh and blood, not even those outstanding and intelligent minds, but the strangers who pass by us every day, and the warm humanity in those stories. they have expanded our understanding of the human brain.

so i finally decided to name the subtitle "five hundred years of curious cases in neurology", which changed the subject of the book from doctors who treat and repair brain injuries to patients. it is these vivid cases that are so astonishing that even suspense novels cannot write about that shape the charm and depth of neuroscience, and make us see the interdependence of science and humanity.

the cover copy i wrote for this book is: "mad scientist, insane criminal, lonely genius, unfortunate soul..." corresponding to this is the line of words on the waistband:“seeing ordinary people who have struggled and fought in the development of neuroscience.”i hope that what is finally presented to the readers is the big “person” that the author has carefully outlined, that i have deeply experienced and very much want to highlight.to match this, the cover uses an archival font. i hope that when readers open this book, those dusty lives will be reopened and sleeping souls will awaken. every leaping word records that they have lived and loved, and their past madness and craziness, and also breeds hope for those who come later.

obsession revolutionized science

in fact, the original title of this book should be literally translated as "legends of dueling neurosurgeons: a history of the human brain revealed from true stories of trauma, madness, and recovery", but i finally decided to title its chinese version "crazy brain" because this book is really "crazy" enough.

the cases described in the book seem incredible and extremely crazy: a person's life becomes a series of instant photos, and you can't see the process, only the beginning and the end; some people shave only half of their face, wear only half of their clothes, and eat only half of a bowl of salad; some people answer the phone with one hand and hang up with the other hand, and pull up their socks with one hand and take them off to their ankles with the other hand. there are also diseases that we have never heard of, such as color amnesia, foreign accent syndrome, krüver-bucy syndrome, capgras syndrome, and korsakoff syndrome. the brain that is at work is far more shocking than any science fiction work. these are real cases of mixed joy and sorrow, and also black humor of life and death.every time you have therapy, you gain a better understanding of who you are today.

not only patients, but doctors were also "crazy". for example, vesalius, a doctor obsessed with human anatomy, would steal tombs at midnight, steal skeletons from the gallows, and dissect them carefully. no matter how horrifying it was, his obsession did revolutionize science.

of course, a crazy brain can also bring different life experiences and surprises. for example, the well-known writer dostoevsky's experience of being "possessed by the devil" during an epileptic seizure added a lot of color to his novels.

for this reason, the book was designed with the theme of "crazy" in mind. the main visual element uses picasso-style lines to outline the human brain, echoing the concept of "crazy brain". the initial color scheme was a dark blue background, blue lines, and orange text with a lower brightness. the overall feeling was relatively stable and calm, as if it was not "crazy" enough. later, the designer modified the color scheme and it became the final one presented to everyone - a lighter blue background, rose-red brain lines, and green text. the dazzling fluorescent text and lines stand out from the blue background, which is very impactful and artistic. it caught my eye at once. this is the temperament that "crazy brain" should have. at this year's beijing international book fair, this cover received high praise from a french reader, who said it was unforgettable.

the interweaving of natural sciences and humanities has mapped out the grand journey of mankind to explore the world and understand itself.i hope that through the publication of a popular science book like "mad brain" that is not conventionally defined, more chinese readers will get to know sam keen, a "treasure writer". i also hope that he can provide some novel and unique perspectives for the creation of original popular science in china, that is, to choose scientific topics that are beyond the public's imagination and reintroduce them into the public eye with a moderate amount of history and humanity.

looking back at the past 500 years of neurological mysteries, from the initial mystery and ignorance to today's precision and depth, the development of neuroscience has experienced countless leaps and breakthroughs. but in the face of the depth and vastness of the brain, we are only standing at the starting point of exploration. in the future, neuroscience will continue to stimulate potential and exude charm. brain-computer interfaces, new breakthroughs in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, and the deep integration of artificial intelligence and neuroscience, each progress will profoundly change our lives and cognition.

"don't look outside, look within yourself",perhaps, the most distant, strange, and unique thing in this world is the brain of each of us.as the opening of "mad brain" says, "when a part of the human brain is shut down, something new, unpredictable, and sometimes even beautiful will roar into life."

crazy brain: five hundred years of curious cases in neurology

[us] sam keen

translated by ye sheng

hunan science and technology press