The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind is
a book by Barbara Lipska, one of the leading experts in mental disease
neuroscience, and her experiences following the diagnosis of melanoma. This
disease had spread to her brain, with the result being that with a few months,
her frontal lobe, which presides over cognition, had begun to shut down. She
ended up descending to madness, often exhibiting symptoms that were associated
with schizophrenia and dementia. A consequence of this situation was that she
ended up being treated through a number of measures including immunotherapy,
which worked well and allowed for a marked improvement. Thus, within eight
weeks of the event beginning, Lipska returned to a life of normalcy. However,
despite this being the case, one major difference that Lipska experienced was
that she remembered her entire experience with considerable clarity. Lipska’s
experiences can be considered to have been quite important in contributing to
her work as a neuroscientist. It allowed for the development of a situation
where there was an addition of value to the way that she understood the
workings of the human mind and the manner through which it responds to a
diversity of stimuli.
The lessons that
Lipska had because of her experiences allowed her to better understand the mind
and the brain. This is especially the case when one considers that in this book,
she explains the connections that are there between brain injury, mental
illness, and age and the way that they end up changing the cognition, memory,
personality, and behavior of individuals. She further tells the story of her
firsthand experience of the issues surrounding mental problems and how she was
better able to understand the processes that were taking place. Moreover, based
on her experiences, she goes as far as revealing which parts of the minds of
individuals end up disappearing and those that remain. A consequence of this
scenario is that she makes use of her experiences as the basis upon which to
study neuroscience, especially mental illness and the ways that they can end up
creating an environment within which it is difficult for individuals to attain
clarity over their lives.
Despite their
frustrating aspects, it is important to note that cognitive lapses that she
experiences are separate enough to be recognized. Thus, even Lipska, in her
condition, was able to understand that the cause of her problems was her brain
being placed under a lot of stress. The effects that it had on her personality
are also significant because she ended up losing the capacity to determine the
impact of her actions on others. The love that she displayed towards her family
suddenly turned to tantrums and harshness to such an extent that she
essentially treats them as strangers. However, once the tumors in her brain
were in remission, she finds it quite difficult to remember the behavior and
moods that she had displayed and put so much strain on those who had been with
her at the time. Lipska therefore writes as a means of making sure that there
is a greater understanding for the actions that mentally ill individuals take.
Lipska leverages
her understanding of the complex connections in the brain as a means of creating
connections and relationships between the diversity of functional areas within
it. She is therefore able to weave together real and tactile scenes as well as
characters from her life to provide an insight into the experiences she
underwent. It is also noteworthy that because of this approach, Lipska is able
to succeed in a wide range of criteria since she is adept at the employment of
her vast trove of knowledge as a neuroscientist to apply it to clinical settings
where human research is being conducted. She is also able to provide a rich
experience of the senses that she had following the loss of her mind, as seen
through her attempt to ensure that there is the promotion of a scenario where
the reader might taste, feel, and smell in order to better understand what
takes place in the mind of mentally ill individuals.
Lipska also
takes on the pertinent step of comparing the experience she underwent to that
of her research animals. She believes that the severance of communication
between her hippocampus and prefrontal cortex is a major cause of her mental
illness. She compares this to the prefrontal cortical connections in rats that
she disrupts in the lab as she studies schizophrenia. The significance of this
observation is based on the fact that she felt the unpleasantness of the
situation, which, because it was happening firsthand to her, allowed her to
feel the way that she recognizes her research animals feel. She comes to the realization
that her only chance at surviving this event is through an immunotherapy
treatment that, despite not having been proven completely due to its being in
the early stages of testing, is her best chance at returning to normalcy. It is
important that because of her decision, she essentially took the place of the
experimental animal.
She explains
that her neurological symptoms came about because of inflammation, which was
caused by the immunotherapy. This experimental process is one that allowed her
to survive because following the swelling being treated using steroids, her
neurological symptoms not only abased, but they also led to a scenario where
her madness was also cured. Lipska therefore became a survivor of an event that
is usually extremely difficult for individuals to come back from. She was given
the hope of a total remission and despite there being considerable anxiety
concerning recurrence, she recognized the reality of her having beaten this
problem at that time. As a survivor with memories of what had taken place,
Lipska is therefore in a prominent position when it comes to better
understanding how best to handle research concerning neurological treatment of
the symptoms of mental illness.
In conclusion,
the manner through which Lipska grappled with her identity as well as her
gradual acceptance of her condition is significant in allowing her to be more
effective in her work. This is especially the case when it comes to the way
that she grapples with her mental illness and the way that she connects her own
suffering to the sense of identity that individuals will experience in their
lives. The grasp with the sense of identity that Lipska experienced was
therefore essential in enhancing her capabilities as a neuroscientist. It
allowed her to gain a different perspective concerning how to describe the
experiences of mental patients and how best to handle their afflictions.