What is it like to try to heal the body when the mind is under attack? In this gripping and illuminating audiobook, Dr Allan Ropper reveals the extraordinary stories behind some of the life-altering afflictions that he and his staff are confronted with at the Neurology Unit of Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital.Neurologists diagnose and treat serious illnesses of the brain by combining the hard science of medical knowledge with the art of intuitive reasoning.

The unique challenge they face is that their primary sources of information - the patients' brains - are quite often altered, sometimes bizarrely, as a result of disease. Like Alice in Wonderland, Dr Ropper inhabits a place where absurdities abound: a sportsman who starts spouting gibberish; an undergraduate who suddenly becomes psychotic; a salesman who drives around and around a roundabout, unable to get off; a child molester who, after falling on the ice, is left with a brain that is very much dead inside a body that is very much alive; a figure skater whose body has become a ticking time-bomb; a mother who has to decide whether a life locked inside her own head is worth living.

How does one begin to treat such cases, to counsel people whose lives may be changed forever? How does one train the next generation of clinicians to deal with the moral and medical aspects of brain disease? Dr Ropper answers these questions by taking the listener into a world where lives and minds hang in the balance.

Listening Length

9 hours and 6 minutes
Author

Dr. Allan Ropper
Narrator

Paul Boehmer
Audible release date

22 March 2016
Language

English
Publisher

Audible Studios
ASIN

B01CRDNFRM
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	9 hours and 6 minutes
Author	Dr. Allan Ropper
Narrator	Paul Boehmer
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	22 March 2016
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B01CRDNFRM
Best Sellers Rank	23,835 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 291 in Biological Sciences (Audible Books & Originals) 3,091 in Science, Nature & Maths 26,828 in Textbooks & Study Guides

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2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Jacqui

Ok but the misogynistic language in parts is poor form

Reviewed in Australia on 1 August 2020

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Some of the stories were really compelling but some of the language he used to describe particularly women is not what I would expect in this sort of book in 2020.

2 people found this helpful

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Glenda

Well worth reading

Reviewed in Australia on 4 November 2020

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Funny and interesting, not earth shattering but gives stories to conditions that make you value a healthy life and respect neurologists.

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Amazon Customer

Fascinating book on the working of the human brain

Reviewed in Australia on 5 August 2019

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Stories are how we explain ourselves and the world
What an amazing book
Thoughtful, challenging, inspiring
All doctors should read this

One person found this helpful

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seahorse

well written

Reviewed in Australia on 11 April 2021

Fascinating case histories and extremely well written I found this glimpse into the life of physicians on the neuro ward interesting and very educational. However I found it disappointing that mental illness as a cause was not discussed in the psychosomatic cases. I can appreciate the frustration of medical staff for time being wasted but felt the writings here might have treated some of the patients with more respect. Overall a great read and highly recommended

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JL nash

Good book

Reviewed in Australia on 5 December 2020

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An excellent read with many interesting anecdotes

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Top reviews from other countries

Dog lover

Unkind attitude to mental disorders

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2019

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The doctor refers to himself as 'un-PC' in the chapter about those he believes to be wasting his time, including several examples of young girls who may have been abused and whose problems may be psychosomatic. This attitude is beyond any questions of political correctness; it is a dinosaur approach to mental illness that exemplifies the dangerous split in the medical profession between physical and mental ill-health. Psychomatic illnesses are still real and greatly debilitating to the sufferer and those who work in the field of neurology are discovering more and more about the physical changes in the brain brought about by bad experiences. For a more balanced, modern view you would be far better off reading Suzanne O'Sullivan's All In Your Head.

111 people found this helpful

J I

Clinical negligence and arrogance

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 February 2019

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The neurologist writing here seems to be on an ego trip, bragging. It's a huge concern that he misdiagnoses many patients due to arrogance and a huge over-estimation of his abilities. Example, he says a young woman with a pink rabbit under her pillow almost always has conversion disorder, he says the s with huge confidence. He also writes that one of his colleagues gave a pain killer addict the drugs he wanted, just so he'd leave, even though they thought he was faking his symptoms for drugs. Instead of getting good reviews this guy should be getting a visit from investigators for clinical negligence.

62 people found this helpful

Bluecashmere.

Not for the sensitive.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 April 2019

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I am still feeling rattled by this book some days after I finished reading it. It is the stuff of nightmares and affected me far more than any work of fiction could come close to.

It is well written, thanks probably to the input of Burrell, lucid and effectively organised. The content is horrific. It concerns those who in most cases suffering from terminal or close to terminal diseases: cancer, Motor Neurone Syndrome, Parkinsons and other related conditions are additionally burdened with the most alarming neurological conditions: convulsions, hallucinations, major speech impediments and far more. The progress of the book and the accounts of bizarre and terrifying symptoms is relentless.

Certainly the book gives a most authentic account of a neurologist's work and those patients unfortunate enough to need to come under the care of one. I found the note of egocentricity, which persists throughout, an irritant, and I don't understand why a film star should receive what seems to be disproportionate attention. It is difficult to fault the book in other ways but it is most certainly not for the squeamish.

53 people found this helpful

John Ogden

What's in your mind?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 January 2015

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Extracts from this book were broadcast on BBC R4 in January 2015. So fascinating were the readings that I bought the Kindle e-book. It is written by an American neurologist about his clinical experiences. He is a great advocate of diagnosis by watching and listening; exactly how a patient behaves, his limitations, her conduct, their memory, enables the clinician to build up a remarkable picture of what is going wrong in the patient's brain. Ropper talks sometimes of the accumulated wealth of decades of his clinical experience that he is able, on occasions, to take his junior colleagues completely by surprise by deducing, with remarkable accuracy, what the problem is. As I write this review (30 January) there is a controversy about a proposal to shorten the time taken by a hospital doctor to reach the level of Consultant. Before making up your mind, read this book.
Ropper is honest about outcomes, which are sometimes unwelcome. But as a physician his priority is the well-being of his patients, which involves him in accompanying them through the dark closing years, months and days of their life. Brilliantly he tells a wonderful tale of professional expertise and compassion in the treatment of people whose brains have in some way 'gone wrong'. I have not been disappointed.

55 people found this helpful

Wantage

Thinking neurologist

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 December 2015

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This was the BBC Radio4 Book of the Week.
It is a series of clinical accounts by Boston neurologist Dr Allan Ropper over his many years working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Each chapter deals with a separate series of cases with a common theme. He also talks about his motivations in medicine and his relationship with colleagues.
He is clearly a very reflective practitioner who has learnt from his patients over the years. He is inquisitive and wants to look below the surface (down the rabbit hole), wants to constantly develop his learning and comes over as very compassionate. He also talks quite frankly about cases he did not get right and analysed why that was, making assumptions, being fixed on a diagnosis and also about errors he has found in others such as radiology.

He talks about very unusual presentations of neurological problems and odd presentations. The title comes from wanting to go down the diagnostic rabbit hole to try to get the patient out. There are cases discussed about confusion, malingering and functional problems, and motor neurone disease. In fact two patients are highlighted, one who decides that this is no life to carry on with and the description of her demise is quite uncomfortable. The other takes life by the horns and carries on in spite of considerable adversity, although admittedly helped by their very supportive wife and insurance company (great if you have the cover). Parkinson’s Disease is also studied and in particular the relationship with celebrity Michael J. Fox, who was one of his patients.

An interesting discussion about brain death and the philosophy behind that and the difficult position it puts neurologists in. The case discussed in detail was a known local paedophile and how this may affect your decision about preserving life (or not). Carrying a donor card and does this ultimately make you a good guy in death? You get the feeling he rather thinks it does – or at least not all bad – perhaps no one is all bad? If you have forgotten your basic neurology this will remind you about what functions come from the different areas of the brain.

A slightly unusual slant is the regular references to members of his team and the work colleagues. The young residents, developing their skills and trying to nurture them and develop their critical thinking. He also talks about work colleagues and their personalities, how they interact with him and patients. Although he has great respect for them, you certainly get the feeling there are some aspects he would like to change.

Although based in an American hospital and their peculiar admitting rights, residents etc, the basic messages apply to the UK just as much. This is a thoughtful doctor who genuinely wants to understand his patient’s disease and problems as people. He also wants to understand his colleagues and himself.

24 people found this helpful

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Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole: Extraordinary Journeys into the Human Brain Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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