The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind - by Barbara K Lipska & Elaine McArdle (Paperback)

About the Book

As a deadly cancer spread inside her brain, leading neuroscientist Barbara Lipska was plunged into madness--only to miraculously survive with her memories intact. In the tradition of My Stroke of Insight and Brain on Fire, this powerful memoir recounts her ordeal, and explains its unforgettable lessons about the brain and mind.

Book Synopsis

In the tradition of My Stroke of Insight and Brain on Fire, this powerful memoir recounts Barbara Lipska's deadly brain cancer and explains its unforgettable lessons about the brain and mind.

Neuroscientist Lipska was diagnosed early in 2015 with metastatic melanoma in her brain's frontal lobe. As the cancer progressed and was treated, she experienced behavioral and cognitive symptoms connected to a range of mental disorders, including dementia and her professional specialty, schizophrenia.

Lipska's family and associates were alarmed by the changes in her behavior, which she failed to acknowledge herself. Gradually, after a course of immunotherapy, Lipska returned to normal functioning, amazingly recalled her experience, and through her knowledge of neuroscience identified the ways in which her brain changed during treatment.

Lipska admits her condition was unusual; after recovery she was able to return to her research and resume her athletic training and compete in a triathalon. Most patients with similar brain cancers rarely survive to describe their ordeal. Lipska's memoir, coauthored with journalist Elaine McArdle, shows that strength and courage but also an encouraging support network are vital to recovery.

Review Quotes

An iBooks Favorites selection for April Included in the Top Ten of Publishers Weekly's "Spring 2018 Announcements: Memoirs and Biographies" "A harrowing, intimately candid survivor's journey." -- Kirkus Reviews "Oliver Sacks meets When Breath Becomes Air in this fascinating, page-turning account of insanity. Barbara Lipska's remarkable story illuminates the many mysteries of our fragile yet resilient brains, and her harrowing journey and astonishing recovery show us that nothing is impossible." -- Lisa Genova, New York Times best-selling author of Still Alice and Every Note Played "A riveting science story about how brains go bad, interwoven with the remarkable personal story of one brain going spectacularly bad. A total nail-biter." -- Lisa Sanders, New York Times best-selling author of Every Patient Tells a Story "A spellbinding investigation into the mysteries of the human brain, led by a scientist whose tenacity is as remarkable as her story." -- Amanda Ripley, New York Times best-selling author of The Smartest Kids in the World and The Unthinkable "A superb memoir from a highly respected neuroscientist who is uniquely qualified to describe her titanic battle against malignant melanoma of the brain. Barbara Lipska clearly believes in those miracles that can be achieved through medical science, and also has an iron resolve to survive. Both qualities underpin this remarkable account of sanity lost and regained." -- Frank Vertosick, author of When the Air Hits Your Brain "An extraordinary chronicle. Barbara Lipska's story is inspiring and painful, but most of all it is a tribute to the human spirit told with the insight of a scientist and the love of a truly compassionate soul. I was hooked from the first page and could not put this down until the final sentence." -- Thomas Insel, cofounder and president of Mindstrong Health and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health "In this fascinating book, ?a neuroscientist? describes the terrifying symptoms she suffered as a result of multiple brain tumors. We learn about how the brain can produce ?bizarre and bewildering symptoms from the point of view of someone who has personal experience of aspects of the mental illnesses that she spends her life studying. The book is compelling and powerful, and hard to put down." -- Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, professor of cognitive neuroscience, University College London "Diving inside some of the deepest mysteries of the human mind with someone who has spent her life studying exactly that, Barbara K. Lipska's The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind describes the leading neuroscientist's own descent into madness--triggered by an aggressive cancer that spread to her brain, miraculously retreated just months later, and left Lipska not only with her memories intact, but with a whole lot more insight (and even more questions) into the human brain." -- Bustle, "14 Debut Books by Women Coming Out in 2018 That You Need in Your TBR Pile" --

About the Author

BARBARA K. LIPSKA is the director of the Human Brain Collection Core at the National Institute of Mental Health, where she studies mental illness and the brain. ELAINE McARDLE is an award-winning journalist who has written for the Boston Globe.