Main description:

* Focuses on detailing what was learned from each neurotrauma case for the advancement of the neuroscience field and related disciplines. * Presents a varied and interesting spectrum of cases studies with a distinct emphasis on neurodegeneration and brain trauma. * Teases fact from fiction within famous case histories and and isolates what there was evidence for, and what may be conjecture. * Inclusion of animal models that attempt to replicate the cases.

Contents:

Acknowledgments *

Chapter 1: "What could Possibly go Wrong?" - An introduction to Neurotrauma *

Chapter 2: "Bone Windows" - Trephination and the Modern Craniotomy *

Chapter 3: "In with a Bang" - The American Crowbar Case, Mr. Phineas Gage *

Chapter 4: "No Words to Describe" - Patient Tan and Aphasias *

Chapter 5: "We're All Mad Here" - Mercury Toxicity and the Origin of the Phrase 'Mad as a Hatter' *

Chapter 6: "My World of Pure Imagination" - Roald Dahl's Journey from Fighter Pilot to Children's Author *

Chapter 7: "Fast, Affordable Brain Surgery for Everyone!" - Walter Freeman, Pioneer of the Transorbital Lobotomy *

Chapter 8: "Hi, my name is Henry" - The world's most memorable amnestic, H.M. *

Chapter 9: "To Jodie with Love" - James Brady's Emotional Journey *

Chapter 10: "On Shaky Ground" - The Frozen Addicts and Toxin-Induced Parkinsonism *

Chapter 11: "The One True Superman" - Christopher Reeve's Steps Toward Hope *

Chapter 12: "A Stream of Water is Endlessly Beautiful" - Jason Padgett and Acquired Savant Syndrome *

Chapter 13: "Man Bites Dog" - How Rabies Encephalitis May Someday Be Curable *

Chapter 14: "Down like a Ton of Bricks" - Iron Mike Webster and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy *

Chapter 15: "Misery Loves Company" - Similarities among Highly Variable TBIs/SCIs *

References *

Index*