Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole: Extraordinary Journeys into the Human Brain (Paperback) - Dr Allan Ropper

One of the world's leading neurologists reveals the extraordinary stories behind some of the brain disorders that he and his staff at the Harvard Medical School endeavour to treat - an updated and revised edition of the Sunday Times bestseller and modern classic of the medical memoir genre.

*Updated and revised edition, with a new epilogue and interview with Michael J Fox*

'Engagingly written, informative, often funny' Daily Telegraph
'Has the hard-boiled style of a Raymond Chandler novel' The Times
'Think Oliver Sacks meets Gregory House, with a sprinkling of a hypochondriac's worst nightmare' Sunday Times

What is it like to try to heal the body when the mind is under attack? In this gripping and illuminating book, 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.

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 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? Dr Ropper answers these questions by taking the reader into a world where lives and minds hang in the balance.

About the Author

Dr Allan H. Ropper is a Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Raymond D. Adams Master Clinician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He is credited with founding the field of neurological intensive care and counts Michael J. Fox among his patients.

Brian Burrell is the author of Postcards from the Brain Museum. He has appeared on the Today Show, Booknotes, and NPR's Morning Edition. He divides his time between writing and statistical research with neuroscientific applications.