Broken Brains

Our brains do amazing things: they determine our actions, our thoughts and our feelings. We may not always realise it, but the brain is central to the way we experience life. So what happens when brain circuits break? What are the consequences for our behaviour and personality?From Parkinson’s disease to Tourette’s syndrome, and depression to psychopathy, Broken Brains reveals the mysteries of brain function – and dysfunction. In this no-nonsense introduction, Ian Mitchell takes you on a tour through the sometimes devastating, and sometimes bizarre, effects of what happens when brains break down.Highly readable and packed with anecdotes and real examples from neurosurgery, it brings biological psychology to life, making it the perfect introduction to understanding the brain and what happens when things go wrong.

'This is a great little book, which manages to be brief without being superficial, and accessible yet maintaining scientific rigour, written in an entertaining narrative style.' - Andrew Young, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Leicester, UK "Ian Mitchell presents a novel approach to understanding the brain and behaviour. The anecdotes often refer to his wife's practice as a neurosurgeon, and there is a sense that the reader is sitting down over a cup of tea and chatting with the author." - Alexander Sumich, Reader in Biopsychology and Mental Health, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Ian Mitchell is Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham, UK. He has published over 100 papers and book chapters on topics as diverse as the neurobiology of Parkinson's disease, programmed cell death, social cognition and the neurobiology of psychopathy. His work has been funded by the ESRC, MRC, Wellcome Trust, Parkinson's Disease Society, McDonald Pew Foundation and Dystonia Medical Research Foundation. His passion for brains is shared by his wife, a Consultant Neurosurgeon.