Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole: A Renowned Neurologist Explains the Mystery and Drama of Brain Disease

213 Pages·2014·1.01 MB·English

by  Allan Ropper

REACHING
DOWN THE
RABBIT HOLE
ALSO BY DR. ALLAN H. ROPPER
Principles of Neurology
ALSO BY B. D. BURRELL
The Words We Live By
Postcards from the Brain Museum

First published in hardback in the United States of America in 2014 by St. Martin’s Press, LLC.
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Atlantic Books, an imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd.
Copyright © Dr. Allan H. Ropper and Brian David Burrell, 2014
The moral right of Dr. Allan H. Ropper and Brian David Burrell to be identified as the authors of this
work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Hardback ISBN: 978 1 782 39547 8
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978 1 782 39548 5
EBook ISBN: 978 1 782 39549 2
Printed in Great Britain
Designed by Kathryn Parise
Atlantic Books
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CONTENTS
Introduction: The Queen
What neurologists do
1. Six Improbable Things Before Breakfast
Arrivals, departures, and delays on the ward
2. Like a Hole in the Head
Where baseball and neurology converge in a game-saving, over-the-
shoulder catch
3. The State of Confusion
Two characters in search of a neurologist
4. My Man Godfrey
A poor sort of memory that only works backwards
5. What Seems to Be the Problem?
A politically incorrect guide to malingering, shamming, and hysteria
6. Do No Harm
A walking time bomb tests the limits of good sense
7. A Story Is Worth a Thousand Pictures
Nine songs of innocence and experience
8. Endgame
Facing down Lou Gehrig’s disease
9. The Examined Life
What it takes to survive a motor-neuron death sentence
10. The Curse of the Werewolf
On the front lines in the battle against Dr. Parkinson’s disease
11. For the Want of a Nail
A hard-knock lesson on the way to the morgue
12. The Eyes Have It
When is somebody not dead yet?
13. Boats Against the Current
Based on a true story

Acknowledgments
REACHING
DOWN THE
RABBIT HOLE
INTRODUCTION: