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A review by scribepub
Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change, Emotional Awakening, and the Emerging Science of Neurostimulation by John Elder Robison
In this fascinating book John Elder Robison raises deep questions: what does TMS do to the brain? Will it permanently change his experience of music, his emotions, and his ability to read faces? And if autism involves disability as well as talent, if we alter the different wiring in an autistic brain, is this a good thing? Robison’s honest, brilliant, and very personal account helps us understand the perspective of someone living with autism.
Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor, Autism Research Centre, Cambridge University
John Elder Robison is an extraordinary guide, carefully elucidating the cutting-edge science behind this revolutionary new brain therapy, TMS, alongside the compelling story of the impact it has on his relationships, his thinking and emotions, and indeed his very identity. At the heart of Switched On are fundamental questions of who we are, of where our identity resides, of difference and disability and free will, which are brought into sharp focus by Robison’s lived experience.Graeme Simsion, Author of The Rosie Effect
Switched On is a mind-blowing book that will force you to ask deep questions about what is important in life. Would normalising the brains of those who think differently reduce their motivation for great achievement?
Temple Garden
Switched On is an eye-opening book with a radical message … The transformations [John Elder Robison] undergoes throughout the book are astonishing — as foreign and overwhelming as if he woke up one morning with the visual range of a bee or the auditory prowess of a bat.
Jennifer Senior, The New York Times
Astonishing, brave … Switched On details Robison’s discovery of his rich new emotional life … Switched On reads like a medical thriller and keeps you wondering what will happen next … [Robison] takes readers for a ride through the thorny thickets of neuroscience and leaves us wanting more. He is deft at explaining difficult concepts and doesn’t shy from asking hard questions. This is a truly unusual memoir — both poignant and scientifically important.
Amy Ellis Nutt, The Washington Post
[H]onest, scientific, personal, and full of rock and roll … After Robison was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, he participated in an experimental transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study, which changed his life. Robison reflects on what he learned while delving into the science behind autism treatment and celebrating the people who were with him through truly difficult moments along a path of self-discovery … Robison's memoir contains as much vulnerability and honesty as it does discussions of neuroscience and autism.
Publishers Weekly
Fascinating for its insights into Asperger’s and research, this engrossing record will make readers reexamine their preconceptions about this syndrome and the future of brain manipulation.
Booklist
Like books by Andrew Solomon and Oliver Sacks, Switched On offers an opportunity to consider mental processes through a combination of powerful narrative and informative medical context. Readers can put their hands, for a moment, on the mystery that is the brain.
BookPage
A fascinating companion to the previous memoirs by this masterful storyteller.
Kirkus Reviews
Both memoir and neurological study — and, no doubt about it, neurology is a trending new reading topic.
Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal
Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor, Autism Research Centre, Cambridge University
John Elder Robison is an extraordinary guide, carefully elucidating the cutting-edge science behind this revolutionary new brain therapy, TMS, alongside the compelling story of the impact it has on his relationships, his thinking and emotions, and indeed his very identity. At the heart of Switched On are fundamental questions of who we are, of where our identity resides, of difference and disability and free will, which are brought into sharp focus by Robison’s lived experience.Graeme Simsion, Author of The Rosie Effect
Switched On is a mind-blowing book that will force you to ask deep questions about what is important in life. Would normalising the brains of those who think differently reduce their motivation for great achievement?
Temple Garden
Switched On is an eye-opening book with a radical message … The transformations [John Elder Robison] undergoes throughout the book are astonishing — as foreign and overwhelming as if he woke up one morning with the visual range of a bee or the auditory prowess of a bat.
Jennifer Senior, The New York Times
Astonishing, brave … Switched On details Robison’s discovery of his rich new emotional life … Switched On reads like a medical thriller and keeps you wondering what will happen next … [Robison] takes readers for a ride through the thorny thickets of neuroscience and leaves us wanting more. He is deft at explaining difficult concepts and doesn’t shy from asking hard questions. This is a truly unusual memoir — both poignant and scientifically important.
Amy Ellis Nutt, The Washington Post
[H]onest, scientific, personal, and full of rock and roll … After Robison was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, he participated in an experimental transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study, which changed his life. Robison reflects on what he learned while delving into the science behind autism treatment and celebrating the people who were with him through truly difficult moments along a path of self-discovery … Robison's memoir contains as much vulnerability and honesty as it does discussions of neuroscience and autism.
Publishers Weekly
Fascinating for its insights into Asperger’s and research, this engrossing record will make readers reexamine their preconceptions about this syndrome and the future of brain manipulation.
Booklist
Like books by Andrew Solomon and Oliver Sacks, Switched On offers an opportunity to consider mental processes through a combination of powerful narrative and informative medical context. Readers can put their hands, for a moment, on the mystery that is the brain.
BookPage
A fascinating companion to the previous memoirs by this masterful storyteller.
Kirkus Reviews
Both memoir and neurological study — and, no doubt about it, neurology is a trending new reading topic.
Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal