#58: Wonderbrain

Published: July 27, 2018, 4:01 a.m.

The most unusual brains are not the largest, nor the ones that can remember the most digits of the number pi. What fascinates Helen Thomson\u2014a neuroscientist by training, a journalist by trade\u2014are the brains that see auras, feel another\u2019s pain, or play music around the clock. In her new book, Unthinkable, she travels the globe to find out what life is like for these people who perceive a completely different world than she does. How does a man who believes he\u2019s a tiger live in a human community? How can a father who believes that he\u2019s dead go to dinner with his kids? What\u2019s it like to be lost in your own living room? The answers can teach you something about your own noggin.


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