Building on his pioneering research, Eric R. Kandel illustrates how breakthrough studies of brain disruptions can deepen our understanding of thought, feeling, behaviour, memory and creativity, and perhaps in the future will transform medical care and lead to the development of a unified theory of mind.

What brain disorders can tell us abut ourselves -- Our intensely social nature: the autism spectrum -- Emotions and the integrity of the self: depression and bipolar disorder -- the ability to think and to make and carry out decisions: schizophrenia -- Memory, the storehouse of the self: dementia -- Our innate creativity: brain disorders and art -- Movement: Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases -- the interplay of conscious and unconscious emotion: anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and faulty decision making -- The pleasure principle and freedom of choice: addictions -- Sexual differentiation of the brain and gender identity -- Consciousness: the great remaining mystery of the brain -- Conclusion: coming full circle.