The Disordered Mind

Outline

The Disordered Mind (2018) explains what disorders of the brain can teach us about how the normal mind works. Eric Kandel explores autism, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, addiction, and other conditions through the lens of modern neuroscience and genetics. The book shows how understanding the biology of mental illness can reduce stigma and lead to better treatments.

• Disorders of the brain reveal how the normal mind works, so studying illness also teaches us about healthy thinking.
• Kandel examines autism, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and addiction through modern neuroscience and genetics.
• Mental illness has a biological basis in the brain, and understanding that basis is the starting point for better treatment.
• Seeing these conditions as biology rather than weakness can reduce stigma and encourage more compassion toward people who live with them.

Eric Kandel is an Austrian-born American neuroscientist and professor at Columbia University who shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries about how memories are stored in the brain. He fled Nazi-occupied Vienna as a child and became one of the leading figures in modern brain science. His books include In Search of Memory and The Age of Insight.