The Ghost In My Brain: How a Concussion Stole My Life and How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Helped Me Get it Back - Tapa dura

"This wonderful story is inspiring. A professor of artificial intelligence loses much of his higher function after an auto accident. Numerous specialists diagnose a concussion and tell him to "get over it"---no small assignment for a professor and single father. He is ultimately referred to a neurooptometrist who studies both the visual and the non-visual roles of the retina for the brain. Through exercises and progressive changes of glasses, his visual and mental function are restored and his professional and personal life regained. Read it, first weep, then smile broadly!"
--Daniel Federman, Former Dean, Harvard School of Medical Education. Past president of the American College of Physicians
"Through Dr. Elliott's meticulous records of his experience and unusual perseverance, we see not only the difficulties current healthcare practices have in the diagnosis, counseling, and treatment of such a debilitating condition, but he sheds light into fascinating ways our brains can recover. The book is a must read for anyone in emergency medicine, trauma care, neurology, and primary care, as well as concussion sufferers and their families. This book will change how healthcare workers care for patients with both mild and serious head injuries, as well as provide better understanding by those that are close to the concussed. It has made me a better clinical instructor and diagnostician by improving my index of suspicion for brain injury, helped me provide better advice to patients and their loved ones, and motivated me to develop a better standard of care in my practice."
--Ted C. Shieh, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., Clinical Instructor in Emergency Medicine, RUSH Medical College, Chairman of Emergency Medicine and Immediate Care, DuPage Medical Group
"Dr. Clark Elliott does an incredible job of captivating his reading audience and then skillfully introduces them to the altered world of a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) patient. His comprehensive and creative analysis of this pathological epidemic is uniquely insightful, accurate, scar--and most importantly encouraging--for those who are afflicted with this disorder. If you are a health care provider that treats trauma cases this is a 'Must Read'.... Dr. Elliott's remarkable descriptions bring to life the most vivid experience of this kind of trauma--from the peculiar sense of alienation, to strange symptoms like OCD, and even to the loss of one's spiritual life. Together they form a clear roadmap for parents, spouses, coaches, and physicians alike to understand MTBI."
--Michael P. Szatalowicz D.C., Whiplash Trauma Specialist

"Inspiring . . . A professor of artificial intelligence loses much of his higher function after an auto accident. Numerous specialists diagnose a concussion and tell him to 'get over it'--no small assignment for a professor and single father. He is ultimately referred to a neuro-optometrist who studies both the visual and the non-visual roles of the retina for the brain. Through exercises and progressive changes of glasses, his visual and mental function are restored and his professional and personal life regained. Read it, first weep, then smile broadly!"
--Daniel Federman, former dean, Harvard School of Medical Education and past president of the American College of Physicians
"A must read for anyone in emergency medicine, trauma care, neurology, and primary care, as well as concussion sufferers and their families. It has made me a better clinical instructor and diagnostician by improving my index of suspicion for brain injury, helped me provide better advice to patients and their loved ones, and motivated me to develop a better standard of care in my practice."
--Ted C. Shieh, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., Clinical Instructor in Emergency Medicine, RUSH Medical College, Chairman of Emergency Medicine and Immediate Care, DuPage Medical Group
"I have diagnosed more than 600 Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) cases over thirty years of practice, and know firsthand the devastating effect they can have on virtually any family. Dr. Clark Elliott does an incredible job of captivating his reading audience and then skillfully introduces them to the altered world of a MTBI patient. His comprehensive and creative analysis of this pathological epidemic is uniquely insightful, accurate, scary--and most importantly encouraging--for those who are afflicted with this disorder."
--Michael P. Szatalowicz, D.C., A.O., Whiplash Trauma Specialist

This is a remarkable document, by a remarkable person, the most meticulous and informative account I have ever read of the effects of a traumatic brain injury on a single mind. It should be mined for years to come by all who care about the subject, and is filled with almost Proustian detail about how the brain and mind and heart respond to injury. It would have been just another tragedy, but instead, it turns into an exciting triumph, because of the tireless, ingenious, and utterly creative work of Clark Elliott and his healers one inspired by the work of the Israeli pioneer, Reuven Feurstein, the other by a little known tradition of neuro-optometric rehabilitation, which can literally use light shone into the eyes, to treat and rewire the brain. Norman Doidge, M.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Brain That Changes Itself and The Brain s Way of Healing
For anyone who has struggled to explain cognition or to understand what it feels like to suffer from traumatic brain injury, Clark Elliott s fascinating account of his injury, diagnosis and then painstaking determination to heal himself reads like a how-to manual of how our brains work . . . His story gives hope to everyone out there and shines a light on the neuroplastic possibilities that exist for us all in the future." Bob Woodruff, ABC-TV News correspondent and Lee Woodruff, authors of In an Instant
"A remarkably informative discussion of brain injury. Newsday
"Elliott brings the words 'traumatic brain injury' to dizzying life." Chicago Tribune
"Elliott's transformative tale will be invaluable for patients with traumatic brain injury, families, and caregivers." Publishers Weekly
"Up-close view of living with the harrowing effects of a concussion... With concussions from sports injuries making the news, Elliott's easy-to-read account of his experiences is a valuable contribution to a better understanding of the condition." Kirkus

It is not often that one can gain some genuine insight into the soul-destroying and debilitating experiential world of victims of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI). But through the brilliant descriptions that Clark Elliott provides, we can at least begin to grasp its devastating perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral consequences its profound disruption of every aspect of normal daily life, of thinking and deciding, feeling and wanting, seeing and hearing, moving, and of our very sense of who we are. This is an extraordinary book about the brain and the mind a book that is hard to stop reading. Andrew Ortony, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Computer Science, and Education, Northwestern University
Inspiring . . .Read it, first weep, then smile broadly! Daniel Federman, Dean Emeritus, Harvard School of Medical Education, and past president of the American College of Physicians
A must-read for anyone in emergency medicine, trauma care, neurology, and primary care, as well as concussion sufferers and their families. Ted C. Shieh, clinical instructor in emergency medicine, RUSH Medical College; chairman of emergency medicine and immediate care, DuPage Medical Group
I have diagnosed more than six hundred mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) cases over thirty years of practice and know firsthand the devastating effects they can have on virtually any family. Dr. Clark Elliott s comprehensive and creative analysis of this pathological epidemic is uniquely insightful, accurate, scary and most importantly encouraging for those who are afflicted with this disorder. Michael P. Szatalowicz, D.C., A.O., whiplash trauma specialist"

"This is a remarkable document, by a remarkable person, the most meticulous and informative account I have ever read of the effects of a traumatic brain injury on a single mind. It should be mined for years to come by all who care about the subject, and is filled with almost Proustian detail about how the brain and mind and heart respond to injury. It would have been just another tragedy, but instead, it turns into an exciting triumph, because of the tireless, ingenious, and utterly creative work of Clark Elliott and his healers--one inspired by the work of the Israeli pioneer, Reuven Feurstein, the other by a little known tradition of neuro-optometric rehabilitation, which can literally use light shone into the eyes, to treat and rewire the brain."--Norman Doidge, M.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Brain That Changes Itself and The Brain's Way of Healing

"For anyone who has struggled to explain cognition or to understand what it feels like to suffer from traumatic brain injury, Clark Elliott's fascinating account of his injury, diagnosis and then painstaking determination to heal himself reads like a how-to manual of how our brains work . . . His story gives hope to everyone out there and shines a light on the neuroplastic possibilities that exist for us all in the future."--Bob Woodruff, ABC-TV News correspondent and Lee Woodruff, authors of In an Instant

"A remarkably informative discussion of brain injury."--Newsday

"Elliott brings the words 'traumatic brain injury' to dizzying life."--Chicago Tribune

"Elliott's transformative tale will be invaluable for patients with traumatic brain injury, families, and caregivers."--Publishers Weekly

"Up-close view of living with the harrowing effects of a concussion... With concussions from sports injuries making the news, Elliott's easy-to-read account of his experiences is a valuable contribution to a better understanding of the condition."--Kirkus

"It is not often that one can gain some genuine insight into the soul-destroying and debilitating experiential world of victims of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI). But through the brilliant descriptions that Clark Elliott provides, we can at least begin to grasp its devastating perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral consequences--its profound disruption of every aspect of normal daily life, of thinking and deciding, feeling and wanting, seeing and hearing, moving, and of our very sense of who we are. This is an extraordinary book about the brain and the mind--a book that is hard to stop reading."--Andrew Ortony, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Computer Science, and Education, Northwestern University

"Inspiring . . . Read it, first weep, then smile broadly!"--Daniel Federman, Dean Emeritus, Harvard School of Medical Education, and past president of the American College of Physicians

"A must-read for anyone in emergency medicine, trauma care, neurology, and primary care, as well as concussion sufferers and their families."--Ted C. Shieh, clinical instructor in emergency medicine, RUSH Medical College; chairman of emergency medicine and immediate care, DuPage Medical Group

"I have diagnosed more than six hundred mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) cases over thirty years of practice and know firsthand the devastating effects they can have on virtually any family. Dr. Clark Elliott's comprehensive and creative analysis of this pathological epidemic is uniquely insightful, accurate, scary--and most importantly encouraging--for those who are afflicted with this disorder."--Michael P. Szatalowicz, D.C., A.O., whiplash trauma specialist