• Breaking down how over 20 cases of exceptional brain injuries lead to greater understanding of how the mind works
• With the readability of a Malcolm Gladwell book, each chapter shares a story of a brain injury, the behavioural consequences for the person, and what scientists learned about brain function
• From the well-known story of railway foreman Phineas Gage's personality change following an iron rod through the brain to lesser known stories outside neuroscience textbooks, such as an Englishwoman who lost her ability to recognize faces after hitting her head or the sufferer of the rare Urbach-Wiethe genetic condition who was unable to experience fear
• For the curious reader who wants a readable, fascinating overview of the evolution in understanding of how the mind works
• Author is a cognitive neuroscientist, who is currently Vice-Dean and Professor of Psychology at University of Saskatchewan

Lorin J. Elias is a professor of psychology at the University of Saskatchewan. He completed his Ph.D. in behavioural neuroscience at the University of Waterloo and has been studying the brain for over twenty-five years. He is the author of Side Effects: How Left-Brain Right-Brain Differences Shape Everyday Behaviour and his research has been featured in popular newspapers and magazines around the world. Lorin lives in Saskatoon, SK.