Book contents
- A Tattoo on My Brain
- Reviews
- A Tattoo on My Brain
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Prologue
- 1 Beacon Rock
- 2 Forewarned and Forearmed
- 3 The Smell of Baking Bread
- 4 Sneak Preview
- 5 A Stubborn Puzzle
- 6 The Locked Box and the Family Tree
- 7 The Measure of Memory
- 8 Orcas Nonetheless
- 9 My Brain, My Self
- 10 The Reveal
- 11 Cognitive Reserve and Resiliency: Brain Cells in the Bank
- 12 My Experimental Life
- 13 When ARIA Is More than an Operatic Solo
- 14 My Experiential Life: Living with Early-Stage Alzheimer’s Disease
- 15 Madeleines, Music and African Doves
- 16 It’s Only Scary If You Look Down
- 17 Beyond DNA: Family History Reconsidered
- 18 News at 5: Retired Neurologist Battles Alzheimer’s
- 19 The Forest, the Trees and the Ground Beneath My Feet
- 20 What’s in a Name? Alzheimer’s Reimagined
- 21 A Meaningful Outcome
- Epilogue: The Writing Life
- Epilogue: The Writing Life, Act II
- Appendix:
- Resources
- Index
9 - My Brain, My Self
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 November 2022
- A Tattoo on My Brain
- Reviews
- A Tattoo on My Brain
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Prologue
- 1 Beacon Rock
- 2 Forewarned and Forearmed
- 3 The Smell of Baking Bread
- 4 Sneak Preview
- 5 A Stubborn Puzzle
- 6 The Locked Box and the Family Tree
- 7 The Measure of Memory
- 8 Orcas Nonetheless
- 9 My Brain, My Self
- 10 The Reveal
- 11 Cognitive Reserve and Resiliency: Brain Cells in the Bank
- 12 My Experimental Life
- 13 When ARIA Is More than an Operatic Solo
- 14 My Experiential Life: Living with Early-Stage Alzheimer’s Disease
- 15 Madeleines, Music and African Doves
- 16 It’s Only Scary If You Look Down
- 17 Beyond DNA: Family History Reconsidered
- 18 News at 5: Retired Neurologist Battles Alzheimer’s
- 19 The Forest, the Trees and the Ground Beneath My Feet
- 20 What’s in a Name? Alzheimer’s Reimagined
- 21 A Meaningful Outcome
- Epilogue: The Writing Life
- Epilogue: The Writing Life, Act II
- Appendix:
- Resources
- Index
Summary
I doubt I’m the only father of the bride who has written a toast for the rehearsal dinner, then worried about whether I’d be able to memorize it, tried, worried still and then written it out to have in my pocket just as backup. Not the only one who nervously patted his pocket to be sure it was there, then patted that pocket a few more times to double-check. Jokes about “senior moments” are a constant through-line among people my age. Who can honestly say they haven’t blanked on a name, lost a list, forgotten where they put the car keys or, for that matter, forgotten why they interrupted what they were doing in one room to go to another, and remembered why only long after they gave up?
My new hypervigilance about my own “moments” might have seemed excessive at times. But, having just retired from a long career in brain science, suddenly I had unlimited time and access to study my own, and I was intrigued as well as motivated.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A Tattoo on my BrainA Neurologist's Personal Battle against Alzheimer's Disease, pp. 60 - 68Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023