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Projections

Written by: Karl Deisseroth
Narrated by: Karl Deisseroth, Natalie Naudus, Karen Chilton
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Publisher's Summary

A groundbreaking tour of the human mind that illuminates the biological nature of our inner worlds and emotions, through gripping, moving - and, at times, harrowing - clinical stories

“[A] scintillating and moving analysis of the human brain and emotions.” (Nature)

“Beautifully connects the inner feelings within all human beings to deep insights from modern psychiatry and neuroscience.” (Robert Lefkowitz, Nobel Laureate)

Karl Deisseroth has spent his life pursuing truths about the human mind, both as a renowned clinical psychiatrist and as a researcher creating and developing the revolutionary field of optogenetics, which uses light to help decipher the brain’s workings. In Projections, he combines his knowledge of the brain’s inner circuitry with a deep empathy for his patients to examine what mental illness reveals about the human mind and the origin of human feelings - how the broken can illuminate the unbroken.

Through cutting-edge research and gripping case studies from Deisseroth’s own patients, Projections tells a larger story about the material origins of human emotion, bridging the gap between the ancient circuits of our brain and the poignant moments of suffering in our daily lives. The stories of Deisseroth’s patients are rich with humanity and shine an unprecedented light on the self - and the ways in which it can break down. A young woman with an eating disorder reveals how the mind can rebel against the brain’s most primitive drives of hunger and thirst; an older man, smothered into silence by depression and dementia, shows how humans evolved to feel not only joy but also its absence; and a lonely Uighur woman far from her homeland teaches both the importance - and challenges - of deep social bonds.

Illuminating, literary, and essential, Projections is a revelatory, immensely powerful work. It transforms our understanding not only of the brain but of ourselves as social beings - giving vivid illustrations through science and resonant human stories of our yearning for connection and meaning.

©2021 Karl Deisseroth (P)2021 Random House Audio
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What the critics say

“Because of his experiences as a physician and researcher, Dr. Deisseroth recognizes the limitations of science and medicine and the transcendent value of elemental human connection.... In life’s most difficult moments, it might be everything.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“Deisseroth achieves the difficult feat of moving and enlightening the reader at the same time.”The Guardian

“[Karl Deisseroth’s] imaginative narrative flows effortlessly.... There is a first love of reading and writing and hints of a literary imagination that draws on James Joyce and Toni Morrison.... His narratives are always sensitive.... An admixture of fact and fiction, reality and imagination, damage and desire.” (Science)

What listeners say about Projections

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Phenomenal!

Makes the mysteries of the brain seem knowable without surrendering the awe of the miracle that is consciousness. Should be required reading / listening for all conscious beings!

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Awe inspiring, thought provoking and stylistically beautiful.

Outstanding stories, written in beautiful prose, with insight into the nature of the mind, and when it turns against us. Huge fan. Highly recommended to anyone interested in medicine, neuroscience and psychiatry/psychology, or anyone interested in human nature in general. 5 stars.

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A new must read!

It's an impressive must read! Dr. Deisseroth is award winning accomplished scientist who happen to be both great with words, and apparently good voice in reading too. I've learned a lot reading while listening. Eye opening for normal people who don't visit psychiatric hospital for any relevant reasons, to see the depth of emotions, and to wonder about the level of free will or consciousness.

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Poor narration undermines listening experience

There’s something surprisingly reassuring to me that a research scientist who uses tiny fibre-optic cables to fire lasers into the brains of mice is also capable of using the English language so empathically and expertly to follow the course of a particular emotion. That said, Deisseroth is an unfortunate example of an author who should not narrate his own work, or at least, an author who needs to train and practice narration more. I would not recommend this title as an audiobook because Deisseroth uses a strangely halting, nearly muttering tone that makes for an exhausting listening experience. The sections narrated by Natalie Naudus and Karen Chilton flowed perfectly; it’s such a shame Deisseroth insists on reading so much of this.

Listen to my extended review on the Audiobook Reviews in Five Minutes podcast on Apple, Anchor, Breaker, Google, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, and Spotify.

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More a diary than a narrative

I am not sure what the point if this book is. Excellent concepts but no conclusions. Meandering emotional context relevant to one story but not an overall message. pretty disappointing actually.

the author is a very smart person but I did not take anything away.

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    1 out of 5 stars

a betrayal

Ever since Frued abandoned his seduction theory, psychiatry has found more and more convulted ways to discount the obvious. Disgusted to have wasted my money on furthering this nonsense.

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So disappointing

It is so frustrating to purchase a title on Audible based on stellar reviews, only to find out that the audiobook is a complete and unmitigated disaster. It's not the cost of the book, but rather the time wasted.The fact that this audiobook was reviewed so positively by the Wall Street Journal and Nature is truly baffling.

I agree with some of the other people who wrote reviews that commented on the narration -- the author's cadence is very strange and it makes it a struggle to listen to (bedtime stories indeed...). However, even the best narrator could not have saved this audiobook. While it does contain a few minor flashes of brilliance, those events were rare. Even listening to the sample before purchasing this audiobook will not help as one of the few parts of the book which is not terrible.

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I was very disappointed.

I've tried listening to this book many many times, but I just can't stand the narration. I'm one to listen to books before bed as a way to unwind, but this book just frustrates me. It's like watching TV without the subtitles on, I can hear it, yes technically, but I can't understand it. I was very excited to learn from this book but I doubt I'll get past the first chapter.

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