Switched On - A Memoir of Brain Change, Emotional Awakening, and the Emerging Science of Neurostimulation

For the first time in my life, I learned what it was like to truly 'know' other people's feelings. It was as if... suddenly I could see everything - and particularly other people - in brilliant beautiful colour.' People with autism have trouble reading the unspoken signals of others. The conventional wisdom says they don't have the wiring in their brains to do it. But now, thanks to advances in brain-mapping technologies, a revolutionary new brain therapy called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), pioneered at Harvard Medical School and, in Australia, at Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, is providing a new frontier of scientific possibility for people with autism spectrum disorders, as well as those living with depression, bi-polar disorder, and other conditions. In Switched On, we follow New York Times bestselling author and 'free-range Aspergian' John Elder Robison as he journeys towards having his emotional intelligence 'unlocked' by this astounding new treatment. Robison's story of how he came to awaken the dormant pathways inside his mind is astonishing and entirely unique, but this is also a book about the remarkable advances in the way we view, and treat, a variety of psychological conditions. Switched On is a real-life Flowers for Algernon with a happy ending - a compelling memoir that blends Robison's brilliant storytelling and humour with cutting-edge neuroscience, electronics, and a little bit of rock and roll....