Neuroscience, Philosophy and Self-Help Books

Degowin's Diagnostic Examination, 9th Ed. (2009): Chapters 14-15 on the Neurological and Psychological Exam.

The classic text that introduces medical students into the world of clinical medicine and psychiatry. Most third and fourth year students always carry their copies with them, probably now on their Smartphones or IPads.

I have not included the entire text (almost 1000 pages) but limited the excerpt to the fields relevant to training in  neurology, neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology.

"The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mind-Body Disorders" by John Sarno, M.D.

In this 2006 book, a non-psychiatrist, physical medicine specialist explores psychosomatic (mind-body) disorders. While his psychological knowledge is rudimentary and often one-sided, Dr. Sarno does present an accurate portrayal of the failure of the medical practitioners to recognize and appropriately treat mind-body disorders.

The Effective Clinician: Communication with the patient and family, Functional illness, Dealing with progressive, chronic, and fatal illness.

From the staff at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine on how to communicate with patient and family; Evaluation of Functional illness; and, Approaching and caring for the patient with progressive, chronic, or fatal illness.

This book is geared toward medical doctors, however, in my opinion, it is so well written, clinically sensitive, and full of human feeling, such that all who work in the fields of medicine, neurology, neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology might benefit from reading it. It was published in 1973, but its approach is really quite timeless.

 "Free Will" by Sam Harris

Sam Harris presents an atheist's polemic that combines philosophy and neuroscience. Harris' book at worst, ignored the relevant historical literature in psychodynamics, including psychoanalysis, or more troublesome, was unaware of the literature because he never studied it. ( which I feel is more likely).  In my opinion, this literature would have helped Harris and his audience gain an understanding of the unconscious quite different from his exclusively neuroscience approach. 

The author Sam Harris received a degree in philosophy from Stanford and a PhD in neuroscience from Stanford. He is a devotee of Christopher Hitchens, the British author and journalist, a well-known critic of religion and advocate of atheism. This book is polemic against the traditional Western cultural frame of understanding free will suggesting reasons from neuroscience why free will either doesn't exist or illusionary.

While I am sympathetic to many parts of the field of Neuroscience, its popularity in Western culture has made it the new sine qua non of "truth". Now if  anyone uses the words, "according to the latest in Neuroscience" then whatever the field of inquiry, it must be true. So, from time to time, I will present polemics to show the author's distinct position that in some way strikes me as being one-sided or under some strong unconscious urge. 

Netter's Atlas of Neurophysiology

Many anatomists and physicians hold that Frank Netter's drawings  are the finest available for understanding of the difficult anatomical and functional aspects of the human body. If you are interested in the nervous system, you won't want to miss having this book available to you.

"Snake Oil Science" : The Truth About Complementary and
Alternative Medicine by R. Barker Bausell, Ph.D.
Oxford University Press, 2007

Despite its provocative title, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in treating or receiving treatment for mind-body disorders, illnesses, or problems.  Dr. Bausell presents the data as it is. He looks at placebo-controlled studies in the complementary and alternative medical / psychological field and analyzes methodology and treatment effectiveness from the standpoint of a statistician. 

Bausell was the former director of research at the University of Maryland's NIH-funded Complementary Medicine Program (now called the Center for Integrative Medicine), Dr. Bausell is an acknowledged expert in Medical, Psychological, and Social Sciences research methodology, the key, in my opinion to evaluating and understanding professional medical and psychological literature as well as the wide-spread claims of benefit for specific treatments that dominate the web and social media websites.