The mind is not the brain, but what the brain does

So many details, descriptions and definitions stood out to me from Skloot’s first five essays that as I read I already knew that composing a comprehensive post would most likely not happen. Dysfunctional Mentation. “Kickback”. Dyscalculic. Labyrinthine. I truly enjoyed reading a book written from the perspective of the “other side of the examination table.” I realized that the best way to fully understand—or at least try to relate—another’s illness is to have them explain it as they have come to understand it; using their own language, their own carefully developed examples and metaphors—all derived from living day to day with deficits and obstacles of the Self affecting the mind, the body and, in the case of Skloot, every breath, thought and movement. It is through the marriage of narrative, science and metaphor that we are able to really feel—in the purest sense of the word, that is understand—what and how this “insult to the brain” has manifested itself in the body and mind of a previously well-balanced and not only successful but ambitious individual.
I found that through the combination of quotes from neuroscientists and doctors and from poets and of course the author’s words, I was able to understand the neurological side of Skloot’s brain damage in a more complete way than say I understood Zasetsky’s injury. I felt this way because the person living with this altered mind and body was explaining to me as they had come to understand and live with it. The problem for Skloot is easy to understand: it is in the processing of functions and the crucial ‘putting together’ or integrating of these necessary processes that has been affected. He explains this several times in his essays and relates it to the many and varied difficulties he experiences. “Walked as if made of wood” created a distinct image of my head and called to mind others from real life instantly.
Many things left me wondering and longing for class to meet Mondays instead of just Wednesdays! Skloot earlier on describes his brain as porous, riddled. This choice of words left a big impression on me—to think of the brain as porous makes complete sense for his specific injury and subsequent memory, balance and visual recall difficulties, to name just a few. I thought his experience of being easily overloaded when reading a menu in a busy and loud restaurant or of getting exhausted after eating very spicy food was very interesting and, like many other phenomena he describes, thinking that I could sometimes relate in my own way. It goes without saying that, as Skloot himself explains on page 33, that it is too easy for one to relate to his blink of an eye memory loss or sudden confusion, and that although this experience definitely helped me grasp the possibility and feeling better, I cannot truly imagine. To simply offer up some details I found confusing and significant: Cell understudies on page 15? Skloot’s mishaps with pouring liquids into inverted bowls and using incorrect hand gestures? I found these things so interesting in that they perfectly demonstrated the loss of integration.