The Ghost in My Brain

How a Concussion Stole My Life and How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Helped Me Get It Back

By: Clark Elliott Ph.D.

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

The dramatic story of one man's recovery offers new hope to those suffering from concussions and other brain traumas.

In 1999, Clark Elliott suffered a concussion when his car was rear-ended. Overnight his life changed from that of a rising professor with a research career in artificial intelligence to a humbled man struggling to get through a single day. At times he couldn't walk across a room, or even name his five children. Doctors told him he would never fully recover. After eight years, the cognitive demands of his job, and of being a single parent, finally became more than he could manage. As a result of one final effort to recover, he crossed paths with two brilliant Chicago-area research-clinicians - one a specialized optometrist, the other a cognitive psychologist - working on the leading edge of brain plasticity. He was substantially improved within weeks.

Remarkably, Elliott kept detailed notes throughout his experience, from the moment of impact to the final stages of his recovery, astounding documentation that is the basis of this fascinating audiobook. The Ghost in My Brain gives hope to the millions who suffer from head injuries each year, and provides a unique and informative window into the world's most complex computational device: the human brain.

©2015 Clark Elliott (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Viking, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, a Penguin Random House Company.

great book

Where does The Ghost in My Brain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

for anyone going thought this or who know someone with rain stuff going on need to listen to this, it every eye opening for

CONCUSSION! What can happen to you...

Clark's story is informative, and discouraging at M.D.'s lack of how to assist a concussive. His determination finally gave him a reward in the end through an unlikely avenue. Found it very helpful, thank you for sharing your story.

Incredible story

Wow. This guy has a PhD and was able to carefully, intelligently document what it was like to live with brain damage after a car accident. And then, he documents how his doctors helped him recover. Because of this book, I am now bringing in a family member with a brain injury to see The Mind Eye Institute this weekend. We have an appointment and this book is the reason. Thank you, Clark! So grateful for the way you told your story. Especially intrigued by hearing how it impacted your ability to “feel” spiritual things. Love!!! We learned a LOT listening to this! Also, I was in a car accident and sustained a brain injury that healed within a year. A lot of this book resonated with me. So so good.

Astonishing

I read a ton of memoirs, especially medical illness memoirs. This is by far the best one I have read so far. The author's ability to describe his sensations and perceptions following an auto collision that left him with a severe concussion is remarkable. What I really nerded out on, however, was his ability to explain *why* he was experiencing those specific sensations and perceptions as a survivor of Traumatic Brain Injury. What I wouldn't give to have more of the whys for myself. Some readers will also find compelling the last third of the book, in which after eight years of miraculously managing to work as a professor, raise five children as a single father, and drive a car--none of which he probably should have been doing while under such massive cognitive and physical impairment--he found exactly the combination of treatment providers who could basically cure his malady. That part didn't resonate as much with me, though. Much like the end of Stephanie Foo's PTSD memoir, I was left feeling like the cure is only available to a special few who can afford the treatments and happen to live in exactly the right location to access them. The rest of us are told by uninformed GPs and specialists that we'd better just learn to live with it, because they've got nothing effective for us.

Mostly Tedious With Moments of Insight

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The core of this book is interesting and insightful. The author conveys some aspects of living with brain injury that are rarely talked about and difficult to describe. However, these glimpses are buried in a seemingly endless tedium of repetition, recital of dates and facts, and other mundane details that are truly irrelevant.

My advice: Read/listen to the first half of the book. Then, just be aware that author claims to have been successfully treated using a series of custom prescription glasses. Very little new is revealed in the second half aside from this fact, which almost reads as a footnote to the author's almost daily journal of every minute observation (each one being very similar to dozens of previous observations).

Aside from these criticisms, the book is still important for the way it describes living with brain injury. It is just not a story told in a skillful way, but more as an unedited journal.

Would you recommend The Ghost in My Brain to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend the first half of the book, as it offers some glimpse into what it is like living with a brain injury. The recommendation would come with the caveat to go ahead and put the book down as soon as it started to become tedious, because it would not recover.

Do you think The Ghost in My Brain needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

A follow-up is definitely unnecessary. It is difficult to imagine the author left out the slightest detail. A sequel would, possibly, go into slightly more detail about what he had for lunch each day.

A fascinating story of life after a concussion

In 1999, Clark Elliott was a research professor with a rising career in artificial intelligence. Then he was the victim of a rear-end car collision, and his life was transformed overnight.

Simple tasks had become difficult. He sometimes had difficulty remembering his children's names. He sometimes had difficulty walking through doors, or down corridors. He had difficulty making decisions--simple decisions. A sign on a shop door saying "Come in" once held him in place for several minutes, knowing he didn't want to go into that shop, but unable to simply ignore its instruction.

After delivering a lecture to his students, he might be unable to stand up, or unable to identify his car in the parking lot. Sometimes he would be seemingly completely normal, and hten a few minutes later, severely impaired due to the mental and physical effort expended in that "normal" conversation or activity.

The story of the dog that didn't exist is fascinating and funny and scary.

And for eight years, medical professional after medical professional told him he would never get any better, and he had to learn to live with his deficits. Most of them seemed completely uninterested in his detailed description of his symptoms, because they knew there was nothing to be done.

Then he met two brilliant research clinicians, a cognitive psychologist and an optometrist, both of them working on brain plasticity. It's a fascinating story from beginning to end.

Highly recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

Amazingly interesting.

I really enjoyed the story. It is amazing and inspiring. If you're looking for an example of a growth mindset - here you have it, a firsthand experience marvelously documented.

currently suffering

This is a book I had to listen to. I currently am suffering with a TBI. And listening to this book gives me hope that there may be a future for me.

Just okay

Pseudo science esque. A bit narcissistic. Not enough other stories. Not much breadth. Interesting but not compelling.

Not what I expected

If you want to hear a very detailed account of how a concussive brain does not work properly this is the book for you. If you want to learn how to heal your brain skip ahead eight hours or so. Or just Google the doctors used.