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

This is a must to read to everybody dealing with concussion and to their families.

Synopsis of the Book:The “Ghost in My Brain” is a fascinating and passionate book about how a concussion can wreck a life – and how avant-garde treatments like visual puzzles and special eyeglasses can quickly rewire the brain into recovery.Author Clark Elliott is a computer science professor at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. The book documents eight years of his life, and describes:• The automobile accident that gave him a concussion• The eight years of hell he endured as he struggled to raise a family and keep his university position in spite of concussion-impaired abilities• His rapid recovery (within one year!) after a combined treatment of context-free puzzles developed by psychologist Dr. Donalee Markus, and special therapeutic glasses designed by neuro-optometrist Dr. Deborah ZelinskyThroughout all this, Clark kept a detailed diary of his inner thoughts and personal experiences, and he used this 1200 page record to write the book.One of the book’s key narrative strengths is that he thoroughly describes the tragic ways the concussion sapped his energy and altered his normal brain function, and the ingenious coping strategies he used to appear “normal” to colleagues, friends, and family.Examples of his concussion-induced impairments include:• Taking minutes to recall important information – like the names of his children.• Getting “lost” in parking lots and streets he used every day.• Developing physical pain, nausea, loss of balance, and even seizures when he encountered certain sounds or visual patterns.• When listening to academic lectures, he only had 25 minutes of critical thinking time before he became mentally and physically non-functional.While enduring this for eight years, Clark consulted with the best traditional doctors in the field of brain injury and recovery – who said that he would never get any better, and that he should just learn to live with his symptoms.However, through a chance encounter he was introduced to Dr. Donalee Markus, and through her to neuro-optometrist Dr. Deborah Zelinsky. Working together – Dr. Markus with context free visual puzzles tuned to Clark’s concussion symptoms, and Dr. Zelinsky with glasses that altered the direction and frequency of light hitting his retina – Clark made rapid progress.Within two weeks “the fog lifted”, and he regained a significant portion of his cognitive abilities, and after six months he was largely recovered.What I liked:For me, the most emotionally affecting part of this book was Clark’s description of his “inner world” as a concussion patient, and the many overt and subtle ways that brain damage can impair one’s ability to think clearly and effectively, and to correctly process the “outside” world. Clark describes it as becoming an alien being that walks and talks and acts though he was part of the human race, but that it doesn’t feel that way inside.In addition, I was touched by Clark’s descriptions of how his concussion impaired personal talents that he loved and cherished – such as spatial visualization and reasoning. Having the concussion take away energy is bad enough – but losing the abilities that give one’s life meaning is even more tragic. We have all heard about football players who had to retire due to severe concussions – but how often do we hear about painters abandoning their art because a concussion destroyed their ability to see the world through an artist’s eye?While the book was emotionally inspiring, as a technologist I was also fascinated by the idea that one can “hack” the brain – change its function - through visual stimuli (puzzles) and special eyeglasses. Drs. Markus and Zelinsky altered Clark’s brain function to alleviate his concussion symptoms, but I wonder whether these same techniques can be used to treat other conditions – or to enhance already-existing abilities and talents.For example, Clark is a trained musician and vinyl-listening audiophile, and in the book describes how his therapeutic glasses had the unintended side effect of greatly improving his ability to perceive and visualize classical music.Conclusions:If you have a loved one who has suffered a concussion, I urge you to read this book. It will help you understand and appreciate the challenges they face both externally and internally, and it will also introduce you to new treatments that can be far more effective than traditional "wait and rest" protocols.In addition, technologists and those interested in neural science and brain plasticity should read this book. Clark’s detailed descriptions of his internal processing challenges illustrate the complexity of perception, and the idea of “hacking” (re-wiring) the brain via puzzles and special eyeglasses is a revolutionary idea. The author devotes a detailed chapter to each of these therapies and how they were applied to his condition, and these sections provide a very readable overview of each method’s theory and practice.

I am glad Clark found help, but I feel like I paid for an ad for the clinic he used.

This book has been such a blessing to me and my daughter! She had a "mild concussion" 4 years ago. She immediately had symptoms. Within a few months, her life was changed. Symptomatic 24/7, had to quit sports(didn't get concussion during sports), 24/7 head pain, vision was crazy, pupils enlarged, ringing in ears, pressure to one side of body, constant dizziness and feeling of falling even when sitting, light sensitive, noise sensitive, problems processing info, confusion, mixing up words, nausea, feeling of being full and not wanting to eat, and the list goes on and on. She was 15 at the time and has struggled to make it through school and life. She hasn't let it define her though. She is an "A" student , dual enrolled, AP class, honors class, and president of the HOSA club. She will be off to college soon. We have fought the long 4 year battle of denial in the medical field. We have seen over 20 doctors and specialist, she has been on way too many strong drugs prescribed by each of them, been through all kinds of therapy and not one positive result from any of it. Doctors have asked us not to come back because I don't agree with their diagnosis, which was always hereditary migraines. We don't even have a history in the family. We have been told it is totally unrelated to the concussion and she is just depressed. She even told them she wasn't depressed but frustrated because she couldn't find a doctor who wants to help her. We have now met two very accepting and knowledgeable doctors. They specialize in neuro optometry and neuro psychology. They have found numerous visual and audible issue caused by damage to the brain during the concussion. They have prescribed special glasses, vision therapy and neurofeed back therapy. All will retrain the brain to work properly. We are already seeing positive results! She had a QEEG which maps the brain waves and we see the under and over active areas, we can even see the point of initial concussion and point of residual concussion on the brain mapping. We feel like we have hope. This book describes my daughter's life for the last 4 years and it's sad but refreshing to know that someone else out there knows that Post Concussion Syndrome is real and life changing. If you know someone who has been concussed or you live with a concussive, please read this book and share with them!

I'm very pleased with the book which came in only one day. Thankyou

This book arrived on time and in good condition. It is what I expected.

The book is new and arrived in the given timeframe. However the rear cover is damaged at the bottom. Not worth sending back.Removed 1 star for the damage

This is an amazing story and also quite scary. Scary from a number points of view, 1. How easy it can be to suffer T.B.I. and 2. how such an injury can have devastating long term effects. 3 The really scary thing in this story is the fact that Clark had the persistence and determination, not to mention the background education to persist in looking for answers to explain his condition and ultimately find a cure, or the people with the cure. This book highlights the amazing work carried out by Donalee Markus and Deborah Zelinsky and their fantastic knowledge and understanding in their field of expertise, it also highlights the lack of knowledge and even, in my view, lack of interest of the personnel in A&E departments and M.D. practioners when it comes to illness and unusual conditions being presented.

I have suffered and struggled with 3 Concussions that I had all within 1.5 years. Now 4 years later I am getting worse, so it is great to read a book that helps one understand the real everyday issues that others are working through as well. One day I hope to find a Specialist that will help as my family Dr. is of no help! I've been told to get on with my life so many times that am currently looking for a new GP!