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Spencer Jones
May 31, 2009
Mrs. Sarro
Anatomy
Sacks Paper
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks The brain has been a curiosity to man since the beginning of science. Even though the actual term “neuroscience” only dates back to the 1970’s, the study of the brain is as old as science itself. As time and technology progresses neuroscience has undergone significant changes to become what it is today. New findings, new discoveries are always changing what we know, or think we know, about the brain. In a collection of narratives by Oliver Sacks entitled, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, we see the suffering of those with neurological diseases, their attempts to cope with these diseases and the conclusions that Sacks makes on their conditions.
Sacks is the physician in these narrative stories that tell about his studies of the person behind neurological deficits. Sacks’ interests are not only in the disease itself but also in the person. He writes these stories to teach the reader about the identity of the victims of neurological diseases. He describes the experience of the victim as he or she struggles to survive their disease. Oliver Sacks presents numerous stories where neurological disorders have completely impaired a person’s physical ability; the ability to remember, the ability to comprehend, the ability to speak and hear. These patients, despite their losses, never lost their spiritual ability.
The ability to rejoice, to appear spiritually fulfilled, was never lost, just hidden. An example of this was seen in “The Lost Mariner” (22-41). Jimmie had suffered from amnesia and could not remember anything for more than two minutes, except things that were 30 years old. Jimmie had no continuity, no reality. He lived in the eighties, but his mind was in the thirties. Jimmie would erupt in panic attacks of confusion and disbelief, only to forget them a few minutes later. After frequent visits...