A Sense of Self

Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are

By: Veronica O’Keane

Narrated by: Chloe Cannon

A twinge of sadness, a rush of love, a knot of loss, a whiff of regret. Memories have the power to move us, often when we least expect it, a sign of the complex neural process that continues in the background of our everyday lives. This process shapes us: filtering the world around us, informing our behavior, and feeding our imagination.

Psychiatrist Veronica O'Keane has spent many years observing how memory and experience are interwoven. In this rich, fascinating exploration, she asks, among other things: Why can memories feel so real? How are our sensations and perceptions connected with them? Why is place so important in memory? Are there such things as "true" and "false" memories? And, above all, what happens when the process of memory is disrupted by mental illness? O'Keane uses the broken memories of psychosis to illuminate the integrated human brain, offering a new way of thinking about our own personal experiences.

Drawing on poignant accounts that include her own experiences, as well as what we can learn from insights in literature and fairytales and the latest neuroscientific research, O'Keane reframes our understanding of the extraordinary puzzle that is the human brain and how it changes during its growth from birth to adolescence and old age.

©2021 Veronica O'Keane (P)2021 Tantor

Good visualization of a theory of the Connected Brain

Using her extensive Psychiatric practice experience and references to the thoughts and writings of great artists, O’Keane paints a convincing picture of the processes that the Brain uses to connect and consolidate sense experiences into the Memories that constitute our lives. Her approach, while grounded in a lot of the current technical findings of Neuroscience, is still accessible to the layman. I found it both instructional, easy to understand, and consistent with other reading I have done on the subject.

If I had one reservation in recommending A Sense of Self, it would be that O’Keane sometimes padded her assertions with more examples of her patients’ cases than I needed to listen to. They may have bolstered her point, but may not have all been necessary to relate. Due to that issue, I’m only giving the book three stars, but it is a worthwhile read.

A wonderful reading of beautiful ideas

Chloe Cannon is very easy to listen to, even on 2x or higher, which isn't always the case with others.

I found Veronica's book (this one) through a Royal Institution lecture on YouTube featuring her. O'Keane's core ideas are beautifully simple, well put together and come from first principle thinking.

Her hopes for the world, that people with psychosis like schizophrenia (which has affected at least 1 in 100 people throughout history) be welcomed into society just as with people with autism or other non-normal thinking patterns, and her comparison of them to people with broken legs, kidneys and hearts. is extremely well thought out and defined.

Just like 2 generations ago we realized oppression and humiliation of minorities was barbaric, last generation we realized the same with homsexuality. and this generation we're realizing it with gender, next generation we will hopefully see it with our bodies... that our minds are just made of organic matter, and we should not oppress or humiliate those with minority mentality any more than we should do the same to those in wheelchairs or with glasses.

Hopefully this book, and people pushing these thoughts forward will all eventually lead to a better and more loving and peaceful society.

This book is amazing.