Hallucinations 1st Edition by Oliver Sacks (PDF)

Description

“Illuminate[s] the complexities of the human brain and the mysteries of the human mind.” —The New York TimesTo many people, hallucinations imply madness, but in fact they are a common part of the human experience. These sensory distortions range from the shimmering zigzags of a visual migraine to powerful visions brought on by fever, injuries, drugs, sensory deprivation, exhaustion, or even grief. Hallucinations doubtless lie behind many mythological traditions, literary inventions, and religious epiphanies. Drawing on his own experiences, a wealth of clinical cases from among his patients, and famous historical examples ranging from Dostoevsky to Lewis Carroll, the legendary neurologist Oliver Sacks investigates the mystery of these sensory deceptions: what they say about the working of our brains, how they have influenced our folklore and culture, and why the potential for hallucination is present in us all.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐ObjectiveDr. Oliver Sacks emphasizes the importance of categorizing hallucinations as symptoms of a puzzled or damaged brain that is trying to compensate the absence of a specific sensory input. This review aims to provide a detailed analysis of Oliver Sacks’, “Hallucinations” which is a compendium of hallucinatory experiences faced by his patients.Overall OpinionAs an undergraduate student studying neuroscience, I chose this book to understand the complexity and pathophysiology of hallucinations, especially Tactile Hallucinations, and how it relates to the conscious mind. As a physician and a professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine, Dr. Sacks recounts the stories of his patients with great empathy and comprehension. I found the book very fascinating to read as it immerses the reader in the hallucinatory experiences of Dr. Sack’s patients and it encourages the reader to think critically about the reason behind such tricks of the brains. This book not only narrates these hallucinatory experiences but also associates these manifestations to specific regions of the brain. Through this review, I wish to encourage everyone to read this book and acknowledge hallucinations as a problem of the brain rather than just a psychotic behavior of an individual.Synopsis of the BookIn chapter one, Dr. Sacks recalls the incident of an old woman named Rosalie who started seeing things when she was at her nursing home. Rosalie was blind and she had been hallucinating images of people with distorted faces and animals. She explaines that the images were not a dream but rather “like a movie”. Dr. Sacks then attributed these symptoms to a condition called Charles Bonnet Syndrome. He emphasizes that her symptoms were not “psychiatric” rather a “reaction of the brain to the loss of eyesight”. He explains that Charles Bonnet Syndrome is a very common condition and goes on to recount other patient’s experiences of mild forms and severe forms of hallucinations in completely visually impaired or slightly visually impaired individuals. In chapter two and chapter nine, Dr. Sacks depicts the importance of the brain in visual hallucinations. He describes an experiment done by William Bexton in order to understand the effects of total sensory deprivation in fourteen college students. The results of the experiment showed that these students started experiencing heightened visual, auditory and kinesthetic hallucinations. With the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researches were able to attribute visual hallucinations to the activity in the primary visual cortex of the occipital lobe and fusiform gyrus in the temporal lobe. Even damage to one half of the occipital lobe can result in visual impairment of one eye leading to hallucinations. In chapter seven, Dr. Sacks explains his own experience of his migraines that caused visual hallucinations of geometric shapes and bright colors.Anosmic patients, people who have lost their sense of smell, can have olfactory hallucinations as reiterated by Dr. Oliver Sacks in chapter three. He recounts the experience of several patients who have lost their sense of smell due to a damage of their olfactory tracts. One particular instance includes the experience of a Canadian woman, Mary B, who suffered from unpleasant smells after operation under general anesthesia. Tomatoes started smelling metallic and cottage cheese like sour milk. She had to pick and choose specific food to eat during all her meals. Auditory Hallucinations (Chapter 4) are particularly related to psychiatric patients especially schizophrenic patients and have been associated with the abnormal activation of the primary auditory cortex. Dr. Sacks suggest that auditory hallucinations are the result of “failure to recognize internally generated speech as one’s own.” Additionally, phantom limbs are a type of tactile hallucinations as Dr. Sack explains in chapter fifteen. He explains phantoms limbs as a voluntary type of hallucination in patients with an amputated part of their body. Epilepsy and drug induced (Chapter 6, 8, 10 and 13) hallucination is caused by high activation of specific regions of the brain that can excite stored memories and emotions. Hallucinations due to sleep deprivation and Parkinson’s disease are emphasized by Dr. Sacks in chapters 5, 11 and 12. These diseases encounter a combination of visual, auditory, olfaction and tactile hallucination and it is difficult to pinpoint these hallucinations to one part of the brain.Style and Structure of the BookThe book was divided into fifteen chapters each of which emphasized on one particular cause of hallucinations in patients. The book was easy to read from beginning to end as the use of imagery in the book immersed the reader into the patient’s hallucinatory experience. In each chapter, Dr. Sacks narrated several experiences, introduced the history of the particular cause of that hallucination, associated these causes with specific regions in the brain and asserted his own interpretation of these hallucinations. Moreover, the portrayal of real world patients and Dr. Sacks’ empathy and comprehension towards their condition gives the book a certain kind of credibility in holding the attention of the reader.Opinion on Specific PartsI was intrigued by most of the hallucinatory experiences that were explained in the book. However, there were a few specific parts of the book that I was enthralled in. The clinical case study of phantom limbs was of great significance as almost all patients with an amputated part of their body suffered from the pain of a phantom limb. These hallucinations are different from all other hallucinations because they can be controlled voluntarily. Dr. Sacks reiterated V.S. Ramachandran’s concept that these tactile hallucinations were due to “learned” paralysis in which the brain is in conflict of making decisions and thus, abandons the motor commands sent to the phantom limbs.Also, it was interesting to learn that visual hallucinations are very common in the world and we do not know about its prevalence because individuals who experience hallucinations are scared to be labeled by the society as delusional. Therefore, the book provides detailed history and case studies to associate hallucination to a particular brain region.It was interesting to note that hallucinations can be caused by migraines, emotions, beliefs, complete sensory deprivation and lack of sleep through the activation of the regions of the brain involved in the functioning of various sensory inputs. People with severe migraines tend to hallucinate geometric shapes and colors due to heightened activity of their primary visual cortex. In Charles Bonnet syndrome, complete deprivation of the visual senses leads to hallucination of faces and this is recognized by the activity of the brain region called the fusiform gyrus in the temporal lobe. Moreover, patients who suffer from Parkinson’s disease have hallucination caused by their medication. Dr. Sacks’ experiences of hallucination from drug intake and migraines provide a credible source of such incidents.Useful/Interesting Quotes”…hallucinations are percepts arising in the absence of external reality- seeing things or hearing things that are not there.””Do the geometric patterns seen in migraine and other conditions prefigure the motifs of Aboriginal art? Did Lilliputian hallucinations (which are not uncommon) give rise to the elves, imps, leprechauns and fairies in our folklore? Do the terrifying hallucinations of the nightmare, being ridden and suffocated by a malign presence, play a part in generating our concepts of demons and witches or malignant aliens? Do `ecstatic’ seizures, such as Dostoyevsky had, play a part in generating our sense of the divine?”Summary of reviewAltogether, this book is an easy read with its elaborate yet captivating narratives of Dr. Oliver Sacks’ patients who experienced hallucinations. It was entertaining and at the same time it was plausible. I like the way Dr. Sacks categorized the book based on different causes of hallucinations and the title of each chapter added to the mystery of the characteristics of the hallucination he was emphasizing in the same chapter. Although the book emphasized a lot on specific types of hallucination, it failed to give a more detailed description of the pathophysiology of the hallucination especially with respect to different brain regions. Moreover, this book is a great stepping-stone towards new findings in clinical medicine regarding hallucination, which was once thought to be purely under psychiatry. It emphasizes hallucinations as being very common in most people’s lives today.RecommendationI would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about mind perceptions in patients who experience hallucinations. Dr. Oliver Sacks has quoted as well as cited several experts in Neuroscience who has analyzed the sensation and perception of the brain as it relates to hallucinations making it a credible source for future analysis of hallucinatory experiences. Although the book does not give a lot of detail on the pathophysiology of hallucinations, it can be used to delve deep into the different types and subtypes of hallucination in patients who have some kind of neurological condition.

⭐Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks”Hallucinations” is a fascinating book of what Dr. Sacks considers a natural history of anthology of hallucinations. It covers a wide variety of hallucinations through the eyes of those who have them and the impact it has on their lives. Dr. Sacks shares those vivid experiences with the readers but at times it can be overwhelming and hard to follow. This psychedelic 354-page includes the following fifteen chapters: 1. Silent Multitudes: Charles Bonnet Syndrome, 2. The Prisoner’s Cinema: Sensory Deprivation, 3. A Few Nanograms of Wine: Hallucinatory Smells, 4. Hearing Things, 5. The Illusions of Parkinsonism, 6. Altered States, 7. Patterns: Visual Migraines, 8. The “Sacred” Disease, 9. Bisected: Hallucinations in the Half-Field, 10. Delirious, 11. On the Threshold of Sleep, 12. Narcolepsy of Night Hags, 13. The Haunted Mind, 14. Dopplegangers: Hallucinating Oneself, and 15. Phantoms, Shadows, and Sensory Ghosts.Positives:1. Engaging prose, well-researched book on a variety of hallucinations.2. Dr. Sacks is a master of his profession and a very accomplished author.3. A very good format. Each chapter covers a category of hallucination.4. A good introductory chapter that covers the essence of the book. “Hallucination is a unique and special category of consciousness and mental life”.5. Full of first-hand accounts and historical accounts of hallucinations. The accounts vary from the common to the bizarre.6. Hallucinations among the blind. The Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS). “CBS hallucinations are often described as having dazzling, intense color or a fineness and richness of detail far beyond anything one sees with the eyes.”7. The effects of sensory deprivation. “There is even a special term for the trains of brilliantly colored and varied hallucinations which come to console or torment those kept in isolation or darkness: `the prisoner’s cinema.'”8. Hallucinations come in many forms including hallucinatory smells. “Hallucination of particularly vile smells is called cacosmia.”9. Misconceptions. “In the popular imagination, though, hallucinatory voices are almost synonymous with schizophrenia–a great misconception, for most people who do hear voices are not schizophrenic.”10. Interesting observations. “Music calls upon many more areas of the brain than any other activity–one reason why music therapy is useful for such a wide variety of conditions.”11. Parkinson’s disease as it relates to hallucinations. “…perhaps a third or more of those being treated for Parkinson’s experienced hallucinations.”12. Chemicals and altered states. “But drugs offer a shortcut; they promise transcendence on demand. These shortcuts are possible because certain chemicals can directly stimulate many complex brain functions.”13. Migraine auras, who knew? “She explained that auras like mine were due to a sort of electrical disturbance like a wave passing across the visual parts of the brain.”14. A fascinating look at “hyper-religiosity”. “More than any other sort of seizure, ecstatic seizures may be felt as epiphanies or revelations of a deeper reality.” A bonus quote of historical worth, “None of these is conclusive, but they do suggest, at least, that Joan of Arc may have had temporal lobe epilepsy with ecstatic auras.”15. Some of the causes of hallucinations are discussed. “…even a “little” occipital lobe stroke can evoke striking, though transient, visual hallucinations.”16. The impact of delirium. “Delirium may produce musical hallucinations.” “Fevers are perhaps the commonest cause of delirium, but there may be a less obvious metabolic or toxic cause.”17. A look at dreams. “Dreams come in episodes, not flashes; they have a continuity, a coherence, a narrative, a theme. One is a participant or a participant-observer in one’s dreams, whereas with hypnagogia, one is merely a spectator.” “The “mare” in “nightmare” originally referred to a demonic woman who suffocated sleepers by lying on their chests (she was called “Old Hag” in Newfoundland).” Great stuff!18. The trauma of war (severe stress). An important topic. “Such chronic traumatic encephalopathy, along with the psychological trauma of war and injury, has been linked to the rising incidence of suicide among veterans.”19. Out of body experiences. “Out-of-body experiences may occur when specific regions of the brain are stimulated in the course of a seizure or a migraine, as well as with electrical stimulation of the cortex.” “They may occur with drug experiences and in self-induced trances. OBEs can also occur when the brain is not receiving enough blood, as may happen if there is a cardiac arrest or arrhythmia, massive blood loss, or shock.”20. Phantom limbs. Test this for yourself…very interesting. “Phantom limbs are hallucinations insofar as they are perceptions of something that has no existence in the outside world, but they are not quite comparable to hallucinations of sight and sound.”21. Links and a very helpful bibliography.Negatives:1. This is a difficult book to follow at times. Part of it has to do with the complexity of the condition but I also feel that Dr. Sacks overwhelms the readers with psychedelic descriptions at a frenetic pace.2. This book is uneven in that that it describes the various types of hallucinations with a luxury of details (first-hand accounts) but the science though present is not as apparent. Granted this book is intended for the masses but I wanted to know more about the potential causes.3. This book warranted a table that summarized the different types of hallucinations and symptoms. It would have been very helpful.4. It’s the type of book that after reading you are not really sure what you got out of it. Luckily, there are no tests.In summary, a bit overwhelming and frenetic at times but overall I enjoyed the book. It’s the type of book that after reading you have a better understanding of the wide range of variety of hallucinations but you are not able to intelligently provide details on how they differ necessarily. It’s an interesting book whose strengths reside in the first-hand description of a wide variety of hallucinations. The science behind the hallucinations though present lags the same attention. That being said, I recommend it!Further recommendations: ”

⭐” and ”

⭐” by the same author, ”

⭐” and ”

⭐” by V.S. Ramachandran, ”

⭐” by David K. Randall, “How the Mind Works” by Steven Pinker, ”

⭐” by Dan Ariely, ”

⭐” by David Eagleman, “Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)” by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, ”

⭐” by Richard Wiseman, ”

⭐]” by Michael Shermer, and ”

⭐” by Leonard Mlodinow.

⭐Interesting material, but for a Sacks regular, the familiar style of summarising, recounting and musing with snapshots of verbatim correspondence from patients or snippets from another author somehow sapped the material of its vitality and gave me summary-reading-fatigue.As with most of Sacks’ works, I come off absolutely amazed at the convergence sought by him across disciplines- how he makes neuropathology shake hands with anthropology; makes accomplices of literature, poetry and biography, and the hidden shared rapport contained within his confiding patients’ letters is indubitable; but all too often I yearn for an active editor who’d whip his material into a volume that packs more bite (maybe chop the material into niftier, more numerous chapters or make the volume leaner, more philosophically succinct). Sacks’ outpourings here follow a familiar “template” in structure that regular readers will recognise and somehow descriptions of historical and patient’s hallucinations reproduced verbatim don’t always make for the most interesting of reads, beyond a point.This is not to take away from clinician-philosopher’s admirable patience at paring apart a lone symptom through analysis of preserved patient testimonies, personal experiences (I was aware of his drug taking phase from his autobio, but here the various “trips” very candidly reproduced find themselves wonderfully nestled in context) and thoughtful precis of legion of notable medical and non-medical figures with their little/big trysts in the domain of hallucinations, all of which do make this a compelling volume; just that to sustain my interest through all its carefree, connection-seeking, sometimes microscopic, sometimes kaleidoscopic ramble, I need more personality and more engagement in the writing especially when we are going to spin around ONE symptom for the entire book.

⭐Another Oliver Sacks book, my last for a while. I definitely enjoyed this much more than The Mind’s Eye though. Probably because hallucinations are much more fascinating to think about. I think the book did a good job going over hallucinatory experiences and I definitely learned a lot that I didn’t know before. I even enjoyed hearing about Sack’s personal experiences this time because he didn’t give as much unnecessary detail and it was cool to know that someone so successful has his own struggles, it makes him much more real to the reader I think. I do find that towards the end of Oliver Sack’s books though I begin to get tired of reading and wish it would end already for some reason. Not sure if it’s just me but it gets to be a bit much because he does have a tendency to naval gaze. All in all an interesting and informative read.

⭐Sacks is an incredible, almost life-changing writer. And this unpicking of the inner-machinations of the human brain is a thrilling read. An expert in weaving together multi-disciplinary strands in a simple, readable and fascinating way, Sacks has outdone himself again.Particularly enjoyed the fact that there are copious notes and references which are very useful for further research.I’d highly recommend reading this book alongside Sacks’s article “Altered States” in the 27 August 2012 issue of The New Yorker.

⭐The human brain works in ways we are only just beginning to understand. We tend to trust what we see as being what is actually happening but this book shows how the brain can be fooled into thinking something is there when it’s actually happening inside itself. Hallucinations can happen when we’re tired, half asleep or just waking up. They can happen when our eyesight has gone and when it is in some way defective. If we have a limb amputated we are still convinced the limb is there.But hallucinations can be auditory as well as visual. People can hear music all the time or hear voices speaking to them or talking in the background. There’s a tendency to think it is only schizophrenics who hear voices telling them to do things but the majority of people who hear voices are not schizophrenic. The author quotes many examples from his own patients and the case histories make fascinating reading. He also tells of his own experiences with licit and illicit drugs.I enjoyed reading this well written and interesting book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to better understand themselves and the way their brain works. There are notes on each chapter, a bibliography which gives the reader an opportunity to read more on the subject and an index.

⭐I bought this on the strength of a TED talk by the author, the subject of which was Charles Bonnet syndrome, which forms the basis of the first chapter of this book. In that talk, the author’s warmth and compassionate nature shines through, and this also comes across in his writing, especially his anecdotes about his interactions with patients.The book discusses a variety of visual and auditory hallucinations and the various underlying neurological causes. Throughout the book the author distinguishes between merely visual/auditory hallucinations and psychotic hallucinations. In the former kind, the subject is able to recognise the hallucination for what it is, and the hallucination itself does not interact with the subject – the subject is merely a spectator. In the latter kind, the subject loses the ability to tell the difference between what is real and what is not, and the hallucination interacts with the subject (such as a voice instructing the subject, or insulting or threatening them). “Hallucinations” is very much concerned with hallucinations of the first kind, and the author emphasises that the person suffering from this kind of hallucination is of sound mind.The structure of each chapter is roughly the same – the author makes heavy use of direct patient quotation, sometimes at length, before going into some detail about potential or established underlying causes. The author will often then discuss his own personal experience of hallucinations, with some amusing anecdotes about the effects of hallucinogenic drugs. I found this format interesting to begin with, and some of the hallucinations described are fascinating, but by the end of the book I felt the book became repetitious in the way it presents its information and found myself wishing for each chapter to simply come to an end. The author’s explanations of underlying causes are kept brief, and are usually filled with neurological/biochemical terminology which may confuse the lay reader – I often found myself skim reading these sections as I felt they did not enhance my understanding: At this point everyone knows different parts of brain are responsible for different processes which manifest in our consciousness, and that damage to these parts can cause fairly predictable and specific impairments, and I do not think this book does a lot to increase popular understanding of this fact beyond what is already firmly established.An interesting feature of the book is the way the author will sometimes allude to how hallucinations might be a source of cultural beliefs such as ghosts, fairies and other mythological creatures, and how out-of-body experiences and transformed states of consciousness might offer an explanation for our belief in a spiritual dimension. These asides can only be conjectural, but I found them to be fascinating and was hoping that the author might elaborate further on these themes. However, these tangents are only ever brief and do not constitute a significant theme of the book. I think if this aspect were developed further the book would be more interesting, but whilst I think the author is a holistic thinker, he wishes to keep the book fairly grounded in current scientific understanding and doesn’t wish to stray too far into pure conjecture and armchair theorising.Overall this is a good book which serves a useful purpose of bringing into public consciousness the fact that not all hallucinations are signs of mental illness, and that they are in fact fairly common. The author comes across as likeable and the book is eminently readable, but it is not without its shortcomings.

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