A groundbreaking tour of the human mind that illuminates the biological nature of our inner worlds and emotions, through gripping, moving - and, at times, harrowing - clinical stories. Karl Deisseroth has spent his life pursuing truths about the human mind, both as a renowned clinical psychiatrist and as a researcher creating and developing the revolutionary field of optogenetics, which uses light to help decipher the brain's workings. In Projections, he combines his knowledge of the brain's inner circuitry with a deep empathy for his patients to examine what mental illness reveals about the human mind and the origin of human feelings - how the broken can illuminate the unbroken.
Through cutting-edge research and gripping case studies from Deisseroth's own patients, Projections tells a larger story about the material origins of human emotion, bridging the gap between the ancient circuits of our brain and the poignant moments of suffering in our daily lives. The stories of Deisseroth's patients are rich with humanity and shine an unprecedented light on the self - and the ways in which it can break down. Illuminating, literary, and essential, Projections is a revelatory, immensely powerful work. It transforms our understanding not only of the brain but of ourselves as social beings - giving vivid illustrations through science and resonant human stories of our yearning for connection and meaning.