Virginia Woolf and Neuropsychiatry

ISBN-13: 9789400793422 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 214 str.

Maxwell Bennett

Opis

This book, written by one of the leaders in the field of the neurosciences, will give an explanation of the symptoms and eventual untimely suicide of one of literatures greatest authors; Virginia Woolf. The sources used are letters and statements from Woolf herself, the literature she wrote and comments, letters and any other documentation that referred to her mental state and her medical status. The author will use current insight into depression, the mental consequences of child abuse and drug interactions/effects to illustrate this case study. The book should appeal to researchers in the neurosciences, psychology and psychiatry as well as to a broader audience, mainly individuals who are interested in the (external and internal) forces that drove Woolf to write her material.

Recenzje

"Maxwell Bennett's Virginia Woolf and Neuropsychiatry is in some ways the least typical work on Woolf published in 2013, making a fitting departure point for this survey of a productively eclectic year in Woolf studies. ... it is worth considering, particularly by anyone with a strong biographical interest in Woolf." (Year's Work in English Studies, Vol. 94 (1), 2015)

"The subject of this book's investigation is Virginia Woolf. ... The book arranges ten ... disparate essays into three parts. ... Bennett is an authoritative but amiable writer, and he conveys deep sensitivity towards his subject. ... Bennett's book can be read with profit by anyone with an interest in psychology, psychiatry, or neuroscience, and also by enthusiasts of Virginia Woolf ... ." (Nick Haslam, Australian Book Review, April, 2013)

Spis treści

Preface

Note to the Reader

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION

1. Sexual Abuse, Literary Genius and a Mind gone Awry

2. The Development of Early 20^th century Psychiatry and its Failure

3. Freud, the Subconscious and Virginia Woolf

4. Virginia Woolf’s Suicide

SECTION II: NEUROPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE

5. Brain Networks, Hormones and Genes implicated in Depression

6. The Pathology of Synapses in Brain Networks implicated in Depression

7. On the Mechanism of Action of an Anti-Depressant

8. On the Identification of Drugs Modulating Epigenetic Mechanisms in Depression

9. Brain Networks in Psychosis

SECTION III: ON MENTAL ILLNESS

10. The Mind, Mental Illness and the Stream of Consciousness

Blurb

This book, written by one of the leaders in the field of the neurosciences, provides an explanation of the symptoms and eventual untimely suicide of one of literatures greatest authors; Virginia Woolf. The sources used are letters and statements from Woolf herself, the literature she wrote and comments, letters and any other documentation that refers to her mental state and her medical status. The author uses current insights into depression, the mental consequences of child abuse and drug interactions/effects to examine her life.

The book should appeal to researchers in the neurosciences, psychology and psychiatry as well as to a broader audience, mainly individuals who are interested in the life of this literary genius.

M. R. Bennett AO is Professor of Neuroscience and University Chair at the University of Sydney, Founding Director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute and Adjunct Professor of Neuropsychiatry. He is the author of many papers and books in neuroscience and neuropsychiatry, including The Idea of Consciousness (1997) and a History of the Synapse (2001) as well as more recently Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience (2003) and History of Cognitive Neuroscience (2008) with his colleague Peter Hacker. Maxwell Bennett has been President of the International Society for Autonomic Neuroscience, the Australian Neuroscience Society, as well as Chairing Brain and Mind Research Asia/Pacific. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his research in neuroscience, including the Neuroscience Medal, the Ramaciotti Medal and the Macfarlane Burnet Medal.