A large and enthusiastic crowd filled the Hay Festival’s TATA tent to hear Suzanne O’Sullivan, neurologist and winner of the 2016 Wellcome Book Prize discuss her latest book Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology. Rosie Boycott, the journalist conducting the interview gestured towards the full house and asked O’Sullivan: “why has the study of the brain become so urgent?”
The answer: technology.
O’Sullivan said we know more now than ever, which means more answers, and ultimately, more questions. Neurology has come a long way since the days of the patient known as “HM”, an epileptic from the 1950s whose seizures were cured by surgery, but who became unable to form new memories as a result: a tragic outcome that did at least highlight the complexity of epilepsy.
"Epilepsy is hundreds of different diseases,” O’Sullivan said, and seizures are just one symptom of the condition; some sufferers may feel a slight twitch, others experience sudden, random emotions, and some may even begin sprinting in any direction - all of these are the result of electrical discharges in the brain.
“We can’t cure brain disease,” O’Sullivan said, but she suggested there were many potential treatments, that will no doubt increase as neurologists continue their medical detective work.
If you missed this discussion, you may enjoy event
Shapeshifters: On Medicine and Human Change, hosted by writer and doctor Gavin Francis, which takes place on Monday 28 May at 10am.