Pleasure Shock: The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor The

Product Description

The technology invented by psychiatrist Robert G. Heath at Tulane University in the 1950s and '60s has been described as one of the most controversial yet largely undocumented experiments in US history-controversial to us because Heath's research subjects included incarcerated convicts and gay men who wished to be cured of their sexual preference; controversial in its day because his work was allegedly part of MKUltra, the CIA's notorious mind control project.

As a result, Heath's cutting-edge research and legacy were put under lock and key, buried in Tulane's archives. The ethical issues raised by his work have also been buried- This very same experimental treatment is becoming mainstream practice in modern psychiatry for everything from schizophrenia, anorexia, and compulsive behavior to depression, aggression, anxiety, and even drug and alcohol addiction.

In the first book to tell the full story, the award-winning science writer Lone Frank has uncovered lost documents and accounts of Heath's pioneering efforts. She has tracked down surviving colleagues and patients. And she has delved into the current embrace of deep brain stimulation by scientists and patients alike. What has changed? Why do we today unquestioningly embrace this technology as a cure? How do we decide what is a disease of the brain to be cured and what should be allowed to remain unprobed and unprodded?

The Pleasure Shock weaves together biography, neuroscience, psychology, the history of science, and medical ethics to explore our views of the mind and the self. How do we decide whether changes to the brain are acceptable therapy or are simply bias and bigotry?The technology invented by psychiatrist Robert G. Heath at Tulane University in the 1950s and '60s has been described as one of the most controversial yet largely undocumented experiments in US history-controversial to us because Heath's research subjects included incarcerated convicts and gay men who wished to be cured of their sexual preference; controversial in its day because his work was allegedly part of MKUltra, the CIA's notorious mind control project.

As a result, Heath's cutting-edge research and legacy were put under lock and key, buried in Tulane's archives. The ethical issues raised by his work have also been buried- This very same experimental treatment is becoming mainstream practice in modern psychiatry for everything from schizophrenia, anorexia, and compulsive behavior to depression, aggression, anxiety, and even drug and alcohol addiction.

In the first book to tell the full story, the award-winning science writer Lone Frank has uncovered lost documents and accounts of Heath's pioneering efforts. She has tracked down surviving colleagues and patients. And she has delved into the current embrace of deep brain stimulation by scientists and patients alike. What has changed? Why do we today unquestioningly embrace this technology as a cure? How do we decide what is a disease of the brain to be cured and what should be allowed to remain unprobed and unprodded?

The Pleasure Shock weaves together biography, neuroscience, psychology, the history of science, and medical ethics to explore our views of the mind and the self. How do we decide whether changes to the brain are acceptable therapy or are simply bias and bigotry?
Lone Frank is an acclaimed science writer and the author of two previous books in English, My Beautiful Genome (Oneworld, 2011)-which was shortlisted for the Royal Society's Winton Prize for Science Books-and Mindfield (Oneworld, 2009). She has also been a presenter and coproducer of several TV documentaries with global distribution and is currently working on a feature-length, internationally financed, English-language documentary about Heath and deep brain stimulation. Before her career as a science writer, she earned a PhD in neurobiology and worked in the US biotech industry. She lives in Copenhagen.