Our brains, our selves by Masud Husain

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17 Oct 2026 0 comments

The Cardiff Neurology Book Club met to discuss Our Brains, Our Selves by Masud Husain, Professor of Neurology and cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Oxford. In the book, Husain uses a series of clinical case studies—interwoven with reflections from his own life—to explore how disorders of the brain can reshape and even dissolve the sense of self.

The book was approached with the familiar ambivalence reserved for neurologists who venture into literary territory. Comparisons with Oliver Sacks, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, were unavoidable, and discussion quickly turned to the broader genre of clinical storytelling. Sacks himself divided the group: some praised him as a pioneer who restored dignity to patients by seeing the world through their eyes, while others placed him in a more voyeuristic tradition, echoing Charcot’s theatrical demonstrations of neurological illness for public fascination. Likewise, some saw Husain as continuing a...