Title: Mirror touch : notes from a doctor who can feel your pain /
Authors: Salinas, Joel,
Year: 2017
Subjects: Salinas, Joel Mental health.; Salinas, Joel.; Synesthesia; Neurologists Biography.; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs.; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Medical.; BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / General.; Neurology
Abstract: "Challenging our understanding of what it means to be human, Joel Salinas, a Harvard-trained researcher and neurologist at Massachusetts General, shares his experiences with mirror-touch synesthesia, a rare and only recently identified neurological trait that causes him to feel the emotional and physical experiences of other people. Performing a spinal tap, he feels the needle slowly enter his lower back. If a disoriented patient flies into a confused rage, Salinas slips into a similarly agitated physical state, and when a patient dies, he experiences an involuntary ruin--his body starts to feel vacant and lifeless, like a limp balloon. Susceptible to the pain and discomfort of his patients, most of whom suffer from a host of disorders and extreme injuries, Salinas uses his trait to treat their symptoms, almost as if they were his own.^
Contents: Introduction: Sensorium -- Where I end and you begin -- Purple white carrot Montana dust -- A piñata full of tricks -- Like Lazarus -- The mind has mountains -- A blessing or a curse? -- Holding up a sign -- A running start -- The visions of Anekantavada.