The Mind Electric
Stories of the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains
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'Superb, compelling, delightfully labyrinthine' Telegraph
'The book fans of Oliver Sacks have been craving' The i
'A rich and humane work' Gwen Adshead, author of The Devil You Know
'A fascinating journey through the curious capacities of our brains' Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women
A young woman channelling the voice of the Holy Spirit. A mother whose children have been replaced by changelings. A family cursed by a mysterious inability to sleep. Pria Anand's patients come to her with myriad peculiar symptoms, but they all have something in common: their diagnosis always hinges on a story. Her task as a neurologist is akin to a detective's, piecing together the clues in a patient's account with the tells of their body in order to settle on a diagnosis.
In her gorgeously lyrical, passionate and humane first book, Pria Anand shares stories of her own patients alongside her own experiences as a doctor, a mother and a patient, in order to explore all the bizarre ways in which our brains go awry. Moving from the Boston hospital where she treats her patients, to her childhood years in India, to Isla Providencia in the Caribbean and to Guinea in West Africa, she demonstrates again and again the compelling paradox at the heart of neurology: that the strangest symptoms experienced by any single individual can show us something universal about being human.
'The book fans of Oliver Sacks have been craving' The i
'A rich and humane work' Gwen Adshead, author of The Devil You Know
'A fascinating journey through the curious capacities of our brains' Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women
A young woman channelling the voice of the Holy Spirit. A mother whose children have been replaced by changelings. A family cursed by a mysterious inability to sleep. Pria Anand's patients come to her with myriad peculiar symptoms, but they all have something in common: their diagnosis always hinges on a story. Her task as a neurologist is akin to a detective's, piecing together the clues in a patient's account with the tells of their body in order to settle on a diagnosis.
In her gorgeously lyrical, passionate and humane first book, Pria Anand shares stories of her own patients alongside her own experiences as a doctor, a mother and a patient, in order to explore all the bizarre ways in which our brains go awry. Moving from the Boston hospital where she treats her patients, to her childhood years in India, to Isla Providencia in the Caribbean and to Guinea in West Africa, she demonstrates again and again the compelling paradox at the heart of neurology: that the strangest symptoms experienced by any single individual can show us something universal about being human.
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- Published: Jun 05 2025
- Pages: 288
- 236 x 162mm
- ISBN: 9780349019109
Press Reviews
Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone
Anand's writing is reminiscent of Oliver Sacks and the best of medical writing. I found the tales of her personal experiences and the dive into history fascinating. The Mind Electric is a compelling read
Gwen Adshead, author of The Devil You Know
A rich and humane work, compelling in its compassion for the personal stories behind the symptoms that bring people to clinics. Pria Anand deftly weaves her own story of change with those of her patients
Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire
The Mind Electric is stunning, full of wisdom, revelation and poetry. I was continually awed by Dr. Pria Anand's insight into the darkest shadows of the human experience. I loved every minute of this remarkable book and I will never think of my brain and body in the same way again.
Danielle Ofri, author of What Doctors Feel
Pria Anand just might be the heir to Oliver Sacks. Her gorgeous writing and incisive analysis reveal the marvellous neurological underpinnings of our existence. A stunning debut!
- New Scientist, The Best Popular Science Books to Look Forward to in 2025
Pria Anand shares the strangeness and sheer wonder of our brains in a testament to the wildness inside us all
Laura van den Berg, author of State of Paradise
Pria Anand braids together science and narrative in this magnificent exploration of how the mind shapes - and upends-the story of our life. The Mind Electric is as gorgeous and complex and astounding as the brain itself
Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women
At once epic and intricate, personal and universal, The Mind Electric is a fascinating journey through the curious capacities of our brains. A moving and compelling testimony to the importance of telling - and listening to - the stories of what makes us human
Tanya Luhrmann, author of How God Becomes Real
Vivid and entertaining, The Mind Electric Takes us into the strange and sometimes wonderful landscape of neurological impairment. This is a beautifully written book
Publishers Weekly
Luminous ... an engrossing exploration of the brain's extraordinary powers and terrifying frailties
- Bookseller, Editor's Choice
A beautifully composed debut by a US neurologist about the peculiar ways individual brains behave and how this can teach us something universal about being human. If you love the work of Oliver Sacks, you'll embrace this as I did
- Telegraph
Superb. Anand writes with circumspection and sensitivity, and with creativity and verve as well. Delightfully labyrinthine ... a compelling tapestry of stories somehow both discrete and happening all at once, its threads overlapping and interweaving with layers hidden underneath
- The i
The book fans of Oliver Sacks have been craving
- Observer
Powerful, persuasive ... transcends the limitations of the popular science genre and raises broader philosophical questions concerning what it means to be human
- Globe and Mail, 35 hot new summer books
In the acknowledged spirit of the late Oliver Sacks, she brings us more tales from the wondrously strange land of the human brain through a weaving-together of case studies, fables, poetry and personal reminiscence