How our brains create our sense of self

Over the last century or so neuroscientists around the world have been uncovering more and more about how our very identities are formed by the different cognitive functions carried out by our brains. And we now know that our identities can even be transformed by brain disorders such as stroke, dementia of head injuries.

In this episode, we catch up with neurologist Masud Husain to talk about his latest book – Our Brains, Our Selves, What a Neurologist’s Patients Taught Him about the Brain.

He takes us through some of the discoveries he has made while treating patients during his long career. We learn how a stroke led to a previously successful, motivated man to suddenly lose interest in all areas of this life, how a previously demure, shy woman began dressing flamboyantly and insulting people in the street thanks to the effects of dementia and a woman suffering from Alzheimer’s began to think that there were multiple copies of her husband.

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