Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside

by Katrina S. Firlik, M.D., assistant clinical professor of neurosurgery (Random House) Firlik provides an inside look at the work of a brain surgeon, from the basic tools used in brain surgery to the ethical dilemmas that neurosurgeons face. She describes some of her more bizarre cases—such as a man with a three-inch nail shot into his brain—and the process of speedy decision making after a patient has suffered a head injury or stroke, when time is critically important. She also predicts what she believes to be the future of brain surgery—“brainlift” procedures that promise cognitive enhancement.