absorbing it, leading to thiamine shortage. Because of this shortage, the brain changes majorly. Another way to lie, other than outright lying, is confabulation. Confabulation is not an outright lie: it happened to the patient at some point, they just cannot recall when. Memories have time stamps, and that time stamp can be corrupted. So a patient might have eaten an exquisite meal twenty years ago on their honeymoon and claimed they ate it yesterday simply because they cannot remember. Confabulation is also a defense mechanism, to protect themselves from embarrassment. When asked how many kids they have, they will often lie because "what kind of monster forgets their children" [sic]? It is, in short, honest lying. Kean also talks about how hippocampus removal results in amnesia. While amnesia can be induced very easily, there is the other side of the spectrum: remembering everything. Take Solomon Shereshevsky, who was sent to neurologist Aleksandr Luria by someone at a meeting after noticing Shereshevsky was not taking notes but could repeat everything he had said from that morning verbatim. He could remember things for years. A normal brain is a good balance, like a sieve. Chapter 11: Left, Right, and Center This chapter focuses on the corpus callosum. The first story is one in which a man shoots himself in the head, but misses his brain completely, blowing part of his skull off and exposing his brain. He went to the doctor, who in turn pressed the man's brain with a spatula to get a reaction out of him, which he did. Paul Broca (language) is also discussed, a linguist and a neuroscientist. His relationship (business strictly) with one Gustave Dax is also discussed. A man named W.J. had what were called "absences" in which he would do something and not realize he had done it and would have 20+ seizures a day. A group of scientists concluded that the corpus callosum spread seizures. Kean also discusses the differences and similarities and roles of the left and right brain, and the left and right hemispheres. Chapter 12: The Man, the Myth, the Legend Phineas Gage got an iron rod shot up through his skull, injuring his brain and his skull and blinding him in his left eye. His surgeon performed medical surgery on him that relieved the pressure in his skull which ultimately saved his life (King Henri II, if he had