The Man who Mistook His wife for a Hat   

Oliver Sacks' writing is very accessible, sharing case studies, and anecdotal evidence for much of his research. This book is a great place to jump start your interest in neurology or neuroscience. His book Migraine, offers insight to the world of migraines and seizures, and the fine line between the two. There are many others that might be of personal interest, exploring topics such as Synesthesia.  

Visit Dr.Sacks website for more about this amazing scientist and a complete list of his other books.

The Tell Tale Brain  

Beginning with phantom limbs and synesthesia, Dr. V.S.Ramachandran explores the nooks and crannies of the brain, presenting case studies of Cotard's Syndrome and Prosopagnosia as well as language development, creativity, and consciousness. Ramachandran is a great story teller with a writing style similar to Oliver Sacks.

Dr. Ramachandran has given several TED Talks and there are a number of videos available to explore his work.

The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing  

Drawing on the experiences of her patients with OCD, Dr. Judith Rapoport, a distinguished psychiatrist and expert on OCD, unravels the mysteries surrounding this crippling disorder that afflicts up to six million Americans. Rapoport holds that psychoanalysis usually fails to uncover the underlying causes of an obsessional pattern; she leans toward a behavioral approach, noting that the disorder often runs in families and pointing to biological factors. Written in 1988, this book of case studies is still relevant today, highly readable and free of jargon.

Sleep Paralysis: Night-mares, Nocebos, and the Mind-Body Conection  

Sleep Paralysis explores a distinctive form of nocturnal fright: the "night-mare," or incubus. In its original meaning a night-mare was the nocturnal visit of an evil being that threatened to press the life out of its victim. Today, it is known as sleep paralysis-a state of consciousness between sleep and wakefulness, when you are unable to move or speak and may experience vivid and often frightening hallucinations. Culture, history, and biology intersect to produce this terrifying sleep phenomenon.

Unthinkable: An Extraordinary Journey Through the World's Strangest Brains  

Helen Thomson has spent years travelling the world, tracking down rare brain disorders. We take it for granted that we can remember, feel emotion, navigate, empathize and understand the world around us, but how would our lives change if these abilities were dramatically enhanced – or disappeared overnight? In Unthinkable Thomson tells the stories of nine extraordinary people she encountered along the way. Their experiences illustrate how the brain can shape our lives in unexpected and, in some cases, brilliant and alarming ways.

Prognosis: A Memoir of my Brain  

When Sarah Vallance is thrown from a horse and suffers a jarring blow to the head, she believes she’s walked away unscathed. By the end of the week, a neurologist delivers a devastating prognosis: Sarah suffered a traumatic brain injury that has caused her IQ to plummet, with no hope of recovery. Her brain has irrevocably changed. In this highly intimate account, Sarah pulls back the curtain on life with traumatic brain injury, an affliction where the wounds are invisible, and the lasting effects are often misunderstood. Over years of frustrating setbacks and uncertain triumphs, Sarah comes to terms with her disability and finds love with a woman who helps her embrace a new, accepting sense of self.

Henry's Demons  

This sensitive story of a family's battle with schizophrenia looks at the ignorance and stigma that often accompany any mention of mental illness. The Cockburns, a tightly knit family, are severely tested by the pressures of a loved one undone by his mind and locked away for seven years in a mental hospital. Told in alternate views, both father and son write candidly of the illness, medications, and numerous hospitalizations, along with harrowing descriptions of visions and voices. This straightforward, unsentimental book is a bold plea for more research and cutting-edge therapies to combat mental illness.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down  

Foua and Nao Kao, were part of a large Hmong community in Merced, CA, refugees from the CIA-run "Quiet War" in Laos. The Hmong have been less amenable to assimilation than most immigrants, adhering steadfastly to the rituals and beliefs of their ancestors. Lia's pediatricians cleaved just as strongly to another tradition: that of Western medicine. When Lia Lee, just three months old, entered the American medical system, diagnosed as an epileptic, her story became a tragic case history of cultural miscommunication.

The Hmong see illness and healing as spiritual matters linked to virtually everything in the universe, while medical community marks a division between body and soul, and concerns itself almost exclusively with the former. Lia's doctors ascribed her seizures to the misfiring of her cerebral neurons; her parents called her illness, qaug dab peg--the spirit catches you and you fall down--and ascribed it to the wandering of her soul.

Blink: Life After Locked-in Syndrome  

This is the remarkable true story of a young woman’s courage, strength and determination to beat the odds, despite her enduring the medical equivalent of being buried alive. David Nette narrates the events that tore him and his wife Sandy apart and then brought them closer than ever, sharing the trials and triumphs of their unique relationship.