Take Me Home: Parkinson’s, My Father, Myself

"This book is about 10 years old now. Pathographies written by patients can be highly instructive for neuroscientists to read. This book is written by the son of the patient and somebody who, by his own admission, found looking after his father very difficult. Taylor’s father, in the course of his Parkinson’s, develops Capgras syndrome, a disorder of perception in which he often misinterprets his son either for a hated former colleague or Humphrey Bogart, whom he believes is having an affair with his wife. Faced with his father’s progressive amnesia, Taylor comes to understand that his father had never had a joined up memory of his early life. He had simply told his children that he’d been adopted and moved around a great deal. There were many dark secrets. “When I hold a brain donated for Parkinson’s research in my hands, I go back and carefully read the case notes to try to imagine a life.” This leads Jonathan to go back in time, on a quest to try to understand who his father really was before he got ill. Through some sleuthing he comes to a better understanding of his father and himself. One of the techniques he used, which I loved, was that after his father’s death he managed to get hold of his father’s medical case notes and started to read them by travelling backwards to wellness. After I’d read Taylor’s book, I started to read the case notes of my patients backwards as well as the usual forwards. When I hold a brain donated for Parkinson’s research in my hands, I go back and carefully read the case notes to try to imagine a life. Taylor’s father was unlucky in that he had dementia as well. The majority of people living with Parkinson’s disease in their sixties and seventies do not have severe cognitive impairment. Taylor’s book is a sad but very human story that should be read by all aspiring neuroscientists."