edited by F Clifford Rose (London Neurological Centre, UK)

This book is the first attempt to provide a basis for the interaction of the brain and nervous system with painting, music and literature. The introduction deals with the problems of creativity and which parts of the brain are involved. Then an overview of art presents the multiple facets, such as anatomy, and the myths appearing in ancient descriptions of conditions such as polio and migraine. The neurological basis of painters like Goya and van Gogh is analysed. Other chapters in the section on art cover da Vinci's mechanics and the portrayal of epilepsy. The section on music concerns the parts of the brain linked to perception and memory, as well as people who cannot appreciate music, and the effect of music on intelligence and learning (the Mozart effect). The section on literature relates to Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, Conan Doyle, James Joyce and the poetry of one of England's most famous neurologists, Henry Head.

• Introduction:
  • The Cerebral Localization of Creativity (G K York)
  • Neural Concept Formation and Art: Dante, Michelangelo, Wagner (S Zeki)
• Art:
  • The Neurology of Art: An Overview (F Clifford Rose)
  • Galen and the Artful Symmetry of the Brain (J Rocca)
  • Leonardo da Vinci's Mechanical Art and the Origin of Modern Neurology (D Steinberg)
  • The Art of Sir Charles Bell (C Gardner-Thorpe)
  • Normal and Pathological Gait as Inspiration for the Artist (G Aubert)
  • Epilepsy in Pictorial Art (B A Engelsen)
• Music:
  • Brain Mapping in Musicians (M E Charness & G Schlaug)
  • The Cerebral Localisation of Musical Perception and Musical Memory (H Platel et al.)
  • Musical Instruments as Metaphors in Brain Science: From René Descartes to John Hughlings Jackson (C U M Smith)
  • The Music of Madness: Franklin's Armonica and the Vulnerable Nervous System (S Finger & D A Gallo)
  • The Mozart Effect (J R Hughes & J J Fino)
  • The Amusias (J Warren)
  • Music and the Brain: A Musicologist's Viewpoint (P Robertson)
  • The Convulsionary Samuel Johnson and the Miaowing of Mozart (M Keynes)
• Literature:
  • The Influence of Shakespeare on Charcot's Neurological Teaching (C G Goetz)
  • Epilepsy in Literature: Writers' Experiences and Their Reflections in Literary Works (P Wolf)
  • The Aetiology of Dostoyevsky's Epilepsy (H Kierulf)
  • Neurology and Sherlock Holmes (E W Massey)
  • James Joyce in a Clinical Context (J B Lyons)
  • Neurology in the Nordic Sagas (R Stien)
  • The Poetry of Henry Head (C Gardner-Thorpe)
  • Silas Marner, George Eliot and Catalepsy (F Clifford Rose)