Head Cases takes us into the dark side of the brain in an astonishing sequence of stories, at once true and strange, from the world of brain injury. Michael Paul Mason takes readers on the road to meet survivors of brain injuries as they struggle to map and make sense of the new worlds they inhabit. You will meet an athletic snowboarder whose life became permanently surreal after an errant jump; an "ultraviolent" child who has lost the ability to control anger and violent impulses; a young man who cannot cry; and an Iraq war veteran whose odd maladies suggest that brain injury will be the war's most conspicuous legacy.

  Mason writes with a clear and engaging style while he exposes the contradictions, bittersweet ironies, and injustices of brain injury rehabilitation.  He shows that treatment is too often limited or not available because of inadequate funding and insufficient resources.  The consequences for the survivors and their families expose the emotional trauma that accompanies the physical damage to the brain.

  Underlying each of their stories is an exploration into the brain and its mysteries. When injured, the brain must figure out how to heal itself, reorganizing its physiology in order to do the job. Mason gives us a series of vivid glimpses into brain science to help readers appreciate the complexity and the vulnerability of this organ.  Head Cases is both illuminating and deeply affecting for professionals, advocates, families and survivors.