Many scholars working in the humanities have already shown interest in brain research. For years, contemporary theory in the humanities has left the body and biology out of their discussions. Siri Hustvedt Read Quote
I have not been diagnosed with epilepsy. I did have an MRI of the brain, and they found no abnormalities in my brain. Now, there are people with epilepsy who have completely normal MRI’s, too. I just think also, you know, epileptic seizures can be triggered by emotional stress, by all kinds of things, lights. Siri Hustvedt Read Quote
I have found that all of my memories seem to need a place and that a good part of what we think of as explicit memory has to do with location. Siri Hustvedt Read Quote
Scientists have a tendency to believe in absolutes, in studies and the repeating of them. Psychoanalysis is firmly based in subjective accounts. We need both. Siri Hustvedt Read Quote
When I taught writing classes to psychiatric patients, I met people whose stories of manic highs and immobilizing lows appeared to be textbook descriptions of classic bipolar disorder. I met other patients who had been diagnosed with myriad disorders. No doctor seemed to agree about what they actually suffered from. Siri Hustvedt Read Quote
Creativity has always depended on openness and flexibility, so let us hope for more of both in the future. Siri Hustvedt Read Quote
Bedtime rituals for children ease the way to the elsewhere of slumber – teeth brushing and pajamas, the voice of a parent reading, the feel and smell of the old blanket or toy, the nightlight glowing in a corner. Siri Hustvedt Read Quote
When I was an impoverished graduate student, I would sometimes spend $20 or $30 on a T-shirt or accessory I didn’t need or even particularly want. What I craved was the purchase, not the thing itself. Of course, a sense of not being deprived may fill an emotional void without ruinous consequences. Siri Hustvedt Read Quote
My greatest pleasure is spending time with my family: my husband and daughter, but also my mother, my three sisters, and their families. Siri Hustvedt Read Quote
I found myself fascinated by neuroscience, attended a monthly lecture on brain science at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, and was invited to become a member of a discussion group devoted to a new field: neuropsychoanalysis. Siri Hustvedt Read Quote
