Terry McDermott

Tuesday, April 20, 7:30 p.m.

101 Theory Drive: A Neuroscientist's Quest for Memory  BUY NOW

An obsessive scientist and his eclectic team of researchers race to discover one of the hidden treasures of neuroscience–the physical makeup of memory–and in the process pursue a pharmaceutical wonder drug.

It’s not fiction: Gary Lynch is the real thing, the epitome of the rebel scientist – malnourished, contentious, inspiring, explosive, remarkably ambitious, consistently brilliant. He is one of the foremost figures of contemporary neuroscience, and his decades-long quest to understand the inner workings of the brain’s memory machine has begun to pay off.

Award-winning journalist Terry McDermott spent nearly two years observing Lynch at work and now gives us a fascinating and dramatic account of daily life in his lab. He provides detailed, lucid explanations of the cutting-edge science that enabled Lynch to reveal the inner workings of the molecular machine that manufactures memory. And he explains where Lynch’s sights are now set: on drugs that could fix that machine when it breaks, drugs that would enhance brain function during the memory process and that hold out the possibility of cures for a wide range of neurological conditions, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. 

Terry McDermott is a former national reporter for the Los Angeles Times and the author of Perfect Soldiers: The 9/11 Hijackers—Who They Were, Why They Did It. 

Click HERE to request a signed copy.  

Photo Credit: Nelly Min