neurotaylor

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What I’ve Done    What I Don’t Do    Media Work    Enquiries

Welcome!

My name is Kathleen Taylor and I’m a writer and academic. Whatever information you’re looking for, I hope you find it here. My books have their own pages, and there are links to other publications on my research page.

About Me

I have wide-ranging interests, so my work has been varied.

● As a neuroscientist at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, I learned the basics, then studied the brain basis of dyslexia.

● As a freelance science writer, I’ve written five books on neuroscience/psychology, plus assorted other pieces, and reviewed books about autism, dementia, longevity science etc. for the Times Literary Supplement.

● My current affiliation is as an Honorary Fellow at the University of Birmingham, in the College of Arts and Law. Having frequently argued in my books that both science and the arts and humanities could benefit from closer collaboration, I thought it was time to put theory into practice and have a go at demonstrating that such collaborations are possible and fruitful. So far, I think, so good. I’m working on early modern (mainly seventeenth-century) English literature and literary history — fascinating texts from a fascinating time, when the seeds of modern science were starting to grow. I’m glad to have had the chance to work in both the sciences and the humanities.

What I’ve Done

I trained as a neuroscientist, mainly at the University of Oxford. For more details of my research, try here. I have a B.A. and a D.Phil. from Oxford and a research M.Sc. from the University of Stirling. My first degree was in physiology and philosophy. This was a combination of the PPP course (physiology, psychology, philosophy) so rare and problematic that, to judge by the exam list, I was the only one in my year-group fool enough to attempt it. Indeed, when I got to the university the people who’d admitted me were on sabbatical and no one else believed I could be doing that option, so they spent a term teaching me psychology instead of physiology. After Oxford scrapped the PPP course, a senior academic told me this was because it was too difficult … It was certainly difficult, even without the management issues (is there any university that doesn’t have those?).

The M.Sc. at Stirling was ostensibly in psychology. It was actually neuropharmacology, but there wasn’t a neuroscience department at Stirling at the time. I worked on glutamate receptors.

The D.Phil. was on the computational neuroscience of eye movements. After that I worked as a postdoc on the neuroscience, immunology, biochemistry and epidemiology of developmental dyslexia.

Then I left formal science to write books about one of the best topics in the world — the science of human brains and behaviour. The science of people. What could be more enthralling? And it was, for a long time. My books to date, all published with Oxford University Press, are Brainwashing (2004, 2006, 2016), Cruelty (2009), The Brain Supremacy (2012, 2014), The Fragile Brain (2016), and Dementia: a Very Short Introduction (2020). For more details, see the tabs.

My writing explores questions of interest to all of us:

● how are some people able to make others change their beliefs, sometimes very radically, and sometimes at great cost to themselves? (Brainwashing)

● how can apparently normal people become cruel, even to the extent of torturing and murdering a stranger, lover, friend, or child? (Cruelty)

● how will the new brain sciences change our world? (The Brain Supremacy)

● why do brains go wrong as we age, and how can we protect them? (The Fragile Brain, Dementia VSI)

Brainwashing and Cruelty are for people who want to know more about the science of how beliefs can be manipulated and how people can become extraordinarily cruel. The books investigate how these things happen, what causes them, and what we can do to protect ourselves against them. The Brain Supremacy is about how neuroscience itself works, and how fast it’s advancing. As well as looking at the (terrifying? exhilarating?) implications, it covers methods of neuroimaging, optogenetics, and genetic manipulation, among much else. The Fragile Brain likewise is about the science of dementia, not the clinical realities of looking after sufferers (although it includes a list of organisations which can advise on care). The Dementia VSI is more broad-based, with less in-depth science and more on diagnosis, symptoms, and care.

What I Don’t Do

I trained as a scientist, not a lawyer, government official, policy advisor, police officer, or therapist. If you have a suspected case of brainwashing or cruelty you need to talk to one of these people, not me. Likewise, even if I had trained as a neurologist, it would be completely unethical for me to attempt to assess you for dementia – or any other brain condition – over the Internet. If you have concerns about your brain function, please take them seriously and talk to a professional medic; there’s a lot that they can do to help. (For some useful contacts, try here.)

Media Work

I have done a range of national and international media work. Much of this has been written, including blog posts, articles and features for newspapers and magazines including The Huffington Post Science, the Guardian (on brainwashing and terrorism, the death of Kim Jong-il, and the brain basis of morality), the Daily Mirror (on brainwashing), and the RSA Journal (on cruelty).

I have also done spoken and video interviews for TV, radio and online sources. These include international media from Ireland, Spain, Australia, Canada and the US. UK media include Channel 4 and BBC radio stations such as the World Service (The Forum), Radio 3 (Nightwaves) and Radio 4 (Start the Week, All in the Mind, The Today Programme).

In addition, I was interviewed for the first film in the Creating Freedom trilogy, which was nominated for Best Documentary at the Raindance Film Festival.

I have spoken about the books at science cafes, academic talks, and at science and literary festivals from Hay-on-Wye, Dartington, and Lichfield to the Edinburgh and Cheltenham science festivals.

Media Enquiries

I regret that at present I’m unable to accept invitations to do interviews, give talks or attend conferences. To contact me about another query, please click here.