The neurodegenerative disease expert Yves Agid offers a groundbreaking and accessible account of subconsciousness and its significance. Shedding new light on the physiological bases of our behavior and mental states, this book provides an innovative exploration of the complexities of the mind.

Yves Agid is founder of ICM, the International Brain Institute in Paris, and professor emeritus of neurology and cell biology at the Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital. He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences. His research has made major contributions to the understanding of neurodegenerative disorders, in particular Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Joseph J. Fins, E. William Davis, Jr., M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College and author of Rights Come to Mind: Brain Injury, Ethics, and the Struggle for Consciousness:
From the storied halls of Salpêtrière hospital, the neurologist and neuroscientist Yves Agid has written Subconsciousness, a volume worthy of his predecessor, the great neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. In a speculative and brilliant treatise, Agid asks science and society to reimagine the role the basal ganglia might play as a repository of subconscious behavior, not simply the pathological locus of Parkinson's disease. Subconsciousness is a courageous and compelling account reminiscent of the best traditions of the Paris School of medicine.

Pierre Magistretti, professor emeritus, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, and distinguished professor, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology:
Yves Agid, one of the great neurologists of our time, guides us through the nonconscious functions of the brain and how they shape our behavior. We are under the illusion that we are the masters of our actions and interactions with the environment—Agid reveals to us that this is far from being the case, based on experimental evidence. This revelation could be unsettling, yet Agid brings us to accept this essential “unknown” aspect of what we are in a natural and appealing way. His descriptions are lucidly documented and illustrated with simple yet impactful drawings and clinical vignettes. A must-read for every person interested in better understanding the biological bases of our behaviors.

Stephen L. Hauser, director, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences:
Written by one of the world’s great experts in neurology, this brilliant work shows Yves Agid to be not only an accomplished neuroscientist but also an elegant essayist. Agid brilliantly summarizes, in sparkling prose, how our conscious and subconscious worlds intersect, and how conscious behaviors can be revealed by understanding the subconscious forces at work. In the great tradition of medical science, he uses examples from his clinical experience, in patients with Parkinson disease and other ailments, to illuminate how circuits within the basal ganglia of our brain regulate and influence many aspects of “voluntary” decision making. I cannot imagine a more approachable or enjoyable introduction to modern neuroscience than this beautiful little volume. Wise, charming, and playful, it should be essential reading for anyone who cares about how we think and behave.