The Memory Artists Part 33

"Are you in love with Samira?"

I hesitated, bit my lip, felt my face filling with blood. I glanced towards Samira, who was giving off these emanations-incandescent double, triple, quadruple outlines flowing around her-that dazzled my brain like flashes of the sun, leaving thousands of gold coins and dancing spangles within my eyes. I looked away, towards Dr. Vorta, whose sequinned face was changing into someone else's. I covered my eyes. "Yes."

"Yes?" asked Jack Lafontaine. "Are you sure? Do you want to reconsider? You can take the money and run. I'll just pretend we never asked that question ... No? Are you sure? Absolutely positive? Well, guess what. I have something to tell you. You've just won FIFTY GRAND! Let's go insane for Noel Burun!"

APPLAUSE sign.

"All right, let's pause to catch our breath. Wow! I hope you've enjoyed this ... electrifying, one-of-a-kind performance, I know I have! Will there be another? Now that we've given away all our money, will there be another show?" Jack paused to hold up an oversized cheque. "Here you go, Noel. It's all yours. Is that your girlfriend by the stage, waiting for you? Excellent stuff. Well, I'm sure she'll find a way to spend this if you can't! All right folks, when we come back we'll welcome some new contestants, and a brand-new category. Whew! Don't go away!"

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Noel's eyes opened slowly as Dr. Vorta unfastened the wires and removed the bonnet of what he facetiously called "the hair dryer." When he heard the doctor's voice, a cold jagged sensation traversed his body. It was like someone had thrown a switch and disconnected him. For the first time in his life, he saw no colours.59

Chapter 23.

JJ's Sc.r.a.pbook [image]

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Chapter 24.

Noel's Diary (IV) January 5, 2004. How does it go again? "The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants." I can't remember who said that-it'll come to me-but he or she was right. It goes back to what JJ said about intelligence of the brain vs. intelligence of the heart ...

And it goes back to what my father said about poets freeing those feelings we keep locked in the heart. I was never really sure, to be honest, what feelings he was referring to. Which ones have to be set free, and why? My mother gave me an answer: what we're all really seeking is the freedom to give ourselves away. To stop maniacally holding on to ourselves, to escape from the jail of living solely and vainly for our own sake. This is the treasure, I think, buried in the pent heart.

Omar Bradley. (I just asked my mom.) January 6. Large snowflakes swirl. "They're plucking geese in heaven," my mother told me when I was four, outside our bay window in Babylon. She zipped up my woollen coat of double blue, which she herself had knitted, and set me down in the snow with a small shovel. "Your grandmother used to say that," she added, her hair of rich reddish-gold grazing my cheek as she wound my scarf tight. That memory is solid, but almost all others are delicate and fugitive, like the white flakes that now vanish as they kiss the gla.s.s.

This will be my final entry.

My mother has turned back into the person she once was, worth more to me than winning the world's praise, more than winning a million lotteries. She said I was welcome to stay with her, but I think it's time to move on. There is someone new in her life, and there is someone new in mine. "Ask her to marry you," my mother whispered at the airport.

I never wanted wealth or fame, never sought either. Like the ancient Greeks I simply combined, in a novel way, work that others had done before me. I saw previously overlooked patterns, made "irrational" connections, saw beauty, nothing more. And this would never have happened without the compa.s.s and charts of my father, the witchery of my grandmother, the flighty optimism of JJ and grounding pessimism of Norval. Without Samira, my muse and mind's balm, who proved that darts of gold can come of chemistry; without my mother, whose love for me-and need-lifted me to a higher plane of existence, turning me into a knight, a magician, a fool, unblinding me to the miracle.

Chapter 25.

Ghostwriter's Epilogue The doc.u.mentation and anecdotal information runs out here.60 Regrettably, we have neither Henry Burun's lab notes from 1978 nor his son's from 2002, which contain key details regarding the evolution and synthesis of the "memory pill." These notes were thought to be in the possession of Dr. Vorta, who was attempting to secure drug patents before he died. These doc.u.ments have never been found. Regrettably, we have neither Henry Burun's lab notes from 1978 nor his son's from 2002, which contain key details regarding the evolution and synthesis of the "memory pill." These notes were thought to be in the possession of Dr. Vorta, who was attempting to secure drug patents before he died. These doc.u.ments have never been found.

Dr. Vorta was undeniably a brilliant neuroscientist; he was not, as Norval Blaquiere contended, a jealous mentor trying to undercut a brighter protege. Nor was he a "quack." With the exception of A-1001, all his discoveries were verifiably his own. All his awards, save those for A-1001, were earned. Over the course of his career, however, Dr. Vorta made several enemies-his wife among them-who were determined to discredit him. The last decade of his life was spent trying to ward off a series of accusations, including medical malpractice, criminal negligence and insider trading.

In the early 1990s, for example, Dr. Vorta developed a promising drug for treating early-onset Alzheimer's, but Food and Drug Canada (FDC) withheld approval from the company he was working with (Memoria Drugs) because of shortcomings in its clinical trials. It later emerged that he sold his shares in this firm just before the FDC's decision was published. Dr. Vorta was subpoenaed for insider trading but not charged.

In the mid-1990s, charges that Vorta put pressure on the Chief Scientist at the FDC to greenlight or fast-track drug approval were dropped for lack of evidence.

In the late 1990s, Dr. Vorta was accused in the press of receiving kickbacks from corporations sponsoring psychomnemonic research, as well as excessive fees to refer patients to clinical trials; a money trail allegedly led back to two European drug companies, an instant-coffee manufacturer and an investment firm, Helvetia Capital Management.

In 2002, following allegations from an anonymous "whistleblower" that Dr. Vorta's students wrote many of his articles, the Experimental Psychology Department of the University of Quebec conducted "a full investigation." The unanimous conclusion, announced on November 4, 2002: "total exoneration."

In 2003, a number of scientists, including Dr. Hyalmar Tjarnqvist of Sweden's Karolinska Inst.i.tute, challenged some of Dr. Vorta's discoveries, in particular his claim to have placed an artificial memory in Noel Burun's hippocampus. Yolande Foisy, the Administrative Director of the Experimental Psychology Department and wife of Quebec's former Health Minister, oversaw two investigations. The unanimous conclusion from the ad hoc panel: "complete endors.e.m.e.nt and corroboration" of Dr. Vorta's discoveries. His lab displayed "scientific rigour and exemplary laboratory practices" and "allegations to the contrary are unfounded."

In December of that same year, after Dr. Vorta received his lifetime achievement award in Oslo, a University of Quebec colleague, Dr. Charles Ravenscroft, accused him of administering a substance ("Vortagon") that induced Alzheimer's disease in at least two patients: Stella Burun and Norval Blaquiere. No proof of this accusation has yet been found.

That same month, with regard to the so-called "date-rape video" shot at the Experimental Psychology Laboratory, Dr. Vorta was charged with administering a noxious substance to commit an indictable offence. But not with rape or s.e.xual a.s.sault, as there was no evidence to support either charge. At a disciplinary hearing of the College des medecins du Quebec, Dr. Vorta denied any involvement, but could not explain away the DNA evidence linking him to the crime. At a pre-trial criminal hearing, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and was committed to the Philippe Pinel Inst.i.tute in February of 2004.

A subsequent investigation by the a.s.sociation des neurologues du Quebec absolved him. Norval Blaquiere, who had shot the video with a hidden camera for his "private investigation" of Dr. Vorta, demonstrated that the two individuals in lab coats, one wearing Vorta's coat, were actually Drs. Charles Ravenscroft and Isabelle Rheaume. Their voices, in a barely audible exchange involving the words "excess" and "palace of wisdom," were identified by Noel Burun.

A preliminary hearing revealed that the couple was attempting to avenge "past injustices"-including Dr. Ravenscroft's dismissal-by planting false evidence. Before driving Samira Darwish to the police and then home, they evidently decided-impulsively, and at the husband's instigation-to take her to Dr. Vorta's lab to plant incriminating DNA evidence and microscopic fibres. As their attorney pointed out, however, the couple did not administer the date-rape drug (the offender has yet to be found), and they did rescue Samira from a potentially more serious crime. In a plea bargain, they each received 18 months of probation, a $5,000 fine and 150 hours of community service at two a.s.sisted-living facilities on the island of Montreal.

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Stella Burun, who was destined for one of these facilities, made a full recovery and has returned to the cla.s.sroom, teaching history at a Montreal Cegep. She is currently dating a younger colleague in the department who has been in love with her for years: a widower with a ten-year-old daughter. The couple plan to get married in Aberdeen, Scotland in the summer of 2006.

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JJ Yelle's retreat into boyhood ended when he met his ex-girlfriend at Montreal's Greek Independence Day Parade. An ageing prost.i.tute, she had just come out of detox-"as if waking up from a nightmare after hibernating in h.e.l.l," he remarked in an audio interview. They lived together for nine months but did not marry. After JJ helped her get back on her feet, financially and emotionally, she decided to go back to her biker boyfriend. Which did not unduly upset JJ, because he was then free to propose to Sancha Ribeiro, the Bath Lady. The couple now live on a hothouse farm in northern Vermont, where they are experimenting with a genetically modified hybrid of skunk cabbage and Oriental sa.s.safras, a healthy replacement for tobacco. Projected income in 2006, including patent earnings and seed money from R.J. Reynolds: $6.2 million. JJ is currently negotiating to purchase Mount Royal Cemetery.

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Norval Blaquiere never got to Z Z, never got beyond S S. Nor did he get beyond the first round of Tip of Your Tongue Tip of Your Tongue. After completing his twenty-six Sunday school cla.s.ses at the university chapel, and releasing his "expose" on Dr. Vorta, Norval was hospitalised in early 2004 for short-term memory loss and brain-tumour-like symptoms, thought to be the result of ingesting experimental psychotropic drugs over an extended period-among them methaqualone (which produces excessive dreaming and amnesia), chloral hydrate and Vortagon, an applicationless drug suspected of triggering Alzheimer's disease. Norval's memory lapses were first noted by Noel Burun in a journal entry from October 24, 2003: "What the Christ are you talking about?" said Norval. And I could see by the look in his eye-I'd seen the same in my mother's-that he really couldn't remember. "What alphabet?"

After checking himself out of the Hopital Hotel-Dieu in the spring of 2004, Norval journeyed to Hucknall in Nottinghams.h.i.+re, where he stayed briefly at Mrs. Pettybone's B & B. On a cloudless Sat.u.r.day in mid-April, his body was found on the north sh.o.r.e of Byron's lake at Newstead Abbey, where Teresa had drowned herself twelve years before.

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Since November 2005, when Amaranthine-1001 received FDA approval, Noel Burun has declined all interviews, public honours and scientific awards. He has also declined credit for the compound, attributing its discovery to a research team composed of Henry Burun (now deceased), Norval Blaquiere (now deceased), Jean-Jacques Yelle and Samira Darwish. Patent and other monies are therefore to be split four ways, with the estate portions going to Norval's mother and Henry Burun's widow.

With regard to Noel Burun's synaesthesia, it was not eradicated by Dr. Vorta but rather reduced to a hyper-mild form, one that no longer warps his communications with strangers. His memory, accordingly, was reduced to a fraction of its former potency. Despite suffering acute- vein-openingly acute-despair over his looted inner world, he has come to accept this disease of ordinariness as a trade-off.

While Noel Burun and Samira Darwish have jealously guarded their privacy, there are unconfirmed reports that the couple lived briefly on the southwest coast of Long Island, and in the fabled city of al-Hillah, where Samira did the groundwork for a community/arts centre. There are also unconfirmed reports that their baby girl is a synaesthete.

Notes.

1 This entry from NB's adult diary (05/05/91) first appeared in my This entry from NB's adult diary (05/05/91) first appeared in my Curiosites mnemoniques Curiosites mnemoniques (Montreal: Memento Vivere, 1993, p. 27). Seemingly sunk without a trace, the book, thanks to discerning praise from several scientists, slowly grew to a recognition it has never forfeited. Reproduced below, from the book's twelfth impression, is NB's colour chart. (Montreal: Memento Vivere, 1993, p. 27). Seemingly sunk without a trace, the book, thanks to discerning praise from several scientists, slowly grew to a recognition it has never forfeited. Reproduced below, from the book's twelfth impression, is NB's colour chart.

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2 Synaesthesia (following definitions by Fleurnoy 1895, Vernon 1930, Marks 1975, Cytowic 1989, Vorta 1990) is a condition in which one type of sensory stimulation evokes the sensation of another. In NB's type, sound triggers the perception of vivid colour; like Vladimir Nabokov and many others, NB also perceives written letters in colours. In North America, female synaesthetes predominate in a ratio of 5:1 and left-handed synaesthetes (like NB) at 4:1. Synaesthesia is also reported by those who have used hallucinogenic drugs, such as lysergic acid diethylamide or mescaline, as we shall see. Synaesthesia (following definitions by Fleurnoy 1895, Vernon 1930, Marks 1975, Cytowic 1989, Vorta 1990) is a condition in which one type of sensory stimulation evokes the sensation of another. In NB's type, sound triggers the perception of vivid colour; like Vladimir Nabokov and many others, NB also perceives written letters in colours. In North America, female synaesthetes predominate in a ratio of 5:1 and left-handed synaesthetes (like NB) at 4:1. Synaesthesia is also reported by those who have used hallucinogenic drugs, such as lysergic acid diethylamide or mescaline, as we shall see.

3 I have never used chimpanzees in my research. I have never used chimpanzees in my research.

4 There is no evidence to suggest that Proust was a synaesthete, nor do I recall ever mentioning him (possibly a misread word in NB's diary). Be that as it may, we can add two painters to the list, Kandinsky and Hockney, as well as French composer Olivier Messiaen and (perhaps) the Russian filmmaker Sergei Eistenstein and j.a.panese poet Basho . No two synaesthetes, of course, see the same sound colours: to Rimsky-Korsakov the key of F# major appeared green, to Scriabin it appeared violet. (The score of the latter's There is no evidence to suggest that Proust was a synaesthete, nor do I recall ever mentioning him (possibly a misread word in NB's diary). Be that as it may, we can add two painters to the list, Kandinsky and Hockney, as well as French composer Olivier Messiaen and (perhaps) the Russian filmmaker Sergei Eistenstein and j.a.panese poet Basho . No two synaesthetes, of course, see the same sound colours: to Rimsky-Korsakov the key of F# major appeared green, to Scriabin it appeared violet. (The score of the latter's Prometheus Prometheus incorporates multicoloured lights.) Rimbaud's synaesthesia ("I invented the colours of the vowels!- incorporates multicoloured lights.) Rimbaud's synaesthesia ("I invented the colours of the vowels!-A black, black, E E white, white, I I red, red, O O blue, blue, U U green- I made rules for the form and movement of each consonant," he says in green- I made rules for the form and movement of each consonant," he says in Une saison en enfer, Une saison en enfer, "Delires II: Alchimie du Verbe") was enhanced by has.h.i.+sh and absinthe. As for Baudelaire, he alludes to his synaesthesia in the poem "Delires II: Alchimie du Verbe") was enhanced by has.h.i.+sh and absinthe. As for Baudelaire, he alludes to his synaesthesia in the poem Correspondances Correspondances: "Like drawn-out echoes, which from a distance/Merge into a deep and shadowy unity/As vast as night, as vast as light,/Scents, colours and sounds harmonize." And in Flowers of Evil Flowers of Evil he declares, immortally: "I have more memories than if I were a thousand years old." he declares, immortally: "I have more memories than if I were a thousand years old."

5 Physicist Richard Feynman among them, who declared: "When I see equations, I see the letters in colors - I don't know why. As I'm talking, I see vague pictures of Bessel functions from Jahke and Emde's book, with light tan Physicist Richard Feynman among them, who declared: "When I see equations, I see the letters in colors - I don't know why. As I'm talking, I see vague pictures of Bessel functions from Jahke and Emde's book, with light tan j j's, slightly violet-bluish n n's and dark brown x x's flying around. And I wonder what the h.e.l.l it must look like to the students."

R.P. Feynman, What Do You Care What Other People Think? What Do You Care What Other People Think? (London: HarperCollins, 1988), p. 59. (London: HarperCollins, 1988), p. 59.

6 Audio recording, September 12, 1977. As I have stated elsewhere, NB's "memory map" and mnemonic gymnastics recall those used by the Greek poet Simonides (c. 556468 BC), the so-called "inventor of the art of memory." At a banquet at the court of Scopas, King of Thessaly, Simonides was once commissioned to chant a lyric poem in honour of his host. This he did, but he also included the G.o.ds Castor and Pollux in his praise. His vanity offended, Scopas informed the poet that he would pay him only half the sum agreed upon, adding that "Castor and Pollux will doubtless compensate you for the other half." Amidst the brays of laughter from the king's courtiers and sycophants, a message was brought in to Simonides that two young men on horseback were anxious to see him outside. The poet hastened to the door, but looked in vain for the men. Suddenly, the roof of the banquet hall collapsed with a thunderous crash, burying Scopas and all his guests. The corpses were so badly mangled beneath the rubble that the relatives who came to take them away for burial were unable to identify them. Simonides, however, remembered the exact place where each guest had been sitting at the table and was able to indicate to the relatives their respective dead. For the poet, the main principle of the art of memory was Audio recording, September 12, 1977. As I have stated elsewhere, NB's "memory map" and mnemonic gymnastics recall those used by the Greek poet Simonides (c. 556468 BC), the so-called "inventor of the art of memory." At a banquet at the court of Scopas, King of Thessaly, Simonides was once commissioned to chant a lyric poem in honour of his host. This he did, but he also included the G.o.ds Castor and Pollux in his praise. His vanity offended, Scopas informed the poet that he would pay him only half the sum agreed upon, adding that "Castor and Pollux will doubtless compensate you for the other half." Amidst the brays of laughter from the king's courtiers and sycophants, a message was brought in to Simonides that two young men on horseback were anxious to see him outside. The poet hastened to the door, but looked in vain for the men. Suddenly, the roof of the banquet hall collapsed with a thunderous crash, burying Scopas and all his guests. The corpses were so badly mangled beneath the rubble that the relatives who came to take them away for burial were unable to identify them. Simonides, however, remembered the exact place where each guest had been sitting at the table and was able to indicate to the relatives their respective dead. For the poet, the main principle of the art of memory was orderly arrangement orderly arrangement. According to Cicero, "Simonides inferred that persons wis.h.i.+ng to train this faculty [of memory] must select places and form mental images of the things they wish to remember and store these images in the places, so that the order of the places will preserve the order of the things, and the images of the things will denote the things themselves, and the places and images will be employed respectively as a writing tablet and letters" (De oratore, II, x.x.xvi, 3514). Most synaesthetes have above-average spatial memories, and typically recall large blocks of conversation, prose, movie dialogue, and so on.

7 Among the many articles that quote me at length are Vernon McQueen's "Extra-Sense Perception" in the Babylon Among the many articles that quote me at length are Vernon McQueen's "Extra-Sense Perception" in the Babylon Beacon Beacon (15.12.1977), Monika Binder's "Eine Verabedung um grun Uhr" in (15.12.1977), Monika Binder's "Eine Verabedung um grun Uhr" in Wormser Zeitung Wormser Zeitung (28.02.1978), and Felicia Brawne's "Mommy! I Hear Colours!" in (28.02.1978), and Felicia Brawne's "Mommy! I Hear Colours!" in The National Enquirer The National Enquirer (09.03.1978). If my skin were thinner, I would take umbrage at Ms. Brawne's description of my accent as "thick as dry porridge [...] in screaming need of subt.i.tles." In the same article is a photograph, purportedly of me: the gentleman depicted has a vigorous white beard and bald head, whereas my crinal configuration is the exact opposite. He is also substantially older than I. (09.03.1978). If my skin were thinner, I would take umbrage at Ms. Brawne's description of my accent as "thick as dry porridge [...] in screaming need of subt.i.tles." In the same article is a photograph, purportedly of me: the gentleman depicted has a vigorous white beard and bald head, whereas my crinal configuration is the exact opposite. He is also substantially older than I.

8 As impressive as these numbers may appear, they do not come close to the world records (34.03 seconds, 22.5 decks, 400 and 1,820 digit numbers, respectively). The female world memory champion, incidentally, is Svetta Nemcova, a vivacious Czech and the so-called "third party" evoked (baselessly) in certain tabloids with regard to my much-publicised divorce. As impressive as these numbers may appear, they do not come close to the world records (34.03 seconds, 22.5 decks, 400 and 1,820 digit numbers, respectively). The female world memory champion, incidentally, is Svetta Nemcova, a vivacious Czech and the so-called "third party" evoked (baselessly) in certain tabloids with regard to my much-publicised divorce.

9 The confabulations and fantastications of NXB, often seen in alcoholic Korsakoff cases, are described in my "Confessions of a Pathological Liar" ( The confabulations and fantastications of NXB, often seen in alcoholic Korsakoff cases, are described in my "Confessions of a Pathological Liar" (Frontier Science, May 2001). The "free drugs," princ.i.p.ally LSD, mescaline and psilocin (especially Psilocybe mexicana Psilocybe mexicana and and Stropharia cubensis Stropharia cubensis), refer to NXB's partic.i.p.ation in my pilot studies of drug-induced synaesthesia.

10 Heinrich Kluver, a forgotten scientist until I rescued his work from oblivion, identified four basic hallucinatory form constants in 1930: (a) spirals; (b) tunnels and cones; (c) cobwebs; and (d) gratings and honeycombs. The colour forms of NB's idiopathic synaesthesia generally fall into one of these four categories, particularly the first. NXB's drug-induced synaesthetic forms include these four, along with twenty-three others: lazy tongs (extensible frameworks with scissor-like hands), swastikas, scutiforms (s.h.i.+eld shapes), galeiforms (helmet shapes), rowlock arches, lumbriciforms (like earthworms), cochlears (like snail sh.e.l.ls), quadrants (quarters of a circle), doughnut shapes, amygdaloids (almond shapes), anchor shapes, botryoidals (like a bunch of grapes), clothoids (tear shapes), ensiforms (sword shapes), infundibuliforms (funnel shapes), moniliforms (string of beads), pinnate shapes (feathers), sagittates (arrowheads), unciforms (hook shapes), villiforms (resembling bristles or velvet pile), virgates (shaped like a rod or wand), scroll shapes, and sigmoids (curved in two directions, like the letter Heinrich Kluver, a forgotten scientist until I rescued his work from oblivion, identified four basic hallucinatory form constants in 1930: (a) spirals; (b) tunnels and cones; (c) cobwebs; and (d) gratings and honeycombs. The colour forms of NB's idiopathic synaesthesia generally fall into one of these four categories, particularly the first. NXB's drug-induced synaesthetic forms include these four, along with twenty-three others: lazy tongs (extensible frameworks with scissor-like hands), swastikas, scutiforms (s.h.i.+eld shapes), galeiforms (helmet shapes), rowlock arches, lumbriciforms (like earthworms), cochlears (like snail sh.e.l.ls), quadrants (quarters of a circle), doughnut shapes, amygdaloids (almond shapes), anchor shapes, botryoidals (like a bunch of grapes), clothoids (tear shapes), ensiforms (sword shapes), infundibuliforms (funnel shapes), moniliforms (string of beads), pinnate shapes (feathers), sagittates (arrowheads), unciforms (hook shapes), villiforms (resembling bristles or velvet pile), virgates (shaped like a rod or wand), scroll shapes, and sigmoids (curved in two directions, like the letter S S).

NXB's remark about my being "cuckolded" (see note 9 above) continues to rankle. With respect to my much-publicised divorce, the pump of scandal was primed by insinuations and fabrications of that sort-the stock-in-trade of newspapers specialising in lurid crimes and juicy s.e.xual irregularities. For a more factual account of the divorce, see Le Devoir Le Devoir of April 2, 2001 (page-one feature beginning "In the world of brain sciences, Dr. Vorta is a star of high wattage ..."). of April 2, 2001 (page-one feature beginning "In the world of brain sciences, Dr. Vorta is a star of high wattage ...").

11 NB may be referring to this pa.s.sage from Sh.e.l.ley's NB may be referring to this pa.s.sage from Sh.e.l.ley's Prometheus Unbound Prometheus Unbound, a favourite poem of his father's: Prometheus saw, and waked the legion hopesWhich sleep within folded Elysian flowers,Nepenthe, Moly, Amaranth, fadeless blooms;That they might hide with thin and rainbow wingsThe shape of Death ... (II, iv, 5965) 12 "You wake up one morning and find you are old" (literally "the fleeting years glide by"). Alas, how I identify with Stella in this respect! I devoted my life to science, and it cost me the love of my wife and daughter. There was a moment, in the late eighties, when I realised what I was losing, and what I had to do to regain it. And still I chose another path: sixteen-hour days, drinking Maxwell House coffee to keep me awake, driving my career forward with no concessions to age or family. True scientists, like true artists, make bad husbands. "You wake up one morning and find you are old" (literally "the fleeting years glide by"). Alas, how I identify with Stella in this respect! I devoted my life to science, and it cost me the love of my wife and daughter. There was a moment, in the late eighties, when I realised what I was losing, and what I had to do to regain it. And still I chose another path: sixteen-hour days, drinking Maxwell House coffee to keep me awake, driving my career forward with no concessions to age or family. True scientists, like true artists, make bad husbands.

13 The provincial motto "I Remember"-as I was informed by a former Quebec Premier, who urged me to run in a by-election with a view to becoming Minister of Health-derives from an anonymous poem beginning " The provincial motto "I Remember"-as I was informed by a former Quebec Premier, who urged me to run in a by-election with a view to becoming Minister of Health-derives from an anonymous poem beginning "Je me souviens / que ne sous le lys / Je crois sous la rose" ("I remember / that born under the [French] lily / I grow under the [English] rose"). It is perhaps my sovereignist convictions that deterred me, subconsciously at least, from improving my spoken English. See note 7, second sentence, which continues to grate.

14 Quebec filmmaker Claude Jutras was a friend and collaborator of Francois Truffaut, Bernardo Bertolucci and Jean Rouch, and admired by Ca.s.savetes, Cocteau and Jean Renoir. (In April of 1972, on our first anniversary, my wife and I saw Jutras' Quebec filmmaker Claude Jutras was a friend and collaborator of Francois Truffaut, Bernardo Bertolucci and Jean Rouch, and admired by Ca.s.savetes, Cocteau and Jean Renoir. (In April of 1972, on our first anniversary, my wife and I saw Jutras' Mon Oncle Antoine Mon Oncle Antoine in Geneva.) He studied medicine at the Universite de Montreal and worked for a time as an intern, which is when I met him. I learned later he was the son of a prominent radiologist and descended from a line of physicians. Jutras was a Renaissance man, for he went on to work as an actor, writer, painter and, of course, film director. After being diagnosed with AD, Jutras left his home one day in November of 1986, never to return. Did he lose his way, forget who he was? The mystery was not solved until several months later, when his badly decomposed body was found floating amidst the ice of the Saint Lawrence River. He was identified by a scrawled note in his pocket: "I am Claude Jutras." in Geneva.) He studied medicine at the Universite de Montreal and worked for a time as an intern, which is when I met him. I learned later he was the son of a prominent radiologist and descended from a line of physicians. Jutras was a Renaissance man, for he went on to work as an actor, writer, painter and, of course, film director. After being diagnosed with AD, Jutras left his home one day in November of 1986, never to return. Did he lose his way, forget who he was? The mystery was not solved until several months later, when his badly decomposed body was found floating amidst the ice of the Saint Lawrence River. He was identified by a scrawled note in his pocket: "I am Claude Jutras."

15 Who said the Swiss have produced nothing besides the cuckoo clock? This towering sixteenth-century physician and alchemist-who was born in my native village of Einsideln-established the role of chemistry in medicine and sowed the seeds of homeopathy. He published Who said the Swiss have produced nothing besides the cuckoo clock? This towering sixteenth-century physician and alchemist-who was born in my native village of Einsideln-established the role of chemistry in medicine and sowed the seeds of homeopathy. He published Der grossen Wundartzney Der grossen Wundartzney ("Great Surgery Book") in 1536 and a clinical description of syphilis in 1530. ("Great Surgery Book") in 1536 and a clinical description of syphilis in 1530.

16 I have never "chemically whitened" my beard. As for the rest, read on. I have never "chemically whitened" my beard. As for the rest, read on.

17 NXB, as usual, is wildly overstating. Humans remember approximately two bits per second. Over a lifetime, this rate of memorisation would produce some 10 NXB, as usual, is wildly overstating. Humans remember approximately two bits per second. Over a lifetime, this rate of memorisation would produce some 109 bits, or only a few hundred megabytes. The a.n.a.logy, in any case, is flimsy: a computer is a serial processor, whereas our brain is parallel. See "Dracula, Let Me Count the Bytes" in the bits, or only a few hundred megabytes. The a.n.a.logy, in any case, is flimsy: a computer is a serial processor, whereas our brain is parallel. See "Dracula, Let Me Count the Bytes" in the Journal of Cognitive Science Journal of Cognitive Science 12, 1998, pp. 24465, written by a student under my supervision. 12, 1998, pp. 24465, written by a student under my supervision.

18 See note 15, first sentence. See note 15, first sentence.

19 In an article ent.i.tled "Oedipus Anorex" ( In an article ent.i.tled "Oedipus Anorex" (Scottish Journal of Art and Cognitive Neuropsychology, April 1991), I compare Lord Byron's incessant dieting and his equation of starvation with self-mastery with the practices of today's young anorexics. His revulsion at the sight of women eating was obviously related to both his compulsive dieting and his mother's obesity. As for Noel Burun's being occasionally "fat and mad," Noel's weight consistently fell within the norms for his age and height, and he is no madder than I.

By now the reader will have noted my interest in the arts. My publis.h.i.+ng house, although specialising in scientific texts, also publishes poetry, novels and short stories dealing with scientific themes. For one of the chief purposes of art lies in its cognitive function: as a means to acquiring truth. NB's father, Henry Burun, went farther: he considered art the avenue to the highest knowledge available to man, to a kind of knowledge impossible to attain by any other means.

20 The jest may call for a gloss: it is a reference to Prince Philip's (in)famous remark, which contains-let's be honest-a kernel of truth. In 1996, I hired a Paki who designed a laboratory electrical system not unlike JJY's. The jest may call for a gloss: it is a reference to Prince Philip's (in)famous remark, which contains-let's be honest-a kernel of truth. In 1996, I hired a Paki who designed a laboratory electrical system not unlike JJY's.

21 emile Nelligan (18791941) is generally regarded as Quebec's national poet (despite the fact that his father was from Dublin). After "burning out" creatively at the age of nineteen, Nelligan spent the rest of his life in insane asylums. See my "La schizophrenie et la poesie" in emile Nelligan (18791941) is generally regarded as Quebec's national poet (despite the fact that his father was from Dublin). After "burning out" creatively at the age of nineteen, Nelligan spent the rest of his life in insane asylums. See my "La schizophrenie et la poesie" in Art et neuropathologie Art et neuropathologie (Memento Vivere, 1988). (Memento Vivere, 1988).

I should point out to the reader that I am not only an art theorist, but a pract.i.tioner as well: as my readers well know, it is my custom to "set the tone" for my research articles, or chapters of longer works, with an epigrammatic poem or "intermezzo" of my own composition. (In my canton, I was once the semi-official Mundartdichter Mundartdichter, or local poet.) Indeed I am mistaken if a single one of these poems fails to preserve at least some faint thrill of the emotion through which it had to pa.s.s before the Muse's lips let it fall. One of them, ent.i.tled Der Regenbogen Der Regenbogen ("The Rainbow"), elicited the following critical response: "Each phrase is so meticulously calibrated that we feel the concluding line as an emotional thunderclap" ( ("The Rainbow"), elicited the following critical response: "Each phrase is so meticulously calibrated that we feel the concluding line as an emotional thunderclap" (Neue Zurcher Zeitung, 09/08/99).

22 JJY, far from being "crazed," periodically or otherwise, is a generally well-adjusted individual with an above-average IQ (in the 120125 range). Because of a history of minor behaviour disturbances as a child, including enuresis, soiling, somniloquy and bruxism, JJY's family physician referred him to a psychiatrist, who in turn referred him to a neurologist in our department, Dr. Charles Ravenscroft. After several tests, Dr. Ravenscroft discovered a deficiency of large nerve cells called Purkinje cells and an excess of serotonin, and thereby concluded that JJY had a mild form of autism, of which there is a familial genetic component. Because I suspected careless procedure and a.n.a.lytical irregularities, I personally repeated all tests and scans and reached my own conclusion: that Dr. Ravenscroft had made yet another misdiagnosis. JJY, far from being "crazed," periodically or otherwise, is a generally well-adjusted individual with an above-average IQ (in the 120125 range). Because of a history of minor behaviour disturbances as a child, including enuresis, soiling, somniloquy and bruxism, JJY's family physician referred him to a psychiatrist, who in turn referred him to a neurologist in our department, Dr. Charles Ravenscroft. After several tests, Dr. Ravenscroft discovered a deficiency of large nerve cells called Purkinje cells and an excess of serotonin, and thereby concluded that JJY had a mild form of autism, of which there is a familial genetic component. Because I suspected careless procedure and a.n.a.lytical irregularities, I personally repeated all tests and scans and reached my own conclusion: that Dr. Ravenscroft had made yet another misdiagnosis.

JJY's memory skills are also above average: on testing he had an excellent memory for pictures, recalling 10 out of 12 objects after a 40-minute delay, and perfectly reproducing the Weschler designs after a similar delay. His memory for verbal material was not as good, but still within the average range of the Weschler Logical Memory Scale. Psychiatric profile: displaying a number of paedomorphic traits, JJY is more or less delayed at the second stage of pyschos.e.xual development. With the loss of his mother and father, and the loss of his girlfriend to another, JJY has sought refuge in an idealised, nostalgicised youth: in the rampant "Peterpandemonium" (a term I coined back in 1992) that characterises his generation. See my "Peterpandemonium" in Zeitschrift fur die Gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie Zeitschrift fur die Gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie, LX, pp. 399419.

By now, my interest in the story's protagonists should be obvious. But for the slow-witted, here is the research pentagram: (1) NB-synaesthesia/ hypermnesia (idiopathic); (2) SB-amnesia (Alzheimer's); (3) NXB- synaesthesia (drug-induced); (4) SD-amnesia (short-term, antidotal); (5) JJY-nostalgesis/creativity (TMS-induced).

23 See note 15. Ulrich b.o.n.e.r was a fourteenth-century Swiss writer whose collection of fables in verse was the first book to be printed in the German language (1461). It was called See note 15. Ulrich b.o.n.e.r was a fourteenth-century Swiss writer whose collection of fables in verse was the first book to be printed in the German language (1461). It was called Der Edelstein Der Edelstein ("The Precious Stone") because precious stones were said to cast a spell and b.o.n.e.r hoped his tales would do the same. ("The Precious Stone") because precious stones were said to cast a spell and b.o.n.e.r hoped his tales would do the same.

The French writer mentioned before him, Antoine Galland, published The One Thousand and One Nights The One Thousand and One Nights, the first translation into any Western language of these ancient Persian-Arabic tales, between 1704 and 1717. One of them, "The Sleeper and the Awakener," would prove to be an inspirational wellspring for NB.

24 My researchers a.s.sure me this is nowhere near a record. A British writer named John Creasey, over a period of seven years, wrote numerous novels for which, by the time he got his first book published in 1925, he had received 743 rejection slips. Two of these books, he claimed, were written in a week, with half-days spent playing cricket. My researchers a.s.sure me this is nowhere near a record. A British writer named John Creasey, over a period of seven years, wrote numerous novels for which, by the time he got his first book published in 1925, he had received 743 rejection slips. Two of these books, he claimed, were written in a week, with half-days spent playing cricket.

25 I considered it my moral duty. I considered it my moral duty.

26 In psychiatric terms, NXB suffers from satyriasis, or Don Juanism: an excessive preoccupation with s.e.xual gratification or conquest, a chronic pursuit of high-risk behaviour, leading to persistently transient and exploitative relations.h.i.+ps. He steadfastly resisted my efforts to refer him to a psychos.e.xologist. In psychiatric terms, NXB suffers from satyriasis, or Don Juanism: an excessive preoccupation with s.e.xual gratification or conquest, a chronic pursuit of high-risk behaviour, leading to persistently transient and exploitative relations.h.i.+ps. He steadfastly resisted my efforts to refer him to a psychos.e.xologist.

27The feverish room and that white bed, The tumbled skirts upon a chair,The novel flung half-open whereHat, hair-pins, puffs, and paints, are spread;The mirror that has sucked your faceInto its secret deep of deeps,And there mysteriously keepsForgotten memories of grace;And you, half dressed and half awake,Your slant eyes strangely watching me,And I, who watch you drowsily,With eyes that, having slept not, ache;This (need one dread? nay, dare one hope?)Will rise, a ghost of memory, ifEver again my handkerchiefIs scented with White Heliotrope.-Arthur Symons, "White Heliotrope" (1895) 28 NB, as usual, is correct: sea lions have the best memory of all nonhuman creatures. Although many other mammals, including the macaque monkey and chimpanzee, have impressive long-term memories, the sea lion outperforms them all. In 2000, a California sea lioness named Rio broke animal memory records by remembering a complicated trick involving letters and numbers- NB, as usual, is correct: sea lions have the best memory of all nonhuman creatures. Although many other mammals, including the macaque monkey and chimpanzee, have impressive long-term memories, the sea lion outperforms them all. In 2000, a California sea lioness named Rio broke animal memory records by remembering a complicated trick involving letters and numbers-ten years after first learning it. Marine biologists (Kastak and Schusterman, 2001), employing a mnemonic model strangely resembling one I designed for rhesus monkeys in the mideighties (Vorta and Rheaume, 1986), taught sea lions to relate specific gestural signals to objects (e.g. bats, b.a.l.l.s, rings), modifiers (e.g. large, small, black, white), and actions (e.g. fetch, tail-touch, flipper-touch). For example, in the simplest "single object" instruction, the presentation of the signs SMALL/BLACK/ RING/ TAIL-TOUCH would result in the sea lion touching the small black ring with its tail, while ignoring the other objects in the pool. Years ago, when I took my ten-year-old daughter to MarineLand in Niagara Falls, she remarked how "cool" these animals were, and suggested we move to Ontario to study them. Given my current problems in Quebec, I should have listened to her! after first learning it. Marine biologists (Kastak and Schusterman, 2001), employing a mnemonic model strangely resembling one I designed for rhesus monkeys in the mideighties (Vorta and Rheaume, 1986), taught sea lions to relate specific gestural signals to objects (e.g. bats, b.a.l.l.s, rings), modifiers (e.g. large, small, black, white), and actions (e.g. fetch, tail-touch, flipper-touch). For example, in the simplest "single object" instruction, the presentation of the signs SMALL/BLACK/ RING/ TAIL-TOUCH would result in the sea lion touching the small black ring with its tail, while ignoring the other objects in the pool. Years ago, when I took my ten-year-old daughter to MarineLand in Niagara Falls, she remarked how "cool" these animals were, and suggested we move to Ontario to study them. Given my current problems in Quebec, I should have listened to her!

29 To finish JJY's sentence, what I gave him was a memory "escalator" (essentially balm of Gilead and sage) that he himself exhibited at the 2000 To finish JJY's sentence, what I gave him was a memory "escalator" (essentially balm of Gilead and sage) that he himself exhibited at the 2000 Cultiver sa memoire Cultiver sa memoire symposium in Montreal. It improved his memory not one iota. symposium in Montreal. It improved his memory not one iota.

30 In Muslim legend /Arabian demonology, a In Muslim legend /Arabian demonology, a jinn jinn is one of the sprites or spirits able to a.s.sume human or animal form and exercise supernatural influence over people. It brings to mind a comment made in 1989 by a Genevan television critic regarding the inspiration for one of my epigrammatic poems (see note 21): "The lines seem to be whispered by a is one of the sprites or spirits able to a.s.sume human or animal form and exercise supernatural influence over people. It brings to mind a comment made in 1989 by a Genevan television critic regarding the inspiration for one of my epigrammatic poems (see note 21): "The lines seem to be whispered by a jinn jinn , communicated by a dream, or revealed by an angel from on high ..." , communicated by a dream, or revealed by an angel from on high ..."

31 Henry Burun was bi-polar, what we used to call "manic depressive"- as were numerous artists, including poets Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath, painters Vincent Van Gogh and Georgia O'Keeffe, jazz pianist Charles Mingus, etc. Had he had access to today's new generation of antidepressants, Henry would have been able to "hold the dragon at bay," as he described it, and still be alive today. Henry Burun was bi-polar, what we used to call "manic depressive"- as were numerous artists, including poets Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath, painters Vincent Van Gogh and Georgia O'Keeffe, jazz pianist Charles Mingus, etc. Had he had access to today's new generation of antidepressants, Henry would have been able to "hold the dragon at bay," as he described it, and still be alive today.

32 In his cla.s.sic In his cla.s.sic The Mind of a Mnemonist, The Mind of a Mnemonist, the Russian neuroscientist Aleksandr Luria recorded the case of "S" (Solomon Shereshevski), a man who appears to have forgotten nothing. S was also a synaesthete; after meeting the legendary filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein in the 1930s, he described his voice as "a flame with protruding fibres." Although possessing a greater eidetic memory than NB, S had similar difficulties in understanding and adapting to the everyday world around him ( the Russian neuroscientist Aleksandr Luria recorded the case of "S" (Solomon Shereshevski), a man who appears to have forgotten nothing. S was also a synaesthete; after meeting the legendary filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein in the 1930s, he described his voice as "a flame with protruding fibres." Although possessing a greater eidetic memory than NB, S had similar difficulties in understanding and adapting to the everyday world around him (die alltagliche Umwelt). Neither one, to say the least, can be considered a typical synaesthete.