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information visit dignity memorial.com. This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross.

As a neurosurgeon my guest tools include special saws and drills to open a patient's skull.

But he also uses very high-tech imaging as well as laser and computer technology that have transformed the field and can offer an alternative to opening the skull.

Dr. Theodore Schwartz has spent nearly 30 years operating on people with neurological illnesses.

A lot has changed in that time. He helped develop

minimally invasive surgical techniques. In his new book, Gray Matters, a biography of brain surgery, he writes about the past, present, and future of brain surgery.

He says, brain surgery has also contributed to our understanding of the human mind, the existence of the

self, and our illusions about being in control of our actions.

Dr. Schwartz is an attending neurological surgeon and professor of neurological surgery at at Wild Cornell Medicine.

If this kind of talk about brain surgery makes you squeamish,

this interview might not be for you.

Dr Schwartz, welcome to Fresh Air. The book is really fascinating. you're really dirty. Like a mechanic whose coveralls get covered in Greece and grime, we often leave the

OR covered in blood, betodyne, and bits of brain. Bits of brain, what's in that brain matter?

Do your scrubs have bits of your patient's memories?

Are those the names of favorite movies, memories of a first kiss, the ability to coordinate

the act of walking that are on your scrubs?

Well, you know, Terry, everything that we are as human beings

is in our brain.

So in fact, the answer to that is yes.

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