In Both Sides Now an internationally recognized researcher in neurogenetic disorders shares her personal and professional journey. Having been a member of the team that discovered the first Parkinson's disease-causing gene mutation in the synuclein protein, she realizes she is developing symptoms of the very disease she had researched. Only after facing a disease that can cause complete dependency is she able to forge her independence. It is the story, too, of the new perspective her lifelong fear of birds takes on when she learns that the gene she helped discover is responsible for song learning in the male zebra finch.