mental illnesses result from an abnormal periodic table of the brain

An example of metaphor in popular science writing:

"The real issue here was that John pushed hard the notion that serious psychiatric illnesses should be seen like any other medical illness; that its root cause was an underlying physical problem within the brain. But the very idea that illnesses such as mania or schizophrenia were the result of an abnormal Periodic Table of the brain was beyond many of his colleagues."

de Moore, G., & Westmore, A. (2016). Finding Sanity. John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder. Allen & Unwin.