Rand was a known Benzedrine user but I don’t know if it was at this point in her life. I wonder how that could/would affect her non-verbally. Many were users at that time as it was commonly prescribed by physicians after WWII as a cure-all for all sorts of things.

Ayn Rand had a very “modern” marriage. She told her husband that she would be having an affair with a much younger guy.

her eyes and head, as you note, move as if she is reading from the pages of a book or script.

translating from Russian to English on the fly will give anyone googly eyes

Her extreme nervousness reminds me of how people act when they are being interrogated: thinking quickly, extremely tense, throwing out thoughts as quickly as they can. Given the extremely aggressive method of ‘interrogation’ from Russia in the 1920s, throw in your theory about brain damage and it seems to fit.

come on now Mandy you know she was the only member of her family to escape the Soviet Union. Her family hid in the Crimea during the Bolshevik revolution. Her dad lost his successful family business.