Publication Date:September 7, 1999 Availability:Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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ISBN13: 9780688172176
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Condition: New
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Amazon.com Review What would you say about a woman who, despite stroke-induced paralysis crippling the entire left side of her body, insists that she is whole and strong--who even sees her left hand reach out to grasp objects? Freud called it "denial"; neurologists call it "anosognosia." However it may be labeled, this phenomenon and others like it allow us peeks into other mental worlds and afford us considerable insight into our own.
The writings of Oliver Sacks and others have shown us that we can learn much about ourselves by looking closely at the deficits shown by people with neurological problems. V.S. Ramachandran has seen countless patients suffering from anosognosia, phantom limb pain, blindsight, and other disorders, and he brings a remarkable mixture of clinical intuition and research savvy to bear on their problems. He is one of the few scientists who are able and willing to explore the personal, subjective ramifications of his work; he rehumanizes an often too-sterile field and captures the spirit of wonder so essential for true discovery. Phantoms in the Brain is equal parts medical mystery, scientific adventure, and philosophical speculation; Ramachandran's writing is smart, caring, and very, very funny.
Whether you're curious about the workings of the brain, interested in alternatives to expensive, high-tech science (much of Ramachandran's research is done with materials found around the home), or simply want a fresh perspective on the nature of human consciousness, you'll find satisfaction with Phantoms in the Brain. --Rob Lightner
Product Description Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments -- using such low-tech tools as cotton swabs, glasses of water and dime-store mirrors. In Phantoms in the Brain, Dr. Ramachandran recounts how his work with patients who have bizarre neurological disorders has shed new light on the deep architecture of the brain, and what these findings tell us about who we are, how we construct our body image, why we laugh or become depressed, why we may believe in God, how we make decisions, deceive ourselves and dream, perhaps even why we're so clever at philosophy, music and art. Some of his most notable cases:
A woman paralyzed on the left side of her body who believes she is lifting a tray of drinks with both hands offers a unique opportunity to test Freud's theory of denial.
A man who insists he is talking with God challenges us to ask: Could we be "wired" for religious experience?
A woman who hallucinates cartoon characters illustrates how, in a sense, we are all hallucinating, all the time.
Dr. Ramachandran's inspired medical detective work pushes the boundaries of medicine's last great frontier -- the human mind -- yielding new and provocative insights into the "big questions" about consciousness and the self.
News You Can UseJuly 26, 2010 Johan M Andersen(Stamford, CT USA) This book is elegantly written and will tell you more about how people's conception of themselves affects their lives and judgement than anything else I have ever read. There are parts of the book that relate brain activity to specific brain geography that I found easy to skim, but the actual experiments and the conclusions drawn from them are truly fascinating.
What a great book!June 18, 2010 Beauven(CA, USA) I loved reading this book. Dr. Ramachandran is a fantastic author and I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing more about phantom limbs.
Interesting bookMay 17, 2010 C. P. Waasdorp This book was required supplemental text for a Neurology course but it's an interesting book to read if you're at all interested learning a little bit about how the brain works, and seeing some interesting cases on what happens when things go wrong. Very cool.
Simply brilliantApril 17, 2010 Karin H. Krueger(Ossining, NY USA) Ramachandran's book is simply wonderful. He explains how the brain creates our perception of the world in easy to understand language while not skimping on the details. Neuroscience 101 in an easy to read popular book. He is the Oliver Sacks of the 21st Century in that he has the observational powers of Sacks for his patients, but goes one step further in explaining the symptoms with modern day neuroscience. But the icing on the cake is that the book reads like a detective story. He takes you step by step through the process of meeting the patient, learning the symptoms, and then patiently testing hypotheses about the cause of the symptoms with experiments. Simply brilliant. Oliver Sacks, Sherlock Holmes and a neuroscientist, all rolled up together.
Neuroscience for dummiesMarch 12, 2010 Juan Martos Luque(Madrid, Espagne) Within this book, the writer includes lots of explanations and experiments that, using a very easy to understand terminology, provide a close approach to the unexplored areas of the human brain.
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