Phantoms in the Brain  (English, Paperback, Ramachandran V S M.D., Ph.D.)

Phantoms In The Brain: Probing The Mysteries Of The Human Mind showcases the changes in human behavior after a person suffers from brain damage or brain remapping. The authors have provided a large number of unique medical cases to help readers understand the architecture of the brain.

Summary Of The Book

Phantoms In The Brain: Probing The Mysteries Of The Human Mind is a book that takes a look at the behavior of people with neurological disorders to understand how the human brain functions. By unveiling the architecture of the brain, the authors say that many questions about human nature, behavior, and beliefs can be answered.  

Dr. V. S. Ramachandran uses simple tools like water, mirrors, and cotton swabs to conduct experiments in order to study bizarre neurological problems. He has seen many patients who suffer from phantom limb pain, false pregnancy, anosognosia, Capgras' syndrome, and blindsight. He says that those who have faced damage to their brains or have had their brains remapped due to amputation, display unusual beliefs. Any kind of change in the brain circuitry can cause numerous problems. A case that has been mentioned in Phantoms In The Brain: Probing The Mysteries Of The Human Mind is about how an amputee can feel his phantom limb when someone strokes his cheek. A second notable case is about a paralyzed woman who insists that she is absolutely well. This is called anosognosia or denial. The book gives several more examples about different kinds of human behaviour, like the man who could not stop giggling at his mother’s funeral and another man who was convinced that he could talk to God.

These insights into the human mind raise many questions. It may also answer some like why people believe in God, and why people laugh or become depressed. The medical detective work that has been documented in the pages of Phantoms In The Brain: Probing The Mysteries Of The Human Mind is interesting, witty, provocative, and entertaining. This book has been written for those who are interested in learning about the workings of the brain or curious to get a new philosophical perspective.

About The Authors

Vilayanur Subramanian Ramachandran, born 1951, is an Indian neuroscientist. He completed his M.B.B.S. from Stanley Medical College, Madras, and went on to do his Ph.D. from Trinity College, University of Cambridge. He is a Professor at the Department of Psychology and the Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, and is also the Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition.

Some books written by Ramachandran are The Emerging Mind, A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers, and The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human. He has published more than 180 papers in scientific journals.

Ramachandran was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2007.

Sandra Blakeslee is an American science writer. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a political science major. She has spent most of her career writing for The New York Times.

Some books by the writer are Sleights of Mind and The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better.

She is the recipient of a Templeton Journalism Fellowship.