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Title: Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind by V. S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee ISBN: 0688152473 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: September, 1998 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.63
Rating: 5
Summary: Brilliant Stuff
Comment: Anyone looking for a new paradigm for consciousness should read this book, in particular anyone without any prior knowledge of neural science. The book is full of the latest discoveries about how the brain works, including several experiments you can perform by yourself or with friends. In particular, I found that the experiment which the author(s) have you perform on yourself with your blind spot particularly discombobulating, as you watch as your mind "fills in" missing information, and even "hallucinates" things that aren't there. You're left feeling that you can't even trust your own eyes! The final chapter is particularly important, and required reading for anyone interested in how neural science affects our understanding of consciousness and self.
My only complaint is that the book seems schizophrenic; it is scientific, but constantly needs to reassure us as if it were afraid that a purely scientific understanding of our lives is somehow inimical to our artistic selves. The book continually quotes Shakespeare. I'm not sure if that's because the book has two authors, that Ms. Blakeslee was brought in to soften up the science a bit. It often seems as if there's a phantom author.
Even so, it's enjoyable can't-put-it-down reading and contains several important points which should add significantly to your understanding of your brain works and consciousness itself.
Rating: 5
Summary: Does God Dwell In The Limbic System
Comment: One way of studying the brain is to destroy parts of it in laboratory animals, and see how performance is affected. Obviously we cannot conduct similar experiments on humans. We can, however, learn a lot about human brain function by studying the behavior of people who have suffered brain damage through trauma or disease.
Dr. Ramachandran spends his time studying such patients. His book, Phantoms In The Brain, is filled with case studies from his experiences. A significant section of the book discusses the problems of patients with phantom limb syndrome. Why does the brain continue to think an amputated limb is still present? When a patient's brain reacts as if an amputated hand is in a continually clenched position, causing much pain, how can the brain be fooled into unclenching the hand? Why does shaving sometimes feel like your amputated arm is being stimulated?
Damage to various brain centers creates an amazing number of strange maladies. Damage to a visual area can cause "blindsight', where the patient cannot see an object, but can point out where it is. And, yes, what about the limbic system? Damage to certain areas in this system can cause various religious experiences. Then there's anosognosia. A stroke may leave one whole side of a patient paralyzed, yet the patient thinks that there is nothing wrong with him.
This book is the perfect adjunct to reading a basic book on brain function. That's not necessary, though, as it is totally accessible to the layman, and should keep the reader spellbound. Such works also impress upon me that the brain is the mind. Damage to that vital organ can change who we are.
Rating: 5
Summary: A deep, important book written in a disarming style.
Comment: Rama is a brilliant, world renowned neuroscientist. Phantoms recounts personal experience and personal, sometimes humorous observations, and could be read for these qualities alone. It is a great book because of what it has to say. The subject is how the brain works from a conceptual viewpoint, with a focus on consciousness. Typically, the behavior of patients with brain damage suggest hypothesis, and these hypothesis are investigated by additional experimentation, as well as by brain imaging, which can detect which neurons are firing in response to stimuli. The physiology of the brain is considered, but only to the extent necessary to the narrative. A warning to the reader: the book is disarming in that some very difficult material is presented in a wonderfully simple and engaging style; this is not a book to be read in one sitting. I would have benefited from more material in the last chapter on what is the essence of conscious perception; while the ideas are exciting, I need more examples to pin them down. To nitpick, I think Rama. slights the artistic capabilities of animals, and is a little condescending, and perhaps not very knowledgeable, about psychiatry. He makes fun of evolutionary psychology, but also makes use of it.
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Title: The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness by Antonio R. Damasio ISBN: 0156010755 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat : And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks ISBN: 0684853949 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are by Joseph Ledoux ISBN: 0670030287 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 10 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Descartes' Error : Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain by Antonio R. Damasio ISBN: 0380726475 Publisher: Avon Books (Pap Trd) Pub. Date: November, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The EMOTIONAL BRAIN: THE MYSTERIOUS UNDERPINNINGS OF EMOTIONAL LIFE by Joseph Ledoux ISBN: 0684836599 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: March, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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