Phantoms in the Brain is a fascinating book that delves into various neurological diseases, including phantom limbs.
A phantom limb is when an amputee can feel their amputated limb after being removed and, in any case, even know the pain in it, which is very difficult to treat. The book discusses the causes of this phenomenon, as well as a variety of other issues. The authors explain how these can help us understand the brain and provide several fascinating case studies of people who have these disorders.
Phantoms in the Mind article will help you in understanding how the brain shapes our perceptions of the world and ourselves.
It’s a popular science book written by neurologist V.S. Ramachandran and New York Times science journalist Sandra Blakeslee. It discusses neurophysiology and neuropsychology as revealed by case studies of neurological diseases and published in 1998.
The book has a preface by neurologist and novelist Oliver Sacks, who gave the talk to the Society for Neuroscience.
Ramachandran talks about his work with patients who have phantom limbs, the Capgras illusion, pseudobulbar affect and hemispatial neglect after a stroke, and religious experiences linked to epileptic seizures, among other things. Ramachandran utilizes these examples to show how body image is formed and how emotion, decision-making, self-deception, and creative ability work.
Phantoms in the Mind Ramachandran addresses the so-called “hard issue” of consciousness in the book’s last chapter, exploring qualia and other aspects of the self.
According to neurology researcher Michael E. Goldberg, writing for The New York Times, the work is “enthralling not simply for its sunny, eloquent descriptions of neurological events, their relationship to physiological tools, and their integration with this philosophy of spirit but also for its depiction of Ramachandran, the lover in search of the secrets of the human mind.” “He fails here simply because neuroscience hasn’t figured out how to make the self concrete, but it’s a noble failure,” Goldberg adds of Ramachandran’s discourse on consciousness.
“The language is vibrant and instructive and enlivened by unexpected bits of comedy,” Francis Crick said of the book.
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