Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Gettin' the mojo back.

Thank you, V.S. Ramachandran.

This book, Phantoms in the Mind, is one of those books you never knew you needed--badly--until it came along. I'm a bit late in reading it, like about eight years, but at least I've found it now.

He out-Sackses Oliver. He postulates interesting hypotheses on why people with partial blindness have hallucinations. He has a fantastic theory on phantom limbs that also addresses foot fetishes, and includes a couple of cool experiments that you can try at home with only a cardboard box and a mirror. He gets into the temporal lobe experiments that showed that religious experience is tied to electrical activity in the brain. He makes the connection between the left and right sides of the brain clear and discusses neglect syndrome in that context, brushing against Freud on the way.

In short, this book will get neuro folks excited again about what they do.

I think I'm going to order A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness next.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Check out the PBS website for shows they've aired about his work....very cool.
Shauna

Geno said...

Hi, I have enjoyed reading your blogs. My wife of 14 years died recently due to brain cancer. Somehow I linked up to your blog and have now read quite a bit about you. Your writing is very good and entertaining. I related to your divorce "stuff" and trying to find a new friend. Good luck and keep up the fine journal.
Gene