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Liked It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “It's The Closest that a novice can get to cutting edge Neurology ! |
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“ppl. who hve not yet read this book hve missed out something. written by V. S. Ramachandran, its a treat, talks about vague neurological probs such as phantoms, synesthesia ... 110 pts.... anand
monosarkar wrote this review Sunday, November 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Those who want to see the authors lecture ... just check TED talks on goolge nd then check his talk ... u will come to kno more about phantoms.... mono”“Ramachandran has done a wonderful job in describing a layman the details of neuroscience in extremely curious way. ”
Ritendra S wrote this review Thursday, October 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Must read. One of the best books I have ever read”
Joy wrote this review Wednesday, October 14 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Excellent glimpse into the working of the human brain.”
mgvineeth wrote this review Friday, July 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“one of the best that i ve read
mukund0286 wrote this review Friday, May 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
great insight into how the human brain works and questions such as what is consciousness”
“GREAT BOOK!!”
Kruti P wrote this review Tuesday, May 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Awesome.”
Rajath wrote this review Saturday, April 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Ramachandran is a very charismatic lecturer and it comes through well in his book. He had a NOVA special and this book pretty much has the same scope as that special but much more in depth. If you're a fan of neuroscience this is a good read but you needn't know the function and location of the lateral geniculate nucleus, for example, in order to appreciate the book. Some of the claims are bold and controversial, but what good book isn't full of that? A pleasure to read.”
Carl S wrote this review Monday, March 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book was a recommendation by a friend. And boy was it a great reco.
Himanshu wrote this review Thursday, December 25 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
It’s very easy to fall into the trap of assuming that like all medical books, this one, being on neurology, is as boring, dull, with unnecessary medical jargons and details. You couldn’t be more wrong. The author candidly confesses about how medical authors could get into that mould and steers clear of it. And while some details of the brain structure are required, no where does it get too lengthy for you to lose interest.
The book is not really an expedition to teach the laymen the working of the brains. But what it serves to do is elucidate us with the fact that a lot of strange behavior that we ignore, or worse, viciously hate, are no more than physical shortcomings of the brain. That, therefore, would merit some sympathy from the normal section of the society who can differentiate a vertical mail slot from a horizontal one and who do not see cartoons and animals out there in the world.
It is indeed very moving to read about some of the problems people have when some interconnections of the brain go awry. Imagine the fear of the lady whose left hand (or was it right?) kept trying to strangle her. Or like Memento or Ghajini, this guy could not form any new memories. There are a lot of cases described in the book. And the least we could do is be sensitive to their problems.
The book starts off with the discussion on phantom limbs, something that I wasn’t aware of before I read this book! What a strange concept, isn’t it, for the brain to think that an amputated leg or a hand, or even removed breasts, still exist! And to register physical signals to those phantom body parts! The entire genesis, problems, potential cure for the phantom limbs is beautifully explained. And did you know that when a body part gets amputated, physical stimulation on other parts will make you feel that something is touching that missing body part. For example, if someone gets a hand amputated, and if you run a feather on a section of his face, he will feel that your brushing his palm. What a strange thing the human brain is, isn’t it?
The book tackles phantom limbs, and other strange aspects of brain functioning, like visual responses, neglect and denial symptoms, the part of brain that gives you a religious experience (it’s grossly under-developed in me) and concludes with the question of how to define the “Self” in context of the brain. The last chapter is the only one where it gets really heavy and the discussion is a mixture of philosophy as much as it is about neurology. But then, that’s the nature of brain and how we live and think isn’t it?
Think Matrix. There a whole pseudo world was created was created for people by feeding electrical signals to the brain. Does then, consciousness have any meaning? No one is doing anything really, but they are living a complete life lying in a tube.
This book will make you look at life a lot more humbly. We are all a function of our brain. But how it reacts is a function of us. It’s a relationship hard to comprehend. And I really believe that the whole exercise, however intellectually stimulating, is completely futile. But then neurology can not be completely objective with it’s only aim being curing brain ailments. Philosophy is bound to get mixed up. And in this book, V.S. Ramachandran coexists peacefully with Freud.
”“Inspired by Sherlock Holmes, Ramachandran the neurologist morphs into a detective investigating the wonders of the brain. The anecdotes on his experiments with his patients make the book very interesting. ”
Ajit B wrote this review Tuesday, December 16 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
