Phantoms in the Brain

Probing the mysteries of the human mind
Author: V.S.Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee
Subject: neuroscience
My rating: 3.5*



About the book:
Ramachandran is a well known neurologist, well known for his work on phantom limb pain and creation of the mirror box- an indispensable tool in rehabilitation of brain injured. In this book he talks about less known neurological conditions such as Capgras delusions (whereas the patient does not recognize parents and thinks they are impostors), one side body neglect (whereas the patient denies losing abilities in one side of the body), hallucinations involving cartoon characters, dying of laughing, the existence of an area in the brain dedicated to religious experience...The stories are fascinating and push the boundaries of the last great frontier in medicine: the human mind. Although lengthy and patience-testing at times, the cases presented are fascinating and save this book for becoming too drab. Skimming it towards the end...

From the book:

Pain is an opinion on the organism's state of health rather than a mere reflective response to an injury. There is no direct hotline from pain receptors to "pain centers" in the brain.

Your own body is a phantom, one that your brain has temporarily constructed purely for convenience.

Every medical student is taught that patients with epileptic seizures originating in this part of the brain [temporal lobes] can have intense, spiritual experiences during the seizures and sometimes become preoccupied with religion and moral issues even during the seizure-free or interictal periods.