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• Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
V. S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee

Harper Perennial, 1999 - 352 pages

average customer review:based on 93 reviews
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   highly recommended  highly recommended






Opening the Black Box

A top neurologist discusses what we know about how the brain works, based on his studies of "phantom limbs" and other conditions. This is a very interesting book, probing the mysteries of memory, consciousness and what the "self" is.


Cognitively engaging

All through graduate school I knew that neuropsychology was not my area. I couldn't remember the important parts of the brain or what they did very well (and I sometimes still can't remember) and it all just seemed so complicated. Since I know it's one of my weak areas I decided to read more neurology and neuropsychology works, and this was the first book I found. I'm glad that I started with this book - it's very easy to understand yet highly informative at the same time. It's written in a very entertaining way, like a good lecture. I think this would be a great book for a graduate neuro class or even a higher level undergraduate class. Keep in mind that it's very dense, meaning that it's packed with information and doesn't give the reader many breaks from being cognitively engaged. Interestingly some of the chapters are also thought-provoking on a philosophical level (as much of psychology is), so keep that in mind as you're reading as well.


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A book you should read

This work, from one of the top neuroscientists around, is a fascinating look at various neurological problems and their implications for brain function. The book starts out with a description of phantom limbs and associated pain, and it offers a very convincing argument for the underlying processes that lead to these phenomena. Then as we continue to read, other phenomena are outlined, followed by intriguing explanations. As a doctoral physical therapy student, this book never ceased to hold my attention. I think most people would find it to be very interesting, although certain references to specific brain structures may go over the heads of many readers (cingulate gyrus, amygdala, hippocampus). If you would like to get the most out of this book without a functional knowledge of neuroanatomy keep an atlas of the brain nearby so you can have a visual picture to go with the names of these structures. All-in-all this is a must read for anybody with an interest in brain function, as it contains solid, original insights into the workings of the human mind. The brain is the final frontier of science, and more advances are being made than ever in our understanding of its inner workings.


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Where'd those clubbed fingers go?

On page 7, talking about lung cancer and clubbing of the fingers, Ramachandran/Blakeslee say "Remarkably, this telltale sign disappears instantly on the operating table as the surgeon removes the cancer." I know this not to be true, but I was already very impressed with the book. This kept bothering me until by page 100 or so, I decided to check out the author a little. He appeared to have exemplary credentials. Then that very afternoon the new issue of Discover Magazine arrived and I found him mentioned twice, one of those times in a short feature.

In the preface, he says, "When writing a popular book, professional scientists always have to walk a tightrope between making the book intelligible to the general reader, on the one hand, and avoiding oversimplification, on the other, so that experts are not annoyed." Maybe the instantly cured clubbed fingers fit into this category. He also says, "Some of the cases I describe are really composites of several patients, including classics in the medical literature." Perhaps this explains it.

Possibly it was the journalist, Blakeslee, who decided to make the situation somewhat more interesting, but then one has to consider that other conclusions may be a little enhanced.

Be that as it may, this book presents remarkable data. It reads like a detective story and describes an empathetic doctor who has lots of rapport with his patients as he tries to help them deal with their unique problems. The book gives an excellent review of brain anatomy and function. The first 20 pages summarizes aspects of the scientific method so well, I was enthralled. As I kept reading, I found out that someone with a keen mind using curiosity, simple observations, and prop-like equipment could still uncover new scientific data.

Other reviewers have eloquently described the contents, and I urge you to read them. Despite my criticism, this book deserves a "5", and should add to anyone's knowledge about consciousness and how the mind works.


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Fascinating!

As a great fan of Oliver Sack's similar books, I was fascinated and delighted to read "Phantoms in the Brain". Ramachandran is profoundly philosophical in his approach to mind/brain questions, rigorously empirical in his quest for answers, and tremendously skilled at conveying the breadth and depth of his work, and others', to an interested lay readership. PiB is popular science writing of the first order. In the introduction to PiB, Ramachandran remarks that one of the reasons he decided to write this book was because he felt a sense of responsibility to the taxpayers who ulitmately underwrite his research. Acting on this sense, Ramachandran has, in my view, emerged as one of the great popularizer's of science. In PiB (and elsewhere), he has given the public a deep and rigorous account of the workings of the human mind, to the extent (limited, as Ramachandran himself acknowledges) that they are currently understood, given his readers an enormous amount to ponder, and encouraged future researchers to join the fray. I hope other scientists, across the disciplinary spectrum, follow Ramachandran's lead. (Many, of course, have. How exciting it will be when so many more do too.) READ PiB!! And recommend it far and wide. I know I will.


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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16



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