Rating: 
Summary: A good read for the novice
Review: A light and breezy account of some of the oddities of neurology, much in the spirit of Oliver Sacks (who also wrote the introduction). Much of the book is devoted to cases of people exhibiting odd behavior after losing part of their brain. This is familiar stuff to any serious student of the brain but will delight and amuse the lay reader unfamiliar with this literature. In addition, the authors offer their thoughts on some of the more contentious issues in many of the fields they touch upon, such as the validity of evolutionary psychology, the limits of adaptationism in evolutionary thought, and the nature of qualia in relation to brain function, to name a few. Furthermore, Ramachandran puts forth some interesting ideas of his own. He refers to the temporal lobe regions involved in complex shape analyses and object recognition as a distinct system or "pathway," which he calls the "what" pathway of vision, endowed with memory and consciousness, while the visual processing areas in the parietal lobe concerned with motion detection and 3-D mapping in space are lumped together as the "where" pathway, which has neither memory nor consciousness. Not being shy, the authors also proceed to emunerate the qualities of qualia, the 3 ingredients of consciousness and other riddles that have puzzled philosophers for centuries. Given the empirical evidence from brain research that supports their views (much of which unfortunately they do not discuss in detail, for brevity's sake), they offer more true insight into these issues than the mountains of philosophical dross these issues have generated in times both ancient and modern. Ramachandran may not be right, but he shows that a little empirical, scientific knowledge proves far more useful than a lot of groundless speculation by armchair experts. A good read for both novice and professional.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: I've read this book three times
Review: Easily the most fascinating and up-to-date book about the brain.
It truly grabbed my attention; the first time I read it I didn't put it down...read it all the way through in one sitting.
So much of what we do, we are, we think, we feel is programmed by a few pounds of wet matter in our heads.
I learned about smiles, gods...well, we're limited to 1,000 words here, so I can't say all that I learned...but I've read the book three times and wish I could read it again, but I gave it to my son. It's amusing at times, ALWAYS interesting...if I had a better brain I could write a better review, but, gosh, if you're at all interested in why you think as you do, why you react to certain things as you do, why you are YOU...this book will answer those and many more questions. It's easily the most interesting book I've read in many a moon. I wonder if my son's finished reading it....
Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: I am an IT professional working for an MNC.When I first looked at this book, I was not very sure if i can understand the complex subject the book dealt with.
But now,after having read the book, I feel its just great.
Some of the incidents in the book are surprising and thought provoking.
Very interesting narration about how the brain works, human vision and why we behave in a particular way.Now, everytime i come across the word 'phantom' I recollect this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating insight into neurological problems
Review: I first heard of VS Ramachandran when quite by accident I tuned into his giving the 2003 Reith Lectures on BBC Radio 4 (like PBS). His entertaining & instructive style prompted me to tune in a few nights later for the next instalment, and then to go and seek out his published work. Phantoms in the Brain is an excellent introduction to practical studies of phantom limbs syndrome, and thus into the workings of the human brain and the concept of body imaging. As a direct consequence of reading this book, I then eagerly awaited his next offering, the transcript of those BBC Lectures.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating insight into neurological problems
Review: I first heard of VS Ramachandran when quite by accident I tuned into his giving the 2003 Reith Lectures on BBC Radio 4 (like PBS). His entertaining & instructive style prompted me to tune in a few nights later for the next instalment, and then to go and seek out his published work. Phantoms in the Brain is an excellent introduction to practical studies of phantom limbs syndrome, and thus into the workings of the human brain and the concept of body imaging. As a direct consequence of reading this book, I then eagerly awaited his next offering, the transcript of those BBC Lectures.
Rating:
Summary: Experimental Philosophy!
Review: I just had the rare pleasure of taking a course by 'Rama' at UCSD--Cognitive Neuropsychology. It was a small seminar and one was able to ask questions directly to this quick-witted man. One of the texts of this course, Phantoms in the Brain, provides a range of stimulating ideas. It is the third time I've read it but reading it in this context and having the ability to question the author directly provided a fresh new experience.
The book is accessible to anyone and will instill a fondness for this all-important field. Ramachandran's communication skills are superb, he can distill so much fascinating detail and controversy into a few examples and metaphors. This is a rare and wonderful treat; scientists at his level of research are usually so hopelessly mired in the details of neuroscience that they fail to convey what this field means to the rest of us--and it means everything!
People will look back at this burgeoning age of neuroscientific research and marvel at the fortune we had to be part of it, for now we are undergoing a philosophical crisis and turning point of the highest order. Our very conception of human existence is slowly turning right under our feet, and for the first time in two thousand years!
Scientists like Ramachandran are on the front lines of this revolutionary war helping to further our ideas about ourselves and make sense of all this bewildering complexity. In particular, it is his love for the fundamental issues of philosophy and psychology that make his work so exciting. He asks the questions that everyone else is afraid to bring up and even formulates some answers.
Certainly the most intriguing aspect of this book is Ramachandran's discovery of the denial mechanisms that can come out 'full-blown' in people with bizarre neurological conditions. Through this strange new lens he is confirming Freud's genius. Freud's classic description of denial mechanisms is finding empirical support--and in this age of Freud bashing. Surely many of the man's ideas were inept but many more were beyond brilliant. The mechanisms of psychological denial, in particular, teach us a great deal about who we are and how our minds work.
Phantoms in the Brain will reveal how 'haunted' our personalities truly are.
Rating:
Summary: Ramachandran's "Phantoms"
Review: If you have read books by Oliver Sacks, M.D. (e.g., The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat), this book is in the same genre and is equally interesting and worthwhile. If you haven't--both Sacks and this author are neurologists who do the rest of us a considerable and fascinating favor by telling us about their patients. (Also, maybe you saw the movie, Awakenings, that starred Robin Williams as Sacks, and Robert DeNiro as one of his patients) Both Sacks and Ramachandran arrange their patient stories under topical headings intended to elucidate the way the brain and body (especially the senses) work together, and also the nature of human personality and even consciousness itself. Ramachandran writes with great clarity, kindness and humor, and his origins in India and Hinduism provide a gently-presented, less-western point of view. His book also contains some simple but amazing mind-body experiments you can do on yourself and with friends (really). In one, you will become convinced that the top of the desk in front of you is part of your body, since you will feel it when another person touches the desk. Those of you interested in religion will find the chapter "God and Limbic System" especially fascinating. And no, the purpose of his chapter is not to denigrate or analyze away religious experience, but to better understand it, and what it means to be human.
Rating:
Summary: Where'd those clubbed fingers go?
Review: 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 a little 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.
Rating:
Summary: Does God Dwell In The Limbic System
Review: One way of studying the brain is to destroy parts of it in laboratory animals, and see how performance is affected. Obviously we cannot conduct similar experiments on humans. We can, however, learn a lot about human brain function by studying the behavior of people who have suffered brain damage through trauma or disease. Dr. Ramachandran spends his time studying such patients. His book, Phantoms In The Brain, is filled with case studies from his experiences. A significant section of the book discusses the problems of patients with phantom limb syndrome. Why does the brain continue to think an amputated limb is still present? When a patient's brain reacts as if an amputated hand is in a continually clenched position, causing much pain, how can the brain be fooled into unclenching the hand? Why does shaving sometimes feel like your amputated arm is being stimulated? Damage to various brain centers creates an amazing number of strange maladies. Damage to a visual area can cause "blindsight', where the patient cannot see an object, but can point out where it is. And, yes, what about the limbic system? Damage to certain areas in this system can cause various religious experiences. Then there's anosognosia. A stroke may leave one whole side of a patient paralyzed, yet the patient thinks that there is nothing wrong with him. This book is the perfect adjunct to reading a basic book on brain function. That's not necessary, though, as it is totally accessible to the layman, and should keep the reader spellbound. Such works also impress upon me that the brain is the mind. Damage to that vital organ can change who we are.
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