The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human

by Ramachandran, V. S.

• ISBN13: 9780393077827
• ISBN10: 0393077829
• Edition: 00
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

V. S. Ramachandran is at the forefront of his field-so much so that Richard Dawkins dubbed him the "Marco Polo of neuroscience." Now, in a major new work, Ramachandran sets his sights on the mystery of human uniqueness. Taking us to the frontiers of neurology, he reveals what baffling and extreme case studies can teach us about normal brain function and how it evolved. Synesthesia becomes a window into the brain mechanisms that make some of us more creative than others. And autism-for which Ramachandran opens a new direction for treatment-gives us a glimpse of the aspect of being human that we understand least: self-awareness. Ramachandran tackles the most exciting and controversial topics in neurology with a storyteller's eye for compelling case studies and a researcher's flair for new approaches to age-old questions. Tracing the strange links between neurology and behavior, this book unveils a wealth of clues into the deepest mysteries of the human brain.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xxiii
Introduction: No Mere Ape	p. 3
Phantom Limbs and Plastic Brains	p. 24
Seeing and Knowing	p. 41
Loud Colors and Hot Babes: Synesthesia	p. 75
The Neurons that Shaped Civilization	p. 117
Where is Steven? The Riddle of Autism	p. 136
The Power of Babble: The Evolution of Language	p. 153
Beauty and the Brain: The Emergence of Aesthetics	p. 192
The Artful Brain: Universal Laws	p. 218
An Ape with a Soul: How Introspection Evolved	p. 245
Epilogue	p. 289
Glossary	p. 294
Notes	p. 306
Bibliography	p. 327
Illustration Credits	p. 340
Index	p. 342
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