The Tell-Tale Brain : Unlocking the Mystery of Human Nature

The Tell-Tale Brain : Unlocking the Mystery of Human Nature
ISBN: 9780099537595
Publication Date: 5 April 2012

A groundbreaking book about what we learn about human nature when the brain goes wrong, by the world's most exciting brain scientist.

* John, 60, recently had a stroke and recovered fully, except in one respect: although he can see perfectly, he can no longer recognise faces, even his own reflection in a mirror.* Whenever Francesca touches a particular texture, she experiences a vivid emotion: denim= extreme sadness. Wax=embarrassment. Orange peel=shock.* 7-year old Nadia is severely autistic. She can't converse with people and can barely tie a shoelace, but she can draw better than Leonardo da Vinci.* Jimmie, whose left arm was recently amputated, can still feel his arm - and it's itchy.Our brains are the most enchanting and complex thing in the known universe - but what happens when they go wrong? Dr V. S. Ramachandran, 'the Sherlock Holmes' of brain science, has spent a lifetime working with patients who suffer from bizarre brain conditions. In The Tell-Tale Brain, Ramachandran tells their stories, and explores what they reveal about the greatest mystery of them all: how our minds work, and what makes each of us so uniquely human.

About the Author

Vilayanur S. Ramachandran is Director of the Centre for the Brain at the University of California, San Diego. He has a PhD from Cambridge and many honours and awards including a fellowship from All Souls College, Oxford. He lectures widely on art, visual perception and the brain, gave the 2003 BBC Recith Lectures, and is the author of the critically acclaimed Phantoms in the Brain, which was the basis for a two part series on Channel Four TV. Newsweek recently named him one of the 'hundred most prominent people to watch in the next century.'