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Subject: [agathiyar] Fw: World of the brain and mind
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>From the Hindu http://www.webpage.com/hindu/today/13/1321017f.htm

World of the brain and mind

Why is human nature as it is, sometimes perverse,
sometimes divine? Does our brain interpret all events
accurately? This book, in simple language, tells about the
fascinating world of the human mind and brain and how they
could play tricks on us. At the same time, complex
problems are put forth in easily understandable terms,
spiced with entertaining anecdotes.

It has been stressed in Indian philosophy centuries ago that
things are not really what they seem to be and our understanding
of the environment and happenings out there, is always clouded
by various factors. The whole fabric of wrong understanding was
termed ``maya''.

Neuroscientists, over the last two centuries, believed that the
human brain, being a powerful and complex organ, should be
able to interpret surroundings and events as they are and thus
human understanding is perfect. However, a study of the
variations that occur in man's interpretation of events, due
to injury or disease in the brain, has resulted in the knowledge
that phantoms may occur in the brain even in apparently normal
persons. The author is an acclaimed neuroscientist working in
the U.S., and has set out on this fascinating saga of exploring
the human brain and its myriad functions.

Oliver Sachs, a great philosopher-neuroscientist, refers to the
author as one of the most interesting neuroscientists of our
time. As the blurb states, the author is uncovering answers
to the deep and quirky questions about human nature that few
scientists have dared to address.

Simple everyday problems have been looked at by him through
amazingly simple experiments. He has done seminal work in
elucidating the intractable problem of phantom limbs that
occur after the loss of a limb and has initiated a new treatment
based on simple mirror techniques.

Can a man mistake his wife for a hat? Is there a zombie in
the brain more powerful than us? Why did a man say that
his parents were not there, but what he sees are only duplicates?
Is there really an answer for the great conundrum of the sound of
one hand clapping? Do Martians see red? Why do we believe in God?
Is there a God centre in the brain? Why do we enjoy music and so on?
Every intelligent reader interested in his own brain and its workings
must read this readable book.

B. Ramamurthi

PHANTOMS IN THE BRAIN: Dr. V. S. Ramachandran; William Morrow and
Company Inc., New York, U.S.A.


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