Samstag, 5. Januar 2008

Vilayanur Ramanchandran: The emerging mind

Book-Review in English for english speaking visitors:

The emerging mind
Vilaynur S. Ramachandran
Profile Books Ltd (December 4, 2003)
ISBN-10: 1861973039
ISBN-13: 978-1861973030
or the same content in another book:
A brief tour of human consciousness


The author of the book is a physician and experimental psychologist. Starting point of his lectures summarized in this book, neurological malfunctions are caused, by a change in a tiny brain region of the patients. Even if critical readers cannot divide his point of view for the range of neuroscientific research, then one does not come to it from its fascination over its realizations to neurological disturbances to be stuck on past to be able. Ramachandran introduces the reader in understandable way into the fascinating world of his patients: Humans with phantom limb, Synaesthesien, visual processing disturbances and Capgras syndrome. Skeptiker and critics of the modern neuroscience may “be pleased” with the reading about the implicitly contained contradictions Ramanchandrans: [..]now we stand before the largest revolution - which explanation of the human brain (s.17) [… ] it means, it does not give structure, which is as complex organized as the human brain in the entire universe… [… ] By the fact one calculated that the number of possible arrangements and combinations of brain activities - in other words, the number of the brain conditions - which number of the elementary particles in the well-known universe exceeds. (S.18) Sympathizers of the “no free will” find with Ramachandran an advocate. I found Ramachandran’s remarks particularly interesting to the “artistic brain”.

RESULT: An inexpensive book absolutely worth reading also for curious “laymen” well suitably. Ramnchandran preserves his readers, by doing to neurophysiological details without lengthy and fastidious. Its neurological remarks might offer for neurology still new to some specialist.

Do you want to have some "life-impressions" ? Abstract:

In a wide-ranging talk, Vilayanur Ramachandran explores how brain damage can reveal the connection between the internal structures of the brain and the corresponding functions of the mind. He talks about phantom limb pain, synesthesia (when people hear color or smell sounds), and the Capgras delusion, when brain-damaged people believe their closest friends and family have been replaced with imposters.

See the film: here

Customer reviews you find here


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