Phantoms in the Brain

Neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran is renowned for addressing deep and quirky questions of human nature using low-tech tools such as cotton swabs, glasses of water and dime-store mirrors. In Phantoms in the Brain, he recounts how his work with patients who have bizarre neurological disorders has shed new light on the deep architecture of the brain, and what these findings tell us about who we are, how we construct our body image, why we laugh or become depressed, why we may believe in God, how we make decisions, deceive ourselves and dream—perhaps even why were so clever at philosophy, music and art.