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    The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human
    The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human
    The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human
    Audiobook13 hours

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

    Written by V.S. Ramachandran

    Narrated by David Drummond

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJan 25, 2011
    ISBN9781452670645
    The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human
    Author

    V.S. Ramachandran

    Dr. Ramachandran is based at the Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California San Diego in La Jolla, California.

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    Reviews for The Tell-Tale Brain

    4/5

    122 ratings9 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Extremely enlightening insights from a truly great scientist. Loved the connections between neuro, psychology, and psychiatry, and then their implications in the realm of philosophy. Definitely worth the read/listen.
    • 4/5
      Really interesting read. Read phantoms of the brain before this. Not necessary but helpful.
    • 5/5
      So far listened through chapter 3. His reasoning reminds me of the expression "a mind like a steel trap." I will be listening to this over and over until I'm able to follow him with my mirror neurons. I listen while walking or running. The actor who is playing the role of the author is excellent. The one problem with the audiobook, so far, is that Scribd, or the publisher, does not provide a file with the figures and diagrams referred to by the author, without which, you can't visualize the parts of the brain he's describing.
    • 5/5
      The author is a medical doctor with an interest in neuroscience research. He has conducted significant research and conducted experiments on some of his patients. His observations from the research and case studies leads to some insightful concepts. I believe that he is able to see correctly the function and interaction of centers of cognitive processing in the brain. I found the book educational and insightful. I strongly recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      Breezy, fun, and very insightful tour of new discoveries in neurology, with an Oliver Sacks-ian focus on interesting neurological disorders, and on mirror neurons. Ramachandran writes (and thinks) in an affable, optimistic, folksy way. This would sound annoying in a pure pop-science writer, but Ramachandran is an experienced researcher, and his examples and explanations have that quality of instant clarification. In a single throwaway remark, he can open a very wide door of interest. (Would watching a horror movie stop a panic attack? Are puns the opposite of metaphors?)

      One slightly unfortunate side effect of his casual, playful tone is that he often reaches for humor—which is fine in itself, but his jokes are quite bad. They're grade-A uncle-joke material, corny and slightly inappropriate in a way that makes you want to go "yeeeah we don't say that anymore". Ramachandran isn't quite as caring and sensitive as Sacks in his attitude toward his patients, but he seems sensitive enough that I'm sure he's a nice dude. I just wish he'd lay off the wonky jokes.

      Another slightly problematic area is his attempt at analysis of the building blocks of art and art appreciation. He ties them to basic aspects of visual processing: symmetry, contrast, etc. and some higher-level stuff (metaphor). This is all fine, and I'm in agreement; however, he stops a bit short, only noting in passing other qualities of art (such as ego and social effects). This is partly due to a focus on visual art; true, we humans are visual creatures, but not exclusively so. It could be neat if Ramachandran approached music and literature with the same neurologically-minded mind. Like 'Musicophilia', but a bit more academically strict.

      It's a very fun book to power through, and I'm looking forward to more.
    • 5/5
      director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at UCSD, explores why humans, who are "anatomically, neurologically and genetically, physiologically apes," are not "merely" apes. While animals can communicate with sound and gesture, and chimpanzees can even use words to express immediate needs, humans have developed the ability to speak in structurally complex sentences, and often speak in metaphor. Ramachandran speculates that, as we can map another's actions and intuit their thoughts, we also map our own sensory apparatus, perceiving our surroundings—and perceiving ourselves perceiving our surroundings. We imagine the future and speculate about the past and seek to understand our place in the universe, laying the foundation for our the sense of free will; we not only envisage future actions, but are aware of their potential consequences and the responsibility for our choices. Richard Dawkins has called Ramachandran "the Marco Polo of neuroscience," and with good reason. He offers a fascinating explanation of cutting-edge-neurological research that deepens our understanding of the relationship between the perceptions of the mind and the workings of the brain
    • 5/5
      Clear, thought-provoking, frontier work, sometimes moving about the gradually unfolding mystery of what humans are - and even funny in places. Central theme is mirror neurons; he makes a good case for looking at the detail (reductionist) in order to explain the everyday observable levels of behaviour. Top brain book of the last few years, I'd say.
    • 3/5
      Although he lost me in several places, I always managed to get back on track. Great fun, both the brain and the author.
    • 3/5
      I was set to be totally enthralled but ended up disappointed. In the beginning the author seemed to be viewing and thinking very broadly across numerous disciplines and making startling and insightful conjectures. With time, certain blind spots became evident. He pooh poohed psychoanalysis using an antiquated picture of it when it could have been easily encompassed as one of several ways to enhance connections between neurons. Considering that it often works, it should be incorporated into a picture of how the brain works. Also as he got to more speculative topics, his leaps of conjecture were made on such flimsy evidence that it didn't seem worth making them.