Author(s): V. S. Ramachandran

Science & Natural History

V.S. Ramachandran is at the absolute forefront of his field - so much so that he has been praised by Richard Dawkins as a latter-day Marco Polo. A specialist in brain damage, he is famous for an instinctive, intuitive approach to neurological disorders that has led him to successfully ‘amputate’ phantom limbs, as well as solving the riddles of apotemnophilia (an obsession with self-amputation), and Capgrass syndrome (where patients who are in all other respects fully recovered become convinced that their loved ones are imposters). This new book will explore why the human brain is so unique and how it became so enchantingly complex. Taking us to the frontiers of neurology, he reveals what baffling and extreme case studies can teach us about the brain and how it evolved. Along the way we hear stories that are by turns moving, funny, tragic and disturbing, but always utterly fascinating.