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It
is ironic that even though we now have a vast amount of factual
information about the brain (10,000 papers were presented at this
year's Society for Neuroscience meeting!), even the most basic
questions about the human mind remain unanswered. Why do we laugh,
i.e., make a rhythmic sound and bob our heads in certain situations?
Why do we cry? Why the salty
liquid flowing down our
cheeks when sad? What is the meaning of art? How does the human
brain create and respond to art? Why do we enjoy music? What causes
us to dance? What makes some of us so amazingly creative in
mathematics, science, and poetry? How are metaphors represented in
the brain? What is "body image" and why does it get distorted in
anorexia nervosa? How did language evolve? Then there are more basic
questions. How do we see color? Why can we pay attention to only one
thing at a time? How do we recognize faces so effortlessly? Neuroscientists and psychologists have, in the past, shied away from such questions, but Dr. Ramachandran is well known for tackling questions such as these experimentally, questions that have traditionally been the preoccupation of philosophers. Already, there is talk in the literature and in the news media about the emergence of such new disciplines as "neuroethics," neurotheology," neuroeconomics," "neuroaesthetics," and "neuroepistemology," which would have been unheard of even a decade ago. (text adapted from: http://psy.ucsd.edu/chip/CBC2.html) |
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| V.S. Ramachandran
is Director of the
Center for Brain and Cognition and professor with the
Psychology Department and the
Neurosciences Program
at the
University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor of
Biology at the
Salk
Institute. Ramachandran trained as a Physician and obtained an
MD from Stanley Medical College
and subsequently a PhD from
Trinity College at the
University of Cambridge, where he was elected a senior Rouse
Ball Scholar. Ramachandran's early research was on visual perception
but he is best known for his work in Neurology. Dr. Ramachandran's major areas of research are: cognitive neuroscience, behavioral neurology - the study of cognitive and perceptual deficits in human neurological patients, neural plasticity and "phantom limbs", stroke rehabilitation, human visual perception/cognition, and visual psychophysics. |
