The Tell-Tale Brain

A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human

By: V. S. Ramachandran

Narrated by: David Drummond

Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2011 V.S. Ramachandran (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Ramachandran produces an exhilarating and at times funny text that invites discussion and experimentation." ( Kirkus)

Humans are special but not too special.

The book gave me more reasons why humans are different from anything else known in the universe and how we got that way.

I've been looking for a book like this one which takes all the anomalies and traumas that have happened to individuals and weaves them all together in a coherent story about how our mind works and doesn't work. The mind is a wonderful thing to understand and this book goes a long way in helping me understand it.

The author has one of the best droll sense of humors I have ever come across while listening and he made me laugh out loud multiple times. The narrator really knew how to add the proper amount of drollness and added to the experience.

This is one of the few books where I lost something by listening instead of reading. I would get confused when he talked about some of the illustrations of the optical illusions under discussion and when he talks and names different areas of the brain, I would get lost and forget which region does what. Overall, even if I had read the book with the maps of the brain, I wouldn't have followed the names of the regions of the brain, but be warned, it does get very confusing while listening.

Disappointing

Having read Ramachandran in the past I was looking forward to this latest offering. Unfortunately the first half of the book is simply a rehash of his previous books. Overall this book was a disappointment and I can't recommend it

Interesting, yet overly stylized

Many interesting questions are addressed in this book; however the author only references studies which support his theories. He has not been very inclusive in his research. Furthermore, many of his actual 'studies' are derived from the small fishbowl of his college students, and, specifically, his psychology students. If that isn't a very selective population, I don't know what is. Also, there is a slight tone of male arrogance throughout this book, despite this, the book addresses many interesting topics and arguments. There are also many interesting individual cases which he discusses. I would recommend listening to this book, but only with a large dose of skepticism. Oh – and also, it would be an excellent idea to look at all the sketches he refers to in the actual, physical book. .

Amazingly Mind Blowing

Although I'm no neurologist, this book is written in a simple enough language that you can follow it (without feeling lost) if you pay attention to it.

This is definitely a thought-provoking book worth your time, if you have a curious mind.

Fascinating

This is an interesting survey of the functions of various parts of the brain, as well as illustrative stories of various disfunctions to walk you through the functions given to that area of the brain. There were a lot of illuminating examples. His style is more popular than Oliver Sack's Awakening, which was overly clinical for my tastes. This also doesn't appear to be targeted at medical students either, although he does describe various ideas for experiments to explore further possible theories around particular functions. His own technique of discovering is quite simple and practical. My own bone to pick, is that in some of the early chapters his descriptions of women felt overly sensual. I was feeling some discomfort in the descriptions. I suggest that might just be me, but I'd be curious if others noticed anything similar.

interesting insights but overall a dry read

one pet peeve from this book is that it refers to drawings and figures that you can't see with the audio book. I bought the book mostly because of my curiosity about autism. There was some interesting information but there's a lot of information that I found boring

Self-awareness versus self-consciousness

I greatly enjoyed the book. I am looking forward to listening to more of his work.

A good read/listen

What did you love best about The Tell-Tale Brain?

The personal anecdotes made this book much more understandable and enjoyable

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Tell-Tale Brain?

The pt. who "knew" his mother was an imposter

What about David Drummond’s performance did you like?

very well delivered

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A road trip through the brain.

Any additional comments?

I knew most of what was in this book but it was very entertaining, and I enjoyed it very
much.

the most human organ / a guided tour

? just what exactly do we know about how the brain works
? if we did know more, could we then understand ourselves better
? who'd be bright enough to both understand and explain all this

v.s. ramachandran is more than up to this monumental task
the explosion of new detailed brain studies provides his raw material
his near mythic status in the medical community provides his authority

years ago using only a mirror and a q-tip he unraveled "phantom pain"
this sad, untreatable condition had been recognized for centuries
it took someone of ramachandran's blazing insight to solve its' riddle

he clearly sees himself as flying at an altitude that others only dream of
a lack of confidence doesn't seem to be a problem he has ever had
but it takes that sort of hubris to tackle an issue this vast and significant

the anatomical nomenclature will probably over whelm some readers
the rapid pace of new discoveries means he'll need a new edition in a few years
this is a very exciting time in history to be an investigational neuroscientist

the most exciting sections of the book dealt with neuro-plasticity
? can nerves and nerve signals be repaired or rerouted
? can we contemplate therapy for diseases we once thought were untreatable

recent advances in neuro-imaging and function studies rival the discovery of DNA
we now have a window into that most human and complex of all organs
this book is a compelling first step in understanding this bold, new world

great book

great book. maybe too "technical" for some people but none the less is really great read for people looking to understand the brain.