Phantoms in the brain

A man walks in to a doctor's office in deep pain. His problem - his left hand is clenched tight and is seemingly clamped in that position. Its not just a normal closed fist either, the fingers are curled up so tight that his fingernails have dug halfway into his palm, causing him unbearable, excruciating pain, pain that you or I could never normally experience. He's at his wits end because nobody he's seen so far has been able to alleviate this condition...his fist simply cannot be unclenched, even the slightest bit. The pain cannot be numbed.

So why is it that painkillers or medication, or even surgery doesn't help? Because, bizzare as it sounds, he does not have a left arm! He only developed this condition after his entire left arm was amputated several months ago. Now wait a minute, this is nuts, you think? Pain in an arm that doesn't exist? A clear sensation of a closed fist biting into a non-existent palm? But no, the patient isn't crazy. These are, apparently, symptoms of a medical condition called Phantom limbs which results from amputation of a limb. Not widely known but at the same time not uncommon among amputees. But how are they created? How can you so clearly 'sense' an arm that isn't there? And how does one get rid of them? I suppose you've heard the phrase "Its all in the mind" often enough. But I doubt if anyone has ever really realised the truth of it. It really is, ALL in the mind. Everything we are, and are not. Not just our thoughts, our emotions, our personalities, not even just our physical bodies, but the world we live in. It's all seemingly just an image created by our mind. And I'm not talking philosophy here.

Phantoms in the brain, authored by Indian neuroscientist V.S.Ramachandran and writer Sandra Blakeslee, is a one of its kind book, not only for its subject but also for its written style. As you turn the pages, Ramachandran seems to take you by the hand and give you a guided museum tour of the human brain. Actually, its more like a tour of a factory, as he takes you through various aspects of humanity like our perception, emotions, the way we see things, even our beliefs on God, and attempts to describe the various pulleys and levers in the brain that make all of this possible. That make us, essentially, who we are. The writing is simple enough for the most part, almost seems like a humorous dinner-table conversation at times, but leaves you with a vast appreciation and a sense of wonder about the everyday things you take for granted. Sure, there's a fair bit of anatomy to be learnt, and some medical terms that need getting used to. But again the presentation, which includes illustrations of the brain where required, helps you learn without giving the feel of a medical textbook.

As Ramachandran himself says, the study of the human brain, unlike most other forms of science, has not evolved to the point where we know exactly how things work or even create 'grand unified theories' of its working. This is probably what fascinates me the most about it. That there's something still left today where the words disovery and exploration actually mean something and are not relegated to the history books. Where experimentation and investigation hold more value than research. And there's something decidedly Sherlock Holmes-ish about the way Ramachandran studies patients with various deficits and anomalies and uses this knowledge to propose theories about...or deduce, rather...the functioning of various parts of the brain. What's also very interesting is his penchant to use simple everyday stuff - mirrors, cardboard boxes and pencil sketches among others - to diagnose (and cure in some cases) these bizzare ailments. And in the process, you cannot help but marvel at the physical mechanisms that translate into our highly complex understanding of, and interaction with, the world around us. To help you relate, here's a few examples from the book:

Why is it you give a spontaneous, genuine smile the moment you see an old friend, but cannot produce the same smile when a stranger asks you to do it deliberately?

There's a disorder that prevents a person from doing simple arithmetic while yet retaining an understanding of complex concepts like unity, infinity and the numerical digit system. Another deficit caused by this disorder is the inability to correctly identify or name the fingers of a hand. Given this, is it sheer coincidence that we all learn to count with our fingers as kids?

When shown two circles of nearly equal sizes, more often than not you would not be able to decide straightaway which one is bigger. But try to grasp the circles, and your fingers will automatically align to the edges of the circles without erring. So how do your fingers know the right size, when 'you' do not? This would then possibly lead you to wonder about consciousness itself, about how much the 'you' in you really controls your interactions with the world.

He also makes an interesting blend of physiology and psychology while trying to explain uniquely human concepts like denial and repression, and talks about a branch of study called evolutionary psychology while attempting to explain how laughter evolved, and the much more interesting topic of "why do gentlemen prefer blondes?"

However, much as I enjoyed reading this book, there are some downsides too, as with most things in life. One is that this isn't really a book you can finish in one sitting. Unless you have a hell of lot more perseverance...and much better memory...than I do. You'd probably read a few chapters, ponder about them for a while, then just when you think you have it all, forget some technical concept that makes something possible and end up re-reading the whole chapter all over again. So in a way this is a book you would need to keep coming back to. Another irritant for me is his tendency to quote poetry and verse...Shakespeare and the Bhagavad Gita, among others...to illustrate his points. So I end up spending so much time understanding the poetry that I forget why he quoted it in the first place. There's also a chapter or two where he tends to go deep into philosophy. Reminds me of the oft-repeated quote of Dr. Watson, about the world losing out on a first-rate violinist and chemist when Sherlock Holmes decided to get into the detective business. Another issue...not really a downside, actually...is that he at times propounds theories that sound fairly fantastic...completely out of the box. So while you marvel at his ingenuity, you also can't help a feeling of incredulity about whether this is really how stuff works.

But apart from these minor issues, something I thoroughly enjoy reading. And a book I'm proud to have in my bookshelf. Oh, and apart from all of the above, it makes for great conversation at parties or get-togethers. Even had friends look up at me in awe after I'd finished one of my discourses on the brain and go "Wow, you're so knowledgable!". So in a way, this has done more for my self-esteem than all those Chicken Soup books. Which I've never read, by the way. There you have it...denial in a nutshell! Caused, no doubt, by the parietal lobe of the left hemisphere of my brain. But ignore me, and go read the book. I'm sure you'll find it far more interesting! :-)