V.S. Ramachandran’s Phantoms in the Brain is a well-written book for what he believes to be the causes for some neurological theories and mysteries. He covers many syndromes such as Phantom Limb syndrome, the Capgras Delusion, Cotard’s Syndrome, Hemi-neglect, Blind-sight, Motion blindness, Anosognosia, multi-personality disorder, and the Zombie with in each of us. When he talks about these syndromes he is arguing for the theory of not having a soul because it is not physically tangible and using the neurological theory of consciousness to prove said argument. Though there is a theory of the soul he consistently proves that there is no such thing as a soul that we can physically obtain in our world. So, the question is, do souls exist or are they a figment of imagination and a coping mechanism for humans? Souls do not exist because whether one believes in them or not, they cannot physically be dealt with in the real world as shown through patients with Phantom Limb Syndrome, Capgras Delusion, and Blind-sight syndrome.
Phantom Limb Syndrome is when a patient has lost a limb, such as a body part (organs), an arm or leg, but can still feel the presents of the limb and is “able” to continue functions with the arm because of the presents of the phantom. This syndrome can be caused by losing a limb in a tragic accident or by being born without a limb or limbs. When people are born without the limb or limbs and have this syndrome it can be described as wishful thinking or by having a soul. Wishful thinking is where the person wishes that they have the syndrome but they actually do not even if they are showing the signs of having the syndrome. This sort of thinking can be shown in the case of John McGrath who was an arm amputee that had co...
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...e he is not conscious and is thus not responsible for his actions. Even though he is unable to do many of these things he is still able to function in the world and complete tasks. He just will not have any memory of doing said tasks when he gets back to being conscious.
Blind-sight is when the patient is legally blind but can perform tasks of everyday life as if they were able to see perfectly. (not able to see but are able to perform tasks as if they are able to see, zombie?)
Soul Theory objections and defense (Pg22)
Psychological Theory objections and defense (pg66)
Neurological Theory objections and defense (consciousness)
My evaluation and argument for which explanation deserves the right of hegemony
Conclusion
Works Cited
Ramachandran, V. S., and Sandra Blakeslee. Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind. New York: Quill, 1999. Print.
Neuroscientists claim that due to unconscious brain activity, we are “biochemical puppets” (Nahmias). Through experiments conducted by neuroscientists like Itzhak Fried, neural activity is shown to occur before a conscious decision is made. Fried concluded that this was a predetermined occurrence
David Eagleman, in his book Incognito: The Secret lives of the Brain, explores the relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind. Referencing many real-life stories and scientific experiments, Eagleman argues that we governed more by our unconscious. The book explores one main question: “If the conscious mind - the part you consider to be you - is just the tip of the iceberg, what is the rest doing?". We are not aware of what the rest of brain, the unconscious, is doing; rather, “the brain runs its show incognito” (Eagleman 7). In my book report, I have interwoven my synopsis and my reflection/connections to what we have learned in class so the essay flows more chronologically. Additionally, I chose the examples and case studies that I believed best reflected the central argument of the book. For quotes, I only included sentences that reflected a main idea and terms/phrases that
In cognitive terms, this young man is an example of a misperception in kinesthesia. The inability to comprehend the loss of a limb is both terrifying and unnerving. In the story at hand, the patient believes that what they see is unlike anything he has seen before. The patient believed the leg he found in his bed was not his own. In terror and amazement, he was stupefied when Dr. Sacks informed him the leg he had been seeing was his own.
Richard Taylor explained why the body and the mind are one, and why they are not two separate substances. In the article “The Mind as a Function of the Body”, Taylor divides his article in a number of sections and explains clearly why dualism, or the theory that the mind and the body are separate is not conceivable. In one of these sections it is explained in detail the origin of why some philosophers and people believe in dualist metaphysics. As stated by Taylor “when we form an idea of a body or a physical object, what is most likely to come to mind is not some person or animal but something much simpler, such as a stone or a marble”(133). The human has the tendency to believe a physical object as simple, and not containing anything complex. A problem with believing this is that unlike a stone or a marble a human (or an animal) has a brain and the body is composed of living cells (excluding dead skin cells, hair, and nails which are dead cells). The f...
unknown. (2011, october 27). inside the human brain. Retrieved january 19, 2014, from nia.nih.gov: http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/part-1-basics-healthy-brain/inside-human-brain
Historically, cognitive psychology was unified by an approach based on an resemblance between the mind and a computer, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). Cognitive neuroscientists argue convincingly that we need to study the brain while people engage in cognitive tasks. Clearly, the internal processes involved in human cognition occur in the brain, and several sophisticated ways of studying the brain in action, including various imaging techniques, now exist, (Sternberg and Wagner, 1999, page 34).Neuroscience studies how the activity of the brain is correlated with cognitive operations, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). On the other hand, cognitive neuropsychologists believe that we can draw general conclusions about the way in which the intact mind and brain work from mainly studying the behaviour of neurological patients rather than their physiology, (McCarthy and Warrington, 1990).
There have been some cases where people have been declared brain dead but then regain some brain activity (Greenberg, 2014). This has sparked debates that brain death does not necessarily mean death.... ... middle of paper ... ...
As far as I could remember I was never really any good at school. I couldn’t concentrate on things for no more than 5 minutes at a time I would either get discouraged or find it too easy and just give up. An author by the name of Carol Dweck wrote an article called “Brainology” in it Dweck describes that there are two types of mindsets fixed and growth. Those who are afraid to fail so they never try anything new are ones with a fixed mindset and the growth mindset are those who are not afraid to fail and find a new challenge an opportunity to learn something new. I guess you can say that I had a bit of a fixed mindset growing up I was always too scared to look stupid that I didn’t want to fail because I didn’t want to disappoint my siblings
Overall, there is an immense amount of research dedicated to understanding the psychobiological causes of phantom pain. A prevalent commonality between the literatures reviewed, suggested that symptoms of phantom pain are a neuro-psychobiological experience rather than a psychological disorder. This was evident by peripheral and central factors that associate the cause of phantom pain with the disruption of sensory nerve impulses due to the damage of sensory nerve fibers after amputation. As well as studies that demonstrated a positive correlation between progressive neuroplastic changes in the cortical reorganisation of the topographical structure in somatosensory cortex and worsening phantom limb pain, inferring that cortical reorganisation mediates the extent of pain experienced.
Renner, T., Feldman, R., Majors, M., Morrissey, J., & Mae, L. (2011). States of Consciousness. Psychsmart (pp. 99-107). New York: McGraw-Hill.
The documentary, “Amazing Secrets About the Human Brain” presented by the History Channel, explains how the brain works to people with little to no academic knowledge on the subject. The brain is “the most complicated device” humans have found, so it is certainly a topic of interest to many. In the past few years, knowledge of the brain has grown significantly. The documentary’s goal is to describe the complexity of the brain and how it influences various human behaviors, such as fear, sexual arousal, sports performance, and psychic mediums. With a minor shortcoming, the documentary does a sufficient job of introducing the complexity and workings of the brain to people with little knowledge of the topic.
What causes someone to desire amputation of a healthy limb? This desire was first reported by French surgeon Jean-Joseph Sue in 1785 (Lawrence, 2006). However, this delusion only began to receive public attention in the early 2000s due to the increase in documented cases. Soon thereafter, a psychiatric condition titled Body Integrity Identity D...
Speculations on the origin of the mind have ranged from ghosts to society. Each new theory brings about more speculation and disagreement than the last. Where the mind resides, where it came from and if the brain has any involvement with the concept are common questions that fuel theory paradigms. Those questions are also the foundation of the debate about the roll of experience versus the existence of innate capacities. Steven Pinker theorizes the mind as a computing system created by the brain to fill the gap between innate capacities and capacities missing using common sense and learned critical thinking skills.
Ramachandran, V. S., and Sandra Blakeslee. Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind. New York: Quill, 1999. Print.
Blakslee, S. (1993, August 31). The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from www.nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/31/science/seeing-and-imagining-clues-to-the-workings-of-the-mind-s-eye.html