Description

John, aged sixty, suffered a stroke and recovered fully, except in one respect: although he can see perfectly, he can no longer recognise faces, even his own reflection in a mirror.

Whenever Francesca touches a particular texture, she experiences a vivid emotion: denim = extreme sadness; wax = embarrassment; orange peel = shock.

Jimmie, whose left arm was recently amputated, can still feel it – and it’s itchy.

Our brains are the most enchanting and complex things in the known universe – but what happens when they go wrong? Dr V. S. Ramachandran, ‘the Sherlock Holmes of brain science’ and one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, has spent a lifetime working with patients who suffer from rare and baffling brain conditions. In The Tell-Tale Brain, he tells their stories, and explores what they reveal about the greatest mystery of them all: how our minds work, and what makes each of us so uniquely human.

Publisher Review

A masterpiece. The best of its kind and beautifully crafted. -- Allan Snyder, FRS, Director of the Centre for the Mind A leader in his field and an ingenious and tireless researcher. This is the best book of its kind that I have come across * New York Review of Books * Excellent ... I cannot imagine a better account of the sweep of contemporary neuroscience * Financial Times * A profoundly intriguing and compelling guide to the intricacies of the human brain. -- Oliver Sachs Ramachandran is a latter-day Marco Polo -- Richard Dawkins