Ramachandran on Capgras Syndrome, Phantom Limbs & Synaesthesia

Neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran provides an introduction to how we study the brain’s deficits.

Neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran provides an introduction to how we study the brain’s deficits using three cool examples:

  • Capgras syndrome: where a man looks at his mother and says: “It looks like my mother but she’s an imposter.” How can a person recognise his mother’s face yet feel it’s not her?
  • Phantom limbs: why would an amputated limb still hurt? Can this pain be relieved?
  • Synaesthesia: Numbers are colours. Notes are colours. Cross-talk between the senses has a higher incidence in creative people: why?

Author: Dr Jeremy Dean

Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from University College London and two other advanced degrees in psychology. He has been writing about scientific research on PsyBlog since 2004.

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