LEADING NEUROSCIENTIST AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR, TO DISCUSS HIS NEW BOOK ON THE HUMAN BRAIN

NYS Writers Institute, January 31, 2011
4:15 p.m. Reading/Discussion | (Note Room Change) Recital Hall,
Performing Arts Center

CALENDAR LISTING:
V. S. Ramachandran, one of the world’s leading neuroscientists and bestselling author, will discuss his new book, “The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human” (2011), at 4:15 p.m. on Monday, January 31, 2011 in the Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, on the University at Albany uptown campus. Sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute and the Science Library, the event is free and open to the public.

PROFILE
Vilayanur Ramachandran, one of the world’s foremost neuroscientists, and an eloquent author of books explaining new discoveries in his field, is the author most recently of “The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human”(2011).

In advance praise, bestselling neurologist Oliver Sacks said, “No one is better than V. S. Ramachandran at combining minute, careful observation with ingenious experiments and bold, adventurous theorizing. [This] is Ramachandran at his best, a profoundly intriguing and compelling guide to the intricacies of the human brain.” Eric Kandel, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine said, “[Ramachandran is] the modern Paul Broca, the great French neurologist who opened up the biological analysis of higher mental functions.” Bestselling evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins said, “Ramachandran is a latter-day Marco Polo, journeying the Silk Road of science to strange and exotic Cathays of the mind. He returns laden with phenomenological treasures... which, in his subtle and expert telling, yield more satisfying riches of scientific understanding.”

Ramachandran is the Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at UC San Diego, where he is also Professor of Psychology and Neurosciences. He is an authority in the fields of behavioral neurology, psychophysics, and visual perception. He has also made notable contributions to the treatment of phantom limb syndrome and RSD (complex regional pain syndrome), to stroke rehabilitation, and to the study of synesthesia and autism, among other neurological conditions.

Ramachandran’s earlier books include “Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind” (with Sandra Blakeslee, 1998), “The Emerging Mind” (2003), and “A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers” (2005). He also served as editor-in-chief of the four volume “Encyclopedia of the Human Brain” (2002). In the publication “Scientific American MIND,” Ramachandran coauthors the bimonthly column, “Illusions” with his wife, Diane Rogers-Ramachandran.

Born in Madras State (Tamil Nadu) in India, the son of a career diplomat, Ramachandran received his M.D. at Stanley Medical College in Chennai, and his Ph.D. in neuroscience and experimental psychological from Trinity College, Cambridge, England. In 2001, Ramachandran was the subject of a one-hour episode of PBS’s “Nova” entitled “Secrets of the Mind.” In 1997, “Newsweek” named him to “The Century Club,” a list of one hundred people predicted to have a major impact on the new century.

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.