Can’t Always Get What You Want
In Chapter 12 of Phantoms in the Brain, Ramachandran goes over various “selves”. The
passionate self as well as the executive self both impacted the life of Claudia in the book Over My Head.
They changed the way she gathered and interpreted information in addition to how she acted in public
(and in private). The brain is a very complex organ, and it is extremely interesting to see exactly how and
why Claudia acted and thought the way she did: the combination of both books really brings a lot of new
information to light which, paradoxically, adds to the mystery of the brain.
Ramachandran starts out by explaining what he called the “passionate self”. He immediately
connects it to one’s consciousness (or awareness): “If you don’t see the meaning or significance of
something – if you cannot apprehend all its implications –in what sense are you really aware of it
consciously?” (p. 247). He concludes his point by explaining how emotions are in fact an essential aspect
of self and not simply a “bonus”. Ramachandran continues by going into detail on the temporal
lobes/the limbic system and how it controls much of the brain. For example, the amygdale monitors
perception and tells the body how to react to different emotions (such as getting scared if a lion wakes
up next to you). Given all this, it is not surprising that damaging temporal lobes can have a drastic effect
on one’s personality. After all, personality is largely based on the emotions expressed. Ramachandran is
careful to reveal something very surprising though: people with damaged temporal lobes will not be
consciously aware that their personality has changed.
Claudia from Over My Head experiences “symptoms” which are similar to those which
Ramachandran wrote about. For example, Claudia repeatedly expressed her passion for medicine and
made it extremely clear that she wanted to return to work and continue to be a doctor. This is a clear
expression of emotion which Ramachandran says is very closely related to the passionate self (“It is
difficult to imagine the self without emotions” (p. 247)). However, Claudia’s perception and awareness
are a little bit off. That is, she seems to have difficulty grasping the severity of the situation she is in. The
primary example of this is how she thinks she will be able to return to work by June when the reader
and the employees at HTP are quite certain that it would be impossible. In fact, she is genuinely
surprised and devastated when she is told that another HTP session would be required.
While some readers may say that she was simply in denial of the whole situation, it is not a far
reach to say that Claudia was legitimately unaware (or unconscious) to the fact that her situation was
really bad. She was able to understand and accept that she would not be able to be “normal” again
when she was told so by Joan. It was not easy to accept, but she was definitely able to understand and
be aware of the situation. Thus, it seems logical to say that Claudia’s “passionate self”, while affected
somewhat, is still intact and working…it just has a few kinks here and there.
Ramachandran then explained the “executive self”. There was one specific line which really
connected with Claudia’s case: “…you feel that you are in charge. Yet paradoxically, it is always obvious
to you that there are some things you can do and others you cannot given the constraints of your
body…” (p. 249). The whole idea of thinking you’re in charge but yet failing to take command is very
similar to the woes that Claudia has to endure. She is very much aware that she has difficulty performing
certain tasks and she knows what she needs to do in order to succeed…and yet she fails. A perfect
example of this is the portion of the book where she prepared a shopping list, went to the supermarket,
bought her groceries, packed them, took the bus home and then left the grocery bag outside her door
and went to sleep. Needless to say, the food defrosted overnight and was ruined. The sad part is that
something similar had happened to her before, so she was trying very hard to not forget her groceries,
and yet she did.
Ramachandran continues to describe the executive self by explaining the importance of
“representations” of things in the brain. This actually connects back to a comment made by Dr. Demaree
in which he explained how sometimes institutions similar to HTP would construct a fake supermarket as
a sort of training arena for patients. Patients would practice shopping in the fake supermarket in order
to prepare for the real thing where there could be otherwise unforeseen obstacles. This practice should
theoretically help the brain make an accurate representation of a supermarket in the brain. With an
accurate representation, the brain should not have difficulty managing the real supermarket.
Over My Head is a very interesting book which shows how much someone’s life can change. But
the combination of Over My Head and Phantoms in the Brain really adds a new dimension to the story.
It shows how things as simple (or complex, depending on how one sees it!) as someone’s personality or
thinking process can change due to an accident. While knowing some scientific background is not
needed in order to enjoy and understand Claudia’s story, it really does help the reader understand her
situation better. As such, it is highly recommended that Phantoms in the Brain is read before, after, or in
conjunction with Over My Head.