Nova’s “Secrets of the Mind” — Dr. V.S. Ramachandran
Originally broadcast Oct. 23, 2001 on PBS
1. How many connections are there between neurons in the brain?
2. What is the “explanation” for why Derek feels his phantom limb on his face?
3. What neuroscience dogma did Ramachandran challenge with his explanation?
4. Explain the mirror box illusion that helped James Peacock with his phantom pain.
5. What might this mirror box experiment suggest about pain?
6. Describe Graham Young’s “blindsight.” What can he “see”?
7. Describe, with regards to age and consciousness, the two visual pathways in the brain.
8. What role may blindsight play in all of our brains?
9. How can “visual neglect” affect both perception and memory?
10. How may areas of the brain relatie in one way or another to vision?
11. What is the “how” pathway?
12. With what is the “what” pathway concerned?
13. Describe the Capgras delusion.
14. How may Capgras syndrome relate to emotions?
15. Temporal lobe seizure patients often have what kinds of feelings?
16. How can the “emotional landscape of the brain” affect to what we pay attention?
17. Use Ramachandran’s rivulet/furrow analogy to possibly explain religious
experiences.