09 January 2010

A lecture by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran


Neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran discusses the Capgras Delusion, phantom limbs, and synesthesia (including the bouba/kiki effect).  This is a very technical TED talk, but excellent if you are interested in human biology.

3 comments:

  1. Fascinating, except for the fact that mirror neurons are not unique to humans (or even primates), and in fact there is no definitive evidence that humans in particular even have mirror neurons, because the required experiments cannot be (ethically) performed.

    I hate it when facts ruin an otherwise good TED talk.

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  2. Did I miss the part where he said they WERE unique to humans?

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  3. He isn't arguing that humans are the only animals to have mirror neurons, only that we have developed a particularly subtle and useful system of connections between mirror neurons.

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