What do you find most fascinating about the human brain?

I find that the doctor treats the patients with respect and doesn't assault their self esteem. Admirable.

Years ago, my late uncle complained to me that his amputated left leg is so itchy that it was driving him mad. I introduced him to the mirror trick because i had watched one of Dr Ramachandran’s lectures on this subject. It was so satisfying that it worked, and my uncle’s tears of relieve was a very emotional moment for us.

Dr. Ramachandran is the Niel Degrasse Tyson of neuroscience.... I can't unsee it

I read one of dr. Ramachandran's papers on phantom limbs for my bachelor's thesis, and let me tell you, it was amazing!

Understanding the brain and mind is like trying to understand the universe, it excites me that there is still so much to learn

This documentary came out on BBC in 2001.... I was watching this thinking, they knew this decades ago, They really should include the original air date at the title end or pin it😂

We have a tendency to believe that what we see is a true, objective representation of the reality around us but when I started to practice my drawing skills it made me realise how much our brains actually “process” visual information and even adds or alters details. Our vision is less like a photograph and more an amalgamation of sensory input, influenced by our previous experiences and emotions. Our perception of colour is probably the most basic example of this.

For anyone interested in this subject I would strongly recommend a book titled " The Man who mistook his wife for a hat" by Oliver sacks. Im almost certain that Dr. Ramachandran knows the book. Fascinating read.

I think we can all agree that we want Dr. Ramachandran hosting a tv show on neuroscience

I find it fascinating that I had a piece of my brain removed, the size of a Bic cigarette lighter, in 1985 and suffered no side effects whatsoever. And fully cured for epilepsy. It has always puzzled me how all the lights still shine brightly even though all the wires in that area have been cut, and even some transformers removed. 😃😇😄

Always been so fascinated by phantom limbs. It's one of those things where you wish you could put yourself in someone's shoes for a moment to truly understand what they are feeling.

I had a weird relationship with mirrors growing up- i am left handed and my grandpa taught me how to write without making me aware i was writing in a wrong direction (mirroring his right hand moves with my left hand).It took a mirror (and my sister to make me aware) to realise my writing was a mirror picture, also to correctly identify where to reach for objects seen in the mirror. My mind was getting confused for some time.

I have no eyes. They were removed in 2010, due to problems that I had with them and the fact that they were incredibly painful, were shrinking and did not work anyway. I can still feel them. On occasion, they still hurt like they did before my surgery and I can still see light.

Being hearing impaired, I have, on a few occasions, experienced what is known as musical ear syndrome. My brain comes up with and allows me to listen to all types of music, typically in the middle of the night when all is quiet. It sounds like a concert that's way off in the distance. I find it fascinating what my brain can and will do in an attempt to compensate for my hearing loss. It just makes stuff up. It's a pretty cool experience.

Blind sight makes sense knowing I myself have driven all across town but I wasn't really conscious of what I was doing (busy inside my own head/zoned out..ADHD) and I never hit anything, avoided all obstacles etc.

My husband lost 3 fingers in a work accident. They were tenderized and had to be amputated. However, the very skilled neurolo sergeants wrapped the nerves and closed th wounds after the skillful amputations. They said that in the future, the science might have a way to restore new fingers and use the intact nerves for sensations. My husband says, "Sometimes it feels like his missing fingers are cold, ir in pain, or tingling." i think it's the presence of the nerves that make him feel that way. It could be more psychological case, I, of course don't know. Hopefully this helps someone out there. Please stsy safe, God bless you.

I'm 63 & when I turned 50 I started to lose my motor skills walking talking etc. My teeth were loosing & ended up losing most I found out that I had been hosting a tick infold of left ear I'm not doing very well though I'm trying doctors wouldn't believe me & called me crazy & a druggy & I don't drink Alcohol or do drugs 😢

Kudos to this Doctor, engaging, knowledgeable and passionate.

My mother-in-law lives with us. She is suffering from dementia and, though obsessively attached to my husband, does not know who I am. When we go to church, I am not the same person as I was at home. When we go to dinner afterwards, she asks her son why “that girl” is always around when they eat at restaurants. Early on, my husband said to her “Don’t you remember my wife?” She stubbornly replied “I don’t remember.” She never speaks my name. We have been married for 36 years.

I feel like I have a neurological disorder that hasn’t been discovered yet because I’ve tried to explain my overactive brain to countless experts, and they’re all stumped. I feel diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

I have seizures and have experienced those symptoms as well. My senses will get mixed up and I can "smell" and "taste" colors. I wish he would study my brain.

A friend of mine has severe face blindness. She has lots of coping strategies, but one day she almost took the wrong little boy home from preschool. The boy and her son were both wearing red shirts that day. Luckily a teacher saw what was going on and straightened things out. After that, a teacher was always on hand to bring her son directly to the car.

My grandpa was an amputee.l for 25 years… He always complained about phantom pain , which was that he felt his finger nails had grown too long and were growing into his wrist… he always joked saying he wanted someone to cut his phantom fingernails!

This man is completely eager and determined. It is refreshing to see another human being wanting to help his fellow human being! And this is what it means to be alive and be human! 🎉❤

Great documentary, its crazy how far brain sciences got since this document was filmed

March 2019 I all of a sudden passed out at work. My Mum came and got me and took me to the Dr. (Hospital's were ramping). When she came, I had no idea who she was and I was extremely confused. Once I was at the medical clinic, I had my first seizure in my life (I was 33 years old). After spending 2 weeks in the hospital and having several seizures a day, I was diagnosed with; Psychogenic Non Epileptic Seizures (PNES). In early 2023, I was diagnosed by a Neuro psychiatrist with; Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) with PNES. Since early 2019 (before Covid really was known) I've had daily seizures. I don't feel like God though 😂 I'm absolutely exhausted and so sore after each seizure. It also doesn't help when I have Lupus SLE and Fibromyalgia. So, for me, I feel like I have my own neurological mystery.

In my case, I have difficulty identifying left from right. If I'm driving and you tell me turn to the right, there are 50% chances that I would turn to the left. I wear a ring on my left hand to remind me that that is my left side, but it doesn't help at all, my brain just ignores that visual clue. The neurologist told me that this happens sometimes to people who are born only before 9 months of gestation, which is my case, because it is during the ninth month that your brain completely develops the area that clearly recognizes left from right.

I like Phillip. He's really smart, charming, and has taken control over his disability. He seems like a really great guy.

I asked the head monk of my Buddhist order how Shakyamni dealt with physical pain. "He was free of the construct of pain the mind creates, but the sensation of pain still existed". As a practicing Buddhist, I grasp the first part of that sentence. But the second, I'm still grappling to comprehend. I've mastered neither.

I ended up next to a guy in ICU for 3 months who has a leg amputated. During the early days when we both experienced hectic pain and had plenty morphine injections, he was told about fantom pain in his missing leg. At the time he didn't take note. Later when he started experiencing it I told him the doctors called it fantasy pains. Not remembering it myself. Anyways he told the nurses daily that he has fantasies and he was ignored until we discovered it's fantom pain and not fantasy pains. We still laugh about those fantasy pains he had.

My neurological condition has never been diagnosed by any of my neurological. I have a memory disorder, which I feel is caused by a problem with my hippocampus. I gradually lose all of my long-term memory. So I don't remember a single day of high school, university, almost all my friends who used to be close friends. I, for example, would bump into people who said they have known me for years, but I have no idea who they are. I can't remember a single day in my 2 previous homes l lived in for the past 20 years. More or less, my episodic memory is 90% gone. What happens is that I go to an everyday life event, after a month it starts to fade and 4 or more months it's almost gone. My short-term memory is horrible. If I go to a restaurant, supermarket, or anywhere else I should easily be able to find where I was before, I cannot because the visual benchmark that I used to remind me where I was doesn't say. If I try to learn a new skill for a job, something like playing a guitar, learning new education, anything that would require retention would not transfer to the long-term memory to become subconscious. It just won't be retained long enough to transfer to the long-term memory. I have to really concentrate to observe one thing at a time where everyone else can walk into a room and notice people, how the room is organized and different things in the room in a couple of minutes. My memory regarding historical events doesn't fade. I'll never forget who Einstein is and his contributions to science, how the solar system is organized, math, grammar, etc. I'm great with money, knowing when bills should be paid, remembering birthdays, doctors' appointments, etc. I don't have alzheimer's. This is not progressive. It's been there since I was 25 years old and isn't getting worse. Also, I've done an EEG, MRI, CT scan, and there was no damage to my brain. If you have any idea what this is or have a reference, send me a response. The past 7 neurologists I have seen and told them about this don't believe this condition exists. It's not in the Neurologist books. Dementia is in the is in th Neurologist books, so it exist to them. I guess someone have to figure out what I have, and put it in the Neurologist books. If you are a Neurologist that might know what I have please let me know. Please don't tell me stuff like getting enough sleep, exercising, nutrition, the usual stuff. Also I don't drink or smoke or am obese, high blood pressure, diabetes, family members with memory or anything else.

I experience temporal lobe epilepsy. I can understand were a person might feel like they're having a religious experience or even feel like they're haunted. All but the left/right side blindness I experience

Could this be why I don't feel like anything but a young man? I'm getting old, I see it in the mirror, I'm almost 60, but I can't EXIST with it no matter how hard I try. I don't like the incongruity between my age/look and how I feel.

I can fully appreciate the concept of blind sight. Being almost completely blind in my left eye there has been a few times over my life where i have come incredibly close to injuring myself on that side- especially around the face/head (such as walking into a street sign or shop display rack) but at the last split second i will react & my reflex actions will take over, preventing disaster.

His explanation makes it sound so simple a child could do it.. this guy knows everything about the brain and he can put the 2 & 2 together like no other. I’m surprised it is not common knowledge in medical science, it sure sounds like everyone should know this already.

I saw that mirror box on an episode of House. It was fascinating 😮❤

I had all my teeth pulled out a few years ago. It's a long story. Anyway, since I had them pulled out, I've experienced phantom teeth aches, sometimes even a teth grinding sensation. It doesn't happen every day. But at least 2 times a month. It's hard to explain how it feels.

Thank you so much for posting this!!!

The brain is simply an organ of mystery. I love an exciting adventure into the human brain as this one. It's really interesting the thing the human brain can accomplish and do. I love this!

Utterly absorbing. I had read of the brain re-wiring the phantom limb sensitivity before. Blind site was so amazing how the brain used old pathways when needed. Explained so much so clearly. Thanks.

The reason behind the denial and the selfdeception of the patient's inability to perform certain tasks is actually a positive reaction to the tragic trauma that happened to him.. This means that the patient wants to go on with his life as if nothing happened. On the contrary, when you have a patient who's totally aware of what happened and is verbalising all his handicaps in detail , this patient is likely to go into a deep depression which can shorten his life dramatically.

My grandfather had his leg amputated and told me his toes still hurt like crazy. He said he knew with his eyes, the foot was gone, but the nerves and his brain would not accept it being gone. I felt so bad for him.

This guy is the real Dr House

I can happily say, after I had my tonsils removed at 20 years old, I have never felt them since. My tonsils rotted in my throught due to a very neglected childhood, where I was left on my own with very little nutrition. Always sick with severe sore throats. The last time I got sick prior to surgery, I was 16, and I was taken to the hospital by a neighbor because I could not breathe. Both my nose was stuffed up, and my throat closed off due to swelling. I could only breathe by angling my head just right so I could get air. By the time my tonsils came out, they were enlarged with huge cuts and disfigured shape. They were also so infected that they stunk of rot that I tasted in my mouth.

Wonderful ! I do hope we can unravel more of the brains mysteries in the enxt decade. Thank you for a very interesting programme.

The section about John with the temporal lobe seizures was very helpful to me to understand what happened to my mother when she had a stroke and thought it was god revealing himself to her, and subsequently she became a born again christian and professed that everything in the bible must be true. After a second stroke, which saw her in the hospital, I spoke to the doctors who had the same dilemma as Dr Ramachandran in whether to explain or not to explain, the religious aspect of her experiences. It is out of their scope, and not acceptable to delve into, although, to a mind of science, intensely important, especially for the relationship between my mother and me, which has deteriorated as a result. If only they could say, "This is a result of her strokes". I could forgive her for the betrayal and the damnation of my soul.

oh my, what an incredible, amazing document! so grateful for this, THANK YOU!

Watching from Uganda

This is phenomenal! I have been fascinated by phantom limb pain since an old boyfriend’s dad was pieced apart from diabetes. John would wack his infected leg, when he still had it, with a wooden stick whenever it would be painful in a certain area. However, he still experienced these strong, shooting pains in his “leg” after they removed it.

Interesting will look in to Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran work.

I had an accident and developed nerve damage to my right foot. When I plucked my eyebrows I would feel it in my foot. I had hypersensitivity to that foot could not get a pedicure even a cloth touching it bothers me. I live in San Diego, it would be nice to see this doctor.

Dr.Ramachandran is a genius. He made practical value out of the principle of duality. The mirror experiment was remarkable 👍

This is great for rehab sciences. Thank you for uploading

Oh this is so interesting! I have many activities I want to try with this wonderful people! Fascinating!! ❤️

This is amazing to watch!Dr, VR is a Genius.

Extraordinary and amazing explanation of brain functions...The most powerful part of human body.

This was a fantastic documentary. Tysm ,❤️🕊️🙏

1:23:45 Good one. Liam Neeson dubbed his voice in for the good doctor.

You ever notice when you’re walking that you never have to shorten or lengthen your strides for things like curbs or potholes? You brain map adjusts your stride many steps before the obstacle so when you reach it, it’s just another normal step. Nothing exaggerated large or short. Think about it next time you’re out for a walk. You’ll never hit a curb mid foot.

Dr Ramachandram is a really high qualfied in own subject (neurology),I am inspired by him...

That was jaw dropping, thank you!!!🙃🙏🇿🇦

Yes. 🔥 The power of the mind!🤔 YAHbsolutely fascinating❣️ Thank you🌹

I've heard Ramachandran give talks -- always fascinating and sometimes horrifying. Tinnitus is also a "phantom" -- I have it and it was by practicing not caring about the sound that allowed the sound to become lower, background.

This video helps me out so much. I had a cross wiring in my brain light him and I was getting confused what's hand to use of fork which hand to use a knife and I could do it equally. My hand writing was a little bit off from hand-to-hand but it's just the most amazing thing. I had a shoulder injury 22 years ago a change from my life forever and now I have a heart condition and the story goes on and on and on. It's just so difficult. I would really like to meet this doctor. When he got to the guy that has a problem with names. I had that same problem once took the entire presence for a couple of weeks and then I stopped taking them. I know my way around but I get names of people confused places. It's so frustrating.

This was amazing and I’m a great believer in the power of the mind. I wish someone could tell me how to get rid of the arthritis pain in m6 knees, I know it can be done.

This was really helpful, thanks for sharing!

Amazing stories and amazing doctor. Thank you.

50:25 Just remember not to associate one's mind with the body's brain.

Very interesting, really enjoyed this, love anything with study of the brain

Very useful and honest video. Thank you very much. Keep searching the realty.

Amazing I just wish it had been longer

I need to talk to this doctor. I think I have an infliction with my eye nobody else has. I've also had a stroke which has ruined my left side. Made my left side, both numb, and really painful, and all sorts. Before stroke I was a master of my body's neurons. Loads of video game world records, so would be this really good test subject as well. How do I talk to him?

I need to get ahold of this doctor because I have a condition. I think might help his theories and maybe more breakthrough

This is fascinating

I have experienced each of these stores... amazing..

The people that want a limb amputated and say that it's not apart of them are so incessed about it that they try to get rid of it themselves. That's so strange and makes me wonder about reincarnation.

5 years ago I was paralyzed because of transverse myelitis, so I’m a incomplete t9 paraplegic, I just woke up one day and suddenly there was pain and burning, then nothing from the top of my waistline down. I regained partial sensation in the lower part of my body, but if I can’t see my legs, I couldn’t tell you what position they’re in… right now I’m reclining in bed, but my legs feel like they’re bent at the knees like I’m sitting in a chair.

I suffered a brain injury and now have a left neglect from surgery so I completely understand the first story

"It's not gonna be 40 days or 40 nights, it's gonna be 40 billion years!" lol.

wow!!thisis a great documentary

The body map thing interests me, because of an experience I had a couple years ago. I had surgery on my right elbow to repair a tendon. During recovery, a couple different times I felt the (expected) pain at the exact spot on my left arm. I just figure those parts of the brain are close together, so I think of it more as an oddity than anything.

I already figured out the first guys brain had somewhat rewired itself before the Dr's hypothesis 😅 I am so smart ....S.MA.T

Love it. Very very very interesting, thanks.

That was so good!

I would love to know the science behind depersonalisation/derealisation

I am so curious, now, to see how his research has led to medical care and practices. I want updates! 😅

There was an episode in House MD where this mirror technique was used to releave a painful phantom clench that an amputee from the military was suffering from for years

Maybe it has to do with like, if nothing has touched your hand in a long time you still need to be able to sense stuff if it does, so it keeps that area active to make sure whenever a signal comes in it gets it right away because that's important.

I watched it many years ago, good to back to it again

This outcasting from the community is really taking a toll on neil degrass tyson.

They're all are mental conditions, except the last one. He simply might be more connected with the nature, spirituality and with an advanced sensitivity to his time...

🎉 I experienced blindsight afterr a bicycle accident as a child. I laughed at something on the TV not knowing why I was laughing so no one believed me that I couldn't see it... Got taken to a phycologist instead of a hospital... Thank God it went away.

I have F.N.D functional neurological disorder.. my brain misfires and doesn’t send signals to the right parts of my body, when I am in full paralysis its like I’m locked in my own body 😢

I had a student with severe autism. He was missing his nerves connecting both his ears and eyes to his brain. However he preferred specific colors and responded to verbal direction.

Great story! 😊

Everything. It‘s an amazing organ with what seems like virtual possibile actions, thoughts, capabilitie, etc due to chemistry, genetics, hormones, learning, intillect, and activity that can change the function of behavior like accidents or disease.

So I wonder about this blindsided happenings, in that those that are able to see paranormal beings have similar events in their brains?

I also seemed to have developed something weird after severe covid. I was extremely right handed before covid but after near death condition am ambidextrous. As if my brained got rewired.

I have heard of them, but then again I have read a fair amount of neurology, and I am a bit of a neurological oddity myself, I experience less of my right side than my left, it feels smaller and less "there" although I know it is as both my hands are touch typing together right now. I also have some degree of prosopagnosia, which has been tested. That is embarrassing at times but I have developed compensations for it, with enhanced recognition of other characteristics like a persons gait or voice.