Ch 1-6

Chapter 1:

Chapter 1 talked about phantom limbs and brain plasticity. It talked about the cases where an amputee still receives sensation as if it were still attached. It still would receive pain and other sensations like itching or falling asleep. The chapter also talked about the discovery of places on the body correlating to spots on appendages. For example, they talked about a man who would feel sensation in his phantom arm when different areas of his face were touched. The mirror box was also discussed as a phantom limb therapy that by placing your phantom arm behind a mirror and lining up your good limb in could help with pain reduction and relaxation.

Chapter 2:

This chapter talked about eyesight and its locations in the brain.  There were discussions with patients who had perfect eyesight but the correlating brain regions had a problem identifying the objects.  One patient said “My vision is fine Doctor. Things are out of focus in my mind, not in my eye”(44).  It then went on to talk about how you take images from your retina and make them into something understandable.

Chapter 3:

This chapter talks about a condition known as synesthesia which is when stimulation of a cognitive or sensory pathway leads to an involuntary activation in a second cognitive or sensory pathway. A common example is when letters or numbers are perceived as colored or when sounds are given colors.

Chapter 4:

This chapter talks about mirror neurons. It explains it as being when you see someone performing a task and your brain completes this action also subconsciously.  These mirror neurons also help us in language production by helping us imitate the tongue and lip movements in others.  Also by completing the actions of others in our own minds this can also help us to prepare responses in advance.

Chapter 5:

This chapter talks about Autism. He starts off by identifying the two main symptoms which are social deficits and sensorimotor. Autism affects information processing by altering synaptic connections. Autistic people have difficulties naturally expressing emotion and performing normal tasks. Ramachandran says that some autistic patients show a lower amount of mirror neurons.

Chapter 6:

This chapter talks about language and its uniqueness to humans.  He talked about how damaging different language areas of the brain and its different effects. He touched on Broca’s aphasia that caused interrupted and poorly structured speech. Comprehension was normal but had trouble producing coherent responses.

What makes science a science.

Science is not taking things at face value, but researching and experimenting to draw your own conclusion.  What makes a science a science is verification. The act of validating a claim is what makes a science science.  It is looking at anything and always being skeptical. Just because someone appears one way or someone tells you something doesn’t make you accept its validity. If we never questioned the world around us we would not be where be are now intellectually or technologically. Myths don’t pose questions like science does. Myths are stories, usually passed down through oral tradition, that have no basis in fact, but are just assumed to be true. Imagine if we took things to be true as we hear them. We’d still be living in the stone age. Science and verifying and researching claims are critical to our intellectual advancement.