JZ Knight recommends
“The Tell-Tale Brain”

Frank Bures wrote this review in Scientific American, December 24, 2010:
“Gleaning insights from these rare and intriguing neurological disorders, [V. S. ] Ramachandran reveals how the human brain has evolved unique functions that separate us from other primates. He proposes that around 150,000 years ago our brain started to change, allowing us to learn to perform new tasks. ‘All the same old parts were there,’ he writes, ‘but they started working together in ways that were far more than the sum of their parts,’ giving humans distinctive traits, such as language, empathy and morality.”

“Take mirror neurons, nerve cells that are activated when we perform an action or when we observe someone else performing an action. These neurons appear to help animals and humans imitate the behaviors they observe. Ramachandran theorizes that this sophisticated system of mirror neurons not only evolved to create awareness of others but also brought about self-awareness in humans. He fittingly dubbed these neurons ’empathy neurons.’ Based on this theory, he suggests that Cotard syndrome may result from damage to mirror neuron circuits, causing a person to lose that self-awareness.”

“Such bold leaps may make some scientists uneasy, but they are also what make Ramachandran so provocative and his book such an entertaining read.”
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