Teasing out phantoms from the brain

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 29. Is appreciation of art, from ancient to abstract, strongly associated with the brain? Does the brain analyse for the art-lover what an intricate metaphor connotes? Does Picasso's cubism represent a strong neurological reality?

Why does a head injury make a man think that her mother is an impostor or a women, when poked, giggle uncontrollably? Or why a child with autism outsmart Davinci in drawing?

Find the answers in the brain, listening to Dr. V.S. Ramachandran, the distinguished neurophysiologist, scientist and writer of international repute. This Professor and Director of the Centre for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego, and author of the highly acclaimed ``Phantoms in the Brain,'' has the answers hidden in the brain.

Take for example the phantom limb, one of his favourite subjects. Even after amputation, a person gets all the feelings as if the limb is intact. He or she feels bad pain when the hand gets into a clutch. To put it in common man's language, it has something to do with the map of the body in the brain. When the limb is lost, the area that belonged to the hand is invaded by the area of the face. This reorganisation in the brain explains the phantom limb.

But that defies the old belief that neural connections are static. Connections between nerve cells in the brain were constantly changing, he said. It challenged the dogma traditionally used to explain many diseases.

Dr.Ramachandran was speaking at the Apollo Hospitals on ``What Neurology Can Tell Us About Human Nature and the Meaning of Art.''

Speaking about the role of brain in appreciating art, he said art in India had evolved much before that in rest of the world. From realistic to abstract, India had achieved what the rest of the world did, millennia ago.

``Rasa,'' which ancient texts constantly referred to, explained the science behind art. It meant capturing the essence and invoking emotions in the brain. With examples from ancient art, he said the brain found the links that the metaphors indicated. The sculpture of dancing Shiva was replete with amazing metaphors. It accentuated appreciation each time one looked at it. It was the same with Indian classical music too. He also explained the science behind appreciating cubism.

Introducing the speaker, Dr. K. Ganapathy, neurosurgeon, said Dr. Ramachandran, credited with a brilliant academic record, including 120 peer-reviewed journal publications, was hailed by Newsweek as one of the 100 prominent people to watch out for.

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