Monday, Apr. 04, 2011
V.S. Ramachandran
Age: 59
Occupation: Neuroscientist, author
Previous TIME 100 appearances: 0
Ramachandran has made a career out of studying quirky neurological problems: people who suffer from a disorder that causes them to view those close to them as imposters, people who feel intruded upon by their own limbs and wish them amputated, those who truly believe they are dead. By examining these hiccups of the brain, the author — his most recent book is The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human — shows how powerfully the mind works.