Vilayanur S. Ramachandran

Vilayanur S. Ramachandran is the director of the Center for Brain and Cognition. He is also a professor of psychology and neuroscience, at the University of California, San Diego. In addition, he is a professor of biology at the Salk Institute. He has a medical degree from the Stanley Medical College, and a Ph.D. from Trinity College, Cambridge. He is a scientific advisor to the Beckley Foundation, a drug policy and research initiative.

Mass media
The mass media has given Ramachandran some attention. He has appeared on both Channel Four and PBS documentaries. He has also been featured by the BBC and Newsweek, which considers him one of the "hundred most prominent people to watch in the next century". More recently, he gave the 2003 Reith Lectures, entitled the Emerging Mind.

Writings by Ramachandran

 * A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness : From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers, 2005, ISBN 0131872788
 * Phantoms in the Brain : Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind, coauthor Sandra Blakeslee, 1998, ISBN 0688172172
 * The Encyclopedia of Human Behaviour (editor-in-chief)
 * The Emerging Mind, 2003, ISBN 1861973039