Vilayanur S. Ramachandran

Neuroscientist revolutionizing understanding of phantom limbs and synesthesia

Dr. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran transformed neuroscience through radical low-cost experiments revealing fundamental brain mechanisms. His mirror box therapy for phantom limb pain (demonstrated using $1 mirrors from a craft store) helped thousands of amputees worldwide.

Discoveries include:

• Mapping mirror neuron systems
• Explaining synesthetic cross-wiring
• Pioneering evolutionary neurology theories

Ramachandran's work bridges clinical neurology and philosophical questions about consciousness, earning him the nickname 'Marco Polo of neuroscience'.