Stories by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Diane Rogers-Ramachandran

Seeing the World in Half-View

Victims of a disorder called neglect just don't get the whole picture

Sizing Things Up

When you hoist two items of equal weight, your brain may be doing some heavy lifting

Touching Illusions

Startling deceptions demonstrate how tactile information is processed in the brain

Ambiguities and Perception

What uncertainty tells us about the brain

It's All Done with Mirrors

Reflections on the familiar and yet deeply enigmatic nature of the looking glass

Right-Side Up

Studies of perception show the importance of being upright

Paradoxical Perceptions

How does the brain sort out contradictory images?

A Moving Experience

How the eyes can see movement where it does not exist

When the Two Eyes Clash

A tale of binocular rivalry

The Neurology of Aesthetics

The Quirks of Constancy

Even when we consciously know two lines are the same length, why can't we help seeing them as different?

Cracking the Da Vinci Code

What do the Mona Lisa and President Abraham Lincoln have in common?

Touching Illusions

Startling deceptions demonstrate how tactile information is processed in the brain

Stability of the Visual World

When your eyes scan a room, why doesn't the world appear to bounce like the real image on your retina?

Hidden in Plain Sight

Camouflage in fish and other animals provides insights into visual perception

The Reality of Illusory Contours

How can an imaginary square look more real than a box with actual lines?

How Blind Are We?

We have eyes, yet we do not see

Mind the Gap

The brain, like nature, abhors a vacuum

The Phantom Hand

The feeling of being touched on a fake hand

Seeing Is Believing

2-D or not 2-D, that is the question: what shapes formed by shading reveal about the brain