In person, Professor Vilayanur Ramachandran has the same energy and charisma that made his 2003 Reith Lectures so popular. Originally trained as a doctor, he came to neuroscience via neurology. His experiences with neurological patients, including his pioneering work on phantom limbs, are related in his first book Phantoms in the Brain. He is currently Director of the Centre for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute.