Traditionally, neuroscience has tried to understand how the nervous system works, both functionally and structurally, this discipline tries to figure out how the brain is organized, in recent years it has gone further, not just wanting to know how the brain works. , but also the impact it has on our behaviors, thoughts and emotions.
The goal of connecting the brain to the mind is the task of cognitive neuroscience, it is a mixture of neuroscience and cognitive psychology, the latter relates to knowledge of superior functions such as memory, language or attention, so the main goal of cognitive neuroscience is to link brain function to our cognitive abilities and behaviors
- The development of new techniques has been of great help in this area to enable experimental studies.
- Neuroimaging studies have facilitated the task of linking concrete structures to different functions.
- Using a very useful tool for this purpose: functional magnetic resonance imaging.
- In addition.
- Tools such as non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation have also been developed for the treatment of various pathologies.
We cannot speak of the beginnings of neuroscience without mentioning Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who formulated the doctrine of the neuron. His contributions to problems of nervous system development, degeneration and regeneration remain relevant and continue to be taught at universities. If a start date for neuroscience had to be determined, it would be in the 19th century.
With the development of microscope and experimental techniques, such as tissue fixation and coloring or research on nervous system structure and functionality, this discipline began to develop, but neuroscience has received input from various areas of knowledge that have helped improve understanding how the brain works. It can be said that successive discoveries in neuroscience are multidisciplinary.
He has received great contributions throughout the history of anatomy, which is responsible for locating each part of the body; physiology is more focused on understanding how our body works; pharmacology with substances outside our body, observing effects on the body, and biochemistry, using substances released by the body itself as neurotransmitters.
Psychology has also made important contributions to neuroscience, through theories about behavior and thought, over the years the perspective has changed from a more localized perspective, in which each area of the brain was thought to have a specific function, or even one more. where the goal is to know the overall functioning of the brain.
Neuroscience covers a very broad spectrum within science, ranging from basic to applied research that works with the implications of the underlying mechanisms of behavior; in neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience is trying to figure out how superior functions like language, memory or decision-making. Work.
The main objective of cognitive neuroscience is to study the nervous representations of mental acts, it focuses on the neural substrates of mental processes, that is, what is the impact of what happens in our brain on our behavior and thoughts? Specific areas of the brain responsible for sensory or motor functions have been detected, but they represent only a quarter of the total cortex.
The association zones, which do not have a specific role, are responsible for interpreting, integrating and coordinating sensory and motor functions, and would be responsible for the superior mental functions. Areas of the brain that govern functions such as memory, thinking, emotions, consciousness and personality are much harder to locate.
Memory is linked to the hippocampus, located in the center of the brain, as far as emotions are concerned, it is known that the limbic system controls thirst and hunger (hypothalamus), aggression (amygdala) and emotions in general. Cognitive skills are integrated, this is where our ability to be aware, to establish relationships and to perform complex reasoning.
Emotions are one of the essential characteristics of normal human experience, we all experience them, all emotions are expressed through motor visceral changes and motor and somatic stereotypical responses, especially the movement of facial muscles. Traditionally, emotions have been attributed to the limbic system. , which is still the case, but we know there are more brain regions involved.
Other areas to which the treatment of emotions extends are the amygdala and the orbital and medial face of the frontal lobe, the joint and complementary action of these regions is an emotional motor system, the same structures that deal with emotional signals participate in other tasks, such as rational decision-making and even moral judgments.
Visceral and somatic motor nuclei coordinate the expression of emotional behavior Emotion and activation of the autonomous nervous system are closely related Would it be impossible to feel some kind of emotion, such as fear or surprise, without feeling an increase in heart rate, sweating, tremors?It’s part of the richness of emotions.
Attributing an emotional expression to brain structures gives it its innate nature. Emotions are an adaptive tool that informs others about our emotional state. Has homogeneity been shown in the expression of joy, sadness, anger?From different cultures. It’s one of the ways we communicate and identify with people.
Memory is a basic psychological process that refers to the coding, storage and retrieval of learned information, the importance of memory in our daily life has motivated much research on this topic, forgetting is also the central theme of many studies, since many pathologies cause amnesia, which seriously interferes with daily life.
The reason memory is so important is that much of our identity resides there. On the other hand, although we have forgotten it in the pathological sense of concern, the truth is that our brain needs to reject useless information to give way to new and important learnings. In this sense, the brain is an expert in recycling its resources.
Neural connections change with their use or obsolescence. When we save unsized information, neural connections weaken until they disappear. Similarly, when we learn something new, we create new connections. All these learnings that we can associate with other vital knowledge or events will be easier to remember.
Knowledge of memory has increased the cause of case studies of people with a very specific type of amnesia, in particular, has led to a better understanding of short-term memory and the consolidation of declarative memory. The case reinforced the importance of the hippocampus in establishing new memories. In contrast, the memory of motor skills is controlled by the brain, primary motor cortex and underlying lymph nodes.
Language is one of the skills that sets us apart from other animals, the ability to communicate with such precision and the great amount of nuances to express thoughts and feelings make language our richest and most useful communication tool, characteristic of the exclusivity of our species has prompted many studies to focus on their study.
The achievements of human culture are based in part on language that enables accurate communication. Linguistic ability depends on the integration of several specific areas of the association cortex into the temporal and frontal lobes. In most people, the main functions of language are found in the left hemisphere.
The right hemisphere is responsible for the emotional content of the language. Specific damage to brain regions can compromise essential language functions and cause aphasia. Aphasia can have many different characteristics, such as difficulties in articulation, production, or language comprehension.
Language and thought are not based on a single specific field, but on the association of different structures, our brain works in such an organized and complex way that when we think or talk, it makes multiple associations between zones, our previous knowledge will influence the news, in a feedback system.
Describing all these important neuroscience studies would be a complicated and powerful task. The following results have eliminated some previous ideas about how our brain works and have opened up new avenues of research. Here is a selection of some important experimental works from the thousands of existing studies:
Human Brain Project is an EU-funded project to build an infrastructure based on information and communication technologies (ICTs). This infrastructure aims to provide scientists around the world with a database in the field of neuroscience. Develop 6 ICT-based platforms:
This project began in October 2013 and is expected to last 10 years. The data collected in this huge database can facilitate future research work. The advancement of new technologies allows scientists to have a deeper understanding of the brain, although basic research still has many questions to solve in this exciting field of study.
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