TRAVEL THROUGH THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE by Jesus Gamarra

TRAVEL THROUGH THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE by Jesus Gamarra

Author:Jesus Gamarra [Gamarra, Jesus]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2020-12-11T16:00:00+00:00


Neurosciences: the new way of understanding the human mind

The study of the brain is one of the most important that science faces today. Thanks to various technologies such as scanners that allow us to know what our brain is like and how it works, the Human Genome Project , the application of genetics in behavior , incredible things have been discovered about that small organ weighing less than a kilo and medium that we have in the head.

Things that we could not discover until the "decade of the brain" began in the 90s, with which a wave of new sciences called cognitive psychology and the neurosciences , including the aforementioned , was unleashed . These are disciplines that are still in force and that are revolutionizing all areas of our lives.

What are they and why approach the study of neurosciences?

The two greatest mysteries of nature are the mind and the universe.

- Michio Kaku

One of the last emerging paradigms within the field of psychology is that of cognitive psychology . This was developed in three stages. The first was characterized by its institutionalization, which ranged from its beginnings until the 1980s. In this phase the metaphor of the brain as a computational computer dominates. The second stage is that of connectionism in the eighties; and the last was that of emotional cognitivism , within the framework of the so-called "decade of the brain." The latter was also the bridge for the emergence of neurosciences .

It is important to mention cognitivism because most of the neurosciences are based on human cognition ( learning , memory , perception, etc.), a fact that gives rise to the appearance of cognitive neuroscience , which I will explain later.

Neuroscience Background

The so-called "brain sciences" have their antecedents in the first locations of the cognitive functions of the brain, which occurred in the early years of the 19th century, experimental psychology , psychophysiology and the great contribution of computer science and in particular to development of Artificial Intelligence , as well as the incorporation of molecular genetics in the 1980s, although pioneering forays of great importance had already been made in the use of genetic approaches to study the brain and behavior since the 1960s.

Within the context of genetics, another of the antecedents and tool of neurosciences was the Human Genome Project , whose importance is incalculable, since it allowed us to recognize the important role that genes play in the construction and coding of the brain.

In the words of Philip J. Corr , "The Human Genome Project has opened up a whole new perspective on the role of genetics in psychology." And not only of psychology but of all the sciences that interact and work with the brain, because as the professor of biological sciences and neurology at Stanford University Robert Sapolsky once mentioned , we cannot talk about behavior (and I add , of brain) without taking biology into account.

Zooming in on a definition of neuroscience

As a formal definition (based on different readings), I would define neuroscience as the study of the biological bases of human behavior .



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