​Neurosciences: The New Way Of Understanding The Human Mind

He brain study It 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, by Human Genome Projectto the application of the genetics in behavior incredible things have been discovered about that small organ of less than a kilo and a half that we have in our heads.

Things that we could not discover until the “decade of the brain” began in the 90s, which unleashed a wave of new sciences called cognitive psychology and neuroscience, which includes the aforementioned. These are disciplines that are still valid 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 latest 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 spanned 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 1980s; and the last one was emotional cognitivism, within the framework of the so-called “decade of the brain”. The latter was also the bridge for the emergence of the neurosciences

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

Background of neurosciences

The so-called “brain sciences” have their antecedents in the first localization of the cognitive functions of the brain, which occurred in the early years of the 19th century, the experimental psychology the psychophysiology and the great contribution of computer sciences and in particular to the development of Artificial Intelligence, as well as the incorporation of molecular genetics in the 80s, although pioneering incursions of great importance had already been made in the use of genetic approaches for the study of the brain and behavior since the 1960s.

Within the context of genetics, another of the antecedents and tools of neuroscience was the Human Genome Projectwhose 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 “he Human Genome Project has opened a completely 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 once mentioned and neurology at Stanford University Robert Sapolsky we cannot talk about behavior (and I add, the brain) without taking biology into account.

Approaching a definition of neuroscience

As a formal definition (based on different readings), I would define neurosciences as the study of the biological bases of human behavior I now want to add another definition, that of Cognitive Neuroscience; defined by Carles as “the discipline that seeks to understand how brain function gives rise to mental activities, such as perception, memory, language and even consciousness.” Despite its few years of existence, this discipline has experienced multiplication in its studies which, among its examples, include visual attention, vision, memory, and consciousness.

As a result of the so-called “decade of the brain” (although perhaps the most appropriate thing would be to call it “the twentieth or century of the brain”), Cognitive Neuroscience and neuroscience in general have seen their branches of research flourish, thus expanding to fields such as law, economics, psychology, gastronomy, etc. The rich variety of applications of neurosciences are a symptom of the presence of this research in all areas of our lives.

The neurosciences have been in charge of explaining how the mind works based on its biological condition rooted in the brain Its importance lies in the fact that now, thanks to high-tech scanners designed by other branches of science, secrets of the brain have been revealed that make what was once part of science fiction; today it is formal science. Now we know that it is necessary to know the brain to be able to understand it and design strategies to improve our behavior and, thus, solve the major problems in terms of public policies related to the brain. psychological problems

Discovering how we think and feel

In the same way, neuroscience has allowed us to show ourselves as we are, as our being is. biological (I make this separation to suggest the relationship between our animal side and our rational side). Denying the function and responsibility of the brain in our behavior is not going to change our condition at all.

Besides, discoveries about our brain have moral implications Just as it says Steven Pinker in The Blank Tabula, “the refusal to recognize human nature is like the shame that sex produced in Victorian society, and even worse: it distorts science and scholarship, public discourse and everyday life.” That is why we must support a science that is allowing us to know ourselves, how we are and why we are like that. And we must do it without fear and aiming to improve our human condition based on knowing our human condition, that is, seeing our human nature with a human face.

Another reason why people, scientists and, especially, psychologists should approach the study of neuroscience is because this field of study is breaking myths and raising classic problems again, but now with a more rigorous approach from the point of view of from a scientific point of view. One of these problems is that of the mind-brain relationship, this has ceased to be “a monopoly of philosophy” (in the words of Giménez-Amaya), to become a topic where multiple disciplines try to provide a solution, always taking take into account brain function.

These new sciences included in neuroscience are revolutionizing all aspects of daily life, for example, Now public policies are made that take the brain into account in education, law, medicine, technologies Countries like the United States of America have complete projects, similar to the Human Genome, related to neurosciences.

Neurosciences as a psychologist’s tool: let’s understand the machine better

“The brain, whether we like it or not, is a machine. Scientists have come to this conclusion, not because they are mechanistic spoilsports, but because they have accumulated evidence that any aspect of consciousness can be linked to the brain.”

—Steven Pinker

Of course, the organ we have inside the skull is so difficult to understand that until now it is considered practically the most complex object in the solar system. As Carl Jung put it: “In each of us there is another whom we do not know.”

That capricious little animal addicted to carbohydrates is the most complex material in the universe and that same little animal is the object of some disciplines such as neuroscience, which may well be a tool for others such as psychology. Neuroscience shows us the biological side of the mind and the brain, and therein reside some issues such as consciousness and cognition. The object of study of this discipline is responsible for our behaviors and other issues that psychology is responsible for studying, and that is why it is important to rely on these tools that bring us closer to that biological part responsible for most of our behavior. .

Our brain It weighs one kilo, two hundred grams and is made up of two types of cells: neurons and the glia All people harbor hundreds of billions of these microscopic bodies. And, as Eagleman says, “each of these cells is as complicated as a city. And each of them contains the entire human genome and circulates billions of molecules in intricate economies.”

Since the consolidation of neurosciences, psychologists have undertaken the challenge of developing a psychology based on concrete and isolable biological data.

Conclusions and contextualization

Neurosciences have had a long journey throughout the history of understanding the brain. For most of human history we have been unable to understand how the brain and mind work. The ancient Egyptians considered the brain a useless organ, Aristotle believed that the soul lived in the heart and others, such as Descartes, believed that the soul entered the body through the tiny pineal gland. After the “decade of the brain” everything changed and we finally began, thanks to new technologies and discoveries, to really know the brain. What we did not learn in the entire history of humanity, after the nineties, we began to discover and learn, but we are barely understanding and assimilating it.

However, there are still many people, in academia, culture and ordinary people, who They refuse to recognize their nature and accept the new ways of understanding ourselves, of understanding our brain, our machine The denial and resistance of many people to neuroscience is found in the belief that biology comes to strip us of our human condition, it would end our moral part and reduce us to no more than animals guided by our impulses and in that case it is They could justify things like rape, incest, or murder.

But contrary to these beliefs are those said by such renowned scientists as Steven Pinker or David Eagleman who propose that by showing the human being without fear what he is, true recovery programs can be made, predict and control behaviors that could harm the society and themselves. Refusal to recognize what happens in our machine will not help provide answers about what happens in it, and that can have a social cost.