Neurosciences: the new way of understanding the human mind

The scientific disciplines that study the Biological basis of behavior are the neurosciences.

The study of the brain is one of the most important studies facing science today. Thanks to various technologies such as scanners that allow us to know what our brain looks like and how it works, the Human Genome Projectthe application of genetics to genetics in behaviorThanks to the Human Genome Project and the application of genetics in behavior, we have been able to discover incredible things 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 beginning of the "decade of the brain" in the 90s, which unleashed a wave of new sciences called cognitive psychology and neurosciences, including the aforementioned. These are disciplines that are still current and are revolutionizing all areas of our lives.

What are they and why approach the study of neuroscience?

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. cognitive psychology. It developed in three stages. The first was characterized by its institutionalization, which lasted from its beginnings until the 1980s. This phase was dominated by the metaphor of the brain as a computational computer. The second stage was that of connectionism in the 1980s, and the last was that of emotional cognitivism. emotional cognitivismin the framework of the so-called "decade of the brain". The latter was also the bridge for the emergence of neurosciences. neurosciences.

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

Background of neurosciences

The so-called "brain sciences" have their antecedents in the first localizations of the cognitive functions of the brain, which occurred in the early years of the 19th century, the experimental psychologyexperimental psychology, psychophysiology 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 1980s, although pioneering incursions of great importance had already been made in the use of genetic approaches to the study of the brain and behavior since the 1960s.

Within the context of genetics, another of the antecedents and tools of neurosciences was the Human Genome ProjectThe importance of this study is incalculable, since it made it possible to recognize the important role played by genes in the construction and coding of the brain.

In the words of Philip J. Corrin 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 in psychology but in all sciences that interact and work with the brain, because as once mentioned by the professor of biological sciences and neurology at Stanford University Robert Sapolskywe cannot talk about behavior (and I add, about the brain) without taking biology into account.

Approaching a definition of neuroscience

By way of a formal definition (based on different readings), I would define neuroscience as the study of the biological basis of human behavior. I would now like to add one more 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.

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

The neurosciences have taken it upon themselves to explain 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 part of formal science. We now know that it is necessary to know the brain in order to understand it and to design strategies to improve our behavior and, thus, solve the great problems in terms of public policies related to psychological problems. psychological problems.

Discovering how we think and feel

In the same way, neurosciences have allowed us to show ourselves as we are, as our being is bio-logical (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 will not change our condition.

Moreover, discoveries about our brain have moral implications, discoveries about our brains have moral implications.. As Steven Pinker Steven Pinker at The Tabula RasaThe refusal to acknowledge 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, to know how we are and why we are the way we are. And we must do so without fear and betting on improving our human condition as a function of knowing our human condition, that is, seeing our human nature with a human face.

Another reason why people, scientists and, in particular, psychologists should approach the study of neuroscience is because this field of study is breaking myths and is once again posing classic problems, but now with a more rigorous approach from a scientific point of view. One of these problems is the mind-brain relationship, which has ceased to be "a monopoly of philosophy" (in the words of Giménez-Amaya), to become a subject where multiple disciplines are trying to find a solution, always taking into account the function of the brain.

These new sciences included in neuroscience are revolutionizing all aspects of daily life, for example, public policies are now being made that take the brain into account in education, law, medicine, technology, and the environment.. Countries such as 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 that conclusion, not because they are mechanistic killjoys, but because they have accumulated evidence that any aspect of consciousness can be linked to the brain."

-Steven Pinker

Of course, the organ inside our skull is so difficult to understand that it is so far considered practically the most complex object in the solar system. As Carl Jung put it: "In each of us there is another one 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 neurosciences, which may well be a tool for others such as psychology. Neurosciences show us the biological side of the mind and the brain, and in it reside some questions such as consciousness, 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 weighs one kilogram two hundred grams and is composed of two types of cells: the neurons and the glia. Every person harbors hundreds of billions of these microscopic bodies. And, as Eagleman says, "each of these cells is as complicated as a city. And each one contains the entire human genome and circulates billions of molecules in intricate economies."

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

Conclusions and contextualization

Neuroscience has had a long journey through the history of understanding the brain. For most of human history we have been unable to understand how the brain and mind function. The ancient Egyptians considered the brain a useless organ, Aristotle believed that the soul inhabited 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 whole history of mankind, after the nineties, we started to discover and learn, but we are just understanding and assimilating it.

However, there are still many people, in academia, culture and the common people, who refuse to recognize its nature and to accept the new ways of understanding ourselves, of understanding our brain, our machine..... The denial and resistance of many people to neurosciences lies in the belief that biology would strip us of our human condition, would do away with our moral side and reduce us to nothing more than animals guided by our impulses, and in that case things like rape, incest or murder could be justified.

But contrary to these beliefs are those of renowned scientists such as Steven Pinker and David Eagleman, who propose that by showing humans without fear what they are, they will be able to make real recovery programs, predict and control behaviors that could harm society and themselves. Refusal to acknowledge what is going on in our machine will not help to provide answers about what is going on in it, and that may have a societal cost.

Bibliographical references:

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• Carles, E. (2004). Historical and conceptual approach to Cognitive Neuroscience. Cognitive, 141-162.
• Corr, P. J. (2008). Psychogenomics. In P. J. Corr, Biological Psychology. Mcgrawhill.
• Eagleman, D. (2013). There's someone in my head,but it's not me. In D. Eagleman, Incognito. The secret lives of the brain (p. 9). Anagrama.
• Giménez-Amaya, J. m. (May-August 2007). Dialnet. Retrieved from Dialnet: http://dadun.unav.edu/handle/10171/10926
• Kaku, M. (2014). Introduction. In M. Kaku, The future of our mind (p. 22). Penguin Random House.
• Pinker, S. (2003). The Blank Slate. In S. Pinker, The Blank Slate (p. 703). Paidós.
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