3) Functions are distributed in the brain (Flourens – 1824, Lashley – 1929) Flourens found that it did not matter where he lesioned inside cortex; what mattered was how much he lesioned. This suggested that functions were equally distributed (the law of equipotentiality) and widely distributed (the law of mass action) across cortex. Lashley updated …
Continue reading “History’s Top Brain Computation Insights: Day 3”
This post is part of a series chronicling history's top brain computation insights (see the first of the series for a detailed description). 2) Brain signals are electrical (Galvani – 1791, Rolando – 1809) Galvani (whose name inspired the word 'galvanize') discovered that electrically shocking frog nerves made their muscles move. Rolando used this same …
Continue reading “History’s Top Brain Computation Insights: Day 2”
It is hard to maintain historical perspective as neuroscience progresses. Today's complications and confusions seem to cloud the clear insights of the past. This is inevitable when trying to understand the brain, the most complex computational device known. The plan here is to highlight history's major brain computational insights in the interest of integrating them …
Continue reading “History’s Top Brain Computation Insights: Day 1”
Most neuroscientists don't use human subjects, and many tend to forget this important point: All neuroscience with non-human subjects is theoretical. If the brain of a mouse is understood in exquisite detail, it is only relevant (outside veterinary medicine) in so far as it is relevant to human brains. Similarly, if a computational model can …
I thought this article at Howstuffworks was appropriate just after the all day drinking fest that is St. Patrick's Day for many. According to the article, a hangover from a heavy night (and/or day) of drinking is mainly due to dehydration. The dehydration process begins with a chemical reaction in the brain; specifically the pituitary …
News about a neuroimaging group's attempts to predict intentions hit the wire a few days ago. The major theme was how mindreading might be used for unethical purposes. What about its more profound implications? If your intentions can be predicted before you've even made a conscious decision, then your will must be determined by brain …
Continue reading “Predicting Intentions: Implications for Free Will”
Most researchers in neuroscience use animal models. Though most neuroscientists are interested in understanding the human brain, they can use more invasive techniques with animal brains. In exchange for these invasive abilities they must assume that other animals are similar enough to humans that they can actually learn something about humans in the process. Functional …
Continue reading “Eliminating Common Misconceptions About fMRI”
Most neuroscience writing touts statements like 'the human brain is the most complex object in the universe'. This serves only to paint the brain as a mysterious, seemingly unknowable structure. This is somehow comforting to some, but it's not for me. I want to understand this thing! Here are some facts to demystify the brain …
My latest scientific publication is entitled Selection and maintenance of stimulus–response rules during preparation and performance of a spatial choice-reaction task (authors: Schumacher, Cole, and D'Esposito). It is a study using functional MRI with humans to investigate how we prepare for and execute willful action. In this post I'll attempt to translate the article's findings …
Continue reading “The neural basis of preparation for willful action”
Time magazine has just published an intriguing article on the neural basis of consciousness. The article was written by Steven Pinker, a cognitive scientist known for his controversial views on language and cognition. Here are several excerpts from the article… On the brain being the basis for consciousness: Scientists have exorcised the ghost from the …
Several news articles have come out today which seem to imply that a recent Science report's main finding is that the mind wanders for a purpose (see this Forbes article), and that "daydreaming improves thinking" (see this Cosmos article). These are typical of fabrications used by popular science journalists to pique the public's interest. Mason, …
Continue reading “Wandering Minds and the Default Brain Network”
Normally, neuroscientists try to discover things about the brain, as if it were one monolithic thing. Might the differences between individual brains be important, or useful? A recent article in New Scientist describes recent efforts to use each person's unique brain activity patterns as a kind of fingerprint (or 'brainprint') for security purposes. The system …
Freedom to choose is the first axiom of our being. We assume freedom with each action that we take, and we are annoyed when we are forced to act "against our will". A recent article on free will at the New York Times explains that determinism is a direct implication of the brain being the …
As the first post on Neurevolution, I would like to review several other neuroscience blogs that have been around for a while. First is Mind Hacks, a blog by the two authors of the book by the same name. According to the authors, the blog and book include "neuroscience and psychology tricks to find out …
