Neuroscience
Exploring the origins of consciousness
Questions
What are the neurological origins and mechanisms that govern our consciousness? How did it develop? What mental processes are truly conscious and what are unconscious processes (how does the brain work, develop perceptions, solve problems, etc)? What level of consciousness do other living things experience?
What are the answers today and expected results tomorrow?
Recent Articles of Interest
Neuroscience Defined
[reprinted from Wikipedia]
Neuroscience is a field that is devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system. Such studies may include the structure, function, evolutionary history, development, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, and pathology of the nervous system. Traditionally it is seen as a branch of biological sciences. However, recently there has been a surge in the convergence of interest from many allied disciplines, including cognitive- and neuro-psychology, computer science, statistics, physics, and medicine.
The scope of neuroscience has now broadened to include any systematic scientific experimental and theoretical investigation of the central and peripheral nervous system of biological organisms. The methodologies employed by neuroscientists have been enormously expanded, from biochemical and genetic analysis of dynamics of individual nerve cells and their molecular constituents to imaging representations of perceptual and motor tasks in the brain.
Neuroscience is at the frontier of investigation of the brain and mind. The study of the brain is becoming the cornerstone in understanding how we perceive and interact with the external world and, in particular, how human experience and human biology influence each other.
Magazine and Online Resources
In my quest to find answers to these questions I have found the following resources extremely useful:
- Wikipedia, the collaborative online encyclopedia, for a wide range of general and specific scientific inquiries (www.wikipedia.org)
- The Teaching Company Courses (www.teach12.com)
- Scientific American Magazine, as above plus the latest research reports (www.sciam.com)
- Scientific American Mind Magazine, for neurological (neuroscience and neuropsychology) scientific research reports (www.sciam.com/sciammind/)
Book Resources
- The Quest for Consciousness, Christof Koch & Francis Crick (click here for more info)