Science is knowledge about the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observations. Science has a lot of subtopics under it like Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science, Cognitive Science, and various others. Today, we shall be discussing a subtopic under Cognitive Science. Cognitive Science is the scientific study of mind and intelligence. Neuroscience is a part of this vast branch of science that is quite interesting and deals with our body functions and thinking processes.
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. It is an interdisciplinary science that works closely with other disciplines, such as Mathematics, Linguistics, Engineering, Computer Science, Chemistry, Philosophy, Psychology, and Medicine.
Early in the 20th century, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Spanish pathologist, histologist, and neuroscientist, hypothesized that neurons are independent nerve cell units. In 1906, Golgi and Cajal jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for their work on the categorization of neurons in the brain. Since the 1950s, research and practice in modern Neurology have made great strides, leading to developments for the treatment of stroke, cardiovascular disease, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and other such conditions.
Scientific developments have enabled neuroscientists to study the structure of the nervous system, its functions, development, and ways it can be altered. Modern Neuroscience provides insight into the brain's anatomy and expands our understanding of neurological, physiological, and physical functioning, and sheds light on how the mind and body link up.
The scope of neuroscience has broadened over time to include different approaches used to study the nervous system at different scales. The techniques used by neuroscientists have expanded enormously from molecular and cellular studies of individual neurons to imaging of sensory, motor, and cognitive tasks in the brain.
Humans have an estimated hundred billion neurons, or brain cells, each with about a thousand connections to other cells. One of the great challenges of Modern Neuroscience is to map out all the networks of cell-to-cell communication which are the brain circuits that process all thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The resulting picture, emerging bit by bit, "is known as the connectome." This ability of the brain to elaborate new connections and neuronal circuits, called neuroplasticity, underlies all learning.
Just as computers are hard-wired with electrical connections, the brain is hard-wired with neural connections. These connections link together its various parts, including the sensory input and motor output, with the brain’s message centers, allowing information to come in and be sent back out.
There are many branches in neuroscience but we shall be touching upon the most popular ones:
Affective Neuroscience. Here, research is carried out on laboratory animals and scientists observe how neurons behave concerning emotions.
Behavioral Neuroscience is the branch in which the studies the biological bases of behavior. In other words, Scientists observe how the brain affects behavior.
Cellular Neuroscience is the branch of neuroscience in which the study of neurons, including their form and physiological properties at the cellular level, takes place
Clinical Neuroscience looks at the disorders of the nervous system, while psychiatry, for example, looks at the disorders of the mind.
Cognitive Neuroscience is the study of higher cognitive functions that exist in humans and their underlying neural bases. This study draws from Linguistics, Neuroscience, Psychology, and Cognitive science.
Computational Neuroscience is the branch of neuroscience in which scientists attempt to understand how brains compute. They do so by using computers to simulate and model brain functions and applying techniques from mathematics, physics, and other computational fields to study brain function.
Cultural Neuroscience looks at how beliefs, practices, and cultural values are shaped by and shape the brain, minds, and genes over different periods.
Humanity has advanced to impeccable standards in the field of neuroscience but we still have a lot to learn and observe!
Bibliography:
Brazier, Yvette. "What is neuroscience” 26 Jun, 2018. MedicalNewsToday. Web. 28 Feb, 2022. <https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248680>
Nordqvist, Christian. "About neuroscience” n.d. Department of Neuroscience (MedicalNewsToday). Web. 28 Feb, 2022. <https://neuro.georgetown.edu/about-neuroscience/>
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