COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE: HISTORY, WHAT IT STUDIES AND APPLICATIONS - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

The Cognitive Neuroscience is a discipline that studies how the brain receives, integrates and processes information. Scientifically analyzes the underlying processes of mental activity. Specifically, it focuses on how neural mechanisms give rise to cognitive and psychological functions, which are manifested through behavior.

From this analysis, he tries to explain both the subject's relationship with his environment, as well as other underlying aspects: emotions, problem solving, intelligence and thought.

The relationship between brain and mind is one of the most important philosophical questions of all time. Cognitive neuroscience attempts to answer a fundamental question: how can a mental state arise from a set of cells with certain electrophysiological and chemical properties?

This discipline studies brain function from a scientific and open perspective. Part of cellular and molecular analysis to understand higher functions such as language and memory.

Cognitive neuroscience is a relatively recent discipline, emerging from the convergence of neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Scientific advances, especially the development of neuroimaging techniques, have allowed the emergence of an interdisciplinary science in which knowledge is complementary.

In fact, it encompasses knowledge from different disciplines such as philosophy, psychobiology, neurology, physics, linguistics, etc.

The object of study of cognitive neuroscience has caused that every day more interest is aroused in society. This is reflected in the increase in research groups dedicated to this area, with the consequent increase in scientific publications.

Historical background

The origins of cognitive neuroscience could be located in ancient philosophy, a period in which thinkers had a great concern about the mind.

Aristotle believed that the brain was a useless organ and that it only served to cool the blood. This philosopher attributed the origin of mental function to the heart.

Galen

It seems that it was Galen in the second century AD who claimed that the brain was the origin of mental activity. Although he believed that personality and emotion were generated in other organs.

Andreas Vesalius

However, it was the Dutch physician Andreas Vesalius in the 16th century who pointed out that the brain and nervous system are the center of the mind and emotions. These ideas had great influence on psychology, and in turn, have contributed to the development of cognitive neuroscience.

Phrenology

Another turning point in the history of cognitive neuroscience was the emergence of phrenology in the early 19th century. According to this pseudoscience, human behavior could be determined by the shape of the skull.

Its main exponents, Franz Joseph Gall and JG Spurzheim, argued that the human brain was divided into 35 different sections. Phrenology has been criticized because its premises were not scientifically proven.

From these ideas, two currents of thought were created called localizationists and anti-localizationists (aggregate field theory). According to the first one, mental functions are located in specific areas of the brain.

Broca and Wernicke

The contributions of Broca and Wernicke were essential for cognitive neuroscience. They studied the areas that control language and how lesions in these can cause aphasia. Thanks to them, a localization vision spread.

According to the anti-localization or aggregate field theory, all areas of the brain participate in mental functions. French physiologist Jean Pierre Flourens conducted several experiments on animals that allowed him to conclude that the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and brain stem function as a whole.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal

In this evolution, the neuron doctrine developed by Santiago Ramón y Cajal is fundamental. According to this doctrine, neurons are the most basic part of the nervous system. These are discrete cells, that is, they do not connect to form a tissue, but are genetically and metabolically different from other cells.

In the twentieth century, advances in experimental psychology were also very important for cognitive neuroscience. Especially the demonstration that some tasks are performed through discrete processing phases.

Likewise, studies on care are relevant. In this period, it began to be thought that observable behavior was not enough to fully study cognitive functions. Rather, more research was needed on the functioning of the nervous system, the mechanisms underlying behavior.

The theoretical assumptions of this discipline were formulated between the years 1950 and 1960, from the approaches of experimental psychology, neuropsychology and neuroscience.

Cognitive neuroscience term

The term "cognitive neuroscience" was coined by George Miller and Michael Gazzaniga in the late 1970s. It came from a course they organized at Cornell Medical College on the biological bases of human cognition.

His goal was to enhance understanding of it, arguing that the best approach was to study healthy human subjects with techniques from both brain science and cognitive science at the same time.

However, it was probably not until 1982 that the first writing with this term was published. It was called "Cognitive Neuroscience: developments towards a science of synthesis" by Posner, Pea and Volpe.

Computer's science

Computer science has made important contributions to cognitive neuroscience. Specifically, artificial intelligence has given this discipline the language for explanations of brain function.

As the goal of artificial intelligence is to build machines that have intelligent behavior, the first step to achieve this is to determine the processes of intelligent behavior to program the hierarchy of these processes.

Computation is closely related to brain mapping. For this reason, the emergence of brain mapping technology was a fundamental aspect in the advancement of the methodology of cognitive neuroscience. Above all, the development of functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography.

This has allowed cognitive psychologists to create new experimental strategies to study brain function.

Fields of study of cognitive neuroscience

MRI of the brain

- Molecular analysis: to know in detail the functioning of mental processes it is necessary to study the role of molecules and their interactions. Cognitive neuroscience seeks to describe the molecular bases of the nerve impulse, the physiology of neurotransmitters, as well as the molecular mechanisms involved in addictive substances.

- Cell analysis: cognitive neuroscience has the neuron as its main study cell. It is therefore important to know their functioning, their types, their interaction with other neurons, how they develop throughout life, etc.

- Neural network analysis: it is the study of the set of neurons that make up activity networks, which are the basis of cognitive and emotional processes. Neural circuits related to the circulatory, visual, auditory, motor systems, etc. are analyzed.

- Behavioral analysis: here the functioning of the neural systems that allow complex behaviors such as memory, motivated behaviors such as hunger or sex, alertness or sleep, etc. are described.

- Cognitive analysis: this analysis implies understanding the neural processes that allow the performance of higher mental functions such as language, reasoning, executive control, imagination, etc.

The study of patients with cognitive deficits caused by brain injuries is also essential for cognitive neuroscience. This is to compare healthy brains with those with a disorder. Thus, conclusions can be drawn about the affected and intact cognitive processes and the neural circuits involved.

Applications of cognitive neuroscience

Cognitive neuroscience plays a fundamental role in understanding the human mind.

The knowledge of cognitive functions associated and complemented with that of the physical functioning of the brain, allow the creation of new theories about how the human mind works.

This allows to know what happens when a certain disorder or injury appears that affects a cognitive function.

This increase in knowledge also enables treatment methods to be perfected for disorders such as: learning difficulties, schizophrenia, anxiety, psychopathy, sleep disorders, bipolar disorder, memory problems, etc.

On the other hand, cognitive neuroscience is useful in research simply to know how cognitive processes are produced and sequenced.

Many professionals use this knowledge to program better educational strategies in schools (neuroeducation), to design advertising that captivates us (neuromarketing), or even to improve athletic performance.

Neuroscience and cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychology emerged in the mid-20th century as a reaction to the prevailing behaviorism. Behaviorism defended that, although mental processes could not be observable, they could be studied scientifically indirectly through concrete experiments.

Some variables such as performance on tasks or reaction times, generated evidence about psychic functions. From this, a source of knowledge has been generated that has evolved from different theoretical models.

For some time, cognitive neuropsychology and neuroscience advanced in different ways, since the first has focused on the how and not the where, leaving the study of anatomical structures in the hands of neurophysiologists.

Softfare-hardware

This distinction is similar to the one you make between software and hardware in a computer system. A computer program has an operating logic that is independent of the hardware or the material system in which it is carried out.

The same computer program can be installed on different computers, without the nature of the hardware describing the operation of the software. This view is very simplistic and has led some psychologists to think that the analysis of neural systems does not provide any information about psychological function.

This perspective has been distorted by the latest scientific advances. It is currently stated that a multidisciplinary vision of cognitive neuroscience leads to its further development. Neuroscience and cognitive psychology are complementary rather than exclusive disciplines.

Neuroimaging techniques

The data obtained from neuroimaging techniques are variables that generate more value than those that already exist. Thus, when studying a mental function, there are values ​​such as the electromyographic response of the muscles, the electrical connectivity of the skin, etc.

Positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging provide evaluation of hemodynamic changes in the brain. In addition to other data provided by magnetoencephalography techniques.

Likewise, the traditional cognitive approach has been shown to be insufficient to describe the entire complex mental functioning. It is therefore not possible to make a radical distinction between software and hardware, as there are many relationships that make the multidisciplinary approach provided by cognitive neuroscience necessary.

Similarly, cognitive psychology has much to contribute to neuroscience. It enriches it and contributes to the theoretical approach of the data obtained from a brain scan.

Description of cognitive and emotional processes

Cognitive neuroscience is not, then, just an anatomical and physiological study of the brain. Rather, its objective is to describe the material basis of cognitive and emotional processes.

Psychology has great tools and theoretical models to explain human behavior and mental activity, which can make great contributions to neuroscience. Thus, the entire data set can be explained from a coherent theory, which can give rise to new hypotheses that serve as a study.

References

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