List of unsolved problems in neuroscience: Difference between revisions
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**What, if any, is the function of consciousness?<ref>{{cite book |author1=Sejnowski, Terrence J. |author2=Hemmen, J. L. van |title=23 problems in systems neuroscience |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford [Oxfordshire] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-514822-0 |
**What, if any, is the function of consciousness?<ref>{{cite book |author1=Sejnowski, Terrence J. |author2=Hemmen, J. L. van |title=23 problems in systems neuroscience |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford [Oxfordshire] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-514822-0 |
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|url=http://papers.cnl.salk.edu/PDFs/23%20Problems%20in%20Systems%20Neuroscience%202005-2921.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1098/rstb.2014.0167|pmid = 25823865|pmc = 4387509|title = Consciousness: Here, there and everywhere?|year = 2015|last1 = Tononi|first1 = Giulio|last2 = Koch|first2 = Christof|journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume = 370|issue = 1668|pages = 20140167}}</ref> |
|url=http://papers.cnl.salk.edu/PDFs/23%20Problems%20in%20Systems%20Neuroscience%202005-2921.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1098/rstb.2014.0167|pmid = 25823865|pmc = 4387509|title = Consciousness: Here, there and everywhere?|year = 2015|last1 = Tononi|first1 = Giulio|last2 = Koch|first2 = Christof|journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume = 370|issue = 1668|pages = 20140167}}</ref> |
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**What is the nature and mechanism behind [[near |
**What is the nature and mechanism behind [[near-death experience]]s? |
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***How can death be defined? Can consciousness exist after death? |
***How can death be defined? Can consciousness exist after death? |
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Revision as of 05:18, 13 July 2023
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (August 2012) |
There are yet unsolved problems in neuroscience, although some of these problems have evidence supporting a hypothesized solution, and the field is rapidly evolving. One major problem is even enumerating what would belong on a list such as this. However, these problems include:
Consciousness
- Consciousness:
- How can consciousness be defined?
- What is the neural basis of subjective experience, cognition, wakefulness, alertness, arousal, and attention?
- Is there a "hard problem of consciousness"?
- If so, how is it solved?
- What, if any, is the function of consciousness?[1][2]
- What is the nature and mechanism behind near-death experiences?
- How can death be defined? Can consciousness exist after death?
- Problem of representation: How exactly does the mind function (or how does the brain interpret and represent information about the world)?[3]
- Bayesian mind: Does the mind make sense of the world by constantly trying to make predictions according to the rules of Bayesian probability?
- Computational theory of mind: Is the mind a symbol manipulation system, operating on a model of computation, similar to a computer?
- Connectionism: Can the mind be explained by mathematical models known as artificial neural networks?
- Embodied cognition: Is the cognition of an organism affected by the organism's entire body (rather than just simply its brain), including its interactions with the environment?
- Extended mind thesis: Does the mind not only exist in the brain, but also functions in the outside world by using physical objects as mental processes?
- Mind-body dualism: Is the mind distinct from the body?
- Modularity of mind: Is the mind composed of distinct modules, each evolved to solve a specific evolutionary problem from the past?
- Dynamical neuroscience: Is the mind a dynamical system?
- Quantum mind: Is the mind significantly affected by the phenomena of quantum mechanics?
Sensation, perception and movement
- Perception:
- How does the brain transfer sensory information into coherent, private percepts?
- What are the rules by which perception is organized?
- What are the features/objects that constitute our perceptual experience of internal and external events?
- How are the senses integrated?
- What is the relationship between subjective experience and the physical world?
Learning and memory
- Learning and memory:
- Where do our memories get stored and how are they retrieved again?
- How can learning be improved?
- What is the difference between explicit and implicit memories?
- What molecule is responsible for synaptic tagging?
- Neuroplasticity: How plastic is the mature brain?
- Cognition and decisions:
Language
Mind-body connection
- Free will, particularly the neuroscience of free will.
- Sleep:
- What is the biological function of sleep?
- Why do we dream?
- What are the underlying brain mechanisms?
- What is its relation to anesthesia?
Computational neuroscience
- Computational theory of mind: What are the limits of understanding thinking as a form of computing?
- Computational neuroscience:
- How important is the precise timing of action potentials for information processing in the neocortex?
- Is there a canonical computation performed by cortical columns?
- How is information in the brain processed by the collective dynamics of large neuronal circuits?
- What level of simplification is suitable for a description of information processing in the brain?
- What is the neural code?
- How do general anesthetics work?
- Noogenesis - the emergence and evolution of intelligence: What are the laws and mechanisms - of new idea emergence (insight, creativity synthesis, intuition, decision-making, eureka); development (evolution) of an individual mind in the ontogenesis, etc.?
See also
References
- ^ Sejnowski, Terrence J.; Hemmen, J. L. van (2006). 23 problems in systems neuroscience (PDF). Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514822-0.
- ^ Tononi, Giulio; Koch, Christof (2015). "Consciousness: Here, there and everywhere?". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 370 (1668): 20140167. doi:10.1098/rstb.2014.0167. PMC 4387509. PMID 25823865.
- ^ Vacariu, Gabriel; Vacariu, Mihai (1 May 2013). "Troubles with Cognitive Neuroscience". Philosophia Scientae (17–2): 151–170. doi:10.4000/philosophiascientiae.864.
External links
- The Human Brain Project Homepage
- David Eagleman (August 2007). "10 Unsolved Mysteries of the Brain". Discover Magazine.
- Dennett D (April 2001). "Are we explaining consciousness yet?". Cognition. 79 (1–2): 221–37. doi:10.1016/S0010-0277(00)00130-X. PMID 11164029. S2CID 2235514.