The reason why I'm asking this question is to simply sumarise its answer in a few words. There are many ways to study the brain, many instruments and many theories about it. I may be more interested in neuroscientific responses but I welcome different perspectives. Thanks for your time.
Quite a bit, but - despite this - what we know is still insufficient since it is about the anatomical structure and that it has the MOST COMPLEX function - the HUMAN MIND - of absolutely EVERY LIVING BEING!
You have a formidable task! It might take more than a few words.
It seems we have a good understanding of how the brain operates in relation to our five senses. We also understand how it functions in controlling bodily functions, for the most part. The Guyton/Hall medical physiology book does a good job explaining the brain's operations in these areas.
When it comes to consciousness, our understanding is vague. How some people have transpersonal, paranormal experiences lacks definition. I have stumbled over evidence that proprioception has an awareness component. If someone moves or is moved, they become more alert. I cannot find a description of that in any neuro books or articles. That should be described already.
I co-authored an article about a woman who had a near-death experience during which she saw a red shoe on the roof of a hospital. A curious resident went up to check the roof and came down carrying a red shoe.
No good understanding of how her brain did that.
It is impossible to say how much of the brain function we understand. Yet, it is clear that our understanding of the brain increased exponentially in the last decades. However, it can be said what is needed for a deeper understanding of the brain, as expressed in the quote below (Huang, Z. J., & Luo, L. (2015). NEUROSCIENCE. It takes the world to understand the brain. Science (New York, N.Y.), 350(6256), 42–44. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad4120):
"Neuroscientists largely agree that in order to achieve a deep understanding of how the brain processes information and orchestrates mental functions, we need substantial progress on at least six fronts: 1) identifying the basic components of the brain circuits—classes of neurons that share similar properties and perform similar functions (belong to the same cell types); 2) deciphering the neuronal wiring diagrams integrated across multiple scales, from individual synapses (microscopic) to the entire brain (macroscopic); 3) recording the firing patterns—the common vocabulary of neuronal communication—of large numbers of neurons across different brain regions while an animal or human subject performs well-characterized behavioral or cognitive tasks; 4) manipulating neuronal firing patterns with spatiotemporal precision so as to establish the causality between neuronal activity and circuit function that contributes to behavior; 5) inventing computational tools for integrating and analyzing large complex datasets; and 6) formulating overarching brain theories that transcend levels and scales, conceptualize experimental findings, and predict novel circuit properties that underlie brain function. Finally, while most experiments are performed in animal models, we need to integrate this knowledge with valuable insights gained from recording, stimulating, and imaging the human brain. A bi-directional translation of animal and human studies will be crucial to facilitate understanding brains, especially the human brain and mental functions, and to treat brain disorders."
I think it would be beneficial to differentiate between the brain and mind. We understand a lot of of the human brain (perhaps never all of it), but the emergent properties are a different matter.
Quite a bit, but - despite this - what we know is still insufficient since it is about the anatomical structure and that it has the MOST COMPLEX function - the HUMAN MIND - of absolutely EVERY LIVING BEING!
It is known that electrical and chemical processes play a key role in the functioning of the brain. We are constantly faced with the effects on the brain, whether we listen to music, visit an art gallery, or drink coffee.
The search for opportunities to target the brain with the help of electricity has been conducted by man for a very long time. Even in ancient Rome, doctors prescribed electric stingray discharges to patients with migraines. Much later, after Faraday's discovery, people began to study the effect of magnetic fields on the brain. Since the 19th century, successful studies have been conducted with invasive and non-invasive brain stimulation, that is, with and without opening the cranium.
If we knew that one specific area of the brain is entirely responsible for a specific function and only for it, everything would be simple, and doctors could effectively treat almost any disease.
The brain is a separate universe that we do not understand.
The brain tissue is able to "talk" with the help of electricity. There are billions of neurons in the brain. In some cases, it is enough to stimulate a small area of the brain, containing literally several thousand cells, in order to significantly change the behavior of a living being. Many people know the experiment with a rat, which was able to stimulate the pleasure center in its brain - and in a couple of hours died of exhaustion, because it could not stop. Deep brain stimulation is currently widely used for medical purposes, for example, for the treatment of Parkinson's disease or, in some cases, in patients with major depression (electrodes are implanted into the deep structures of the brain).
However, there are many key points that would help to understand what memory, mental illness, etc. are. are still unsolved. Technological and scientific advances in recent decades have revealed the mystery of the brain. But so far, apparently, our brain is not ready to accept this information.
Regards, Pushkin Sergey Viktorovich
The brain functions through synapses - special contacts between neurons. Most of them use some of the most common signaling neurotransmitter molecules (GABA or glutamate). But it turns out that there are many other molecules, the action of which is still unknown to us. For example, scientists still do not fully understand which molecules are affected by antidepressants or opioids. Together, the IARPA MICrONS project is currently under way, the goal of which is to map the mouse visual cortex, containing about a billion synapses. After drawing up this map, the researchers will study which molecules "live" in which synapses.
Regards, Pushkin Sergey Viktorovich
To understand a phenomenon, we need to try to explain it. This approach is especially applicable in physics, but even simple questions in neuroscience are difficult to understand. Christoph Koch believes that "there can be no easy way to understand complex systems formed by natural selection."
A breakthrough in neuroscience that will help find answers to existing questions requires a lot of computing power. Indeed, even to explain simple phenomena, numerous computer models are used.
In recent years, interest in neurosciences has increased, leading to more research and more active funding for projects such as the BRAIN Initiative. We live in a golden era of brain research, and more and more institutes and laboratories are emerging that investigate questions that we did not think about 20 years ago.
Regards, Pushkin Sergey Viktorovich
The claustrum is a thin, irregular layer of gray matter in both hemispheres that is easily overlooked. It is located between the insular cortex and the putamen (basal nucleus). It is found in most mammals, but its purpose remains a mystery: due to its deep location, it is inaccessible for direct study.
The claustrum does not have a wide variety of neurons compared to the cerebral cortex. On the other hand, some of them stretch in branches to all parts of the cortex that read information from the organs of perception. Neurons transmit data to the claustrum and back, the exchange of information goes with other departments responsible for movement, behavior, memory.
The inclusion of the claustrum in the neural network, as well as the flows of information from the outside world passing through it, are exceptional. Thus, the phenomenon of consciousness, which until now has been exclusively occupied by philosophers and psychologists, has become the focus of attention of the natural sciences.
Regards, Pushkin Sergey Viktorovich
Madelaine Lawrence Thanks for your answer! I believe that, in fact, we still need to understand a considerable part of brain functioning. Certainly near-death experience is full of fascinating mysteries. I am sure that studying this phenomenon scientifically will require many insights about our sensory systems. Hopefully we will be able to do it some day soon.
Janek Musek Thanks for your answer! This article brought me great insights into what we have and what we still need to do in order to continue developing the field of brain studies. I believe that for now I will work on theoretical questions about brain functioning, but in the near future I will certainly look for empirical insights and experiences.
Seizing the opportunity, regarding the end of your quote, I am interested to know more deeply about the adaptation of conclusions derived from empirical studies carried out on animals to the simulation of the human brain, as well as the insights of these simulations. Do you have an opinion on that or maybe a paper that goes into this issue?
Pushkin Sergey Viktorovich Thanks for the amazing contribution! I feel that I am privileged to live in a time when brain studies are so active and making incredible progress. I've never heard about the "Brain initiative" before, thanks for introducing me! I intend to aim my academic career at building the next paradigm of human cognition in philosophy and neurosciences, and at trying to improve and update our folk ideas about the brain.
Best regards
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