Neuroscience: Past, Present and Future Flashcards
Name 5 levels of neuroscience
Molecular neuroscience Cellular neuroscience Systems neuroscience, Behavioural neuroscience Cognitive neuroscience
What is molecular neuroscience concerned with?
Brain matter consists of a fantastic variety of molecules, many of which are unique to the nervous system. These different molecules play many different roles that are crucial for brain function: messengers that allow neurons to communicate with one another, sentries that control what materials can enter or leave neurons, conductors that orchestrate neuron growth, archivists of past experiences. The study of the brain at this most elementary level is called molecular neuroscience.
What is cellular neuroscience concerned with?
Studying how all those molecules work together to give neurons their special properties.
Among the questions asked at this level are: How many different types of neurons are there, and how do they differ in function? How do neurons influence other neurons? How do neurons become “wired together” during foetal development? How do neurons perform computations?
What is systems neuroscience concerned with?
Constellations of neurons form complex circuits that perform a common function, such as vision or voluntary movement. Thus, we can speak of the “visual system” and the “motor system,” each of which has its own distinct circuitry within the brain.
What is behavioural neuroscience concerned with?
How do neural systems work together to produce integrated behaviours? For example, are different forms of memory accounted for by different systems? Where in the brain do “mind-altering” drugs act, and what is the normal contribution of these systems to the regulation of mood and behaviour? What neural systems account for gender-specific behaviours? Where are dreams created and what do they reveal? These questions are studied in behavioural neuroscience.
What is cognitive neuroscience concerned with?
Perhaps the greatest challenge of neuroscience is understanding the neural mechanisms responsible for the higher levels of human mental activity, such as self-awareness, imagination, and language. Research at this level, called cognitive neuroscience, studies how the activity of the brain creates the mind.
How is the animal used for particular research generally decided?
The choice of species is generally dictated by the question under investigation, the level of analysis, and the extent to which the knowledge gained can be related to humans. As a rule, the more basic the process under investigation, the more distant can be the evolutionary relationship with humans.
Thus, experiments aimed at understanding the molecular basis of nerve impulse conduction can be carried out with a distantly related species, such as the squid. On the other hand, understanding the neural basis of movement and perceptual disorders in humans has required experiments with more closely related species, such as the macaque monkey.
Name three moral responsibilities toward their animal subjects which neuroscientists accept today
- Animals are used only in worthwhile experiments that promise to advance our knowledge of the nervous system.
- All necessary steps are taken to minimise pain and distress experienced by the experimental animals (use of anaesthetics, analgesics, etc.).
- All possible alternatives to the use of animals are considered.
