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Neuroscience is a field of study which deals with the structure, function, development,
genetics, biochemistry,
physiology, pharmacology
and pathology of the nervous system. The study of behavior and learning is also a
division of neuroscience.
The biological study of the human brain is an interdisciplinary field which involves
many levels of study, from the molecular level through the cellular level (individual neurons), the level of relatively small assemblies of neurons like cortical columns, that of larger subsystems like
that which subserves visual perception, up to large systems like
the cerebral cortex or the cerebellum, and at the highest level the nervous system as a whole.
At this highest level, neuroscientific approaches combine with cognitive science to create cognitive neuroscience, a discipline first populated mostly by cognitive psychologists, currently becoming a dynamic specialty of its own. Some researchers
believe that cognitive neuroscience provides a bottom-up approach to understanding the mind
and consciousness that is complementary to, or may replace, the top-down
approach of psychology.
The concern of neuroscience includes such diverse topics as
- the operation of neurotransmitters at the synapse;
- the biological mechanisms that underlie learning (both declarative learning and
motor learning);
- how genes contribute to neural development in the embryo and throughout life
- the operation of relatively simpler neural structures of other organisms like marine snails;
- and the structure and functioning of complex neural circuits in perceiving, remembering, and speaking.
Fields within Neuroscience
There are four main areas of study within neuroscience
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience - In principle, there is no distinction between
cellular and molecular biology of the brain and of any other organ. However, there are so many differences between the nervous
system and the rest of the body, both in terms of cellular functions and the goals of the field, that Cellular and Molecular
Neuroscience functions as an independant field.
- Development - This field studies the ways in which the
ectodermally-derived nervous system gets organized in the adult animal. The primary subjects of investigation are the fruit fly and the zebrafish.
- Cognitive
Neuroscience and Systems Neuroscience - These two fields are interested in explaining the link between the mind and the
brain. Common methods involve functional imaging, recording of action potentials, and careful analysis of behavior.
- Neurobiology of disease - This field, directly aligned with medical research, is interested in
curing any diseases associated with the nervous system.
Other related and overlapping fields include:
See also:
External links
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