...impairment of the occipito-temporal vision areas of the brain. This condition does not affect other elementary visual functions such as acuity, color vision, and brightness discrimination. Apperceptive agnosics are not able to distinguish visual shapes and they have trouble recognizing, copying, or even discriminating between various visual stimuli. There are three subtypes of apperceptive visual agnosia: Dorsal Simultanagnosia, Ventral Simultanagnosia, and Visual Hemi-neglect. Dorsal Simultanagnosia is caused by bilateral damage to the bilateral parieto-occipital region of the brain. Sight is limited to a single object without awareness of the other stimuli present. These patients also have a hard time perceiving objects which are in motion. Ventral Simultanagnosia is caused by damage to the left inferior temporo-occipital parts of the brain. Patients with this condition cannot identify more than on object at a time even though they can see more than one object at a time. Visual Hemi-neglect caused by damage to the right parietal lobe. Patients with this condition are unable to see stimuli from one half of the visual field. Ideomotor apraxia is a movement disorder which is associated with damage to the left parietal lobe. Patients with this condition have insufficiencies in their ability to plan or complete certain motor actions which rely on semantic memory. This case study focused on Dorsal Simultanagnosia. 2. The brain area that is involved in this condition is the posterior...
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...The Mind-Brain Relation is a relationship that has been explored for centuries and is one that we may truly never be able to understand. This is what I find so interesting about neuropsychology and the brain. Our brain is this magnificently complex physical structure composed of more than 80 billion neurons. Furthermore, to our understanding, our brain is responsible for how we experience a variety of emotions such as love, anger, and surprise. Taking the complexity an element of unknown into consideration I currently believe in the theory of reductionism. Reductionism, which is also known as materialist identity theory, states that the mind is simply a brain event and that it is a one-way causation. The other two notable theories we have discussed...
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...Humanities prof. Coleridge Chris Final essay “Brain vs Mind” [pic] Alessandro Acquaviva E060478 INDEX The Mind-Brain Problem 3 Background of the problem 4 Evaluating the three proposed solutions 6 Weak Dualism 7 Strong Dualism 9 The relevance of Parapsychology 11 Conclusions 12 The Mind-Brain Problem The mind-brain problem raises the question as to whether the mind is no more than the idle side-effect of our brain processes or whether the mind can, in some degree, influence behaviour. Here we rehearse the arguments on both sides plus some recent attempts to eliminate mind altogether. However contentious, the philosophical problem, as distinct from the physiological problem, can be stated quite simply as follows: What, essentially, is the relationship between events in the brain and those private, subjective experiences that together constitute our inner mental life? We need not assume here that consciousness is synonymous with mind - consciousness may well be no more than just one aspect of mind - but, with respect to the problem at issue, it is the existence of consciousness that is critical. Stated thus, the problem admits of only three basic answers: 1) Events in the brain, operating in accordance with the laws of physics, determine completely both our behaviour and our subjective experiences. 2) Mental events may be elicited by events in the brain or they may, in turn, elicit brain events and so influence the course of our behaviour...
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...An Analysis on Seasonal Affective Disorder and the effects of Climate and Lighting on Emotion Brain, Mind & Behavior "Seasonal affective disorder also known as winter depression, winter blues, summer depression, summer blues, or seasonal depression, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or summer, spring or autumn year after year." In the DSM-IV, it is not characterized as a unique mood disorder but considered a 'specifier of major depression'. (Stephen, 2007) Is it not more than a convenience that the year’s most joyous holidays occur on the onset of the winter solstice? The impact of light on emotion has been shown and linked by numerous surveys and tests in the past. Low or dark lighting has been shown to cause eye fatigue and headaches. Absence of natural daylight triggers depression and poor immune defenses. Insufficient lighting is linked to emotional stress and to physical ailments. Bright light stimulates emotions, while low levels of illumination quiet the senses. On the other hand, an excess of unnatural light does not replace the calming effects of natural daylight. Too much artificial light and overly-bright rooms hurt the eyes and make one feel jittery. (Fisher E. , 2004) The impact of lighting on mood and cognition has been difficult to demonstrate because people in industrialized countries, on average, spend 93 percent of their time indoors, making them largely...
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...constructing experiments to explore if a particular brain structure or neurochemical system contributes to a behavior or physiologic measure. Choose an area of research we explored during the year, and discuss the method used to determine how particular brain structure(s) or neurochemical(s) contribute to behavior or physiology. 10pts. Our textbook, Biological Psychology, considers the physiological effects of attention by presenting an innovative study. Researchers presented a stimulus to participants that consisted of a face transposed over the picture of a house. First the participants were asked to focus only on the face in the picture and fMRI images showed activation of the fusiform area in the brain which is responsible for face processing. They were then asked to focus only on the house portion of the stimulus image and the fMRI images showed activation of the parrahippocampal place area which is responsible for processing location. This enforces the notion that attention causes the selective enhancement of activity in brain regions that are specialized to process particular types of stimuli 1) Physiological effects of attention: Study showing picture of face over house 2) Focus on face or focus on house 3) fMRIs showed activation of fusiform face area when looking at face 4) fMRIs showed activation of parrahippocamal place area when looking at house 5) focusing of attention causes the selective enhancement of specialized brain regions Stress has psychological and physiological...
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...In this chapter of the book, the author discusses how the wiring in each individual brain is different. He opens his discussion with the example of Michael Jordan. He was an outstanding basketball player who left to pursue a career in baseball but that effort failed. He then returned to the sport of basketball. He ended up having an exceptional career. Michael Jordan is an example of how precise athletic ability can be. Ken Griffey Jr. set records as an outfielder and was a home run king. Medina uses the example of a fried egg when describing the nucleus of the brain cells and DNA. In the small neurons there is much genetic material that differentiates individuals. Research has identified specific brain cells that fire as photos of people who are famous...
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...INTRODUCTION Is our mind a physical entity, something that is perpetually attached to our brain, or is it a separate substance of dark matter that has yet to be fully explored? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the quoted definition of the mind states that it is “The element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons; or, the organized conscious and unconscious adaptive mental activity of an organism. In other words, the human mind is an intricate series of a persons’ past, present, and future. When scrutinizing the theory of the mind, substance dualism plays a large role in that it is “the concept that our mind is more than just our brain—it entails that our mind has a non-material,...
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...Mind-Body Connection and how it Affects Learning James Webb Coll100 American Military University Corey Tutor Mind-Body Connection and how it Affects Learning The mind–body connection examines the relationship between mind and matter, and in particular the relationship between consciousness and the brain. Many throughout history have often wondered what causes the connection between the mental portion of the mind and the physical state of the body. A variety of different topics have been proposed. Most fall under either the dualist or monist theories. Many philosophers have debated their theories on the mind-body connection to include such philosophers as Descartes and Plato. More recent researchers have moved beyond the dualist conceptions of body and mind towards a unified and interrelated concept of a bodymind together. Today scientists believe our minds and bodies work together. The body-mind connection helps us to pay attention and solve problems as well as affecting memory. Basically, the physical state of your body directly affects how well our minds will work. Some scientists are also researching how emotions affect the body-mind connection. Numerous studies have been done to show the proof that these theories are factual. The philosophy behind the mind body connection began with Plato and Aristotle. Basically both philosophers believed that the physical body contained multiple souls. Their theories differed a bit in that Plato believed that if the body died...
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...explain the relationship between mind and matter. Aristotle and Plato have tackled their version on dualism. Cartesian means “pertaining to the thought of Descartes” according to Edward Feser, “Philosophy of Mind.” Cartesian Dualism originates from Rene Descartes whose version of dualism is well known and an accepted explanation of the mind and body being vastly different. Let’s go deeper in the thoughts of Descarte’s and the support to the validity of his view on dualism. According to Professor Edward Feser’s book “Philosophy of Mind” Descarte’s “dualism claims that there is a difference between the mind and the body. Basically the mind is different from the body. We need a body to sustain life, whereas Descarte’s view is that the mind is an immaterial object. The mind allows a person to think, hope, believe and even doubt. These exist only in the mind and not a physical object. They are not physical, but the body is. Cartesian dualism clearly separates the conscious (mind) as a separate non-material form. Now let’s look deeper into the physical aspects of the body and the physical aspect of the mind. Descarte’s view depicts the body and the mind as extremely different. The body is a materialistic object; it has height, width, has movement and takes up physical space. The body itself is full of chemicals, water, tissue, organs and a skeletal frame that makes the body a physical object. These are the physical aspects of that differ from the mind. The physical aspect of the body...
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...A Look Inside the Brain-Housing Area Amanda Marie Cervantes Philosophy100 Seungbae Park, Ph.D. 18 September 2010 The human mind is quite a mysterious machine. While we can break down and examine every detail and trait of the human brain, we cannot dissect the human mind. We can only observe its distinctive traits and behaviors. Brain states and mental states go hand in hand but do not equal each other. If they were identical, there would not be the case of whether they relate, but more so of how the relationship between the two works. Brain states and mental states have different characteristics than one another. The mind resides inside of the brain, but it is not the actual brain itself. The only way to prove that the brain and the mind are one, would be to perform a successful lobotomy to test whether or not the receiving person would assimilate the previous owner’s mind, memories and traits and characteristics. If this were if at all possible, the receiving person would no longer have their original mind or memory of being their original self or anyone else for that matter. Brain state regulates and controls the body’s activities, receiving and decoding sensory impulses and communicating information to the muscles and body organs. The brain employs the ability to live and function. It is but an involuntary organ within the body, the nucleus, which controls all of the vital organs automatically by default. We cannot will the brain to keep the heart pumping...
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...The consideration about the mind and the brain being an identical subject raises issues amongst the philosophers. In order to resolve these conflicts philosophers came up with four theories. These theories include dualism, functionalism, behaviourism and mind-brain identity theory. Each theory has its own perspectives toward the mind body related conflicts. There are oppositions between each theories as well as similarities. The most creditable and criticized theory can be said to be the mind-brain theory. The mind-brain theory states that the mind and the brain are one thing with different terminology. “At a certain point in the history of science, it was discovered that water is made of H₂O molecules…same point applies to the relationship of mental terms and neurophysiologic terms” (Sober, p.257). The mind-brain theory is compared to the science, where in the past when there was limited knowledge about a certain fact and how it was developed and changed dramatically over time like water and its molecular formula. By referring to the science, the mind-brain identity theory states that the current knowledge obtained to date is only limited and cannot prove the relationship of mind and the brain with facts. Since there is limited knowledge regarding this issue, as more knowledge is obtained through time, the mind-brain identity theory states that the relationship will be proven based on the future facts about the mind and the brain where it will show that they are one object...
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...WHOLE BRAIN EMULATION (WBE) TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: 1 BRIEF HISTORY: 2 NEED FOR WHOLE BRAIN EMULATION: 2 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR WHOLE BRAIN EMULATION: 4 BENEFITS OF BRAIN EMULATION: 5 ISSUES: 6 Ethical Issues: 6 Legal Issues: 6 Religious Issues: 7 Philosophical Issues: 7 CURRENT RELATED RESEARCHES: 7 FUTURE RESEARCH: 8 CONCLUSION: 8 REFRENCES: 9 WHOLE BRAIN EMULATION INTRODUCTION: The term emulation originates in computer science, where it denotes mimicking the function program or computer hardware by having its low‐level functions simulated by another program. While a simulation mimics the outward results, emulation mimics the internal causal dynamics. The emulation is regarded as successful if the emulated system produces the same outward behavior and results as the original. Whole brain emulation (also referred to as mind uploading or mind transfer) is the hypothetical process of scanning and mapping a biological brain in detail and copying its state into a computer system or another computational device. The computer would have to run a simulation model so faithful to the original that it would behave in essentially the same way as the original brain, or for all practical purposes, indistinguishably. The simulated mind is assumed to be part of a virtual reality simulated world, supported by a simplified body simulation model. In analogy to a software emulator, a brain emulator is software (and possibly dedicated non‐brain hardware)...
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...Body & Mind. Philosopher and Psychologist have developed several theories concerning the body & mind relationship. It had been thousands of years, in the research of body and mind. The discussions extensity of consciousness, and the mind. Consciousness and the mind have relation with the physical body, and the physical function independence, through the system of central nerves system. The clumsiness of mind panorama, at one time, the Scientists and philosophers, believed that the mind is a product of the brain. The mind is composed of a gathering of ideas and thoughts, base in experiences gained through life, storage in the brain. The assumption that we have been born with a blank slate could be close to the truth. Some ideas and thoughts should be brought to the mind consciousness trough experiences. It has an exposure or influence, at the very time: a person is conceived, as a living person. When the experiences of thoughts and emotions are the state of learning by sensation, is named knowledge. Awareness is the dimensions of consciousness and mind. Conciseness is a fact that we live at all the time of life, even if we are not aware of it. Whether it is paying attention or not, awareness occurs around us. We learn that the mindful encompasses will works. Example: “one is watching a television show that oneself like. As concentrated is oneself still hear it: The door bell rings: the window is open, and the noise of a car pass by, and the sound of a child giggling in the room...
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... Where is conscious thought? It was once believed that our thoughts and soul were housed in our hearts. As man began to understand and study the human body, these beliefs changed. We now know that every thought, emotion, belief, and impulse begins in the brain. The primary focus of biopsychology is to understand the mind versus brain relationship. Biological psychology is a sub-field and combination of two separate academic areas of scientific study. Biology literally means the study of life. Physiology is the study of how the body functions. Human psychology studies the mind and the resulting behavior of people (Pinel, 2009). The fields of psychology and physiology are studied together in order to achieve a better understanding of each area and their interdependent functioning and relationships. Biological psychology is also known as: biopsychology, neuroscience, neurobiology, and even behavioral science (Bickhard, 2009). Historically, biological psychology began with the ancient Greeks. Theorists and philosophers across time have added to biology and psychology. Plato, Socrates, Descartes, Galen, and Galvani have all given life to this field. Descartes thought that pineal gland of the brain is where the mind and body talk to each other. He also theorized that behaviors were merely a type of mechanical reflex. As time has gone on, scientist, psychologists, and theorists investigate the interdependent relationships between the physiological functioning of animals...
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...Behavior and Mental Process of the Brain Ever wonder how the brain manages to function and processes information? It is a like a computer that is running the entire body. According to research, “the brain not only controls what we think and feel, how we learn and remember, and the way we move and talk, but also many things we are less aware of such as the amount of stress we feel.” Behavior can be defined as an evident response or activity by an organism (Lloyd 11). The mental processes on the other hand, are the thoughts, feelings, and wishes that accompany behavior (Lloyd 12). All of these facts contribute to how the brain produces behavior and mental processing. To fully understand the concept of the brain is not as easy as it sounds. The human brain is a complicated organ with many parts. When some part of the rest of the body is not functioning correctly, the brain is sometimes affected as well. Each part has a specific function to turn sounds into speech, to process color, to register fear or distinguish a flower from a tree. Not every brain is the same; each brain is one of a kind and constantly changing and growing with knowledge. But what are the brains activity controlled by exactly? The answer comes from many of its functions and its composition within. Different parts that make up the brain are the corpus callosum, the thalamus and hypothalamus, the cerebrum and cerebellum, the medulla, the pons, the pituitary gland, and the olfactory bulb to name a...
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