How did we realise the mind is in the brain?
In: 392
Experiments. In one, electrical probes on the frontal cortex of dogs showed that they could produce changes in the amount of alertness and aggression. Studies of brain lesions in humans showed that damage to particular parts of the brain would lead to particular patterns of physical and psychological deficits.
Phineas Gage was a railroad worker who suffered a brain injury when a metal rod went through the front part of his brain. After the accident, he changed from a smart, kind guy to one who was impulsive and rude.
Well, the first clue was the way in which damage to the brain can alter the functioning of the mind, whereas damage to things like the foot or even the heart do not.
Later, as we developed imaging techniques, we were able to see how thinking different kinds of thoughts would alter the brain’s electrical activity and blood flow patterns, in ways that it doesn’t alter electrical activity or blood flow in organs such as the liver or stomach.
We haven’t; we don’t know exactly what the mind is, but as exponentials noted, we’ve learned that lots of brain phenomena are correlated with mental phenomena. Strictly speaking, there isn’t a single account of what the mind is and how exactly it’s related to the brain. Some theorize that it *is* the brain, some theorize thar it’s *produced* by the brain, some theorize that it *interacts* with the brain, and others. There’s a lot we don’t know!
Most human cultures large enough to have major medical practices or dedicated healers were able to observe that injuries to the brain can cause changes or impairments to the mind.
It took more studies to get a more precise understanding, but the connection between the mind and the brain is pretty intuitive from just what can be observed.
I kinda disagree with the conclusion drawn in your question. The mind is not exclusively the brain. There is no question that without the brain there is no mind, this is true…. but the mind is incomplete without the various other ‘messenger’ systems in the body.
Brain injuries have to be the biggest one. In the past humans have to have noticed that even a swift smack upside their own head would let you know the difference when you’re feeling foggy and out of it. But certainly cases like Phineas Gage and others must’ve been relatively common place; where an injury had made noticeable differences in before and after.
We realized that everything in the body moves due to electric stimuly and we followed it to the brain, everything the body does, everything it recieves and gives has to go through the brain so we did more experiments on animals to see what would happen if we like, messed around with the brain and found out that if we change the brain we change the fundamental way the body functions, and then we realized that every time we think and react to stimuly a part of the brain “turns on”. The mind is not “in the brain” per se more like the mind and the brain are more of less the same thing.
For a long time, people thought the brains are responsible for regulating blood temperature. Only after a gruesome history in psychology do we now understand the different parts of the brain and their responsibilities. Scientists also experimented with monkeys and mice to find which part of the brain is for what. Did you know that a strong magnetic wave directed at your brain can mess your mind up but only for a short duration?
[removed]
We haven’t. We cannot point to _anywhere_ in the physical brain where we can say, “There! That’s it! That’s the mind.”
In fact it’s backwards. We _have to have_ our mind to be able to see a _brain._ That is self-evident and objective (you cannot observe a physical brain if you don’t have a mind).
Personality, sensory perception, and things of that nature are absolutely affected by neurological processes, but we aren’t really able to _get outside of a mind_ to see if a brain can still be observed without one.
Latest Answers