Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryNeuroscience

a-human-head-with-glowing-neurons-in-the-brain-generative-ai-561842189-stockpack-adobe_stock
A human head with glowing neurons in the brain. Generative AI

What, Exactly, Does Your Brain Do? What Can’t It Do?

A surprising result of pioneering neurosurgery was the discovery that some mental processes could be stimulated in the brain but others could not be
Brain stimulation could cause movement or memories but no part of the brain, when stimulated, caused patients to think abstractly or exercise free will. Read More ›
Business concept for group of stacked paperclip with another one red plane paperclip is point to another direction as a team leadership

A Thought Experiment on the Mind, the Brain — and AI

In a crowded AI marketplace, a nerd confronts a philosopher on subject of the human mind
Question: If thoughts can only be copied — and copied badly — by AI, which is quite unlike the brain. then how can they be generated by the brain? Read More ›
illustration-of-synapse-and-neuron-on-a-blue-background-stoc-287514101-stockpack-adobe_stock
Illustration of synapse and neuron on a blue background.

Brain Imaging Study Shows That Intelligence Uses the Whole Brain

A focus on specific regions like the prefrontal cortex can mislead. When we are thinking, we use brain-wide connections between many parts of the brain at once
It’s not that the textbooks are wrong; they are just not telling the whole story. Read More ›
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Brain mind way soul and hope concept art, illustration, surreal mystery artwork, imagination painting, conceptual idea of success

Is Physicalism Dead? And Is Psychology Today Here to Bury It?

Physicalism argues that the mind is simply the activities of neurons in the brain and consciousness is an illusion that they generate
A sense is growing that no matter what stunning neuroscience discoveries we make, we cannot in principle explain E = MC^2 by what Einstein had for breakfast. Read More ›
inside-the-brain-concept-of-neurons-and-nervous-system-stockpack-adobe-stock
Inside the brain. Concept of neurons and nervous system.

Mirror Neurons and Consciousness: A Philosophical Perspective

Dr. Miretu Guta criticized the overblown claims about mirror neurons

In the most recent episode of the Mind Matters News podcast, hosts Brian Krouse and Robert J. Marks chatted with philosopher Dr. Mihretu Guta about the role of mirror neurons in understanding consciousness. Dr. Guta’s chapter in the book Minding the Brain critiques the popular interpretation of these specialized brain cells, which activate both when performing an action and observing others perform it. Mirror neurons, discovered in macaque monkeys, have been linked to empathy, learning, and imitation. However, Dr. Guta emphasized the distinction between correlation and causation. While these neurons activate during certain behaviors, this does not prove they cause those behaviors. He also noted the limits of extending findings from monkey studies to human cognition. Dr. Guta introduced three Read More ›

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MRI scan of the brain

At Nature: What Is So Special About the Human Brain?

None of the features identified by neuroscientists explain why humans think about things that other animal life forms don't
While the article is most interesting, somehow, it doesn’t seem like we have learned more about human nature. Human nature isn’t entirely in our brains. Read More ›
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The concept of the human brain. The right creative hemisphere versus the left logical hemisphere. Education, science and medical concept, illustration.

The Left Brain Delusion: Are We Steamrolling Human Agency?

The two hemispheres of our brain really do see the world differently

Techno-futurists love to dream up visions of the future. Invariably, these are worlds where everything is under control—where every problem has a solution, and the future unfolds exactly as planned. We do seem to be moving toward some sort of centralized loss of agency. But what’s distinctive about the techno-futurist vision is the belief that this is not only inevitable but wonderful. Self-driving cars eliminate wasted time in traffic; smart cities like Songdo or Masdar City adjust every streetlight and service in real-time to optimize efficiency. AI-driven healthcare, like the tools developed by Google’s DeepMind, promises to  pinpoint diagnoses. Automated finance uses algorithms to manage our money and secure our futures. Everything works, all the time. But doomsday visions flip Read More ›

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Young blind man with white cane and guide dog sitting in park in city.

FDA Lists Neuralink’s Blindsight as a Breakthrough Device

Researchers hope to restore human vision by bypassing damaged optic nerves to directly stimulate the visual cortex with microelectrodes
Although the optimism is contagious, it is early days yet and many obstacles lie between proof of concept and practical usefulness. Read More ›
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Alien hand syndrome. Mature man trying to control his hand.

Alien Hand Syndrome? Relax. There Is No Alien Mind

The syndrome has been used to argue for the idea that split brain patients really have two separate minds and maybe wills afterward
Split minds doesn't make sense as a concept. To simultaneously pursue two abstract thought processes or moral choices is not a meaningful idea. Read More ›
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A stunning visual of a brain split into two halves, showcasing electric energy in contrasting colors, symbolizing creativity and logic.

Do all of us really have two minds inside our brains?

The truth is even more remarkable. When the brain is split in half, the mind remains a unity
Unity of the mind underlines the actual existence of the mind, a concept that many fashionable neuroscientists would very much like to refute. Read More ›
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portrait of smiling african american mother and daughter looking at family photo album at home

Our Brains Store Memories Three Times, Just To Be Sure

During our development as embryos, at least three different systems are laid down, researchers say
The researchers don't say that there are only three groups of neurons in embryos, associated with memory; rather, they have *identified* three separate groups. Read More ›
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Comatose male patient in hospital.

Covert Consciousness: When “Brain Dead” Doesn’t Mean Unconscious

Now that brain scan studies have established that at least 25% of people classed as brain dead can respond, doctors ask what to do for them?
New brain implant technology may help covertly conscious people make contact because neurons can interface with electrical systems. Read More ›
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Back View of a Primitive Prehistoric Neanderthal Child in Animal Skin Draws Animals and Abstracts on the Walls at Night. Creating First Cave Art with Petroglyphs, Rock Paintings Illuminated by Fire.

The Hard Problem of Consciousness Remains Inescapable

Neuroscientist Francisco Aboitiz starts by offering to tell us how consciousness evolved but then makes a critical concession
Aboitiz concludes, “In the end, the dualistic dilemma between subjective experience and mechanistic explanations seems to me inescapable.” Read More ›
what will you choose? Fresh healthy berries come out from the bowl or junk potato fries from paper box

Michael Egnor: The Neuroscience Evidence for Free Will

You ask a hundred neuroscientists about Libet's work and 95% will say he disproved free will, when he did exactly the opposite
Egnor talks about the demand for materialist conformity: “If I were a basic scientist and I relied on grants to live, I'd be toast.” Read More ›
a-stunning-visual-of-a-brain-split-into-two-halves-showcasing-electric-energy-in-contrasting-colors-symbolizing-creativity-and-logic-stockpack-adobe-stock
A stunning visual of a brain split into two halves, showcasing electric energy in contrasting colors, symbolizing creativity and logic.

What Did Splitting Human Brains in Half Tell Us About the Mind?

How did split brain study subjects compare things when no part of their brains saw both things?
As Michael Egnor told Pat Flynn, research of this sort — where split brains provide united perceptions — is an unacknowledged problem for materialism. Read More ›
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Epilepsy awareness concept: human face with copy space. epilepsy or seizure disorder.

What Brain Surgery for Epilepsy Taught Us About the Human Mind

Michael Egnor continues his discussion with Pat Flynn, noting that neither seizures nor Penfield’s brain stimulation provoked abstract thought
The claim that we will find a materialist explanation some day, no date specified, means that we never reckon with failure to do so. Read More ›
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Dilapidated sign reads

Is Materialism Slowly Losing Its Death Grip on Science?

If it is, neuroscience discoveries will play a key role, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor tells podcaster Pat Flynn, in a recent interview
Materialism is a totalistic claim. If the human mind is not simply the physical processes of the brain, with no remainder, then materialism is disproven. Read More ›
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Upset senior man visiting wife in coma in hospital

Study: 25% of Coma Patients Showed Consciousness When Tested

Making contact with patients via brain scanning technology is a first step toward treatment of those who may now be deemed hopeless cases
Comatose patients who are aware but cannot communicate in usual ways might be helped by new brain–computer interface (BCI) technologies. Read More ›
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3d white room with opened door. Brick wall

Trying To Refute Free Will Without Being Sure What It Is…

Stephen Barr offers some thoughts on neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky’s Determined, which argues against free will
Human reason could not be open abstract truths, physicist Barr notes, if it were under the complete control of physical factors, as Sapolsky believes. Read More ›