scholarly journals The impossible mind of sociology

Digithum ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Hyvärinen
Keyword(s):  
Social Discourse ◽  
Social Relevance ◽  
Central Concept ◽  
Social Facts ◽  
Modern Novel ◽  
Theories Of Mind ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Sociological Studies ◽  
The Brain

The mind has not been a central concept in sociology. According to the traditional view, the mind is located in the brain, and is thus bereft of observable social facts for sociological studies. At most, it is a concept of psychology or philosophy. This article argues that the history of the modern novel provides large amounts of data about minds and consciousness. Even though individual novels are fictional and invented, the continual reception of these fictional presentations verifies their social relevance. The article argues that fiction establishes the main social discourse on possible private thoughts, thus having a great impact on how we understand and speak about minds and human interiority. The argument is advanced by selectively reading a long-standing narratological debate on literary minds and their exceptionality. The article renounces the cognitive theories of ‘mind-reading’ as overly optimistic and metaphorically misleading, resorting instead to the phenomenological theories of ‘primary intersubjectivity’, which help in understanding how novelists are able to invent credible minds in the first place.

The History of Behavioral Neurology

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Filley
Keyword(s):  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Cognition And Emotion ◽  
Behavioral Neurology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cerebral Localization ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
Lesion Method ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Systematic Thinking

Behavioral neurology is the neurologic subspecialty devoted to the study of brain-behavior relationships. Whereas systematic thinking about the brain as the organ of the mind began in antiquity, modern investigation began in the early 19th century as cerebral localization of function became securely appreciated. Clinical-pathological correlation using the lesion method yielded many important insights, and, in the mid-20th century, Norman Geschwind defined behavioral neurology as it exists today. The scope of the field soon expanded to include focal and diffuse disorders across the lifespan, and powerful neuroimaging technologies then led to increasingly sophisticated understanding of the representation of cognition and emotion in the brain. While the term behavioral neurology refers mainly to subspecialty neurologists working in North America and Britain, the interests of behavioral neurologists are virtually identical to those of neuropsychologists, neuropsychiatrists, and many others around the world attracted to the neurology of behavior.

scholarly journals Soul searching: a brief history of the mind/body debate in the neurosciences

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Dolan
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
The Self ◽  
History Of Neuroscience ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain ◽  
The Way

✓Anatomical and physiological understandings of the structure and function of the brain have worked to establish it as the “seat of the soul.” As an organ of reflection, meditation, and memory, the brain becomes synonymous with what defines the “self” through the existence of consciousness—of mind. Thus, the brain has been associated with a range of transcendent concepts—the soul, spirit, mind, and consciousness—that all relate in fundamental ways to each other both in terms of their perceived location within the brain and because of the way each works ultimately to define the person to whom the brain belongs. In this article, the author provides a brief exploration of how interrelated these categories have been when seen in the context of ancient, Renaissance, early modern, and modern philosophical and medical concerns; how the brain has variously been perceived as home to these intimate states of being; and how practitioners from the neurosciences have reflected on these questions. The author provides novel insights into the interrelationships of philosophy, theology, and medicine by examining these issues through the lens of the history of neuroscience.

Something out of nothing: the placebo effect

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron K. Vallance
Keyword(s):  
Placebo Effect ◽  
Clinical Benefit ◽  
Therapeutic Approach ◽  
Clinical Effect ◽  
Antidepressant Medication ◽  
History Of ◽  
Therapeutic Encounter ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

The history of the concept of the placebo effect and research into its quantification and mechanisms are reviewed, particularly in relation to psychiatry. Research has demonstrated a notable placebo effect in depression: a large proportion of the clinical effect of antidepressant medication is attributable to the effect. Various mechanisms have been hypothesised: anxiety relief, expectation, transference, ‘meaning effects' and conditioning. Recent research from neuroimaging has unveiled that the effect is associated with biological correlates in the brain. Despite the renewal of research into the placebo effect, many questions remain unanswered. This partly reflects philosophical obstacles such as the mind/body dichotomy, which are inherent in conceptualising the effect. However, it also demonstrates the vast scope for further research into this area. Ultimately, an understanding of the processes that underlie the placebo effect should allow a rationalised therapeutic approach to be developed to maximise the clinical benefit of the therapeutic encounter.

scholarly journals Ceasing Antiquated Conceptions: A Telling of the Early and Evolving History of Epilepsy

2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-344
Author(s):  
Nadia Khalil ◽  
Selim Benbadis ◽  
Derrick Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Observation ◽  
Diagnostic Evaluation ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
History Of ◽  
Science And Theology ◽  
History Of Epilepsy ◽  
The Times ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

The word epilepsy is derived from the Greek word epilambanein, meaning “to seize.” This term came to embody the disease as early descriptions characterized seizures as events in which the faculties of the mind and body were “seized” from the individual. This notion of seizing the mind and body’s faculties has in essence remained a constant throughout the evolution of epilepsy. The theories elucidating the significance of the event, however, have surely shifted with the times, reflecting an elegant battle among magic, science, and theology. Subsequent advents in clinical observation, diagnostic evaluation, and therapeutics unfurled many mysteries of the brain and revolutionized prevailing theories, landing epilepsy as it is known today far beyond the primitive and highly supernatural notions that predominated in antiquity.

scholarly journals Understanding the Mind by Measuring the Brain: Lessons From Measuring Behavior (Commentary on Vul et al., 2009)

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Feldman Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Verbal Behavior ◽  
History Of Psychology ◽  
Physiological Changes ◽  
Measure Blood Flow ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

Throughout the history of psychology, the path of transforming the physical (muscle movements, verbal behavior, or physiological changes) into the mental has been fraught with difficulty. Over the decades, psychologists have risen to the challenge and learned a few things about how to infer the mental from measuringthe physical. The Vul, Harris, Winkielman, and Pashler article (2009) , (this issue) points out that some ofthese lessons could be helpful to those of us who measure blood flow in the brain in a quest to understand the mind. Three lessons from psychometrics are discussed.

Why the Modern Intellectual Cannot Attain the Truth?

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aadil Farook
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Circuits ◽  
Computer Technology ◽  
Body Problem ◽  
The Body ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe body-soul duality has confused some of the most sophisticated minds since antiquity. The spiritual masters of all traditions claim that the soul, too, has organs. Let us look at what Western philosophy calls the mind-body problem. Neuroscientists claim the mind-brain duality is true; the mind is to the soul what the brain is to the body. The mind is a “spiritual” brain distinct from the biological brain. To understand how they interact, we will look at computer technology as an analogy. Intelligence itself is part of the software, but it cannot perform its function without its information processor, i.e. the hardware. The intelligence is the software whereas the brain is the hardware. Furthermore, in both cases, the former is non-material whereas the latter is material.Perhaps the two most fascinating scientific discoveries in the last few years are the following. First, the biological heart, which was viewed for centuries as being nothing more than a pump, is actually a great deal more - it is an intelligent organ. Secondly, there is a duality in the heart as well: in addition to the biological heart, there is also a spiritual heart. But the mystery goes much deeper than that and, if it had been understood properly in the modern period, would not have given birth to so many “isms.” The history of Western thought is full of false prophets who claim to lead humankind out of darkness. Is it not amazing how some of the most educated and intelligent people can become completely foolish when it comes to religion? People who can design highly complex integrated circuits can still fail to understand the simple teachings of religious scriptures.This article deals with the major philosophical and spiritual implications of the new insights brought to us by science on a much larger scale than anticipated by those who explored them.

scholarly journals Human as machine. On the transformations of an enduring metaphor

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Pastor
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Body ◽  
Corporate Management ◽  
Human Functioning ◽  
Theories Of Mind ◽  
Mechanical Models ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Machine Assembly

Modern anatomy, medicine, theories of mind-as-computer and even the history of capitalist industrial and corporate management could not exist without the mechanical models of the human body. From Descartes' view of the body as machine assembly to Dennett's conception of the brain as a computer, our understanding of the human body is permeated with mechanical metaphors. Due to the peaking evidence of the failure to explain the complexity of the human phenomena through mechanical models, it seems reasonable to abandon the metaphors of the body as machine. However, as this metaphor supports the very foundations of large scale economies that profit from stable and predictable human functioning, the body machine metaphor will certainly not disappear without significant struggle.

A Brief History of “The Psychology of Time Perception”

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa J. Allman ◽  
Trevor B. Penney ◽  
Warren H. Meck
Keyword(s):  
Time Perception ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Temporal Cognition ◽  
Infancy And Childhood ◽  
History Of ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
The Mind ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain

Basic mechanisms of interval timing and associative learning are shared by many animal species, and develop quickly in early life, particularly across infancy, and childhood. Indeed, John Wearden in his book “The Psychology of Time Perception”, which is based on decades of his own research with colleagues, and which our commentary serves to primarily review, has been instrumental in implementing animal models and methods in children and adults, and has revealed important similarities (and differences) between human timing (and that of animals) when considered within the context of scalar timing theory. These seminal studies provide a firm foundation upon which the contemporary multifaceted field of timing and time perception has since advanced. The contents of the book are arguably one piece of a larger puzzle, and as Wearden cautions, “The reader is warned that my own contribution to the field has been exaggerated here, but if you are not interested in your own work, why would anyone else be?” Surely there will be many interested readers, however the book is noticeably lacking in it neurobiological perspective. The mind (however it is conceived) needs a brain (even if behaviorists tend to say “the brain behaves”, and most neuroscientists currently have a tenuous grasp on the neural mechanisms of temporal cognition), and to truly understand the psychology of time, brain and behavior must go hand in hand regardless of the twists, turns, and detours along the way.

Phantasmatic Shakespeare

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suparna Roychoudhury
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Faculty Psychology ◽  
Literary Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Scientific Fields

The book argues that Shakespeare’s representations of imagination—the many hallucinations, illusions, and dreams in his works—draw their complexity from the interdiscursive confrontations between early modern faculty psychology and the history of science. During the Renaissance, imagination (also called the fantasy or fancy) was understood as a faculty of the soul, that which creates the phantasms or images needed by the mind to perceive, reason, and recall. The book explores how this psychology of imagination, developed by ancient and medieval philosophers, was disrupted in the sixteenth century by developments in proto-scientific fields such as anatomy, medicine, mathematics, and natural history. Guided by Shakespeare’s plays and poems, different chapters consider different aspects of imagination destabilized during this time—its place in the brain; its legitimacy as a form of knowledge; its pathologies; its relation to matter, light, and nature. In giving aesthetic expression to the epistemological problems surrounding the idea of imagination, Shakespeare made this element of cognitive theory the property of literary art.

The History of Neuropsychology at the Boston VA

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Hebben ◽  
Margaret O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Basic Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Behavioral Neurology ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Work Done ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Disciplinary Group

The Veterans Administration’s response to WWII altered the fields of psychology and neurology and made it possible for the Boston VA Hospital to evolve into an environment where neuropsychology, aphasiology, and behavioral neurology could jointly flourish. Starting with Harold Goodglass, Edith Kaplan, and Norman Geschwind in the 1950s, a multi-disciplinary group of clinicians and scientists helped usher in a transition from holistic “black box” empiricist models of the brain to models that were more localizationist and modular. Under the influence of this pioneering trio of astute observers, experimentalists, and thinkers, the Boston VA became the epicenter of basic research in human cognitive and behavioral neuroscience in the world. While signaling a revolution in psychology that unified neurobiology and behavioral principles, the work done at the Boston VA established a direct link from this neuroscience of the mind to patient care, especially as it affected the veterans of the United States.

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