Mapping of the brain

[Eldad Eshel]

Hi, I have a question. Is the brain completely mapped by current science ? As in do we know every part of the brain and it's role ? Or is research in this department still needed ?

[fiveworlds]

Research. It is slow work as there isn't a ready supply of live brains. We know a lot and it is an area of active study. But the brain is weird you can blow a hole right through it and as long as you miss vital stuff you'll live.

 

There is a lot of ethical barriers which make study slow. Recently there was a post about the first full head transplant on a monkey in china. This has been attempted only a few times before but it also shows how little we know about things like gluing spinal cords together to restore movement to a person. Which could potentially make a massive difference to people whose spines are damaged in car accidents etc.

Edited January 25, 2016 by fiveworlds

[Phi for All]

Hi, I have a question. Is the brain completely mapped by current science ? As in do we know every part of the brain and it's role ? Or is research in this department still needed ?

 

I get the feeling this is leading up to a condemnation of science. Please remember that just because we don't know everything, it doesn't mean we know nothing.

 

As to the unasked question, no, there are no parts of the brain we're completely baffled about. It's mostly trying to discover relevant details about an incredibly complex series of systems. We have questions about things like consciousness and perception and how they affect the way our brains operate, but we're certainly not as "in the dark" as many popsci articles would have you believe (I see a lot of "Top 10 Things Science Doesn't Know" misinformativeness going on out there on the www).

[Bill Angel]

Hi, I have a question. Is the brain completely mapped by current science ? As in do we know every part of the brain and it's role ? Or is research in this department still needed ?

Research in this area is ongoing.

I've had the opportunity to be a subject in this type of research. I was asked to perform simple tasks or to look at simple drawings while my head was in an MRI machine. The researchers were able to use the images that they obtained to determine which parts of my brain were active while I performed the specified tasks. I wasn't the only research subject, but was perhaps one of 50 people they called in and perform this same experiment on.

[Phi for All]

Research in this area is ongoing.

I've had the opportunity to be a subject in this type of research. I was asked to perform simple tasks or to look at simple drawings while my head was in an MRI machine. The researchers were able to use the images that they obtained to determine which parts of my brain were active while I performed the specified tasks. I wasn't the only research subject, but was perhaps one of 50 people they called in and perform this same experiment on.

 

That's awesome. Research like that is such a valuable investment. Thanks for actually being the supportive evidence in a study!

[hypervalent_iodine]

Research in this area is ongoing.

I've had the opportunity to be a subject in this type of research. I was asked to perform simple tasks or to look at simple drawings while my head was in an MRI machine. The researchers were able to use the images that they obtained to determine which parts of my brain were active while I performed the specified tasks. I wasn't the only research subject, but was perhaps one of 50 people they called in and perform this same experiment on.

I did something similar as a favour to a friend a few years back. I spent two hours in an MRI watching a video and pressing a button on either my left or right hand when something popped up on the screen. Admittedly, two hours of perfect stillness made it very difficult to stay awake, so I'm not sure my reaction times were ideal. I spent half of the time pinching my sides. Got a nice photo of my brain though! I keep a small copy with me in my wallet in case I'm ever accused of not having one.

[Phi for All]

I did something similar as a favour to a friend a few years back. I spent two hours in an MRI watching a video and pressing a button on either my left or right hand when something popped up on the screen. Admittedly, two hours of perfect stillness made it very difficult to stay awake, so I'm not sure my reaction times were ideal. I spent half of the time pinching my sides. Got a nice photo of my brain though! I keep a small copy with me in my wallet in case I'm ever accused of not having one.

 

Most research, I've heard, suffers from lack of funding because a lot of those in power can't see past a boring abstract to appreciate the value of the research. But I can imagine lots of people are interested in what happens to the brain when we watch videos. I hope studies like this don't lack for grants.

 

I love the idea of whipping out a photo of my brain to refute someone calling my possession of one into question. "Here's mine, do you have any evidence of yours?" Or even just including it with the family and pet pics when catching up with an acquaintance. "Yep, that's all of us on the beach in Maui, oh and here's Rexie and the cats. That? That's my brain all lit up with smart. The original is in the Smithsonian."

[Strange]

I love the idea of whipping out a photo of my brain to refute someone calling my possession of one into question.

 

Or even when you begin to doubt it yourself. Makes me wish I had a picture of mine...

[Der_Neugierige]

Neurobiolgy of sexual orientation is existing but not well researched by neuroscience. Sexual orientation, towards women or men, is an inborn instinct.

 

So the hell NO currently we do not know the brain in detail.

 

They have never done a postmortem brain study of transsexual people until 1995. They could see in a study in 1995 that man to female transsexual have small bed nucleus of stria terminalis centralis. If they would do MORE research of this kind, they would see more.

Edited January 26, 2016 by Der_Neugierige

[Genecks]

Hi, I have a question. Is the brain completely mapped by current science ? As in do we know every part of the brain and it's role ? Or is research in this department still needed ?

 

No. No. Yes.

[Carbonerd]

We do not know much about our brains. It's all about theories that might be wrong.

 

For example the concept of left and right hemisphere does not show the relation between parts of the brain. They work together to create us. Not so long ago it was suggested to use division into upper and lower brain part.

 

We can talk about many different things yet to be explained. Consider glial cells - its role is uncertain.

[Phi for All]

We do not know much about our brains. It's all about theories that might be wrong.

 

All theory might be wrong, that's one of the things that makes them so useful. We know they're not complete, they can't ever be since we can't test for all environments. But knowing they can always be improved and built upon keeps us searching for better explanations.

 

And keep in mind that most theories like BBT or Evolution won't be wrong in big ways. We know too much about these, they've been studied so much that any changes aren't likely to overthrow the basic theory.

 

Also, don't make the mistake of thinking that because we don't know everything about the brain, it means we know nothing. I don't agree with your statement here. We know a TON about our brains, and the fact that you can say "we don't know much" just means that YOU don't know much about it. Fortunately, ignorance is curable (I try to cure a little bit of my ignorance every day).

 

Btw, the whole left-brain right-brain dominance hypothesis has been debunked by research. So you're right about that, and wrong that it's a flawed part of any mainstream theory. You're demonizing science unfairly.

[Strange]

Btw, the whole left-brain right-brain dominance hypothesis has been debunked by research. So you're right about that, and wrong that it's a flawed part of any mainstream theory. You're demonizing science unfairly.

 

More importantly, it has never been part of mainstream science.

[Phi for All]

 

More importantly, it has never been part of mainstream science.

 

It sure has made the rounds of popsci writing and movies, though. So many references to artistic vs mathematical abilities, and how they're somehow NOT connected in the brain.

 

It's like that meme about us only using 10% of our brains. It's one of those bits of misinformation that sounds SO plausible and erudite that even when you correct someone about it, you find that ten minutes later they're repeating the same garbage to someone else.