The New Century of the Brain.pdf

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1、NEUROSCIENCETHENEWCENTURYOFTHEBRAINBigsciencelightsthewaytoanunderstandingofhowtheworld’smostcomplexmachinegivesrisetoourthoughtsandemotionsByRafaelYusteandGeorgeM.Church38ScientificAmerican,March2014IllustrationbyBryanChristiesad0314Yust4p.indd381/23/141:10PMsad0314Yust4p.indd391/23/141:10PMRa

2、faelYusteisaprofessorofbiologicalsciencesandneuroscienceatColumbiaUniversityandco-directoroftheKavliFoundation’sInstituteforBrainScience.HeisarecentwinneroftheNIHDirector’sPioneerAward.GeorgeM.ChurchisaprofessorofgeneticsatHarvardUniversityandfounderofPersonalGenomes.org,anopen-accesssourcefor

3、dataonhumangenomes,neuroimaging,andbehavioralandcognitivetraits.HeservesonScientificAmerican’sboardofadvisers., -rantoftheworkingsofthethree-poundorganthatistheseatofallconscioushumanactivity.Manyhavetriedtoattackthisproblembyexaminingthe

4、nervoussystemsofsimplerorganisms.Infact,almost30yearshavepassedsinceinvestigatorsmappedtheconnectionsamongeachofthe302nervecellsintheroundwormCaenorhabditiselegans.Yettheworm-wiringdiagramdidnotyieldanunderstand-ingofhowtheseconnectionsgiverisetoevenrudimentarybehaviorssuchasfeedingandsex.Wha

5、twasmissingweredatarelatingtheactivityofneuronstospecificbehaviors.Thedicultyinestablishingalinkbetweenbiologyandbe-tivityofthousandsorevenmillionsofneuronstechniqueshaviorinhumansisstillmoreacute.ThemediaroutinelycapableofdecipheringwhatthepioneeringSpanishneuroanat-reportonscansshowingthatsp

6、ecificbrainlocationslightupomistSantiagoRamónyCajalcalledtheimpenetrablejungleswhenwefeelrejectedorspeakaforeignlanguage.Thesenewswheremanyinvestigatorshavelostthemselves.storiesmaygivetheimpressionthatcurrenttechnologypro-Suchbreakthroughmethodscould,inprinciple,begintovidesfundamentalinsights

7、intohowthebrainworks,butthatbridgethegapbetweenthefiringofneuronsandcognition:per-impressionisdeceiving.ception,emotion,decisionmakingand,ultimately,consciousnessAnoteworthyexampleofthemismatchisamuchpublicizeditself.Decipheringtheexactp