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Neuroscience is a field of study that deals with the Structure , function, Development , Genetics , Biochemistry , Physiology , Pharmacology , and Pathology of the Nervous System , consisting of the myriad nerve pathways running throughout the body. The study of behavior and Learning is also a division of neuroscience. cerebellum by S. Ramón Y Cajal ]] HISTORY See Also: History of the brain Early views on the function of the Brain , regarded it to be a form of “cranial stuffing” of sorts. In Egypt, from the late Middle Kingdom onwards, in preparation for mummification, the brain was regularly removed, for it was the Heart that was assumed to be the seat of intelligence. According to Herodotus , during the first step of mummification: ‘The most perfect practice is to extract as much of the brain as possible with an iron hook, and what the hook cannot reach is mixed with drugs.’ Over the next five-thousand years, this view came to be reversed; the brain is now known to be seat of intelligence, although colloquial variations of the former remain as in “memorizing something by heart”. OVERVIEW The biological study of the human Brain is an interdisciplinary field that involves many levels of study, from the molecular level through the cellular level (individual Neuron s), the level of relatively small assemblies of neurons like cortical columns, that of larger subsystems like that which subserves Visual Perception , up to large systems including the Cerebral Cortex or the Cerebellum , and at the highest level the nervous system as a whole. At this highest level, neuroscientific approaches combine with Cognitive Science to create Cognitive Neuroscience , a discipline first populated mostly by Cognitive Psychologists , currently becoming a dynamic specialty of its own. Some researchers believe that cognitive neuroscience provides a bottom-up approach to understanding the Mind and Consciousness that is complementary to, or may replace, the top-down approach of Psychology . The concern of neuroscience includes such diverse topics as
NEUROANATOMY The human nervous system is divided into the central and peripheral nervous systems. The Central Nervous System consists of the Brain and Spinal Cord , and plays a key role in controlling behavior. The Peripheral Nervous System is made up of all the neurons in the body outside of the central nervous system, and is further subdivided into the somatic and autonomic nervous systems. The Somatic Nervous System is made up of afferent neurons that convey sensory information from the sense organs to the brain and spinal cord, and efferent neurons that carry motor instructions to the muscles. The Autonomic Nervous System also has two subdivisions. The Sympathetic Nervous System is a set of nerves that activate what has been called the "fight-or-flight" response that prepares the body for action. The Parasympathetic Nervous System instead prepares the body to rest and conserve energy. FIELDS WITHIN NEUROSCIENCE There are many areas of study within neuroscience including:
"Neuroscience" refers to all the fields that study the nervous system. In some sense, psychology is a sub-field of neuroscience, although some mind/body theorists argue that the definition goes the other way. One of the largest related fields which shares many features of both psychology and neuroscience is Neuropsychopharmacology . ''Neurobiology'' is often used interchangeably with ''neuroscience'', but may refer specifically to the study of the Biology of the nervous system. Other related and overlapping fields include:
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