Brain Science and the Non-Human Animal Mind
With the realization that the brain is responsible for what we think of as the “mind”, modern brain science has helped us humans re-frame the questions we ask about other animals. Instead of asking intractable questions like “do other animals have souls,” brain science allows us to ask whether other animals have conscious minds, and if so, to ask what those minds are like. But since the mind is a function of the brain, in order to better understand the non-human animal mind, you actually have to get in there and look at the brain. Modern neuroimaging, and brain science in general, has allowed us to do just that. This brief report aims to accomplish two main goals. First, a description of some research from the field of brain science that the author considers to be important for an understanding of the non-human animal mind; and second, to describe future directions that brain science might take, in order to deepen our understanding of the non-human animal mind.
Elric Elias, Ph.D.
University of Colorado, Denver
Denver, CO 80204
elric.elias@gmail.com
Full article / DOI can be found here.
-
Key finding:
With the realization that the brain is responsible for what we think of as the “mind”, modern brain science has helped us humans re-frame the questions we ask about other animals. Instead of asking intractable questions like “do other animals have souls,” brain science allows us to ask whether other animals have conscious minds, and if so, to ask what those minds are like. But since the mind is a function of the brain, in order to better understand the non-human animal mind, you actually have to get in there and look at the brain. Modern neuroimaging, and brain science in general, has allowed us to do just that. This brief report aims to accomplish two main goals. First, a description of some research from the field of brain science that the author considers to be important for an understanding of the non-human animal mind; and second, to describe future directions that brain science might take, in order to deepen our understanding of the non-human animal mind.
Links to Open Access Publications or DOI:
Citation:
Elric Elias, Ph.D.
University of Colorado, Denver
Denver, CO 80204
elric.elias@gmail.com
Blog
Categories
Archive
- October 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- August 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- November 2017
- October 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016