Mind collectively refers to the aspects of intellect and consciousness manifested as combinations of thought, perception, memory, emotion, will and imagination; mind is the stream of consciousness. Intelligence (also called intellect) is an Umbrella term used to describe a property of the Mind that encompasses many related abilities such as the capacities Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the Thought and thinking are mental forms and Processes respectively ("thought" is both In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. In Psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store retain and subsequently retrieve information An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings thoughts and behaviours The question of free will Imagination is the ability to form Mental images/sounds/feelings or the ability to Spontaneously Generate images/sounds/feelings within one's own Mind It includes all of the brain's conscious processes. This denotation sometimes includes, in certain contexts, the working of the human unconscious or the conscious thoughts of animals. Many observers throughout history have argued that there are influences on Consciousness from other parts of the Mind. "Mind" is often used to refer especially to the thought processes of reason. Reason involves the ability to think understand and draw Conclusions in an Abstract way as in Human thinking

The mind is a model of the universe built up from insights. Thoughts of the mind fall into 2 categories: 1) Analysis of past experience with the purpose of gaining insight for use within this model at a later date; and 2) Simulations of future scenarios using existing insights in the mind model in order to predict outcomes. A mature mind has assimilated many insights and understands cause and effect. When insight is not subordinate to a validation discipline like the Randomized controlled trial, fallacious thinking can result in a confused mind. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena A "common" or "world" mind refers to minds that are in exchange of ideas and insights with each other and form similar conclusions about cause and effect. Through the form of books and other media, minds from the past are able to communicate their insights about cause and effect to present and future minds.

There are many theories of the mind and its function. The earliest recorded works on the mind are by Zarathushtra, the Buddha, Plato, Aristotle, Adi Shankara and other ancient Greek, Indian and Islamic philosophers. Zoroaster ( Latinized from Greek variants) or Zarathushtra (from Avestan Zaraθuštra) also referred to as Zartosht (زرتشت Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Adi Shankara ( Malayalam: ആദി ശങ്കരന്‍ Devanāgarī: आदि शङ्कर Ādi Śaṅkara, aːd̪i ɕaŋkərə (see below Ancient Greek philosophy focused on the role of Reason and Inquiry. The term Indian philosophy (Sanskrit Darshanas) may refer to any of several traditions of philosophical thought that originated in the Indian subcontinent Pre-scientific theories, based in theology, concentrated on the relationship between the mind and the soul, the supernatural, divine or god-given essence of the person. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living Divinity and divine (sometimes 'the Divinity' or 'the Divine' are broadly applied but loosely defined terms used variously within different faiths and belief systems — Modern theories, based on scientific understanding of the brain, theorise that the mind is a phenomenon of the brain and is synonymous with consciousness. Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the

The question of which human attributes make up the mind is also much debated. Some argue that only the "higher" intellectual functions constitute mind: particularly reason and memory. Reason involves the ability to think understand and draw Conclusions in an Abstract way as in Human thinking In Psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store retain and subsequently retrieve information In this view the emotions - love, hate, fear, joy - are more "primitive" or subjective in nature and should be seen as different from the mind. Love is any of a number of Emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong Affection. Fear is an Emotional response to Threats and Danger. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific Stimulus, such as Others argue that the rational and the emotional sides of the human person cannot be separated, that they are of the same nature and origin, and that they should all be considered as part of the individual mind.

In popular usage mind is frequently synonymous with thought: It is that private conversation with ourselves that we carry on "inside our heads. " Thus we "make up our minds," "change our minds" or are "of two minds" about something. One of the key attributes of the mind in this sense is that it is a private sphere to which no one but the owner has access. No-one else can "know our mind. " They can only know what we communicate. (Both consciously and sub-consciously)

Contents 1 Aspects of mind 1.1 Mental faculties 1.2 Philosophy of mind 1.3 Science of mind 1.4 Social psychology and group behaviour 1.5 Brain 1.6 Mental health 1.7 Developmental history of the human mind 1.8 Animal intelligence 1.9 Artificial intelligence 1.10 Religious perspectives 1.11 New age and alternative perspectives 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

Aspects of mind

Mental faculties

See also: Reason, Faculty psychology, and Modularity of mind

Thought is a mental process in which the mind allows the being to model the world, and so to deal with it effectively according to their goals, plans, ends and desires. Reason involves the ability to think understand and draw Conclusions in an Abstract way as in Human thinking Faculty psychology views the mind as a collection of separate modules or faculties assigned to various mental tasks The concept of modularity is also used in other fields See Modularity. Thought and thinking are mental forms and Processes respectively ("thought" is both Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, Graphical and or mathematical models. Words referring to similar concepts and processes include cognition, sentience, consciousness, idea, and imagination. Cognition is a concept used in different ways by different disciplines but is generally accepted to mean the process of awareness or thought Sentience is the ability to feel or perceive subjectively. It is an important concept in the philosophy of Animal rights, in buddhist philosophy and in Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the An idea is a form (such as a Thought) formed by Consciousness (including Mind) through the Process of ideation. Imagination is the ability to form Mental images/sounds/feelings or the ability to Spontaneously Generate images/sounds/feelings within one's own Mind Thinking involves the cerebral manipulation of information, as when we form concepts, engage in problem solving, reason and make decisions. Information as a concept has a diversity of meanings from everyday usage to technical settings The term "concept" is traced back to 1554–60 ( l conceptum - something conceived but what is today termed "the classical theory of concepts" is the theory of Aristotle Problem solving forms part of thinking. Considered the most complex of all intellectual functions problem solving has been defined as higher-order Cognitive Reason involves the ability to think understand and draw Conclusions in an Abstract way as in Human thinking Choice consists of the mental process of Thinking involved with the process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting Thinking is a higher cognitive function and the analysis of thinking processes is part of cognitive psychology. Cognition is a concept used in different ways by different disciplines but is generally accepted to mean the process of awareness or thought Cognitive psychology is a branch of Psychology that investigates internal mental processes such as problem solving memory and language

Memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and subsequently recall information. In Psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store retain and subsequently retrieve information Although traditional studies of memory began in the realms of philosophy, the late nineteenth and early twentieth century put memory within the paradigms of cognitive psychology. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Cognitive psychology is a branch of Psychology that investigates internal mental processes such as problem solving memory and language In recent decades, it has become one of the principal pillars of a new branch of science called cognitive neuroscience, a marriage between cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrate underlying Cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates Neuroscience is a field devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system

Imagination is accepted as the innate ability and process to invent partial or complete personal realms within the mind from elements derived from sense perceptions of the shared world. Imagination is the ability to form Mental images/sounds/feelings or the ability to Spontaneously Generate images/sounds/feelings within one's own Mind The term is technically used in psychology for the process of reviving in the mind percepts of objects formerly given in sense perception. Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. Since this use of the term conflicts with that of ordinary language, some psychologists have preferred to describe this process as "imaging" or "imagery" or to speak of it as "reproductive" as opposed to "productive" or "constructive" imagination. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them Vagina Imagery is used in literature to refer to descriptive language that evokes sensory experience Imagined images are seen with the "mind's eye". The phrase " mind's eye " refers to the human ability for visual Perception, Imagination, Visualization, and Memory, or in other words One hypothesis for the evolution of human imagination is that it allowed conscious beings to solve problems (and hence increase an individual's fitness) by use of mental simulation. Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the Fitness (often denoted w in Population genetics models is a central concept in evolutionary theory. Simulation is the imitation of some real thing state of affairs or process

Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and one's environment. Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the Subjectivity refers to a subject's perspective particularly feelings beliefs and desires Self-awareness is the concept that one exists as an individual separate from other people with private Thoughts. Sentience is the ability to feel or perceive subjectively. It is an important concept in the philosophy of Animal rights, in buddhist philosophy and in Sapience is often defined as Wisdom, or the ability of an organism or entity to act with appropriate judgment. In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. In Philosophy, personal identity refers to the essence of a self-conscious person that which makes him or her unique See also Natural environment The '''biophysical''' environment is the symbiosis between the physical environment and the Biological It is a subject of much research in philosophy of mind, psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science. Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Neuroscience is a field devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system Cognitive science may be broadly defined as the multidisciplinary study of mind and behavior Some philosophers divide consciousness into phenomenal consciousness, which is subjective experience itself, and access consciousness, which refers to the global availability of information to processing systems in the brain. A phenomenon (from Greek φαινόμενoν, pl φαινόμενα - phenomena) is any observable occurrence ^[1] Phenomenal consciousness is a state with qualia. " Qualia " (ˈkwɑːliə is "an unfamiliar term for something that could not be more familiar to each of us the ways things seem to us" Phenomenal consciousness is being something and access consciousness is being conscious of something.

Mental Retardation is a rare case of selected individuals who experience a natural boundery to thinking, logic, and creativity. Mental retardation is a generalized triarchic disorder characterized by subaverage cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age

Philosophy of mind

Main article: Philosophy of mind

Philosophy of mind is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body. Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language A mental event is a particular occurrence of something going on in the Mind or mind substitute Mental functions and cognitive Processes are terms often used interchangeably (although not always correctly so the term cognitive tends to have specific A mental property or a mind property is a Property of a/the Mind. Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the The mind-body problem, i. Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties e. the relationship of the mind to the body, is commonly seen as the central issue in philosophy of mind, although there are other issues concerning the nature of the mind that do not involve its relation to the physical body. ^[2]

Dualism and monism are the two major schools of thought that attempt to resolve the mind-body problem. In Philosophy of mind, dualism is a set of views about the relationship between mind and matter which begins with the claim that mental phenomena are in some Monism is the metaphysical and Theological view that all is one that all reality is subsumed under the most fundamental category of being or existence Dualism is the position that mind and body are in some way separate from each other. It can be traced back to Plato,^[3] Aristotle^[4][5][6] and the Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hindu philosophy,^[7] but it was most precisely formulated by René Descartes in the 17th century. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Sankhya, also Samkhya, ( सांख्य, IAST: sānkhya - 'enumeration' is one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy. Yoga ( Sanskrit: योग, IAST: yóga, joːgə refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India, to the Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ^[8] Substance dualists argue that the mind is an independently existing substance, whereas Property dualists maintain that the mind is a group of independent properties that emerge from and cannot be reduced to the brain, but that it is not a distinct substance. In Philosophy of mind, dualism is a set of views about the relationship between mind and matter which begins with the claim that mental phenomena are in some Property dualism describes a category of positions in the Philosophy of mind which hold that while the world is constituted of just one kind of Substance - the physical In Philosophy, emergentism is the belief in Emergence, particularly as it involves Consciousness and the Philosophy of mind, and as it contrasts ^[9]

Monism is the position that mind and body are not ontologically distinct kinds of entities. In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part This view was first advocated in Western Philosophy by Parmenides in the 5th Century BC and was later espoused by the 17th Century rationalist Baruch Spinoza. Western philosophy is a term that refers to philosophical thinking in the Western or Occidental world, as distinct from Eastern or Oriental philosophies Parmenides of Elea ( Greek:, early 5th century BC was an Ancient Greek Philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of In Epistemology and in its broadest sense rationalism is "any view appealing to Reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286 Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza (ברוך שפינוזה Bento de Espinosa Benedictus de Spinoza ( November 24, 1632 – February 21, ^[10] Physicalists argue that only the entities postulated by physical theory exist, and that the mind will eventually be explained in terms of these entities as physical theory continues to evolve. Physicalism is a philosophical position holding that everything which exists is no more extensive than its Physical properties; that is that there are no kinds of things other Idealists maintain that the mind is all that exists and that the external world is either mental itself, or an illusion created by the mind. In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called Neutral monists adhere to the position that there is some other, neutral substance, and that both matter and mind are properties of this unknown substance. Neutral monism, in Philosophy, is the metaphysical view that Existence consists of one (hence Monism) primal substance which in itself is The most common monisms in the 20th and 21st centuries have all been variations of physicalism; these positions include behaviorism, the type identity theory, anomalous monism and functionalism. Behaviorism or Behaviourism, also called the learning perspective (where any physical action is a behavior is a philosophy of Psychology based on the Type physicalism (also known as Type Identity Theory, Mind-Brain Identity Theory and Identity Theory of Mind) is a theory in Philosophy of mind Anomalous monism is a philosophical thesis about the mind-body relationship. Functionalism is a theory of the mind in contemporary Philosophy, developed largely as an alternative to both the Identity theory of mind and Behaviourism ^[11]

Many modern philosophers of mind adopt either a reductive or non-reductive physicalist position, maintaining in their different ways that the mind is not something separate from the body. ^[11] These approaches have been particularly influential in the sciences, particularly in the fields of sociobiology, computer science, evolutionary psychology and the various neurosciences. Sociobiology is a neo-Darwinian and Socialism Synthesis of Scientific disciplines that attempts to explain Social behavior Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their Evolutionary psychology ( EP) attempts to explain mental and psychological traits ��such as Memory, Perception, Neuroscience is a field devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system ^{[12][13][14][15]} Other philosophers, however, adopt a non-physicalist position which challenges the notion that the mind is a purely physical construct. Reductive physicalists assert that all mental states and properties will eventually be explained by scientific accounts of physiological processes and states. ^[16][17][18] Non-reductive physicalists argue that although the brain is all there is to the mind, the predicates and vocabulary used in mental descriptions and explanations are indispensable, and cannot be reduced to the language and lower-level explanations of physical science. ^[19][20] Continued neuroscientific progress has helped to clarify some of these issues. Neuroscience is a field devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system However, they are far from having been resolved, and modern philosophers of mind continue to ask how the subjective qualities and the intentionality (aboutness) of mental states and properties can be explained in naturalistic terms. ^[21][22]

Science of mind

See also: Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Unconscious mind

Psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour; Noology, the study of thought. Sigmund Freud (ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt born Sigismund Shlomo Freud (May 6 1856 &ndash September 23 1939 was an Austrian Psychiatrist who founded Many observers throughout history have argued that there are influences on Consciousness from other parts of the Mind. Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Noology (No`ol´o`gy derives from the Greek words νούς ( nous) "mind" and λόγος, " Logos " As both an academic and applied discipline, Psychology involves the scientific study of mental processes such as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, as well as environmental influences, such as social and cultural influences, and interpersonal relationships, in order to devise theories of human behaviour. For the song by 311, see Grassroots. Applied science is the application of knowledge from one or more natural scientific Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Mental functions and cognitive Processes are terms often used interchangeably (although not always correctly so the term cognitive tends to have specific In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. Cognition is a concept used in different ways by different disciplines but is generally accepted to mean the process of awareness or thought An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings thoughts and behaviours Personality psychology studies personality based on theories of individual differences An interpersonal relationship is a relatively long-term association between two or more people Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental health problems. Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding For the Björk song see Human Behaviour Human behavior is the collection of Behaviors exhibited by Human beings and influenced by Personal life (or everyday life or human existence) is the course of an individual Human 's life especially when viewed as the sum of personal choices Mental health is a term used to describe either a level of cognitive or Emotional wellbeing or an absence of a Mental disorder.

Psychology differs from the other social sciences (e. The social sciences comprise academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals including Anthropology, Communication studies g. , anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology) due to its focus on experimentation at the scale of the individual, as opposed to groups or institutions. Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Political science is a branch of Social sciences that deals with the theory and practice of Politics and the description and analysis of Political systems Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or In Sociology, a group can be defined as two or more Humans that interact with one another accept expectations and obligations as members of the group and share a Institutions are structures and mechanisms of Social order and Cooperation governing the Behavior of a Set of Individuals Historically, psychology differed from biology and neuroscience in that it was primarily concerned with mind rather than brain, a philosophy of mind known as dualism. Foundations of modern biology There are five unifying principles Neuroscience is a field devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties In Philosophy of mind, dualism is a set of views about the relationship between mind and matter which begins with the claim that mental phenomena are in some Modern psychological science incorporates physiological and neurological processes into its conceptions of perception, cognition, behaviour, and mental disorders. Psychophysiology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" grc φύσις physis, "nature origin" and grc -λογία Neuropsychology is the applied scientific discipline that studies the structure and function of the Brain related to specific psychological processes and overt behaviors In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. Cognition is a concept used in different ways by different disciplines but is generally accepted to mean the process of awareness or thought Mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as

A new scientific initiative, the Decade of the Mind, seeks to advocate for the U. Background During the 1990's US President George Herbert Walker Bush declared a decade of research to center on S. Government to invest $4 billion over the next ten years in the science of the mind.

Social psychology and group behaviour

Social psychology is the study of how social conditions affect human beings. Social psychology is the study of how people and groups interact Scholars in this field are generally either psychologists or sociologists. Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" Social psychologists who are trained in psychology tend to focus on individuals as the unit of study; sociologists tend to favor the study of groups and larger social units such as societies, although there are exceptions to these general tendencies in both fields. Despite their similarity, the disciplines also tend to differ in their respective goals, approaches, methods, and terminology. They also favor separate academic journals and societies. An academic journal is a peer-reviewed Periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular Academic discipline is published A learned society is an Organization that exists to promote an Academic discipline or group of disciplines

Like biophysics and cognitive science, social psychology is an interdisciplinary area. Biophysics (also biological physics) is an Interdisciplinary Science that employs and develops theories and methods of the Physical sciences for Cognitive science may be broadly defined as the multidisciplinary study of mind and behavior In Academia, Pedagogy, Physical sciences, Earth sciences, Human sciences and Social sciences The greatest period of collaboration between sociologists and psychologists was during the years immediately following World War II (Sewell, 1989). Although there has been increasing isolation and specialization in recent years, some degree of overlap and influence remains between the two disciplines.

Brain

See also: Cognitive science, Meme, and Memetics

In animals the brain, or encephalon (Greek for "in the head"), is the control center of the central nervous system, responsible for thought. Cognitive science may be broadly defined as the multidisciplinary study of mind and behavior A meme (miːm consists of any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by learning or imitation This article is related to the study of self-replicating units of culture not to be confused with Mimetics Memetics is a neo-Darwinian approach The brain is the center of the Nervous system in animals All Vertebrates and the majority of Invertebrates have a brain Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In Vertebrates the central nervous system ( CNS) is the part of the Nervous system which is enclosed in the Meninges. Thought and thinking are mental forms and Processes respectively ("thought" is both In most animals, the brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing, equilibrioception, taste and olfaction. In Psychology, visual perception is the ability to interpret information from Visible light reaching the Eyes The resulting Perception is also Equilibrioception or sense of balance is one of the physiological Senses It helps prevent Humans and Animals from falling over when Taste (or more formally gustation) is a form of direct Chemoreception and is one of the traditional five Senses Olfaction (also known as olfactics or smell) refers to the Sense of smell. While all vertebrates have a brain, most invertebrates have either a centralized brain or collections of individual ganglia. Vertebrates are members of the Subphylum Vertebrata, Chordates with backbones or spinal columns The grouping sometimes includes An invertebrate is an Animal lacking a Vertebral column. The group includes 98% of all animal Species — all animals except those in the Chordate In Anatomy, a ganglion (pl ganglia) is a tissue mass. Neurology In neurological contexts ganglia are composed mainly of Primitive animals such as sponges do not have a brain at all. The sponges or poriferans (from Latin porus "pore" and ferre "to bear" are Animals Brains can be extremely complex. For example, the human brain contains more than 100 billion neurons, each linked to as many as 10,000 others. The human brain controls the Central nervous system (CNS by way of the Cranial nerves and Spinal cord, the Peripheral nervous system (PNS Neurons (ˈnjuːɹɒn also known as neurones and nerve cells) are responsive cells in the Nervous system that process and transmit information

Mental health

By analogy with the health of the body, one can speak metaphorically of a state of health of the mind, or mental health. Mental health is a term used to describe either a level of cognitive or Emotional wellbeing or an absence of a Mental disorder. Merriam-Webster defines mental health as "A state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life. Merriam-Webster, which was originally the G & C Merriam Company of Springfield Massachusetts, is an American company that publishes reference books " According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is no one "official" definition of mental health. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing professional theories all affect how "mental health" is defined. In general, most experts agree that "mental health" and "mental illness" are not opposites. Mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as In other words, the absence of a recognized mental disorder is not necessarily an indicator of mental health.

One way to think about mental health is by looking at how effectively and successfully a person functions. Feeling capable and competent; being able to handle normal levels of stress, maintaining satisfying relationships, and leading an independent life; and being able to "bounce back," or recover from difficult situations, are all signs of mental health.

Psychotherapy is an interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living. Psychotherapy is an Interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living An interpersonal relationship is a relatively long-term association between two or more people This usually includes increasing individual sense of well-being and reducing subjective discomforting experience. Quality of life is the degree of well-being felt by an individual or group of people Psychotherapists employ a range of techniques based on experiential relationship building, dialogue, communication and behavior change and that are designed to improve the mental health of a client or patient, or to improve group relationships (such as in a family). A dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog) is a reciprocal Conversation between two or more entities. Communication is the process of conveying information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood the same way Behavior or behaviour (see spelling differences) refers to the actions or Reactions of an object or Organism, usually Mental health is a term used to describe either a level of cognitive or Emotional wellbeing or an absence of a Mental disorder. Family denotes a group of People affiliated by consanguinity affinity or co-residence Most forms of psychotherapy use only spoken conversation, though some also use various other forms of communication such as the written word, art, drama, narrative story, or therapeutic touch. Banter redirects here for the Radio 4 panel show see Banter (radio show A conversation is Communication by two or more people or by one's self Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Drama is the specific mode of Fiction represented in Performance. A narrative or story is a construct created in a suitable format (written spoken poetry prose images song Theater, or Dance) that describes a sequence of Psychotherapy occurs within a structured encounter between a trained therapist and client(s). Psychotherapy is an Interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living Purposeful, theoretically based psychotherapy began in the 19th century with psychoanalysis; since then, scores of other approaches have been developed and continue to be created. Psychoanalysis is a body of ideas developed by Austrian physician Sigmund Freud and his followers which is devoted to the study of human psychological functioning and behavior

Developmental history of the human mind

The nature and origins of hominid intelligence is of natural interest to humans as the most successful and intelligent hominid species. The evolution of human intelligence refers to a set of theories that attempt to explain how human intelligence has evolved. A hominid is any member of the biological family Hominidae (the "great apes" including the extinct and extant Humans Chimpanzees In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. As nearly a century of archaeological research has shown, the hominids evolved from earlier primates in eastern Africa. Unlike some non-primate tree-dwelling mammals, such as opossums, they evolved an opposable thumb, which enabled them to grasp and manipulate objects, such as fruit. Didelphimorphia is the order of common opossums of the Western Hemisphere. The thumb is the medial -most digit of the hand The English adjective for thumb is pollical They also possessed front-facing binocular vision. Binocular vision is vision in which both Eyes are used together

Around 10 million years ago, the earth's climate entered a cooler and drier phase, which led eventually to the ice ages. An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the Temperature of the Earth 's surface and atmosphere resulting in an expansion of continental Ice sheets This forced tree-dwelling animals to adapt to their new environment or die out. Some primates adapted to this challenge by adopting bipedalism: walking on their hind legs. Bipedalism is a form of Terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs The advantages of this development are widely disputed. It was once thought that this gave their eyes greater elevation and the ability to see approaching danger further off but as we now know that hominids developed in a forest environment this theory has little real basis. At some point the bipedal primates developed the ability to pick up sticks, bones and stones and use them as weapons, or as tools for tasks such as killing smaller animals or cutting up carcases. A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons A broader definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other In other words, these primates developed the use of technology, an adaptation other animals have not attained to the same capacity as these hominids. Technology is a broad concept that deals with a Species ' usage and knowledge of Tools and Crafts and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt Bipedal tool-using primates evolved in the class of hominids, of which the earliest species, such as Sahelanthropus tchadensis, are dated to about 7 million years ago although homonid-made tools were not developed until about 2 million years ago. A hominid is any member of the biological family Hominidae (the "great apes" including the extinct and extant Humans Chimpanzees Sahelanthropus tchadensis is a Fossil Ape that lived approximately 7-6 Million years ago. Thus bipedal hominids existed for 5 million years before they started making tools. The advantage of bipedalism would have been simply to be able to carry anything with survival value from an unfavorable environment to a more favorable one. Anything too big or heavy would have to be broken or cut. This would be an insight that led early minds to develop tools for the purpose.

From about 5 million years ago, the hominid brain began to develop rapidly, some say this was because an evolutionary loop had been established between the hominid hand and brain. This theory says that the use of tools conferred a crucial evolutionary advantage on those hominids which had this skill. The use of tools required a larger and more sophisticated brain to co-ordinate the fine hand movements required for this task. however this theory has not been confirmed and many other theories have been developed based on scientific evidence. By 2 million years ago Homo habilis had appeared in east Africa: the first hominid to make tools rather than merely use them. Homo habilis (ˈhoʊmoʊ ˈhæbəlɪs ("handy man" "skillful person" is a Species of the genus Homo, which lived Several more species in the genus 'homo' appeared before fully modern humans, known as homo sapiens developed. these homo sapiens, which are the archaic version of the modern human showed the first evidence of language, and the range of activities we call culture, including art and religion. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos

About 200,000 years ago in Europe and the Near East hominids known to us as Neanderthal man or some call them homo neanderthalensis appeared. B Syria - Belka Woman from Damascus Arab from Baghdadjpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Near East late nineteenth century The Neanderthal (neɪˈændərtɑːl also with /niː-/ and /-θɔːl/ or Neandertal, is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from They too had art such as decorated tools for aesthetic pleasure and culture, such as burying their dead in ways which suggest spiritual beliefs. hotly debated in the scientific community is whether or not Homo sapiens developed from neanderthals or a combinations of hominids. Some scientists say that the Neanderthals were wiped out by homo sapiens when they entered the region about 40,000 years ago. What is known is that by 25,000 years ago the Neanderthal was extinct. Between 120,000 to 165,000 years ago Homo sapiens reached their fully modern form, the first evidence of this was found in Africa although once again the origins are widely debated between three theories, the Single-Origin theory, the Multiregional model and the Assimilation model.

See also: Evolutionary psychology, Evolutionary neuroscience, and Paleoanthropology

Animal intelligence

Animal cognition, or cognitive ethology, is the title given to a modern approach to the mental capacities of animals. Evolutionary psychology ( EP) attempts to explain mental and psychological traits ��such as Memory, Perception, Evolutionary neuroscience is an Interdisciplinary scientific research field that attempts to understand the Evolution and Natural history of Nervous Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of Paleontology and Physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in Fossil hominid Animal cognition is the title given to a modern approach to the mental capacities of (non-human Animals. It has developed out of comparative psychology, but has also been strongly influenced by the approach of ethology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary psychology. Psychologists and scientists do not always agree on what should be considered Comparative Psychology. Ethology ( from Greek ἦθος ethos, "character" and λόγος logos, "knowledge") is the scientific study of Animal Behavioral ecology is the study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for Animal behavior, and the roles of behavior in enabling an animal to adapt to Evolutionary psychology ( EP) attempts to explain mental and psychological traits ��such as Memory, Perception, Much of what used to be considered under the title of animal intelligence is now thought of under this heading. Animal cognition is the title given to a modern approach to the mental capacities of (non-human Animals. Animal language acquisition, attempting to discern or understand the degree to which animal cognistics can be revealed by linguistics-related study, has been controversial among cognitive linguists. Animal language is the modeling of human language in non human animal systems Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields In Linguistics and Cognitive science, cognitive linguistics (CL refers to the school of linguistics that understands language creation learning and usage

Artificial intelligence

Main article: Philosophy of artificial intelligence

The term Artificial Intelligence (AI) was first used by John McCarthy who considers it to mean "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines". ethics of artificial intelligence The philosophy of artificial intelligence considers the relationship between machines and thought and attempts to answer such John McCarthy (born September 4, 1927, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American Computer scientist and Cognitive ^[23] It can also refer to intelligence as exhibited by an artificial (man-made, non-natural, manufactured) entity. Intelligence (also called intellect) is an Umbrella term used to describe a property of the Mind that encompasses many related abilities such as the capacities AI is studied in overlapping fields of computer science, psychology, neuroscience and engineering, dealing with intelligent behavior, learning and adaptation and usually developed using customized machines or computers. Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Neuroscience is a field devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system Engineering is the Discipline and Profession of applying technical and scientific Knowledge and Behavior or behaviour (see spelling differences) refers to the actions or Reactions of an object or Organism, usually In the fields of Neuropsychology, Personal development and Education, Learning is one of the most important Mental function of humans An adaptation is a characteristic of an Organism that has been favored by Natural selection and A machine is any device that uses Energy to perform some activity A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions.

Research in AI is concerned with producing machines to automate tasks requiring intelligent behavior. Examples include control, planning and scheduling, the ability to answer diagnostic and consumer questions, handwriting, natural language, speech and facial recognition. A control system is a device or set of devices to manage command direct or regulate the behavior of other devices or systems Automated planning and scheduling is a branch of Artificial intelligence that concerns the realisation of strategies or action sequences typically for execution by Handwriting recognition is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible Handwritten input such as pendrives digital cameras and other devices In the Philosophy of language, a natural language (or ordinary language) is a Language that is spoken or written in phonemic-alphabetic or phonemically-related Speech recognition (also known as automatic speech recognition or computer speech recognition) converts spoken words to machine-readable input (for example to keypresses A facial recognition system is a computer application for automatically identifying or verifying a person from a digital image or a video frame from a video source As such, the study of AI has also become an engineering discipline, focused on providing solutions to real life problems, knowledge mining, software applications, strategy games like computer chess and other video games. Data mining is the process of Sorting through large amounts of data and picking out relevant information A strategy game is a Game (eg computer, video or Board game) in which the players' decision-making skills have a high significance The idea of creating a Chess -playing machine dates back to the eighteenth century A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. One of the biggest difficulties with AI is that of comprehension. Many devices have been created that can do amazing things, but critics of AI claim that no actual comprehension by the AI machine has taken place.

The debate about the nature of the mind is relevant to the development of artificial intelligence. If the mind is indeed a thing separate from or higher than the functioning of the brain, then hypothetically it would be much more difficult to recreate within a machine, if it were possible at all. If, on the other hand, the mind is no more than the aggregated functions of the brain, then it will be possible to create a machine with a recognisable mind (though possibly only with computers much different from today's), by simple virtue of the fact that such a machine already exists in the form of the human brain.

Religious perspectives

Various religious traditions have contributed unique perspectives on the nature of mind. In many traditions, especially mystical traditions, overcoming the ego is considered a worthy spiritual goal. Mysticism (from the Greek grc μυστικός mystikos, an initiate of a Mystery religion) is the pursuit of communion with identity In Spirituality, and especially nondual, mystical and eastern meditative traditions the human being is often conceived as being in the illusion of

Judaism teaches that "moach shalit al halev", the mind rules the heart. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Humans can approach the Divine intellectually, through learning and behaving according to the Divine Will as enclothed in the Torah, and use that deep logical understanding to elicit and guide emotional arousal during prayer. Christianity has tended to see the mind as distinct from the soul (Greek nous) and sometimes further distinguished from the spirit. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living Nous (ˈnuːs Greek: or) is a philosophical term for Mind or Intellect. The English word " spirit " comes from the Latin " spiritus " (breath Western esoteric traditions sometimes refer to a mental body that exists on a plane other than the physical. The mental body (the Mind) is one of the subtle bodies in Esoteric philosophies in some Religious teachings and in New Age thought

Hinduism's various philosophical schools have debated whether the human soul (Sanskrit atman) is distinct from, or identical to, Brahman, the divine reality. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living The Ātman ( IAST: Ātman Sanskrit: आत्मन्‍ is a philosophical term used within Hinduism and Vedanta to identify the Soul Brahman ( bráhman-, Nominative bráhma sa ब्रह्म is a concept of Hinduism. Reality, in everyday usage means "the state of things as they actually exist" Buddhism attempted to break with such metaphysical speculation, and posited that there is actually no distinct thing as a human being, who merely consists of five aggregates, or skandhas. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices In Buddhist phenomenology and Soteriology, the five skandhas ( Sanskrit) or khandhas ( Pāli) are five "aggregates" The Indian philosopher-sage Sri Aurobindo attempted to unite the Eastern and Western psychological traditions with his integral psychology, as have many philosophers and New religious movements. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Sri Aurobindo (শ্রী অরবিন্দ Sri Ôrobindo) ( August 15, 1872 – December 5, 1950) was an Indian Integral psychology, in the adaptation of Sri Aurobindo 's spiritual teachings refers to an understanding of the various planes and parts of being which is essential to the A new religious movement or NRM is a term used to refer to a religious faith or an ethical spiritual or philosophical movement of recent origin that is not part Swami Parmanand Ji Maharaj of Bhagwat Bhakti Ashram also gave a very good discourse on The Mind.

Taoism sees the human being as contiguous with natural forces, and the mind as not separate from the body. Taoism (pronounced /ˈdaʊɪzəm/ or /ˈtaʊɪzəm/ also spelled '''Daoism''') refers to a variety of related Philosophical and Religious traditions With regard to living things, a body is the integral physical material of an individual Confucianism sees the mind, like the body, as inherently perfectible. Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B

See also: Buddhism and psychology

New age and alternative perspectives

According to the Parapsychological Association, parapsychology is the scientific study of certain types of paranormal phenomena, or of phenomena which appear to be paranormal. Buddhism and psychology overlap in theory and in practice Over the last century three strands of interplay have evolved Descriptive phenomenology Western and Buddhist The Parapsychological Association was formed in 1957 as a professional society for parapsychologists following an initiative by J Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to demonstrate the existence and causes of Psychic abilities and life after death using the Scientific method Paranormal is an Umbrella term used to describe unusual Phenomena or experiences that lack an obvious Scientific explanation ^[24] The term is based on the Greek para (beside/beyond), psyche (soul/mind), and logos (account/explanation) and was coined by psychologist Max Dessoir in or before 1889. In Psychoanalysis, the psyche (ˈsaɪki refers to the forces in an individual that influence thought, Behavior and Personality. grc-Latn Logos (ˈloʊːgɒs ( Greek, logos) is an important term in Philosophy, Analytical psychology, Rhetoric and Religion See also Dessoir. Max Dessoir ( February 8, 1867 &ndash July 19, 1947) was a German Its first appearance was in an article by Dessoir in the June 1889 issue of the German publication Sphinx. ^[25] J. B. Rhine later popularized "parapsychology" as a replacement for the earlier term "psychical research", during a shift in methodologies which brought experimental methods to the study of psychic phenomena. Joseph Banks Rhine ( September 29, 1895 &ndash February 20, 1980) (usually known as J ^[25] In contemporary research, the term 'parapsychology' refers to the study of psi, a general blanket term used by academic parapsychologists to denote anomalous processes or outcomes. Psi is a term from Parapsychology derived from the Greek, ψ psi twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet; from the Greek ψυχή ^[26][27][28]

The scientific reality of parapsychological phenomena and the validity of scientific parapsychological research is a matter of frequent dispute and criticism. The field is regarded by critics as a pseudoscience. Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge methodology belief or practice that is claimed to be Scientific or made to appear scientific but does not adhere to the Parapsychologists, in turn, say that parapsychological research is scientifically rigorous. Research is defined as Human activity based on Intellectual application in the investigation of Matter. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Despite criticisms, a number of academic institutions now conduct research on the topic, employing laboratory methodologies and statistical techniques, such as meta-analysis. In Statistics, a meta-analysis combines the results of several studies that address a set of related research hypotheses The Parapsychological Association is the leading association for parapsychologists and has been a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 1969. The Parapsychological Association was formed in 1957 as a professional society for parapsychologists following an initiative by J The American Association for the Advancement of Science (or AAAS) is an organization that promotes cooperation between Scientists defends scientific freedom encourages ^[29]

See also

• Mental state
• Subjective character of experience
• Theory of mind

References

External links

• "The Mind is What the Brain Does" - National Geographic article.
• C. D. Broad, The Mind and Its Place in Nature, 1925. C D Broad (full name Charlie Dunbar Broad 30 December, 1887 - 11 March, 1971) was an English epistemologist,
• Abhidhamma: Buddhist Perspective of the Mind and the Mental Functions
• Buddhist View of the Mind
• Current Scientific Research on the Mind and Brain From ScienceDaily
• Anatomy of the Human Mind Course A free on-line 21 episode TV show adaptation of the popular course of the same name, which was developed by L. Ron Hubbard circa 1961.

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