Is the human mind fully explained by the physical brain? Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor explores why there may be a lot more going on with our minds than we think.
| Brain activity | Mind (not reducible to the brain) |
|---|---|
| Movement, sensation, memory, emotion, perception | Abstract thought, reasoning, conceptual understanding, intellect, free will |
https://www.discovery.org/v/can-the-mind-be-explained-by-the-brain
Overview
Brain function may account for some mental activity but not intellect, abstract thought, or free will.
https://shaltiel.org/pdf/Mind-Brain.pdf
- Egnor describes patients who retained strong cognition and consciousness despite substantial missing brain tissue, including cases involving the cerebellum, cerebral hemispheres, and cortex.
- In awake brain surgery a substantial part of a patient’s frontal lobe was removed without apparent loss of speech or ordinary conversation.
- Wilder Penfield’s stimulation studies elicited movement, sensation, memory, and emotion, but not abstract concepts, reasoning, or arithmetic.
- Split-brain patients retained a unified sense of self and could make conceptual comparisons despite information being divided between hemispheres.
- The unresolved question is whether these findings support a non-material aspect of the mind.
