The Influence of Neurosciences on Understanding the Bodily Conditioning of Cognitive Processes: a Socio-Anthropological Aspect

A conceptual analysis of domestic and foreign neuroscience approaches to the brain and consciousness examines the body-oriented perspective on the co-evolution of body, consciousness, technology, and social environment. The body is considered an artifact in the context of technological change, potentially eliminating the living human body. Using the Homeric epic, the analysis shows that overcoming vulnerability is a fundamental human need. The cyborg represents the realization of expanding bodily boundaries in an anthropotechnological environment. The idea of the embodied mind and Hybrid reality stem from an immanent human need for bodily involvement. The analysis covers mirror neurons, brain reading, neural correlates of consciousness, and domestic neuroscience research, concluding that modern neuroscience significantly influences understanding of brain function and that the body-oriented approach effectively comprehends the integrity of body-consciousness-technologies-social environment.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The study presents a conceptual analysis of the main approaches to the study of the human brain and consciousness from the standpoint of modern domestic and foreign neuroscience. Relevant interpretations of such problematic issues and concepts as “the boundary of the human body”, “embodied knowledge”, “general artificial intelligence”, “self”, etc. From the standpoint of a body-oriented approach, the problem of co-evolution of the body, consciousness, technology and social environment is considered. The idea of the body as an artifact is updated in the context of technological change in human nature, which entails the elimination of the living human body. On the example of the Homeric epic, it is shown that attempts to overcome vulnerability demonstrate one of the fundamental human needs. The realization of the need to expand and push the boundaries of the body in the anthropotechnological environment is presented in the form of a cyborg. It is suggested that, in terms of content, the idea of the “embodied mind”, as well as the project of creating a Hybrid reality and pan-communication, stem from the immanent human need for bodily involvement in the surrounding world. The features of the creation of Artificial Intelligence and Artificial General Intelligence at the present stage are revealed. The expediency of studying the results of neuroscientific comprehension of the organization of mental processes, first of all, in the field of visualization of brain processes and the mapping method, is noted. The main modern projects for the study of the brain, as well as the most effective methods for obtaining data on brain structures, are considered. The actual results of the research are described in such areas of neuroscience as: the study of mirror neurons and their systems; “reading the brain”, the study of neural correlates of consciousness. The results of studies of representatives of domestic neuroscience are presented. The human “I” is considered as a unique structure of the Ego-system of the brain (“self”). In conclusion, a conclusion is made about the significant influence of modern neuroscience on understanding the features of the functioning of the human brain, consciousness and cognitive processes; the effectiveness of applying the body-oriented approach to comprehending the integrity of “body-consciousness-technologies-social environment” is revealed.