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  3. In Second Nature, Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Gerald Edelman argues t

In Second Nature, Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Gerald Edelman argues t

游客2025-04-17  0
问题     In Second Nature, Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Gerald Edelman argues that the brain and mind are unified, but he has little patience with the claim that the brain is a computer. Fortunately for the general reader, his explanations of brain function are accessible, reinforced by concrete examples and metaphors.
    Edelman suggests that thanks to the recent development of instruments capable of measuring brain structure within millimeters and brain activity within milliseconds, perceptions, thoughts, memories, willed acts, and other mind matters traditionally considered private and impenetrable to scientific scrutiny now can be correlated with brain activity. Our consciousness ( a "first-person affair" displaying intentionality, reflecting beliefs and desires, etc. ), our creativity, even our value systems, have a basis in brain function.
    The author describes three unifying insights that correlate mind matters with brain activity. First, even distant neurons will establish meaningful connections (circuits) if their patterns are synchronized. Second, experience can either strengthen or weaken synapses (neuronal connections) . Finally, there is reentry, the continued signaling from one brain region to another and back again along massively parallel nerve fibers.
    Edelman concedes that neurological explanations for consciousness and other aspects of mind are not currently available, but he is confident that they will be soon. Meanwhile, he is comfortable hazarding a guess: "All of our mental life...is based on the structure and dynamics of our brain. " Despite this optimism about the explanatory powers of neuro-science, Edelman acknowledges the pitfalls in attempting to explain all aspects of the mind in neurological terms. Indeed, culture—not biology—is the primary determinant of the brain’s evolution, and has been since the emergence of language, he notes.
    However, I was surprised to learn that he considers Sigmund Freud as "the key expositor of the effects of unconscious processes on behavior. " Such a comment ignores how slightly Freud’s conception of the unconscious, with its emphasis on sexuality and aggression, resembles the cognitive unconscious studied by neuroscientists.
    Still, Second Nature is well worth reading. It serves as a bridge between the traditionally separate camps of "hard" science and the humanities. Readers without at least some familiarity with brain science will likely find the going difficult at certain points. Nonetheless, Edelman has achieved his goal of producing a provocative exploration of "how we come to know the world and ourselves. " [br] Edelman firmly believes that______.
选项 A、mind matters will eventually be explained from a neurological perspective
B、experience will have an ill effect on neuronal connections
C、distant neurons will help synchronize their firing pattern
D、brain signals will repeatedly go from one brain region to another
答案 A
解析 题目问：埃德尔曼有怎样的观点。根据文中第四段首句“Edelman concedes that neurological explanations．．．but he is confident that they will be soon．”可知，埃德尔曼承认，从神经学的角度对意识和思维的其他方面所作的说明目前还没有得到应用，但是他确信很快会用到这些学说。据此可以推知，A项为正确答案。
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