My Understanding of the Mind

By: Mahima

When we say that we have "changed our mind" about

something, we mean that we have changed our decision.
This implies that the mind is used for decision-making.

When asked to think about a pink elephant, an image of a

pink elephant "comes to mind". In this situation, we have
generated a new image that we have not already seen; that
is, we have used our imagination by virtue of our mind.

When we are nervous or angry, it is often recommended

that we take long breaths to calm our minds. This is
because our minds behave differently when we experience
different emotions.

In fiction, when a character "reads minds," they gain

awareness of another individual's thoughts. This is based
on the obvious fact that thought processes happen in the
mind.

The lines and dots on this screen make sense to us because

we have learnt their meanings from a young age and this
information has been stored in our minds. So we can say
that the mind is responsible for memory. When we are
nervous or angry, it is often recommended that we take
long breaths to calm our minds; this is because our minds
behave differently when we experience different emotions.

These are a few common examples of how we use the term

"mind" in everyday language. In the above examples, we
have come to the conclusion that the mind is responsible
for mental processes like decision-making, imagination,
memory, experiencing emotions, thinking, et cetera. But
wait, aren't these same functions said to be the product of
the brain?

The Brain

The light from the pixels on this screen enters our eye
through an opening in the centre of the
iris known as the pupil. Once the light is focused onto the
retina by the lens, the photoreceptors (rods and cones)
lining the retina are stimulated. The sensory information
is then carried to the cerebral cortex of the brain via optic
nerves where it is processed. Also in the cerebral cortex are
association areas, which are areas of the brain concerned
with memory, thought, and language. So, was it wrong to
conclude that we are reading the words on the screen in
our minds?

What about imagination, then? How did we conjure up the

image of the pink elephant? A study employing Functional
magnetic resonance imaging revealed activity in the
occipital, frontoparietal, posterior parietal, precuneus, and
dorsolateral prefrontal regions of the subjects' brains while
they used their imagination to mentally assemble,
disassemble, or blend precise visual objects.

It is widely accepted in cognitive science that damage to

the frontal lobe in the brain impairs one’s ability to make a
decision. The anterior zone of the prefrontal cortex is
important for making decisions and evaluating which of
several courses of action is likely to achieve the best
outcome. People with prefrontal cortical damage often
make decisions that seem impulsive.

The brain is responsible for emotions too. Deep inside the

brain, there is a network of structures known as the limbic
system. It is the area of the brain in charge of both
emotional and behavioral reactions.

Different types of memory are stored in different parts of

the brain. Episodic and semantic memories are stored in
the hippocampus, the neocortex, and the amygdala.
Whereas implicit memories like motor memories are
stored in the basal ganglia and cerebellum.

So if we say that the brain does the same things as the

mind does, then what is the difference?
Well, firstly, the brain is a physical organ. Thoughts,
emotions, subjective states, and self-awareness—all of
which are assumed to originate from the brain—are
described by the abstract idea of the mind.

Employing an analogy, we can that the brain functions as

the hardware that houses the software that we call the
mind.