人类认识到大脑是思考的心理活动的器官,并没有很久的历史:
Yet throughout much of human history, it seemed self-evident that the brain wasn’t the prime location for our memories, thoughts, and emotions.
为什么呢?依据“常识”,人们认为是“心想”:
They almost surely noticed that when people become excited, angry, scared, or passionate, their hearts pound quickly, whereas their brains seem to be doing little or nothing. Therefore, they reasoned the heart must be causing these emotional reactions. Today, of course, we know that the heart was merely reflecting these reactions, not causing them. By confusing correlation with causation, the ancients’ intuitions probably misled them.
逻辑似乎很清楚:心跳加快 --> 情绪有变化,所以是心在思考 —— 这是将相关误认为因果了,这也就是为什么,心理学不仅仅是常识(1.1节中反复强调的)。
现在我们已经逐渐明白,是大脑在思考,我们将研究神经系统之间关系的人:
Researchers who study the relationship between the nervous system—a vast communication network consisting of nerve cells, both inside and outside of the brain and spinal cord—and behavior go by the names of biological psychologists, physiological psychologists, or most commonly today, neuroscientists.
所以三个名字是等价的:生物心理学家,生理心理学家和神经科学家,这些人在逐渐建立大脑与心理学的关系:
By linking brain to behavior, these scientists often bridge multiple levels of analysis within psychology (see LO 1.1a).
本章整体的内容相当硬核,我只能慢慢记录(O(∩_∩)O哈哈~)。
首先是神经元(Neuron),也就是神经细胞(nerve cell),它们作为大脑的基本单元,负责信息的传播:
The functioning of our brain depends on continual cross-talk among neurons—nerve cells specialized for communication with each other.
关于神经元的一些数字:
- 大脑中大约有850亿个神经元
- 如果将其排列,等同于加州到纽约5个来回的长度
- 这些神经元,构成了大约160万亿个连接
另外,人脑胜过机器之处在于,对于语言、情感等的理解(这也就是为什么NLP重要了)。
而神经元的组成部分包括:

- 细胞体(Soma, Cell Body),能产生新的细胞成分,由大大小小的分子(molecules)组成,负责持续更新细胞成分(cell components),而且它包含了
- 细胞核(Nucleus),细胞核负责制造蛋白质(proteins),带“核”的一定是核心了,所以对细胞核的严重损伤将是致命的(serious damage to this part of the neuron is fatal)
- 树突(Dendrite),负责接收信息,对应的
- 轴突(axons)和轴突末梢(axons terminals),负责发送信息,怎么发送呢?需要通过动作电位(action potential),使得
- 突触小泡(synaptic vesicles)的运动,然后爆裂,释放出
- 神经递质(neurotransmitters),一种化学信息的传递者 —— 作者类比于吃下胶囊药丸的过程,随后神经递质将进入
- 突触(synapse),可以传递神经递质的两个神经元之间的小小的液态空间(a tiny fluid-filled space),其中包含了
- 突触间隙(synaptic cleft),是突触前膜和突触后膜之间的传递空间
- 此外,髓鞘(Myelin sheath)负责隔绝干扰(防止神经电冲动从神经元轴突传递至另一神经元轴突),并帮助传导电信号(electrical),按照作者的表达,并非所有的轴突都具有髓鞘(...some of which are coated with myelin...)
中文版的下图(图3.2,突触传导),翻译是有个小问题,按照作者的翻译逻辑,左侧应该是“突触后神经表面”:

实际和下图想表示的一致:

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