As promised, a comprehensive list of mental processes vis-a-vis brain functions
editCtrl+F function may be useful.
The opening definition states, “enables consciousness, perception, thinking, and judgement.” There are other defining processes that make the mind what it is. I'm not saying that the lead section should now be altered to account for them, but they should at least be mentioned here on the talk page. The major ones that are missing are memory, emotion and navigation (in the broader sense, including speech). If you acquaint yourself with basic neurophysiology and derive a list of brain functions from a list of all the regions of the human brain, you'll wind up with a pretty interesting list, as I have about a year ago. This qualifies as original research, so it shouldn't enter the article, at least not in this manner, but it's a useful reference point. I'll probably post the list here sometime later. That will not be a problem, will it? EIN (talk) 19:57, 9 May 2013 (UTC) [on Talk:Mind]
Categorization by sets
editNote that executive functions, especially impulse control, fit questionably in this categorization, but they are related to the consciousness subsection as they require conscious, voluntary volition. The position of hunger and thirst in the perception subsection is also not secure.
A
editConsciousness
edit-
- Consciousness,
- self-awareness,
- attention,
- salience,
- alertness,
- sleep/wake.
- Executive function:
- planing,
- working memory,
- attention,
- problem solving,
- verbal reasoning,
- inhibition,
- mental flexibility,
- multitasking,
- initiation of action and monitoring thereof.
Memory
edit- Working memory,
- short-term memory,
- consolidation from short- to long-term memory,
- memory modulation
- moralization of recollections (?),
- implicit memory,
- procedural memory,
- learning,
- procedural memory,
- declarative memory, which includes
- episodic memory and
- semantic memory.
B
editEmotion
edit- Emotion,
- formation of emotion and processing thereof,
- mood,
- motivation,
- dopaminergic reward,
- reward anticipation,
- anticipation of tasks (?),
- emotional responses,
- emotional arousal,
- emotional learning,
- anxiety,
- sexuality,
- sociality,
- interpersonal experience,
- empathy,
- aggression,
- self-esteem,
- serotonergic appetite (?),
- “self-transcendence.”
Thought
edit- Reasoning,
- cognitive functioning,
- “rational cognitive functions,”
- discrimination,
- error detection,
- judgment,
- foresight,
- planning,
- decision making,
- knowledge of numbers and of their relations,
- language functions.
C
editPerception
edit- Somatosensory system
- vision
- hearing
- olfaction
- taste
- “touch”
- spatial orientation,
- color discrimination,
- semantic processing,
- motion perception,
- perception of specific things:
- extrasomatory
- scenes,
- objects,
- faces,
- emotional responses;
- intrasomatory
- pain,
- hunger (basically, intrasomatic perception of ghrelin secretions),
- thirst.
- extrasomatory
Navigation
edit- Spatial navigation,
- manipulation of objects,
- speech (achieved by navigating one’s speech organs).
Categorization by brain regions
editFor convenience, certain non-mental brain functions are also included in this section. Mental processes concentrate at the forebrain, especially at the telencephalonic part.
- breathing
- heart and blood vessel activity
- digestions
- peristalsis
- pons
- breathing
- paramedian pontine reticular formation
- horizontal gaze
- saccades
- cerebellum
- muscle movement coordination
- posture maintenance
- integration of sensory information from the inner ear and from proprioceptors in muscles and joints
- procedural memory
- vision
- hearing
- motor control
- sleep/wake
- arousal
- thalamus
- relaying of sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex
- regulation of consciousness
- sleep
- and alertness
- hypothalamus
- connection of the nervous system to the endocrine system,
- functions of the ANS,
- declarative memory,
- regulation of
- body temperature,
- hunger,
- thirst,
- fatigue,
- sleep and
- circadian cycles
- subthalamus
- regulation of movements produced by skeletal muscles
- epithalamus
- secretion of melatonin
- regulation of
- motor pathways and
- emotions
- pituitary gland
- growth
- blood pressure
- pregnancy
- breast milk production
- sex organ functions
- thyroid gland functioning
- metabolism
- hydroreguation
- temperature regulation
- pain relief
- third ventricle
- ?
- white matter
- message transmission
- subcortical
- hippocampus
- consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory
- spatial navigation
- spatial orientation
- emotional responses
- amygdala
- emotional arousal
- emotional responses
- emotional learning
- mood
- anxiety
- memory modulation
- autonomic responses associated with fear
- sexuality
- sociality
- aggression
- hormonal secretions
- claustrum
- ?
- basal ganglia
- eye movement
- movement coordination
- voluntary movement
- cognition control
- procedural memory
- motivation
- hippocampus
- rhinencephalon
- olfaction
- cerebral cortex
- frontal lobe
- foresight
- judgment
- impulse control
- discrimination
- moralization of memories
- working memory
- reasoning
- motor functions
- self-esteem
- dopamine system of
- reward,
- attention,
- short-term memory tasks,
- planning and
- motivation
- parietal lobe
- somatosensory system
- knowledge of numbers and of their relations
- manipulation of objects
- visuospatial processing
- language functions
- “self-transcendence”
- occipital lobe
- vision
- visuospatial processing
- color discrimination
- motion perception
- temporal lobe
- auditory perception
- speech
- semantics processing
- formation of long-term memories
- episodic/declarative memory
- recognition and processing of
- scenes,
- objects,
- faces and
- emotional responses
- insular cortex
- consciousness
- self-awareness
- emotion
- perception
- salience
- cognitive functioning
- interpersonal experience
- mood
- anxiety
- motor control
- homeostasis
- cingulate cortex
- executive function
- rational cognitive functions
- attention
- reward anticipation
- anticipation of tasks
- decision making
- error detection
- motivation
- empathy
- emotion formation and processing
- learning
- memory
- serotonin transporters involved in
- appetite,
- sleep,
- mood,
- anxiety,
- long-term memory formation
- self-esteem
- autonomic functions such as
- respiratory control,
- blood pressure and
- heart beat
- frontal lobe
- motor systems
- repetition of heard speech
- neurosomatic conveyance of motor information
- interhemispheric communication
- conduction of impulses from the brain to the spinal cord
- dopamine system
- serotonin system
- muscle
- nerves
- provision of a common pathway for the electrochemical nerve impulses that are transmitted along each of the axons to peripheral organs
- HPA axis
- digestion
- immune system
- mood
- emotion
- sexuality
- storage & expenditure of energy
- veins
- return of blood to the heart from other organs
- circle of Willis
- supplementation of blood to the brain and surrounding structures
- BBB
- separation of circulating blood from the brain extracellular fluid (BECF) in the CNS
- protection of the CNS