Lately, when I look at the current research trends in neuroscience, a question has been lurking at the back of my mind. Clicking on and reading abstracts after abstracts of journal articles, I found myself asking if there could be a motivation bias behind the remarkable endeavours of researchers.
More specifically, has there been a considerable amount of attention paid to the appealing cerebral cortical regions rather than those which maintain and regulate fundamental survival and autonomic functions, thereby striking a subtle imbalance of focus? There seems to be much expert concentration on our high-level mental capacities of cognition, reasoning, memory, decision-making, executive control and emotion. They make up the main chapters of behavioural neuroscience textbooks and probably shine the spotlight away from those which we cannot do without such as involuntary physiological processes: breathing, heart rate and swallowing, which are mostly taken care of by the hindbrain region of the brainstem.
Looking at the latest line-up of events taking place at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, none specifically touch on brainstem abnormalities or diseases. Additionally, UBC has not done much outstanding research on the brainstem to the best of my knowledge as an undergraduate. Ironically, a neurosurgery journal article on cavernous malformation of the brainstem which inspired this letter in the first place was co-authored by a UBC professor, Dr. Peter A. Gooderham, while he was working at Stanford University.
Considering the many journal articles I have written papers about for the behavioural neuroscience and psychology courses I have taken, there are none which touch on brainstem or the hindbrain region. The neuroscience textbook I used as a student at UBC had minimal content which expounds on the hindbrain, despite the significant functions for survival this region looks after.
Is it no coincidence that the cerebral cortex, with the frontal lobe as its largest, is positioned at the front of the brain whereas the brainstem makes up its rear portion? Perhaps, it is suggestive of a human tendency to place more importance on subjects which emphasize our intelligence and superiority in task performance over basic survival functions, pushing them to the backstage perhaps due to extrinsic motivation in the guise of intrinsic values.
Our intellect and the endless possibilities it can accomplish are prized more than any other thing in the world of academics, so naturally neuroscientific research would be attracted to themes of our mental faculties which made us able to perform highly sophisticated studies in the first place. Yet, not every part of our brain is devoted to cognition and reasoning.
To borrow the idea of Freud, the conscious mind is just the tip of our iceberg brain. The theory of unconscious thinking must have branched off from here. A question that comes to mind is to what extent can we liken the unconscious realm of thought to involuntary and reflexive bodily processes since both do not require awareness and attentive control. Research in the years to come may reveal more than what we are currently anticipating or imagining.
I get the impression that this area will be neglected until we encounter neurosurgical emergencies such as a stroke, as in the case of cavernous malformations when dilated group of blood vessels burst and bleeding occurs, requiring fast treatment. Much has been publicized about the early symptoms of memory deficits and personality changes in dementia and Alzheimer's disease, but we seldom elaborate on their final stage degeneration which compromise survival functions — in particular, swallowing, feeding and mobility — thereby being responsible for ultimately concluding a person's life.
Not surprisingly, most progress in treatment benefits cognitive symptoms in the early stages, but the easier targets at the start soon give way to the toughest challenges which await. Which nature of symptoms should we weigh more in terms of severity and incapacitation? And can we easily name a disorder which involves the pons or cerebellum without flipping through the textbooks? Our implicit motivation plays a part in influencing our intellectual focus.
As a UBC student, I feel that this is limiting my exposure to knowledge that could have potential benefits to students who are preparing for graduate school. Research should not make us ignorant, but curious and eager to explore the unexplored frontier(s). Rowena Kong is a fourth-year psychology student at UBC.
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