Cognitive neuroscience seeks to understand “how the functions of the physical brain can yield the thoughts and ideas of an intangible mind”; that is, the relationship between cognitive computations and data about the brain. The field is a bridge between cognitive psychology, in which Computationalist, connectionist, and rational research traditions in cognitive science, and neuroscience, which concerns the physical substrate of cognitive processes.
Research methods in cognitive neuroscience include:
- Investigating cognitive changes after changes in the physical brain (e.g., injury);
- Gathering data about brain activity during cognition (e.g., FMRI);
- Data gathered from animals, such as monkeys, using more invasive techniques.