Ten Unsolved Questions of Neuroscience

This talk is based on an upcoming book by David Eagleman and Patricia Churchland (Ten Unsolved Questions of Neuroscience, MIT Press, 2006).  Since the field of neuroscience is still young and groping for its theoretical footing, this talk turns the spotlight on the uncharted territories of the field.  We will suggest issues that must be grappled with before the field can possess the explanatory maturity of, say, genetics or physics.  Given the complexity of modern neuroscience, there is a need for a roadmap that looks at the outstanding problems for the next generation and suggests the hotspots for future discovery.  This talk humbly hopes to highlight our ignorance and future directions rather than our knowledge and past triumphs.

Our ten questions are:

1. How is information coded in neural activity?
2. How are memories stored and retrieved?
3. How do brains balance plasticity against retention?
4. What is the brain’s extensive baseline activity about?
5. How should we neurally characterize emotions?
6. What is intelligence?
7. How is time managed in nervous systems?
8. Why do brains sleep and dream?
9. How do the highly specialized subsystems of the brain coordinate with one another?
10. What is the neural substrate of consciousness?