Cognitive Neuroscience: GCSE Psychology Definition

What is Cognitive Neuroscience?

Cognitive neuroscience is a relatively recent development in psychological research; it has its roots in the computational models suggested by scientists in the 1950s, with technological advances making it easier to 'see' into the brain by the 1970s. By the 1980s/90s, psychologists were able to use brain-imaging techniques such as PET, MRI and fMRI scans to look into the brain to study its structure and function (CAT scans had been around since the 1920s).

Cognitive neuroscience has contributed massively to localisation of brain function as it seeks to ‘map out’ the brain in terms of which structures and functions can be linked to specific behaviours, e.g., memory and the hippocampus, emotion and the amygdala.

Research into cognitive neuroscience has uncovered many useful findings that have helped to inform drug therapy for disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. For example, antidepressant drugs known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) have been developed as a result of research into neurochemistry made possible by cognitive neuroscience.

 Cognitive Neuroscience Revision Resources to Ace Your Exams

You can use the Save My Exams revision notes to revise cognitive neuroscience and further your understanding of how the structure and function of the brain relate to behaviour and cognition.

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