Brains are physical structures—clusters of interconnected cells, vessels, and chemicals. Within this substrate emerges something profound: the mind. Cognitive neuroscience has made significant progress in mapping the neural circuits that underpin emotions, memory, perception, and cognition. For example, the medial prefrontal cortex toggles between rule-sets when contexts change. At the same time, the mediodorsal thalamus suppresses irrelevant patterns, allowing new task rules to take precedence (Rikhye, Gilra, & Halassa, 2018).

Meanwhile, network science has revealed how the brain balances modular operations with global integration, predicting individual differences in reasoning speed, memory, and cognitive flexibility (Lynn & Bassett, 2019). The human brain remains flexible throughout life, continually reshaping its circuits and connections in response to experience. One reason for this is the influence of human-specific genes, such as SRGAP2C, which slows down the maturation of synapses. This delay likely evolved to keep our brains more adaptable for longer, boosting our ability to learn and grow over time (Sahakian & Langley, 2025)

The mind arises when neural signals are interpreted into concepts, stories, and meaning. Most neuroscientists endorse monism—mind equals brain—but the “extended mind” thesis contends that tools and environments (e.g., notebooks, smartphones) function as cognitive extensions (Wilson,........

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