Natural neuroscience

by Nachum Ulanovsky

ISBN: 9780262044998

Published: 2025-04-15

A new approach to brain research that emphasizes studying the brain under naturalistic conditions. Natural neuroscience departs from the classical reductionist approach, which emphasizes control at the expense of natural behaviors, by proposing a shift toward real-world relevance, natural behaviors, and ecological validity. In Natural Neuroscience, Nachum Ulanovsky presents the conceptual, empirical, and technological underpinnings that enabled this new field. Natural neuroscience researchers posit that when studying any brain region in any animal, whether standard mammalian species such as rodents and primates or nonstandard species, it is crucial to pursue the animal’s natural behaviors and to consider the natural problems it needs to solve. By preventing rich natural behaviors, says Ulanovsky, we miss key aspects of brain function—and we may not even know what we miss. The author surveys recent studies that have begun to move in this direction across multiple subfields of...