List of unsolved problems in biology

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This article lists notable unsolved problems in biology .

Contents

General biology

Evolution and origins of life

Biochemistry and cell biology

Other

Human biology

Neuroscience and cognition

Neurophysiology

Sleep What is the biological function of sleep? What is the purpose of dreaming? What are the underlying brain mechanisms? What is its relation to anesthesia?
Neuroplasticity How plastic is the mature brain?
General anesthetic What is the mechanism by which it works?
Neuropsychiatric diseases What are the neural bases (causes) of mental diseases like psychotic disorders (e.g. mania, schizophrenia), Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, or addiction? Is it possible to recover loss of sensory or motor function?
Neural computationWhat are all the different types of neuron and what do they do in the brain?

Cognition and psychology

Cognition and decisions How and where does the brain evaluate reward value and effort (cost) to modulate behavior? How does previous experience alter perception and behavior? What are the genetic and environmental contributions to brain function?
Computational neuroscience How important is the precise timing of action potentials for information processing in the neocortex? Is there a canonical computation performed by cortical columns? How is information in the brain processed by the collective dynamics of large neuronal circuits? What level of simplification is suitable for a description of information processing in the brain? What is the neural code?
Computational theory of mind What are the limits of understanding thinking as a form of computing?
Consciousness What is the brain basis of subjective experience, cognition, wakefulness, alertness, arousal, and attention? What is the precise mechanism behind how phenomenal binding occurs? Is there a "hard problem of consciousness"? If so, how is it solved? What, if any, is the function of consciousness, and what is the mechanism behind the function of consciousness? [32] [33]
Free will Particularly the neuroscience of free will
Language How is it implemented neurally? What is the basis of semantic meaning?
Learning and memory Where do our memories get stored and how are they retrieved again? How can learning be improved? What is the difference between explicit and implicit memories? What molecule is responsible for synaptic tagging?
The emergence and evolution of intelligence What are the laws and mechanisms - of new idea emergence (insight, creativity synthesis, intuition, decision-making, eureka); development (evolution) of an individual mind in the ontogenesis, etc.?
Perception How does the brain transfer sensory information into coherent, private percepts? What are the rules by which perception is organized? What are the features/objects that constitute our perceptual experience of internal and external events? How are the senses integrated? What is the relationship between subjective experience and the physical world?

Non-human biology

Ecology, evolution, and paleontology

Unsolved problems relating to the interactions between organisms and their distribution in the environment include:

Ethology

Unsolved problems relating to the behaviour of animals include:

Non-human organs and biomolecules

Unsolved problems relating to the structure and function of non-human organs, processes and biomolecules include:

Artificial life

Unsolved problems in artificial life include: [44] [45]

See also

References

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