neural substrate

{{short description|Regions of the central nervous system which correspond to different cognitive processes}}

A neural substrate is a term used in neuroscience to indicate the part of the central nervous system (i.e., brain and spinal cord) that underlies a specific behavior, cognitive process, or psychological state.{{cite web |title=Neural substrates |url=https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/neural+substrates |website=Medical Dictionary |publisher=Farlex |accessdate=27 January 2019 |quote=neural substrates
functional units of the central nervous system, often composed of a series of structural units which may be widely separated anatomically but which interact to support or drive complex nervous system functions, such as hunger and sleepiness. They are the counterparts of simple centers, e.g. the respiratory center, which control simple physiological mechanisms.}}{{cite book |veditors=Koffler S, Morgan J, Baron IS, Greiffenstein MF |title=Neuropsychology: Science and Practice, I |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199794317 |page=150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HevbZbReOEgC&q=%22neural+substrates+are%22&pg=PA150 |accessdate=27 January 2019 |quote=Further, clear definition of how language and its underlying neural substrates are affected as we become older will assist clinicians and others in communicating clearly with older persons.}} Neural is an adjective relating to "a nerve or the nervous system",[https://web.archive.org/web/20121023050914/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/neural Neural] Oxford Dictionary. Retrieved 22 December 2012. while a substrate is an "underlying substance or layer".[https://web.archive.org/web/20120707220751/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/substrate Substrate] Oxford Dictionary. Retrieved 22 December 2012.

Some examples are the neural substrates of language acquisition,[http://ilabs.washington.edu/kuhl/pdf/Kuhl&Rivera-Gaxiola2008.pdf "Neural substrates of language acquisition"] memory,[http://cognition.ups-tlse.fr/intranetbcnam/blogbcnam/upload/Dubnau_et_al_-_J_Neurobiol-2003.pdf "Neural substrates of memory: from synapse to system"]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} prediction and reward,[http://www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/~dayan/papers/sdm97.pdf "A neural substrate of prediction and reward"] pleasure, facial recognition,[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/data/Journals/NP/3835/139.pdf "Neural substrates of facial recognition"] envisioning the future,[http://www.pnas.org/content/104/2/642.full "Neural substrates of envisioning the future"] intentional empathy,[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6586056_The_neural_substrate_of_human_empathy_effects_of_perspective-taking_and_cognitive_appraisal/file/d912f5024f4eaf22dd.pdf "The neural substrate of human empathy: effects of perspective-taking and cognitive appraisal"] religious experience,[https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/jnp.9.3.498 "The neural substrates of religious experience"] spontaneous musical performance,[http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0001679 "Neural substrates of spontaneous musical performance"] and anxiety.{{cite book|author1=S. Hossein Fatemi|author2=Paula J. Clayton|title=The Medical Basis of Psychiatry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RJOy1vy2RKQC&pg=PA134|accessdate=28 December 2012|year=2008|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-59745-252-6|pages=134–}}