Short Review of Approaches and Methods

Abstract

I said at the beginning, that a science is progressing when it produces hypotheses that can be put to the test and, thus, proved or disproved. However, in order to make hypotheses one must have a starting point, a general theory, a philosophy of research. The neurosciences, though an applied branch, have not developed independent techniques as such; the absence of a general theory or frame has certainly favoured the development of largely differentiated experimental approaches (which is by no means a disadvantage, because multiplicity of approaches is always desirable) but has also induced a tendency to exploit the advancements of other fields, such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, computing etc., in a completely independent way each of the other. There is also an intrinsic danger in this situation, i. e. the neuroscientist does not easily perceive that with anyone of the widely differentiated methods, he also implicitly assumes a whole package of concepts, and particularly of limitations, inherent in the method itself.