Has the Mind-Body Problem Advanced over the Years?

The mind-body problem is one of the deepest
puzzles of philosophy. It is the problem of giving an
account of how the mind or mental processes are related
to bodily states or processes. Ever since its beginning in
antiquity the problem has intrigued philosophers and
theologians. Even today philosophers of mind,
neuroscientists and psychologists are all concerned with
this problem. Since René Descartes (1596- 1650)
introduced the famous Cartesian Dualism, separation of
mind and matter into two different but interacting
substances, much discussion has followed. Current
debate in philosophy of mind has become too technical for
a layman to follow although the mind/body problem
continues to enjoy a great popular appeal. We ask like
Susan Greenfield (Greenfield 2002) How does a wrinkled
lump of grey matter weighing little more than a kilogram
manage to think, love, dream and feel such widely different
sensations as raw pleasures and numbing depressions?
This of course assumes that the human brain is the seat of
all mental activity.