NDLI: Extending, changing, and explaining the brain

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Chirimuuta, M.
Copyright Year	2013
Abstract	This paper addresses concerns raised recently by Datteri (Biol Philos 24:301–324, 2009) and Craver (Philos Sci 77(5):840–851, 2010) about the use of brain-extending prosthetics in experimental neuroscience. Since the operation of the implant induces plastic changes in neural circuits, it is reasonable to worry that operational knowledge of the hybrid system will not be an accurate basis for generalisation when modelling the unextended brain. I argue, however, that Datteri’s no-plasticity constraint unwittingly rules out numerous experimental paradigms in behavioural and systems neuroscience which also elicit neural plasticity. Furthermore, I propose that Datteri and Craver’s arguments concerning the limitations of prosthetic modelling in basic neuroscience, as opposed to neuroengineering, rests on too narrow a view of the ways models in neuroscience should be evaluated, and that a more pluralist approach is needed. I distinguish organisational validity of models from mechanistic validity. I argue that while prosthetic models may be deficient in the latter of these explanatory virtues because of neuroplasticity, they excel in the former since organisational validity tracks the extent to which a model captures coding principles that are invariant with plasticity. Changing the brain, I conclude, is one viable route towards explaining the brain.
Starting Page	613
Ending Page	638
Page Count	26
File Format	PDF
ISSN	01693867
Journal	Biology & Philosophy
Volume Number	28
Issue Number	4
e-ISSN	15728404
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2013-02-22
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Neuroscience Plasticity Mechanism Bionics Prosthetics Models and modelling Philosophy of Biology Evolutionary Biology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Philosophy Agricultural and Biological Sciences History and Philosophy of Science

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Simulation experiments in bionics: a regulative methodological perspective

Learning, evolvability and exploratory behaviour: extending the evolutionary reach of learning

Extending the Extended Phenotype

Explaining World History: Marxism, Evolutionism, and Sociobiology

Neural Plasticity and Consciousness

The Integrative Biology of Phenotypic Plasticity

Extending eusociality to include vertebrate family units

Moving parts: the natural alliance between dynamical and mechanistic modeling approaches

Carl F. Craver, Explaining what? Review of explaining the brain: mechanisms and the mosaic unity of neuroscience : Clarendon Press–Oxford University Press, 2007, 272 pp, $49.50 (06)

Extending, changing, and explaining the brain

Similar Documents

Simulation experiments in bionics: a regulative methodological perspective

Learning, evolvability and exploratory behaviour: extending the evolutionary reach of learning

Extending the Extended Phenotype

Explaining World History: Marxism, Evolutionism, and Sociobiology

Neural Plasticity and Consciousness

The Integrative Biology of Phenotypic Plasticity

Extending eusociality to include vertebrate family units

Moving parts: the natural alliance between dynamical and mechanistic modeling approaches

Carl F. Craver, Explaining what? Review of explaining the brain: mechanisms and the mosaic unity of neuroscience : Clarendon Press–Oxford University Press, 2007, 272 pp, $49.50 (06)

Extending, changing, and explaining the brain