event
Tuesday 15 Jun 2021: Neural dynamics as a theoretical language to understand the emerge of cognition from the sensory-motor domain
Gregor Schöner - Ruhr-Universität
https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/j/95492672277?pwd=dUNpMHJ4NmNueWlVKzhTdXUvcWlaQT09 Meeting ID: 954 9267 2277 Password: 959771 13:30-14:30
Cognition emerged in evolution from sensorimotor behaviors that became increasingly invariant and abstract. Sensorimotor processes require theoretical notions of dynamics systems, with stability as a central concept. Cognition has classically been viewed as a form of information processing, even in variants of connectionism. How may we reconcile these two strands of theoretical thinking? The theoretical framework of Dynamic Field Theory builds on strongly interactive neural networks, or neural dynamics to account for the autonomous generation of sequences of mental or motor acts. Stable states and instabilities play a central role in the theory. I will outline the central assumptions of DFT and show how problems in cognition can be framed within this theoretical perspective.
