Symbols and dynamics in the brain

Bio Systems
P Cariani

Abstract

The work of physicist and theoretical biologist Howard Pattee has focused on the roles that symbols and dynamics play in biological systems. Symbols, as discrete functional switching-states, are seen at the heart of all biological systems in the form of genetic codes, and at the core of all neural systems in the form of informational mechanisms that switch behavior. They also appear in one form or another in all epistemic systems, from informational processes embedded in primitive organisms to individual human beings to public scientific models. Over its course, Pattee's work has explored (1) the physical basis of informational functions (dynamical vs. rule-based descriptions, switching mechanisms, memory, symbols), (2) the functional organization of the observer (measurement, computation), (3) the means by which information can be embedded in biological organisms for purposes of self-construction and representation (as codes, modeling relations, memory, symbols), and (4) the processes by which new structures and functions can emerge over time. We discuss how these concepts can be applied to a high-level understanding of the brain. Biological organisms constantly reproduce themselves as well as their relations with their enviro...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Jan 5, 2002·Bio Systems·Peter A Cariani
Jan 5, 2002·Bio Systems·Bernard P Zeigler
Jan 29, 2009·New Ideas in Psychology·Joanna Rączaszek-Leonardi, J A Scott Kelso
Aug 30, 2016·Biosemiotics·Thomas Osborne
Jun 19, 2004·The International Journal of Neuroscience·Andrew A Fingelkurts, Alexander A Fingelkurts
Jul 6, 2021·Frontiers in Neuroscience·Reza Rastmanesh, Matti Pitkänen

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