Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

From brain to neuron to molecule and back again: circular causality in the organization of embodied

cognition

Walter J FreemanUniversity of California

at Berkeleyhttp://sulcus.berkeley.edu

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Information Technology was repudiated almost immediately by the key designer of the serial digital computer:

“Whatever the language of the brain is, it cannot fail to differ considerably from what we consciously and

explicitly consider as mathematics.”

John von Neumann (1958)

“The Computer and the Brain”

John von Neumann

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

“Brains lack the arithmetic and

logical depth that characterize our computations… .”

“We require exquisite numerical precision over many logical steps to

achieve what brains accomplish in very few short steps.”

The Computer and the

Brain, 1958, p. 63.

John von Neumann, 1900-1958

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Claude Shannon

“The fundamental problem of

communication is to reproduce a message. … Frequently the messages have meaning. …

These semantic aspects

are irrelevant to the engineering

problem.”

Claude Shannon (1948)

“A mathematical theory of

communication.” Bell System Technical

Journal 27: 379.

Likewise by Shannon:

Claude Shannon 1916-2001

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

The use of imaging to localize brain modules:

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

PET, SPECT, BOLD, fMRI, DTA, EEG, MEG, etc. support contemporary forms of

19th century phrenology. Neumann & Nichols, Nature, 1999. Imaging data assembled by C. J. Doane.

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Requirement for a new model

OUTLINE

Why is the information/representation

model so tenacious?

What can be done to open the way to new models?

What are von Neumann’s “few short steps”?

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Haken Prigogine

Brains are open thermodynamic systems far from equilibrium.

Ilya Prigogine, 1917-2003 Hermann Haken, 1927 - “dissipative structures” “circular causality”

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

EEG, Cat hungry, then satiated

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

PG PSTH

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Periglomerular (PG) root loci

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

PG Threshold, non-zero point attractor

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Pole at the origin of the complex plane

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Root loci: Sigmoid curve

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Root loci: Sigmoid curve, KIe

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

St. Thomas Aquinas, Intentionality

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

An example of intentionality

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Root loci: PG PSTH and AEP

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Root loci: 64 AEP OB from PON

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Root loci: Mode 1e

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Root loci Mode 2:

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Root loci: Sigmoid curve, KIIob

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

A state transition is induced in the olfactory system

by each inhalation that brings new sensory input.

Freeman, 1972

Walter J Freeman University of California at Berkeley

Electrode arrays on rabbit brain

Left hemisphere of the rabbit brain with size and location of 8x8

electrode arraysThe circles show typical activity

domains.