Chirimuuta, Mazviita (2011) Extending, Changing, and Explaining the Brain. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

This paper address concerns raised recently by Edouardo Datteri (2009) and Carl Craver (2010) about the use of prosthetic implants 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 un-tampered brain. I argue, however, that Datteri’s no-plasticity constraint unwittingly rules out numerous experimental paradigms in systems neuroscience which also bring about changes in the brain. Furthermore, the relevance of prosthetic experiments to basic neuroscience is apparent when one considers the kind of theoretical questions that can be explored precisely by methods which alter neural circuits.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Chirimuuta, Mazviita mac289@pitt.edu
Keywords:	philosophy of neuroscience, neuroplasticity, prosthetic models, hybrid models, mechanism
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science
Depositing User:	Dr Mazviita Chirimuuta
Date Deposited:	20 Sep 2011 11:50
Last Modified:	20 Sep 2011 11:50
Item ID:	8800
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science
Date:	19 September 2011
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/8800

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