Favela, Luis H. (2020) The Dynamical Renaissance in Neuroscience. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Although there is a substantial philosophical literature on dynamical systems theory in the cognitive sciences, the same is not the case for neuroscience. This paper attempts to motivate increased discussion via a set of overlapping issues. The first aim is primarily historical and is to demonstrate that dynamical systems theory is currently experiencing a renaissance in neuroscience. Although dynamical concepts and methods are becoming increasingly popular in contemporary neuroscience, the general approach should not be viewed as something entirely new to neuroscience. Instead, it is more appropriate to view the current developments as making central again approaches that facilitated some of neuroscience’s most significant early achievements, namely, the Hodgkin-Huxley and FitzHugh-Nagumo models. The second aim is primarily critical and defends a version of the “dynamical hypothesis” in neuroscience. Whereas the original version centered on defending a noncomputational and nonrepresentational account of cognition, the version I have in mind is broader and includes both cognition and the neural systems that realize it as well. In view of that, I discuss research on motor control as a paradigmatic example demonstrating that the concepts and methods of dynamical systems theory are increasingly and successfully being applied to neural systems in contemporary neuroscience. More significantly, such applications are motivating a stronger metaphysical claim, that is, understanding neural systems as being dynamical systems, which includes not requiring appeal to representations to explain or understand those phenomena. Taken together, the historical claim and the critical claim demonstrate that the dynamical hypothesis is undergoing a renaissance in contemporary neuroscience.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Favela, Luis H. luis.favela@ucf.edu 0000-0002-6434-959X
Keywords:	Dimensionality reduction; Dynamical systems theory; Motor control; Neuroscience; Representation
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science General Issues > Explanation General Issues > History of Science Case Studies Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Depositing User:	Dr. Luis H. Favela
Date Deposited:	14 Sep 2020 14:41
Last Modified:	14 Sep 2020 14:41
Item ID:	18098
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science General Issues > Explanation General Issues > History of Science Case Studies Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Date:	14 September 2020
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/18098

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• The Dynamical Renaissance in Neuroscience. (deposited 14 Sep 2020 14:41) [Currently Displayed]
  • The Dynamical Renaissance in Neuroscience. (deposited 03 Jun 2021 14:17)

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