An Essay on Understanding the Mind

Kelso, J. A. Scott

doi:10.1080/10407410801949297

Cited by 62 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 96 publications

(102 reference statements)

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“…Some of them persist longer than others because the operational relations underlying OM are more stable. Kelso observed [509] that "stable thoughts, like stable gaits it seems, correspond to minimum energy configurations among participating neural ensembles". Indeed, research shows that oxygen utilization (Blood Oxygen Level) increases as the spatial-temporal pattern loses stability, suggesting that the demands on neural resources to sustain a given pattern stability also increase [510].…”

Section: The Succession Of Oms and The Stream Of Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have argued here that the metastability mode of brain-mind functioning [219,223,509] introduces a hierarchical coupling [6,26] between the brain and mind while simultaneously allowing them to retain their individuality (for a conceptual discussion see [4]). When examined from this perspective, mind, cognition, and behavior, as well as brain activity, are all seen as dynamic processes that rapidly evolve through a series of informationally consistent, spatially and temporally organized coordination states (Fig.…”

Section: Concluding Remarks Implications and Predictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Natural world physical, brain operational, and mind phenomenal space–time

Fingelkurts

Neves

2010

Physics of Life Reviews

165

233

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Concepts of space and time are widely developed in physics. However, there is a considerable lack of biologically plausible theoretical frameworks that can demonstrate how space and time dimensions are implemented in the activity of the most complex life-system -the brain with a mind. Brain activity is organized both temporally and spatially, thus representing space-time in the brain. Critical analysis of recent research on the space-time organization of the brain's activity pointed to the existence of so-called operational space-time in the brain. This space-time is limited to the execution of brain operations of differing complexity. During each such brain operation a particular short-term spatio-temporal pattern of integrated activity of different brain areas emerges within related operational space-time. At the same time, to have a fully functional human brain one needs to have a subjective mental experience. Current research on the subjective mental experience offers detailed analysis of space-time organization of the mind. According to this research, subjective mental experience (subjective virtual world) has definitive spatial and temporal properties similar to many physical phenomena. Based on systematic review of the propositions and tenets of brain and mind space-time descriptions, our aim in this review essay is to explore the relations between the two. To be precise, we would like to discuss the hypothesis that via the brain operational space-time the mind subjective space-time is connected to otherwise distant physical space-time reality.Key words: spatial, temporal, consciousness, cognition, operation, architectonics, EEG, field, metastability, physics, coordinative dynamics, self-organization, cortex.

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Section: The Succession Of Oms and The Stream Of Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Concluding Remarks Implications and Predictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural world physical, brain operational, and mind phenomenal space–time

Fingelkurts

Neves

2010

Physics of Life Reviews

165

233

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Over the last 20 years it has become apparent that neural synchrony is only one manifestation of the brain's self-organizing coordination dynamics. Far more variable, plastic and fluid forms of coordination exist, in which tendencies for component parts to come together coexist with tendencies for the same parts to behave as autonomous units [13,30,[105][106][107]. Such metastable coordination dynamics is characteristic of systems like brains and bodies composed, as they are, of parts that are heterogeneous.…”

Section: Box 1 Neural Mechanisms For the Emergence Of Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Self-Organizing Origins of Agency

Kelso¹

2016

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

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The question of agency and directedness in living systems has puzzled philosophers and scientists for centuries. What principles and mechanisms underlie the emergence of agency? Analysis and dynamical modeling of experiments on human infants suggest that the birth of agency is due to a eureka-like, pattern forming phase transition in which the infant suddenly realizes it can make things happen in the world. The main mechanism involves positive feedback: when the baby's initially spontaneous movements cause the world to change, their perceived consequences have a sudden and sustained amplifying effect on the baby's further actions. The baby discovers itself as a causal agent. Some implications of this theory are discussed. KeywordsCoordination Dynamics; collective variables; phase transition; positive feedback; emergence; agent; consciousness; synchrony; metastability What is this 'I'?We humans tend to believe that we are agents, masters and mistresses of our fate, that our deeds and desires are our destiny. Yet despite a sizeable literature on 'the sense of agency' and its behavioral and neuroimaging correlates (see [1,2] for recent reviews) the scientific basis of causal agency and how we come to experience ourselves as agents is lacking. Agency means action towards an end. When it comes to the behavior of living things, our inability to understand end-directedness forces us to posit (often implicitly) an intelligent agent residing somewhere inside the system that is responsible for the end-directed behavior we observe. The self as casual agent remains a ghost in the machine awaiting exorcism, perhaps, by new insights from the brain and cognitive sciences.Charles Darwin, in On the Origin of Species touched only briefly on the topic of agency though he noted how 'admirably adapted' was the woodpecker to catch insects under the Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Franklin Fearing [5] noted that "Even before man speculated about the nature and source of his own experiences, he was probably curious about the agencies by which animal motion was effected" (p.1). Life and motion, Fearing remarks, are almost synonymous terms. HHS Public AccessIn his famous book, "What is life?" Erwin Schrödinger [6] one of the chief architects of quantum mechanics and the author of the famous equation that bears his name, proposed an "order from order" principle as the physical basis of life. Schrödinger speculated that this new kind of order took the form of an aperiodic crystal, later exposed as the beautiful double helical structure of the DNA molecule [7]. Not much mor...

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“…1 The later is based on Kelso's (2008) notion of meta-stability, which is described as "the simultaneous realization of two competing tendencies: the tendency of the components to couple together and the tendency for the components to express their intrinsic independent behavior" (p. 186).…”

Section: Balance -Conceptual Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Psychology of Dynamic Balance and Peak Performance in Sport: Correction Theory

Cowen

Nesti

Cheetham

2014

Quest

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This paper presents an introduction to a new approach to our understanding of peak performance and dysfunctional performance in sport -Correction theory. Correction theory, based within a control theory (W. Powers, 1973) and dynamical systems perspective, assumes that dynamic balance (A state in which a robust complex system will self-correct in response to imbalance) underwrites individual functioning. The central thesis presented in this paper is that an interdependent relationship exists between peak performance and dysfunctional performance in sport. Peak performance is, in part, a (corrective) response to dysfunctional performance, and vice versa. An overview of correction theory is presented, based on two propositions relating to balance. Implications of correction theory for our understanding of sporting performance are briefly considered. Keywords: dynamic balance, peak performance, correction theory DYNAMIC BALANCE, CORRECTION THEORY 3The Psychology of Dynamic Balance and Peak Performance in Sport: Correction Theory A psychological theory, if it is to be more than a technical makeshift, must base itself on the principle of opposition; for without this it could only reestablish a neurotically unbalanced psyche. There is no balance, no system of regulation without opposition. The psyche is just such a self-regulating system (Jung, 1966a, p. 61) Aphorisms such as success out of failure and triumph over adversity are commonplace within sport. One regularly hears coaches and players talk about expecting a reaction following defeat, and warning against complacency after victory; alluding to a possible interdependent relationship between success and failure rarely explored within the academic literature. The pursuit of achieving sustainable peak performances in competition is arguably one of the defining goals and challenges for elite athletes (Nesti, Littlewood, O'Halloran, Eubank, & Richardson, 2012), and for those who seek to support them. Yet variation in performance is a certainty for athletes, including at elite levels, making success and failure an inevitable part of elite athletes lived experience (Gilbourne and Richardson, 2006). Privette (1981) defined peak performance as "behaviour in any activity that transcends what normally could be expected in that situation" (p. 51). Based on this definition, peak performance refers to a higher level of functioning within any given activity (Privette, 1983), which is by definition quantitatively and/or qualitatively different to a "normal" level of performance.The qualitative nature of the subjective experiences associated with peak performance in sport has attracted significant attention in the literature (i.e., Csikszentmihalyi, 1975;Jackson, 1992, Privette, 1981Ravizza, 1977Ravizza, , 1984. Many DYNAMIC BALANCE, CORRECTION THEORY 4 of these findings suggest that peak performance is an ego-transcending experience (Maslow, 1968) consistent with the construct of flow (Young & Pain, 1999), which Jackson et al (2001) described as an optimal mental stat...

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An Essay on Understanding the Mind

Cited by 62 publications

References 96 publications

Natural world physical, brain operational, and mind phenomenal space–time

Natural world physical, brain operational, and mind phenomenal space–time

On the Self-Organizing Origins of Agency

The Psychology of Dynamic Balance and Peak Performance in Sport: Correction Theory

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