Towards a Biologically Coherent Account of the Brain and How it Develops

Abstract

As the sophistication and reach of neuroscience methods increase, it is important to understand the implications of different conceptualizations of brain function. Considering the evolution of the vertebrate brain illustrates how brain function must always be considered in the context of the goal-directed activity of the organism. The brain does not simply mediate between stimulus and response but is instead part of a reafferent loop that begins and ends with the activity of the organism. However, this emphasis on the inherently active individual is lost if we adopt a view of the brain as a computational device that passively processes input delivered to it from an external world. In this latter view, the organism is instructed by external information, but this approach fails to appreciate that the origin of all information reaching the brain is the activity of the organism itself. Related conceptual confusions about the nature of information characterize accounts of brain development that rely on the notion of instructions encoded in DNA. A more biologically coherent approach to brain development comes from theorizing in embodiment that emphasizes the inherent activity of the organism in the context of the wider developmental system.