The Cooperative Neuron is part of a revolution that is occurring in the sciences of brain and mind. It explores the new field of cellular psychology, a field built upon the recent discovery that many neurons in the brain cooperate to seek agreement in deciding what's relevant in the current context. This cooperative context-sensitivity provides the cellular foundations for knowledge, doubt, imagination, self-development, and the search for purpose in life. This emerging field has far-reaching and fundamental implications for psychology, neuroscience, psychiatry, neurology, and the philosophy of mind.
In a clear and accessible style, the book explains the neuroscience to psychologists, the psychology to neuroscientists, and both to philosophers, students of the behavioral and brain sciences, and to anyone intrigued by the enduring mystery of how brains can be minds.
Author(s): William Phillips
Edition: 1
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 392
City: New York
Tags: Cooperative Neuron; Life; Brain; Mind; Cellular Psychology; Psychology; Neuroscience; Psychiatry; Neurology; Philosophy
Introduction to The Cooperative Neuron
1.Life, Brain, and Mind: Marvels of Cooperation between Diverse Individuals
1.1Enduring Philosophical and Psychological Issues Can Now be Explicitly Related to the Cellular Foundations of Mind
1.2Information-processing Operations Can be Distinguished from Information Content, and Both Can be Studied by Psychological and Neurobiological Methods
1.3Amplification of Pyramidal Cell Output if Relevant in the Current Context
1.4Clarification of Some Contentious and Ambiguous Terms
1.5Cellular Psychology Is Analogous to Molecular Biology
1.6Mental Life Is Not Behaviour
Notes
2.Cerebral Neocortex: Hierarchies of Abstraction in Physical Matter that Knows and Doubts, Thinks and Feels, Intends and Hopes
2.1Function Depends on Structure
2.2The Neocortex: A Vast Number of Neurons
2.3The Neocortical Sheet: Six Layers, not Three
2.4The Regions of the Neocortex
2.5Organization of Neocortical Regions into Hierarchies of Abstraction
2.6Neurobiological and Psychological Evidence for Common Neocortical Information Processing Operations
Notes
3.Neocortical Pyramidal Cells that Cooperate by Sensitivity to Context
3.1Common but Misleading Assumptions about the Cellular Bases of Mind
3.2Pyramidal Cells as Leaky Integrate-and-Fire Point Neurons
3.3Context-sensitive Two-point Neurons
3.4On the Diversity of Pyramidal Cells
3.5Inhibition and Disinhibition of Apical Function
3.6Research on Cooperative Context-sensitivity Is in Its Infancy
3.7Summary and Rapid Growth of This Research Field
Notes
4.Cooperative Neurons in Various States of Mind and Brain
4.1States of Wakefulness and States of Sleep
4.2Modulatory Neurotransmitters Regulate Transitions between Mental States
4.3Neuromodulators Regulate Mental State by Modifying Apical Function
4.4Three Modes of Apical Function: Amplification, Drive, and Isolation
4.5General Anaesthetics Interfere with Apical Function
4.6Mental State and Conceptions of Consciousness
4.7Summary
Notes
5.What Cooperative Neurons Do for Mental Life
5.1The Coordination of Mental Processes Depends on Cooperative Context-sensitivity
5.2Context Guides Perception via Apical Dendrites
5.3Conscious Experience
5.4Selective Attention
5.5Working Memory and Imagery
5.6Prioritization of Emotionally Charged Events
5.7Cognitive Control
5.8Learning and Long-term Memory
5.9Summary
Notes
6.Evolution and Development of Cooperative Neurons
6.1Evolution of Cooperative Neurons
6.2Evolution of Cognitive Capabilities That Depend on Cooperative Context-sensitivity
6.3Development of Apical Structure and Physiology
6.4Cooperative Context-sensitivity: A Key Role in Cognitive Development
6.5Language and Thought
Notes
7.Pathologies of Cooperative Neuronal Processing
7.1Epileptic Loss or Impairment of Consciousness
7.2Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
7.3Anti-NMDA Autoimmune Encephalitis
7.4Autism Spectrum Disorders
7.5Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Notes
8.An Information-theoretic View of Context-sensitive Computation
8.1Distinguishing Abstract Theories from Detailed Models
8.2Information Theory: A Formal Perspective on Context-sensitive Computation
8.3Coherent Infomax: A Theory of Local Processors with Receptive and Contextual Fields
8.4Decomposition of Transmitted Information
8.5Transmitted Information Decomposition Quantifies Context-sensitive Computation
8.6Transmitted Information Decomposition Quantifies Objectives of Context-sensitive Learning
8.7The Neurobiology of Cooperative Context-sensitive Computation Inspires Effective and Efficient Machine Learning Algorithms
Notes
9.Difficulties and Unresolved Issues
9.1Cellular Psychology Is in Its Infancy So Many Issues Are Unresolved
9.2How Cooperative Context-sensitive Computation Relates to Free Energy Reduction and Predictive Coding
9.3How Cooperative Neurons Are Embedded in Cortical Microcircuits
9.4How Cooperative Neurons Are Regulated by the Neuromodulators
9.5How Cooperative Neurons Relate to the Speed of Thought
9.6How Cooperative Neurons Relate to Hobson’s and Freud’s Views on Dreams
9.7Are There Distinctively Human Forms of Cooperative Context-sensitive Computation?
9.8Are There Regional and Developmental Variations in Cooperative Context-sensitivity?
9.9Technological Potential of Cooperative Context-sensitive Computation
Notes
10.Mind’s Place in Nature
10.1Knowledge and Doubt
10.2Self-identity
10.3Life’s Purposes
Notes
List of Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index
