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Marr's Levels Revisited: Understanding How Brains Break
Valerie G Hardcastle1, Kiah Hardcastle
1Departments of Philosophy, Psychology, and Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, Weaver Institute for Law and Psychiatry, University of Cincinnati.
Topics in Cognitive Science
|April 24, 2015
Summary
This study refines David Marr
Area of Science:
- Computational Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Artificial Intelligence
Background:
- Early cognitive science and AI focused on ideal cognition.
- Contemporary computational neuroscience increasingly studies brain impairments.
- Understanding brain function is impacted by studying its failures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To refine David Marr's three levels of understanding in computational neuroscience.
- To incorporate system breakdowns into Marr's computational level.
- To explore impulsivity and behavioral inhibition using a cortico-striatal model.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a population activity model of cortico-striatal circuitry.
- Examined impulsivity and behavioral inhibition as a case study.
- Proposed refinements to David Marr's theoretical framework.
Main Results:
- Suggests redefining Marr's computational level to include system failure mechanisms.
- Highlights that feed-forward processing, context-disconnected cognition, and representations are not always primary drivers of cognition.
- Demonstrates how studying impairments offers new insights into cognitive models.
Conclusions:
- Marr's framework requires updates to account for neural system breakdowns.
- Cognitive models should consider the role of behavioral context and system failures.
- Investigating brain impairments provides a valuable lens for understanding cognitive function.
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