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Perspectives on Neuroscience
Published on: July 31, 2007
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The embodied brain: towards a radical embodied cognitive neuroscience
Julian Kiverstein1, Mark Miller2
1Institute of Logic, Language and Computation, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|May 23, 2015
Summary
Radical embodied cognitive neuroscience is necessary due to issues with localizing brain function. Understanding brain function requires examining the whole organism-environment system and ecological dynamical psychology.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Embodied Cognition
- Ecological Psychology
Background:
- Current cognitive neuroscience faces challenges in localizing specific functions to brain structures.
- Research on functional and structural connectivity indicates that brain region functions are dynamic and context-dependent.
- Traditional approaches may be insufficient for understanding complex cognitive processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To advocate for a radical embodied cognitive neuroscience approach.
- To propose an account of embodied cognition integrating cognitive and emotional processing.
- To reframe the understanding of psychological functions within an ecological dynamical framework.
Main Methods:
- Critically analyzing existing research in cognitive neuroscience and functional connectivity.
- Developing a theoretical framework for embodied cognition based on action readiness and organism-environment interaction.
- Integrating concepts from ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory.
Main Results:
- Demonstrates the limitations of purely structure-based functional localization in the brain.
- Proposes that cognitive functions are inseparable from emotional processes and embodied action.
- Highlights the dynamic and context-dependent nature of brain region functions.
- Suggests ecological dynamical psychology as a more suitable framework for cognitive neuroscience.
Conclusions:
- A radical embodied cognitive neuroscience approach is essential for overcoming current limitations.
- Cognitive and emotional processes are fundamentally intertwined and best understood through action readiness within an organism-environment system.
- Future research should adopt an ecological dynamical perspective to study cognition.
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