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Published on: June 3, 2013
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Digital-analog perceptual duality
Ehud Ahissar1, Daniel Polani2, Merav Ahissar3
1Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science.
Psychological Review
|August 21, 2025
Summary
The mind
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Philosophy of Mind
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- The origin of abstract thought from neuronal activity remains a fundamental question.
- Existing models struggle to bridge the physical brain and the nonphysical mind.
- The brain-world (BW) and brain-brain (BB) interaction domains offer a new framework.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between brain-world (analog-continuous) and brain-brain (digital-discrete) interactions.
- To explore how neural circuits mediate transformations between these domains.
- To propose a novel model for the physical-mental divide.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of existing data on neural loop cascades.
- Review of behavioral and neuronal data.
- Theoretical modeling of signal conversion between analog and digital domains.
Main Results:
- Neural circuits can convert between analog and digital signal domains, linking physical and mental processes.
- These transformations are irreversible, preventing reduction of one domain to the other.
- The brain-brain/brain-world duality maps onto the mind-body duality.
Conclusions:
- The physical-mental gap can be understood through the brain-brain/brain-world duality.
- Subjective perception is key to the mind-body division.
- The mind's foundation is inherently social, not solely internal.
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