Past
Present
Future
• Now we witness the new phase of
science shifting from “stimulus-based”
to “teleological” and “holistic”
determinism, to establishing systemic
views and to emphasis on activity.
• This tendency hasn’t yet become the
mainstream of science development,
but it receives the growing support
from leading researchers.
(Ellis, 1999; Engel, Fries, Singer, 2001; Freeman, 1997; Jordan, 1998; Schall ,
2001; Thompson, Varela, 2001; Vandervert, 1998; and other)
• Present phase of development, as
it usually happens during the
period of transition from one
paradigm to another, is
characterized by eclectic views.
• Theoretical base of majority of
works is represented by a
“mechanical” mixture of “stimulusbased” and “teleological” views.
• Systemic neuroscience is way
ahead of traditional neuroscience
and psychology on this
developmental path – due to
overcoming, to a large extent, the
eclectic way of thinking.
• The way of today psychology and
neuroscience repeats in many
aspects the path traveled by
systemic neuroscience.
Considering this path we
may assume that
psychology and
neuroscience move from
the Cartesian past through
the eclectic present to the
systemic future.
Accepting this, we can predict concepts that
psychology and neuroscience will arrive to
in future.
1
• Starting from the considering behavioral mechanisms
as coordination of sensory and motor functions (that
corresponded to afferent and efferent parts of reflex
arc, to afferent and efferent brain structures)
psychology and neuroscience arrived to the viewing
them as sensory-motor.
• In future psychology and neuroscience will come to
the conclusion that these and like “functions”
(motivational, activational etc) are fictions, and that
relations of the whole organism with its environment
should be studied rather than “functions” in their
traditional understanding as products of certain of
certain bodily or brain structures. Function will be
considered as achievement of a result by an organism
based on systemic cooperation of activity of differently
localized elements.
2
• In relation to the described dynamics of views we witness the
shift from the ideas of strict localization of functions to the
concepts of dynamic localization and distributed system.
However, often this transfer is nothing but declarations.
Dynamic localization is again substituted by the reviving strict
one when researcher deals with “classic” functions like visual,
auditory or motor or when specific mechanisms are under
consideration, like “information processing” or “movement
generation”.
• In future the transition will occur to the idea that function cannot
be localized in any brain structure (neither strictly nor
dynamically) – it is characteristic of the whole organism, since
function is not sensory or motor (as well as not sensory-motor)
but are product of the whole organism. In this frame of
reference the question about the role of different brain
structures in behavior will be formulated as a question of
specificity of “projection” of individual experience onto brain
structures.
3
• From the consideration of behavioral mechanisms as reflex
reaction psychology and neuroscience are arriving to
understanding an organism as “reacting actively” or even
“reacting purposefully” (!).
• Sooner or later it will become clear that the view that an
organism may coordinate its activity with future when finds it
appropriate but can avoid doing it (just react) at other
circumstances – this view is in line with “folk science logic”
but nevertheless has nothing to do with reality.
• Feed-forward reflection, goal-directedness is the main
property of any living being. Any living system can’t avoid
“looking into future”; moreover, all current activities are
“future-coordinated”. As a result, it must soon become
evident that the concept of teleological determination
requires a radical change of the description of organism–
environment relation as compared to “stimulus” determinism
and cannot be combined with the latter.
4
• From neuron summating electrical signals on its membrane
neuroscience and psychophysiology turned to views at
neuron as a complex integrator of input influences, its
functioning being dependent from dynamics of intracellular
metabolism, history of neuron’s own and presynaptic
activities, etc.
• In future, albeit probably distant, the concept of neuron’s
response as a result of integration of input influences will be
substituted with (in no way be added to) the concept of a
“goal-directed” neuron that is not a chip integrating inputs but
a living “organism in an organism”. This neuron does not
react but acts and not in response to but in order to get
metabolites required for it survival. Neuron’s activity will be
considered not as a response to synaptic inflow that ensures
the conduction of excitation but as means of changing the
relation with environment, “action” that helps eliminate the
discrepancy between cell’s needs and its microenvironment.
5
• From archaic views at learning as increasing
permeability of “brain pores” for “animal spirits” (R
Descartes) or as forming pathways and local reflex
arcs, neuroscience and psychophysiology turned to
understanding of learning mechanism as intricate and
modifying, as long as memory is consolidated, pattern
of changes in neuromorphology, synaptic
“permeability” and genes expression in many brain
structures.
• Further on we will witness the transfer to
systemogenetic (perhaps another term will be used)
view at learning: formation of a set of neurons
specialized with respect to the system being formed
by way of modification of cell selected from: a) cells
prespecialized during early ontogeny and b) neurons
formed in process of neurogenesis.
6
• The understanding of a neuron as a unit specialized in
relation with sensory, motor, activational, etc
“functions” (see 1), is being complemented in
contemporary neuroscience and psychology with
concepts about neurons specialized in relation to
various “cognitive functions”, emotions,
consciousness, etc, as well as in relation with specific
aspects of behavior (e.g. the goal of behavior).
• It will become clear that the variety of neurons’
properties making it possible to relate their activity
with a great number of ever appearing “functions” may
be explained by the specialization of neurons in
relation to systems of different degree of differentiation
that were formed at different stages of individual
development.
7
• The views on sensory encoding as successive stages
of processing of information that is being transmitted
from receptors centripetally are now partly substituted
by considering mechanisms of top-down control. This
shift may be expected to determine an increasing
involvement of concepts of activity and anticipation
into the set of scientific research tools, as well as
intensification of studies of efferent influences upon
peripheral elements.
• In future neuroscience and psychophysiology are
likely to make next step in that direction and accept
the idea that neural elements, starting from peripheral
receptors, are specialized with respect to certain
behavioral acts and take part in subserving these acts.
Then it will become clear that the concept of
“teleological” determination are equally applicable to
central and peripheral levels.
8
• Neuroscience and psychophysiology are now turning from the
reflex-based idea of consecutive involvement of afferent and
efferent, central and peripheral structures in subserving of
behavior to the concept of synchronous work of different
nervous structures as a mechanism underling perception,
memory, consciousness.
• Later the understanding will be formed that “afferent” and
“efferent”, central and peripheral structures work synchronously.
And this synchrony is not a means to facilitate transmission of
excitation between structures or link together different
parameters of a stimulus that are encoded by the activity of
distant cell groups – detectors of respective characteristics;
synchrony is due to simultaneous involvement of elements from
these structures into deployment of all-brain systemic
mechanisms of behavior. It will become clear accordingly that
perception, memory, consciousness, etc are just special ways
to describe different aspects of the unified systemic process –
this deployment.