Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-r8qmj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-16T12:14:35.380Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Plasticity of the neural coding metaphor: An unnoticed rhetoric in scientific discourse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2019

Giulia Frezza Open the ORCID record for Giulia Frezza [Opens in a new window]  and
Pierluigi Zoccolotti Open the ORCID record for Pierluigi Zoccolotti [Opens in a new window]
Giulia Frezza
Affiliation:
Metaphor Lab Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam, 1012VB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. g.frezza@uva.nlhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Giulia_Frezza
Pierluigi Zoccolotti
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Psicologia, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185, Rome, Italy. pierluigi.zoccolotti@uniroma1.ithttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pierluigi_Zoccolotti?ev=hdr_xprf
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The convincing argument that Brette makes for the neural coding metaphor as imposing one view of brain behavior can be further explained through discourse analysis. Instead of a unified view, we argue, the coding metaphor's plasticity, versatility, and robustness throughout time explain its success and conventionalization to the point that its rhetoric became overlooked.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e225
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ashida, G. & Carr, C. E. (2011) Sound localization: Jeffress and beyond. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 21(5):745–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ball, P. (2011) A metaphor too far. Nature News. doi: 10.1038/news.2011.115. Available at: http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110223/full/news.2011.115.html.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bickhard, M. H. (2009) The interactivist model. Synthese 166(3):547–91. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-008-9375-x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dretske, F. (1981) Knowledge and the flow of information. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Eliasmith, C. (2003) Moving beyond metaphor understanding. The mind for what it is. The Journal of Philosophy 10:493–520.Google Scholar
Hellsten, I. (2003) Focus on metaphors: The case of “Frankenfood” on the Web. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 8(4):JCMC841. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2003.tb00218.x.Google Scholar
Jazayeri, M. & Movshon, J. A. (2006) Optimal representation of sensory information by neural populations. Nature Neuroscience 9(5):690–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980a) Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980b) The metaphorical structure of the human conceptual system. Cognitive Science 4:195–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLeod, C. & Nerlich, B., eds. (2018) Synthetic biology: How the use of metaphors impacts on science, policy and responsible research. Life Sciences, Society and Policy. Available at: https://www.biomedcentral.com/collections/sbmi.Google Scholar
Pouget, A., Dayan, P. & Zemel, R. S. (2003) Inference and computation with population codes. Annual Review of Neuroscience 26:381–410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Searle, J.R. (1980) Minds, brains, and programs. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3(3):417–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Somjen, G. (1972) Sensory coding in the mammalian nervous system. Springer. Available at: www.springer.com/us/book/9781468417074. [Accessed March 26, 2018.]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stelmach, A. & Nerlich, B. (2015) Metaphors in search of a target: The curious case of epigenetics. New Genetics and Society 34(2):196–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed