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Neural reuse and cognitive homology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2010

Vincent Bergeron
Vincent Bergeron
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada. vincent.bergeron@uottawa.ca
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Abstract

Neural reuse theories suggest that, in the course of evolution, a brain structure may acquire or lose a number of cognitive uses while maintaining its cognitive workings (or low-level operations) fixed. This, in turn, suggests that homologous structures may have very different cognitive uses, while sharing the same workings. And this, essentially, is homology thinking applied to brain function.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 33 , Issue 4 , August 2010 , pp. 268 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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