Neuroscience Without Representations Building a Brain-in-a-World View

Neuroscience Without Representations: Building a Brain-in-a-World View describes a non-representational characterization of the brain that also provides an accounting on how humans can rely on symbolic systems and its conditions of application to deal with the representational requirements of human knowledge. Applying an evolutionary perspective to cognition, as well as assuming certain tenets from what is known as "4E cognition” (embodied, embedded, extended, and enactive cognition theories), this volume presents arguments to support a non-representational view of the brain while also outlining how non-representational brains can nevertheless be representationally knowledgeable.

As both views in isolation have limitations, Dr. Vilarroya takes these ideas in a combined approach that is supported upon detailed analyses of compelling recent studies. Further, this presents a detailed guide on how to implement the alternative notion of neural representation in a research plan. Readers will gain a better understanding of the centrality of the notion of representation in neuroscientific theories and what it means for a brain to represent something, what makes a neural activity a representation, and what is represented.