The neural ingredients for a language of thought are available.
compositionality
computational theory of mind
language-of-thought
spatial navigation
symbolic representation
Journal
Trends in cognitive sciences
ISSN: 1879-307X
Titre abrégé: Trends Cogn Sci
Pays: England
ID NLM: 9708669
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Nov 2023
Nov 2023
Historique:
received:
13
05
2023
revised:
25
07
2023
accepted:
28
07
2023
pubmed:
26
8
2023
medline:
26
8
2023
entrez:
25
8
2023
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
The classical notion of a 'language of thought' (LoT), advanced prominently by the philosopher Jerry Fodor, is an influential position in cognitive science whereby the mental representations underpinning thought are considered to be compositional and productive, enabling the construction of new complex thoughts from more primitive symbolic concepts. LoT theory has been challenged because a neural implementation has been deemed implausible. We disagree. Examples of critical computational ingredients needed for a neural implementation of a LoT have in fact been demonstrated, in particular in the hippocampal spatial navigation system of rodents. Here, we show that cell types found in spatial navigation (border cells, object cells, head-direction cells, etc.) provide key types of representation and computation required for the LoT, underscoring its neurobiological viability.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37625973
pii: S1364-6613(23)00193-6
doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.07.012
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Review
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
996-1007Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of interests None declared by authors.