Neuroanatomical Foundations of Cognition 39 Empirical Engagement
36 Neurophilosophical Foundations van Heerdcn, P. 1963: Theory of optical information in solids. Applied Optics, 2, 393-400. Vartanian, A. 1953: Diderot and Descartes: A Study of Scientific Natumlism in the Enlightm 3 mmt. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Vartanian, A. 1973: Dictionary of the History of ltleas: Swtiies of Selected Pit·otal Ideas, ed. P. P. Wiener. New York: Scribners. von Neumann, J. 1958: The Compuur and the Brain. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Neuroanatomical Foundations Wiener, N. 1948: Cybemetics, of Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. of Cognition: Connecting the Neuronal Level with the Study of Higher Brain Areas Jennifer Mundale 1 Introduction In the philosophy of any science, it is important to consider how that science orga nizes itself with respect to its characteristic areas of inquiry. In the case of neuro science, it is important to recognize that many neuroscientists approach the brain as a stratified system. In other words, it is generally acknowledged that there is a wide range of levels at which to investigate the brain, ranging from the micro to the macro level with respect to both anatomical scope and functional complexity. The follow ing list of neuroanatomical kinds, for example, is ordered from the micro to the macro level: neurotransmitters, synapses, neurons, pathways, brain areas, systems, the brain, and central nervous system. For philosophers of neuroscience, it is heuristically useful £O understand that many neuroscientists view the brain in this way, because this conception of the brain helps shape the disciplinary structure of the field and helps define levels of neuro scientific research.
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