David Lee

Marc Jeannerod

D.J. Ingle

This volume contains chapters derived from a N. A. T. O. Advanced Study Institute held in June 1983. As the director of this A. S. I. it was my hope that some of the e1ectrophysiologists could express the potentialities of their work for perceptual theory, and that some perceptionists could speculate on the underlying "units" of perception in a way that would engage the imagination of physio logists. The reader will have to be the judge of whether this was achieved, or whether such a psychophysiological inter1ingua is still overly idealistic. It is clear that after the revolution prec~pitated by Hube1 and Weisel in understanding of visual cortical neurons we still have only a foggy idea of the behavioral output of any particular species of cortical detector. It was therefore particularly unfortunate that two persons who have made great strides in correlating interesting facets of cat cortical physio logy with human psychophysics (Max Cynader and Martin Regan of Dalhousie University) were unable to attend this meeting. Never theless, a number of new and challenging ideas regarding both spatial perception and cortical mechanisms are represented in this volume, and it is hoped that the reader will remember not only the individual demonstrations but the critical questions posed by the apposition of the two different collections of experimental facts. David Ingle April 1984 VII TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE V D. N. Lee and D. S. Young Visual Timing of Interceptive Action 1 J. J.

Brain Mechanisms and Spatial Vision

Our ability to acknowledge and recognize our own identity -- our "self" -- is a characteristic doubtless unique to humans. Where does this feeling come from? How does the combination of neurophysiological processes coupled with our interaction with the outside world construct this coherent identity? We know that our social interactions contribute via the eyes, ears, etc. However, our self is not only influenced by our senses. It is also influenced by the actions we perform and those we see others perform. Our brain anticipates the effects of our own actions and simulates the actions of others. In this way, we become able to understand ourselves and to understand the actions and emotions of others. This book describes the new field of "Motor Cognition". Though motor actions have long been studied by neuroscientists and physiologists, it is only recently that scientists have considered the role of actions in building the self. How consciousness of action is part of self-consciousness, how one's own actions determine the sense of being an agent, how actions performed by others impact on ourselves for understanding others, differentiating ourselves from them and learning from them: these questions are raised and discussed throughout the book, drawing on experimental, clinical, and theoretical bases. The advent of new neuroscience techniques, such as neuroimaging and direct electrical brain stimulation, together with a renewal of behavioral methods in cognitive psychology, provide new insights into this area. Mental imagery of action, self-recognition, consciousness of actions, imitation can be objectively studied using these new tools. The results of these investigations shed light on clinical disorders in neurology, psychiatry, and in neuro-development.

What Actions Tell the Self

Motor Cognition

Pierre Jacob

Cognitive neuroscience is a young field that has been incredibly successful in furthering our understanding of the human brain. Long before the emergence of this field, many of the same questions being posed within this field were asked by philosophers. So how much of this earlier work informs current theories of cognition? In many cases--too little. Yet how can we ignore thousands of years of philosophical thinking on the human mind? There are some questions about the human brain that are surely impossible to answer without considering what it "feels" like to see, what it "feels" like to think. Ways of Seeing is a unique collaboration between an eminent philosopher and a world famous neuroscientist. It focuses on one of the most basic human functions--vision. What does it mean to 'see'? It brings together electrophysiological studies, neuropsychology, psychophysics, cognitive psychology, and philosophy of mind. The first truly interdisciplinary book devoted to the topic of vision, this is a book will make a valuable contribution to the field of cognitive science.

Marc Jeannerod

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