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How Molecules Matter to Mental Computation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Paul Thagard
Paul Thagard*
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo
*
Send requests for reprints to the author, Philosophy Department, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1; pthagard@uwaterloo.ca; web: http://cogsci.uwaterloo.ca.
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Abstract

Almost all computational models of the mind and brain ignore details about neurotransmitters, hormones, and other molecules. The neglect of neurochemistry in cognitive science would be appropriate if the computational properties of brains relevant to explaining mental functioning were in fact electrical rather than chemical. But there is considerable evidence that chemical complexity really does matter to brain computation, including the role of proteins in intracellular computation, the operations of synapses and neurotransmitters, and the effects of neuromodulators such as hormones. Neurochemical computation has implications for understanding emotions, cognition, and artificial intelligence.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 69 , Issue 3 , September 2002 , pp. 429 - 446
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

I am grateful to Baljinder Sahdra and Zhu Jing for helpful suggestions, and especially to Chris Eliasmith for skeptical comments. This research is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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