Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T04:46:40.386Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Introduction of Information into Neurobiology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Justin Garson
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The first use of the term “information” to describe the content of nervous impulse occurs in Edgar Adrian's The Basis of Sensation (1928). What concept of information does Adrian appeal to, and how can it be situated in relation to contemporary philosophical accounts of the notion of information in biology? The answer requires an explication of Adrian's use and an evaluation of its situation in relation to contemporary accounts of semantic information. I suggest that Adrian's concept of information can be to derive a concept of arbitrariness or semioticity in representation. This in turn provides one way of resolving some of the challenges that confront recent attempts in the philosophy of biology to restrict the notion of information to those causal connections that can in some sense be referred to as arbitrary or semiotic.

Type
Psychology, Cognitive, and Neuroscience
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 70 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2002 Biennial Meeting of The Philosophy of Science Association. Part I: Contributed Papers , December 2003 , pp. 926 - 936
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adrian, Edgar D. (1926), “The Impulses Produced by Sensory Nerve Endings, Part 1”, The Impulses Produced by Sensory Nerve Endings, Part 1 61:49–72.Google Scholar
Adrian, Edgar D. (1928), The Basis of Sensation: The Action of the Sense Organs. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Adrian, Edgar D. (1932), The Mechanism of Nervous Action: Electrical Studies of the Neurone. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adrian, Edgar D., and Bronk, Detlev W. (1929), “The Discharge of Impulses in Motor Nerve Fibres, Part II”, The Discharge of Impulses in Motor Nerve Fibres, Part II 67:119–151.Google ScholarPubMed
Adrian, Edgar D., and Matthews, Rachel (1927), “The Action of Light on the Eye, Part I”, The Action of Light on the Eye, Part I 63:378–414.Google ScholarPubMed
Adrian, Edgar D., and Zotterman, Yngve (1926), “The Impulses Produced by Sensory Nerve Endings, Part 2”, The Impulses Produced by Sensory Nerve Endings, Part 2 61:157–171.Google Scholar
Buracas, Giedrius T., and Albright, Thomas D. (1999), “Gauging Sensory Representations in the Brain”, Gauging Sensory Representations in the Brain 22:303–309.Google Scholar
Crawford, Andrew C., Evans, Michael G., and Fettiplace, Robert (1991), “The Actions of Calcium on the Mechano-Electrical Transducer Current of Turtle Hair Cells”, The Actions of Calcium on the Mechano-Electrical Transducer Current of Turtle Hair Cells 434:369–398.Google ScholarPubMed
deCharms, R. C., and Zador, Anthony (2000).“Neural Representation and the Cortical Code”, Neural Representation and the Cortical Code 23:613–647.Google ScholarPubMed
Dretske, Fred (1986), “Misrepresentation”, in Bogdan, Radu (ed.), Belief: Form, Content, and Function. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 17–36.Google Scholar
Eatock, Ruth A. (2000), “Adaptation in Hair Cells”, Adaptation in Hair Cells 23:285–314.Google ScholarPubMed
Furukawa, T., and Matsuura, S. (1978), “Adaptive Rundown of Excitatory Post-Synaptic Potentials at Synapses between Hair Cells and Eighth Nerve Fibres in the Goldfish”, Adaptive Rundown of Excitatory Post-Synaptic Potentials at Synapses between Hair Cells and Eighth Nerve Fibres in the Goldfish 276:193–209.Google Scholar
Gillespie, Peter G., and Corey, David P. (1997), “Myosin and Adaptation by Hair Cells”, Myosin and Adaptation by Hair Cells 19:955–958.Google ScholarPubMed
MacKay, Donald M., and McCulloch, Warren S. (1952), “The Limiting Information Capacity of a Neuronal Link”, The Limiting Information Capacity of a Neuronal Link 14:127–135.Google Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. (2000), “The Concept of Information in Biology”, The Concept of Information in Biology 67:177–194.Google Scholar
Miller, George A. (1953), “What is Information Measurement?”, What is Information Measurement? 8:3–11.Google Scholar
Rieke, Fred, Warland, David, de Ruyter van Steveninck, Rob, and Bialek, William (1997), Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Sarkar, Sahotra (2000), “Information in Genetics and Developmental Biology: Comments on Maynard Smith”, Information in Genetics and Developmental Biology: Comments on Maynard Smith 67:208–213.Google Scholar
Saussure, Ferdinand de. (1966), Course in General Linguistics. Translated by Baskin, W.. New York: McGraw-Hill. Originally published as Cours de linguistique générale (Paris: Payot).Google Scholar
Shannon, Claude E. (1948), “A Mathematical Theory of Communication”, A Mathematical Theory of Communication 27:379–423, 623–656.Google Scholar
Sterelny, Kim (2000), “The ‘Genetic Program’ Program: A Commentary on Maynard Smith on Information in Biology”, The ‘Genetic Program’ Program: A Commentary on Maynard Smith on Information in Biology 67:195–201.Google Scholar
Strong, Steven P., Koberle, Roland, de Ruyter van Steveninck, Rob, Bialek, William (1998), “Entropy and Information in Neural Spike Trains”, Entropy and Information in Neural Spike Trains 80:197–200.Google Scholar