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SUMMARY:Mind-body dualism: A perceptual core - Ehud Ahissar\, Weizmann Ins
 titute for Science
DTSTART:20260203T090000Z
DTEND:20260203T110000Z
UID:TALK244237@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Daniel Kornai
DESCRIPTION:Could the abstract ideas of our minds originate from neuronal 
 interactions within our brains? In this talk I will combine the conclusion
 s from my long-standing neurophysiological pursuit of perceptual mechanism
 s with the more recent dualistic insights developed together with my colle
 agues Merav and Daniel. In addressing the mind-body question\, we analyze 
 interactions within the 'brain-world' (BW) and 'brain-brain' (BB) domains\
 , representing the brain's physical interactions with its environment and 
 the mental interactions between brains\, respectively. BW interactions are
  characterized as analog—continuous in time and value—while BB interac
 tions are digital—discrete in time and value. Digital signaling allows B
 B interactions to facilitate effective\, albeit information-limited\, comm
 unication through categorization. We review existing data showing that cas
 cades of neural loops can convert between analog and digital signals\, the
 reby linking physical and mental processes. Importantly\, we show that the
 se circuits cannot reduce one domain to the other\, suggesting that the mi
 nd-brain duality can be mapped onto the BB-BW duality. This mapping\, supp
 orted by both behavioral and neuronal data\, indicates that the mind's fou
 ndation is inherently social. Thus\, the BWBB scheme offers a novel accoun
 t of the physical-mental gap\, acknowledging the coexistence of the physic
 al body and the non-physical mind while eliminating the need for a recursi
 ve homunculus in the brain or an independent mental foundation in the univ
 erse.
LOCATION:CBL Seminar Room\, Engineering Department\, 4th floor Baker build
 ing
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