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New research tools suggest a “levels-less” image of the behaving organism and dissolution of the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute

A kind of “ruthless reductionism” characterized the experimental practices of the first two decades of molecular and cellular cognition (MCC). More recently, new research tools have expanded experimental practices in this field, enabling researchers to image and manipulate individual molecular mecha...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bickle, John, De Sousa, André F., Silva, Alcino J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9470241/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36110269
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.990316
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author Bickle, John
De Sousa, André F.
Silva, Alcino J.
author_facet Bickle, John
De Sousa, André F.
Silva, Alcino J.
author_sort Bickle, John
collection PubMed
description A kind of “ruthless reductionism” characterized the experimental practices of the first two decades of molecular and cellular cognition (MCC). More recently, new research tools have expanded experimental practices in this field, enabling researchers to image and manipulate individual molecular mechanisms in behaving organisms with an unprecedented temporal, sub-cellular, cellular, and even circuit-wide specificity. These tools dramatically expand the range and reach of experiments in MCC, and in doing so they may help us transcend the worn-out and counterproductive debates about “reductionism” and “emergence” that divide neuroscientists and philosophers alike. We describe examples of these new tools and illustrate their practical power by presenting an exemplary recent case of MCC research using them. From these tools and results, we provide an initial sketch of a new image of the behaving organism in its full causal-interactive complexity, with its molecules, cells, and circuits combined within the single system that it is. This new image stands in opposition to the traditional “levels” image of the behaving organism, and even the initial sketch we provide of it here offers hope for avoiding the dreary metaphysical debates about “emergence” and “downward causation,” and even the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute, all dependent upon the familiar “levels” image.
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spelling pubmed-94702412022-09-14 New research tools suggest a “levels-less” image of the behaving organism and dissolution of the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute Bickle, John De Sousa, André F. Silva, Alcino J. Front Psychol Psychology A kind of “ruthless reductionism” characterized the experimental practices of the first two decades of molecular and cellular cognition (MCC). More recently, new research tools have expanded experimental practices in this field, enabling researchers to image and manipulate individual molecular mechanisms in behaving organisms with an unprecedented temporal, sub-cellular, cellular, and even circuit-wide specificity. These tools dramatically expand the range and reach of experiments in MCC, and in doing so they may help us transcend the worn-out and counterproductive debates about “reductionism” and “emergence” that divide neuroscientists and philosophers alike. We describe examples of these new tools and illustrate their practical power by presenting an exemplary recent case of MCC research using them. From these tools and results, we provide an initial sketch of a new image of the behaving organism in its full causal-interactive complexity, with its molecules, cells, and circuits combined within the single system that it is. This new image stands in opposition to the traditional “levels” image of the behaving organism, and even the initial sketch we provide of it here offers hope for avoiding the dreary metaphysical debates about “emergence” and “downward causation,” and even the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute, all dependent upon the familiar “levels” image. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-08-29 /pmc/articles/PMC9470241/ /pubmed/36110269 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.990316 Text en Copyright © 2022 Bickle, De Sousa and Silva. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Bickle, John
De Sousa, André F.
Silva, Alcino J.
New research tools suggest a “levels-less” image of the behaving organism and dissolution of the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute
title New research tools suggest a “levels-less” image of the behaving organism and dissolution of the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute
title_full New research tools suggest a “levels-less” image of the behaving organism and dissolution of the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute
title_fullStr New research tools suggest a “levels-less” image of the behaving organism and dissolution of the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute
title_full_unstemmed New research tools suggest a “levels-less” image of the behaving organism and dissolution of the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute
title_short New research tools suggest a “levels-less” image of the behaving organism and dissolution of the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute
title_sort new research tools suggest a “levels-less” image of the behaving organism and dissolution of the reduction vs. anti-reduction dispute
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9470241/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36110269
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.990316
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