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ABSTRACT:
Gestalt theory will undergo a renaissance in the coming years as neuroscience reaches the limits of current thinking, which is dominated by the computer metaphor of brain processing. The metaphor of the brain as a computer has both helped and hindered us in recent decades.
The brain may process information,but it is manifestly not a computer. For example, in the brain there is no software/hardware distinction,and the brain,unlike a computer, is continually rewiring itself. Unlike a computer, information processing in the brain cannot be reduced to the processing of a single neuron or any other single central processing unit. Moreover, it is doubtful whether information processing in the brain can be reduced to simple functional components,such as the receptive fields of sensory cortex. The central task of the future is to understand how holistic properties of brain function can emerge from the activity of neuronal networks. Gestalt theory can clarify what exactly is meant by holism. This is in fact a poorly defined word used to mean many things. We require a much more specific understanding of what new functionality and capacities emerge from ensembles of neurons dedicated to the solution of a common problem. The emergent properties of different circuits may in fact be quite diverse, having nothing in common with one another other than that they are emergent properties of whole networks. We require a much more specific understanding of how circuitry can give rise to specific emergent properties. Gestalt theory must mature and move beyond vague analogies and references to field theory if we are to understand the material basis of holistic
function. We require a scientific understanding of emergent properties of neural networks if
we are ever to understand brain processing.
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