Abstract
Cognition is often defined as a dual process of physical and non-physical mechanisms. This duality originated from past theory on the constituent parts of the natural world. Even though material causation is not an explanation for all natural processes, phenomena at the cellular level of life are modeled by physical causes. These phenomena include explanations for the function of organ systems, including the nervous system and information processing in the cerebrum. This review restricts the definition of cognition to a mechanistic process and enlists studies that support an abstract set of proximate mechanisms. Specifically, this process is approached from a large-scale perspective, the flow of information in a neural system. Study at this scale further constrains the possible explanations for cognition since the information flow is amenable to theory, unlike a lower-level approach where the problem becomes intractable. These possible hypotheses include stochastic processes for explaining the processes of cognition along with principles that support an abstract format for the encoded information.
Highlights
Face recognition in primates shows that an object’s measured attributes are not compared against a true form, but instead that recognition is from a comparison between stored memory and a set of linear metrics of the object [2]. These findings agree with studies of artificial neural networks, an analog of cerebral brain structure, where objects are recognized as belonging to a category without prior knowledge of the true categories [3]
The process of evolutionary convergence is dependent on developmental constraint on the kinds of modifications, otherwise the chance of convergence on a single design is expectedly low. These are all examples of natural engineering of life forms by stochastic processes
By the same probabilistic processes, the neurons and their interconnections have evolved into a cognitive system that is capable of complex computation with large amounts of sensory data. These cognitive processes include the identification of visual objects, encoding of sensory data to an efficient format, and pattern matching of visual objects to memory
Summary
Common definitions of cognition often include the phrase mental process or acquisition of knowledge. Reference to mental processing descends from an assignment of non-material substances to the act of thinking Philosophers, such as the Cartesians and Platonists, have written on this topic, including the relationship between mind and matter. The modern equivalent of this hypothesis is that our recognition of an object is by the similarity of its measurable properties with its true form According to this theory, these true and perfect forms originate in the non-material world. Face recognition in primates shows that an object’s measured attributes are not compared against a true form, but instead that recognition is from a comparison between stored memory and a set of linear metrics of the object [2] These findings agree with studies of artificial neural networks, an analog of cerebral brain structure, where objects are recognized as belonging to a category without prior knowledge of the true categories [3]. There are exceptions where the physical world is visually indescribable and solely dependent on mathematical description, but these occurrences are typically not applicable to the investigation of life at the cellular level
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