Accommodating representation in the neuroscience of memory

A conceptual blending analysis of replay and preplay in hippocampal place cell research

Bibliographic Data

ID21768041
AuthorsBen Berners‐lee (University of California San Diego, corresponding author), Ben Berners-Lee (University of California San Diego)
Year2022
Volume15
Issue2
Pages175-196
Publication date2022-11-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCognitive Semiotics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1662-1425 • E-ISSN: 2235-2066
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/cogsem-2022-2015
OpenAlexW4309691593
LanguageEN
References cited49

Neurons called place cells are selectively activated in correspondence with the location or place field that a rodent occupies. In a phenomenon that neuroscientists call replay, place cell activation sequences rapidly repeat during subsequent periods of rest and grooming. Replay has been theorized as a mechanism for reinforcement learning of the spatial trajectories represented by place cell coactivation. Preplay is a competing theory that suggests that these sequences also occur before a novel run and that sequences are not recordings of position made in real time, but rather pre-made repertoires that an organism selects from as it makes a trajectory through space. The preplay theory maintains the language of representation while breaking from the entailment of the conceptual metaphor “ MEMORIES ARE RECORDINGS” that recordings are produced simultaneously to the experiences that they represent. It does so through a conceptual blend that affords preplay researchers flexibility in their theorizing about memory without requiring a break from representationalism. Broadly, these findings demonstrate how the blending of conceptual metaphors is a viable approach for the implicit development and contestation of theories of representation in the neural and cognitive sciences

Autopoiesis · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Hippocampal formation · Mirroring · Neurophenomenology · Place cell · Child and Animal Learning Development · Communication · Computer Science · Memory and Neural Mechanisms · Neuroscience · Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence

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