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Conceptual coordination bridges information processing and neurophysiology

Clancey, William J. (2000) Conceptual coordination bridges information processing and neurophysiology.

Abstract:

Information processing theories of memory and skills can be reformulated in terms of how categories are physically and temporally related, a process called conceptual coordination. Dreaming can then be understood as a story understanding process in which two mechanisms found in everyday comprehension are missing: conceiving sequences (chunking categories in time as a higher-order categorization) and coordinating across modalities (e.g., relating the sound of a word and the image of its meaning). On this basis, we can readily identify isomorphisms between dream phenomenology and neurophysiology, and explain the function of dreaming as facilitating future coordination of sequential, cross-modal categorization (i.e., REM sleep lowers activation thresholds, “unlearning”).

Commentary on:	Hobson, J. Allan, Pace-Schott, Edward and Stickgold, Robert (2000) Dreaming and the Brain:Towards a Cognitive Neuroscience of Conscious States. BBS 23:6
Subjects:	BBS Special Issues: Sleep and Dreaming
ID code:	bbs00000979
Deposited by:	Bill Clancey on 20 December 2001

Commentary/Response Threads

• Hobson, J. Allan, Pace-Schott, Edward and Stickgold, Robert . Dreaming and the Brain: Towards a Cognitive Neuroscience of Conscious States. (deposited 02 May 2001)
  • Clancey, William J.. Conceptual coordination bridges information processing and neurophysiology. (deposited 20 December 2001) [Currently displayed]