Abstract
A picture of human cognitive resources as effectively unbounded pervades mind/brain science to a significant extent, in particular its most concrete level, neuroanatomy. Predominant models of brain structure appear to be profoundly non-quantitative in some respects, not quantitatively coherent. We will focus here on evaluating recent estimates of area of the human cortical sheet, estimates of synaptic densities there, and studies of giant axonic arborizations in the visual cortex. This examination in fact yields some information on actual available cortical connectivity resources that is presently of interest as a basic constraint on models of computation in the brain. Finally, some of the conceptual etiology of the non-quantitative character of brain anatomy will be explored. While the discussion somewhat improves estimates of cortical resources, emphasis will be at the level of philosophy and methodology of neuroanatomy, and on how they can productively shift perspectives that guide scientific practice.
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Cherniak, C. (1991). Meta-Neuroanatomy: The Myth of the Unbounded Mind/Brain. In: Agazzi, E., Cordero, A. (eds) Philosophy and the Origin and Evolution of the Universe. Synthese Library, vol 217. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3598-6_6
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