Dictyostelium Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Philosophy of Cognitive Biology. Biosemiotic approach to cognition in organisms without nervous system: The case of myxomycetes (In Spanish) Abstract The question of cognition in organisms without nervous system is the main... more

Philosophy of Cognitive Biology. Biosemiotic approach to cognition in organisms without nervous system: The case of myxomycetes (In Spanish)

Abstract

The question of cognition in organisms without nervous system is the main objective of my research.
In fact, the question of cognition itself is an insoluble question. We have dared to question the question to the primitive organisms lacking nervous system. Humberto Maturana was that in 1970, in his book "Biology of Cognition", on page 13 specifically says: "Living systems are cognitive systems and the process of living is a process of cognition. This applies to all agencies, whether or not the nervous system. "
It is that cognitive processes in organisms without nervous system are plausible. Furthermore, Maturana says that while interactions are physical-chemical nature, their cognitive process is out of the domain, rather holds a significant relationship to the autopoietic process. This relationship is primarily emergency a knowing observer who study the phenomenon.
My hypothesis is based on cognitive processes can be identified in organisms without nervous system. No wonder by cognition itself, but by the processes that empower, allowing self-holding and is enriched in a "biogenic" as it is called Pamela Lyon in these organisms lacking brain.
I focused on the slime, specifically in the plasmodium Physarum polycephalum, for their exceptional character is a giant der celled organism, but multinucleate, with some exceptional capabilities still further. But his partner is present pseudoplasmodial, multicellular, no less outstanding, Dictyostelium discoideum. I refer also inevitably of the best known prokaryotes such as Escherichia coli.
I developed my work dividing into two fundamental aspects of the study:
The first part goes to the agencies epistemology. Namely begin from the theory of knowledge and scientific disciplines. Start with the basics of biosemiotics as reference frame transdisciplinary research, to continue the phenomenology of cognition in biology.
Then we deep, from systems biology, in the descending branch of the subsystems, containing concrete examples of agencies and their internal components, primarily the cytoplasm. Thus we intend to focus the plausibility of a speech on the "proto-cognition" in these subsystems (proto-cellular agents and intracellular stability and phenomena, both structural and homeodynamics).
From this stadium we had the phenomenon of biocommunication to discuss about mechanotransduction signals as a fundamental phase for the "decision-making" and its ability to discriminate to make sense of what happens endogenously that it happen exogenously.
From here we move on to study cognitive biology, from the perspective of phenomenology. This entails an historical approach that allows us to see the conceptualizations in theoretical and experimental biology of the first confrontations on the conception of cognition – understood in the early twentieth century as "psychology" –of protozoa and how his speech, as Uexküll that has not lost force (saving the distances of these scientists diachronic speeches, sons of his age, deserve considerable attention). Then we went to the fundamentals of cognition non-representationist to put the speech in the proper fit to the reality of organisms. And finally we speak of cognitive biology and principles of minimal cognition that structure the state of affairs on its plausibility in organisms without nervous system, and, in fact, that is the thesis in question.
The second part goes from organisms to epistemology from its methodological development research. So we've prioritized to briefly know what a slime mold and more specifically the plasmodium Physarum polycephalum, morphological and physiological fundamentals that make them exceptional organizations.
Then we started with a brief history of the slime from the history of biology, mycology, until now, part of the protistology.
From this point the development of research is consistent with the question about the condition of possibility of cognition, offering interesting and exceptional developments that allow at least deeply questioning by a more categorical formulation of the phenomenon of agency under cognition as indisputable part of it.
Finally it exposed – as a synthesis of the thesis – tables of principles of minimal cognition, identified by the authors, to relate the processes acquired by Physarum polycephalum described in this research. It has focused - in line with its authors - the description "biogenic", although we accept a hybrid response principles of minimal cognition with AI as interactions with robotic or "memristors" generating a nervous mimetic of great importance to the study of adaptive behavior.
The question ultimately cannot be resolved; It also is intended. Rather the goal is the correct fit within the relevant disciplines, and provides guidance, coherent and constructive phenomenon of cognition, which is not tautological to the phenomenon of life, but contains both natural and artificial. Or as Aristotle tells us,
"Being in a subject means that which occurs in one thing / subject specific(πρᾶγμα) without being separable part (μέρος) own, cannot exist outside (χωρίς) of what they are" (Categories II, 1st 24- 25).
Keywords: Cognition, biosemiotics, transdisciplinarity, Physarum Polycephalum, cognitive minimum principles, molecular semantics, tensegrity, buffer, biogenic, autopoiesis, biohermeneutics, systems biology, regulation, agency, adaptive behavior, autopoiética enactividad, teleonomic lace, qualitative organicism, proto -qualia.