Defining representations

Recent articles

This series explores the often-fuzzy concept of representation and the different ways researchers employ the term.

Illustration of a frog in front of a composite of images of flora and fauna in the frog’s surroundings.

When do neural representations give rise to mental representations?

To answer this question, consider the animal’s umwelt, or what it needs to know about the world.

By Kevin Mitchell
13 February 2024 | 7 min read
Illustration of a scientist looking a grid of four pictures; each picture gets blurrier proceeding from left to right.

What are we talking about? Clarifying the fuzzy concept of representation in neuroscience and beyond

To foster discourse, scientists need to account for all the different ways they use the term “representation.”

By Francis T. Fallon, Tomás J. Ryan, John W. Krakauer, The RPPF group
13 November 2023 | 6 min read

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By Stephanie Palmer
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18 March 2025 | 2 min read
Tiger in a brain scanner.

Lions and tigers and bears: Long-lived zoo animals offer a promising venue to study mental health and neurodegenerative disorders

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By Christine J. Charvet
17 March 2025 | 5 min read