Representation
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.
![Illustration of a frog in front of a composite of images of flora and fauna in the frog’s surroundings.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Representation-Mitchell-1200-1024x692.webp)
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.
From a scientist’s perspective: The Transmitter’s top five essays in 2023
From big-picture debates about theories and terms to practical tips for teaching and writing, our favorite expert-written articles offer a glimpse into what neuroscientists are thinking.
![A hand points to an illustration on a chalkboard.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1200-transmitter-how-to-teach-paper-neuroscience-1024x683.webp)
From a scientist’s perspective: The Transmitter’s top five essays in 2023
From big-picture debates about theories and terms to practical tips for teaching and writing, our favorite expert-written articles offer a glimpse into what neuroscientists are thinking.
Mistaking a duck for a skvader: How a conceptual form of circular analysis may taint many neuroscience studies
These logical loops are harder to spot than circularity involving noise in the data, but they result from neglecting something closer to home: existing knowledge about the brain.
![A duck on the water in profile, with its beak facing upwards, looks like a rabbit.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/1200-lede-circular-unified-network-neuroscience-analysis-transmitter-1024x692.webp)
Mistaking a duck for a skvader: How a conceptual form of circular analysis may taint many neuroscience studies
These logical loops are harder to spot than circularity involving noise in the data, but they result from neglecting something closer to home: existing knowledge about the brain.
What ‘drifting representations’ reveal about the brain
How neuronal activity patterns associated with a behavior can change, even when the behavior does not — something once seen as an experimental artifact — could offer new insights about neural function.
![An abstract illustration of a figure from the shoulders up with multi-colored boxes on its face](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/1200-representational-drift-transmitter-neuroscience-1024x683.webp)
What ‘drifting representations’ reveal about the brain
How neuronal activity patterns associated with a behavior can change, even when the behavior does not — something once seen as an experimental artifact — could offer new insights about neural function.
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.”
![Illustration of a scientist looking a grid of four pictures; each picture gets blurrier proceeding from left to right.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1200-representation-series-transmitter-neuroscience-1024x683.webp)
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.”
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![Research image of neurons in the fly’s ventral nerve cord.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/lede-motormodules-1200-1024x692.webp)
New connectomes fly beyond the brain
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![Illustration of researchers talking to laypeople amidst strands of DNA.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1200_Charman-1024x687.webp)
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Cerebellar circuit may convert expected pain relief into real thing
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