Perfect timing: Mobile brain/body imaging scaffolds the 4E-cognition research program.

A revitalized form of emergentism, grounded in the Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) framework and 4E-Cognition theory, can finally synchronize methodology with theory to model cognition as a complex emergent phenomenon arising from brain, body, and world couplings. The work argues that recent technological and theoretical advances allow a long-standing scientific and philosophical challenge—understanding the role of the body and world in the emergence of mind—to be addressed anew. The authors outline the materialist/naturalist view of cognition as emergent and propose that MoBI and 4E approaches together lay new grounds for investigating cognitive phenomena.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Recent technological advancements encompassed under the Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) framework have produced exciting new experimental results linking mind, brain and behaviour. Nevertheless, novel hypotheses, measures and experimental paradigms are needed in order to tackle MoBI's ultimate goal: to model and understand cognition, behaviour and experience as it emerges and unfolds unto and from the world. Such a goal is not completely novel or unique to the MoBI framework; it is at the core of a long-standing scientific and philosophical challenge. The ages-long debate revolves around the role of the body and the world on the emergence of the mind. Considering this, the present work has two goals. Our first goal is to briefly summarize some of the main ideas encompassed by the materialist/naturalist view of cognition as a complex emergent phenomenon. Our second and main goal is to argue that thanks to both MoBI and recent theoretical advances encompassed under the 4E-Cognition banner, theory and methodology might be finally synchronized, giving way to a revitalized form of emergentism, which lays new grounds for the understanding of cognitive phenomena. Finally, we offer the reader what we consider to be the main objective for the MoBI/4E framework and the understanding of the functional role of brain/body/world couplings in the emergence of cognition.