Interlevel Experiments and Multilevel Mechanisms in the Neuroscience of Memory
- 1 September 2002
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Philosophy of Science
- Vol. 69 (S3) , S83-S97
Abstract
The dominant neuroscientific theory of spatial memory is, like many theories in neuroscience, a multilevel description of a mechanism. The theory links the activities of molecules, cells, brain regions, and whole organisms into an integrated sketch of an explanation for the ability of organisms to navigate novel environments. Here I develop a taxonomy of interlevel experimental strategies for integrating the levels in such multilevel mechanisms. These experimental strategies include activation strategies, interference strategies, and additive strategies. These strategies are mutually reinforcing, providing a kind of interlevel and intratheoretic robustness that has not previously been recognized.Keywords
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