Advertisement

Synergies: Atoms of Brain and Behavior

Chapter
Part of the Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology book series (AEMB, volume 629)

1Using a Socratic method, the hypothesis is proposed that the fundamental units of the behavior of complex living things on multiple levels—all the way from cells to societies—are structural∼functional organizations called synergies. In the context of motor control, synergies arose because of the need to control, coordinate and exploit enormous numbers of degrees of freedom in complex systems. Synergies are the unique expression of two fundamental mechanisms heretofore conceived of as independent: self-organization and natural selection. Synergies offer a principled means to connect behavior, brains and genes and open up new possibilities for the design of machines.

What is a Synergy?

A synergy is a functional grouping of structural elements (molecules, genes, neurons, muscles, etc) which, together with their supporting metabolic networks, are temporarily constrained to act as a single coherent unit. Just as new states of matter arise when a group of atoms behaves as a single particle...

Keywords

Natural Selection Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Living Thing Coordination Dynamic Neural Ensemble 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Abbs, J.H., & Gracco, V.L. (1983). Sensorimotor actions in the control of multimovement speech gestures. Trends in Neuroscience, 6, 393–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Beek, P.J., Peper, C.E., & Stegeman, D.F. (1995). Dynamical models of movement coordination. Human Movement Science, 14, 573–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Bernstein, N. (1967). The coordination and regulation of movement. Pergamon, London.Google Scholar
  4. Easton, T.A. (1972). On the normal use of reflexes. American Scientist, 60, 591–599.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  5. Edelman, G.E. (1987). Neural Darwinism: the theory of neuronal group selection. Basic Books, New York.Google Scholar
  6. ∗Edelman, G.E., & Gally, J.A. (2001). Degeneracy and complexity in biological systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, (USA) 98, 13763–13768.Google Scholar
  7. Freitas, S.M.S.F., Duarte, M., & Latash, M.L. (2006). Two kinematic synergies in voluntary whole-body movements during standing. Journal of Neurophysiology, 95, 636–645.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. ∗Gelfand, I.M., & Latash, M.L. (1998). On the problem of adequate language in motor control. Motor Control, 2, 306–313.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  9. Gelfand, I.M., Gurfinkel, V.S., Fomin, S.V., & Tstelin, M.L., (Eds.) (1971). Models of the structural-functional organization of certain biological systems. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
  10. Haken, H. (1977/83). Synergetics, an introduction: nonequilibrium phase transitions and self-organization in physics, chemistry and biology. Springer, Berlin.Google Scholar
  11. Haken, H., Kelso, J.A.S., & Bunz, H. (1985). A theoretical model of phase transitions in human hand movements. Biological Cybernetics, 51, 347–356.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Jirsa, V.K., & Kelso, J.A.S. (Eds.), (2004). Coordination dynamics: issues and trends. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg.Google Scholar
  13. Kelso, J.A.S. (1984). Phase transitions and critical behavior in human bimanual coordination. American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative, 15, R1000–R1004.Google Scholar
  14. ∗Kelso, J.A.S. (1995). Dynamic Patterns: The Self Organization of Brain and Behavior. MIT Press, Cambridge [Paperback edition, 1997].Google Scholar
  15. Kelso, J.A.S. (1997). Relative timing in brain and behavior: Some observations about the generalized motor program and self-organized coordination dynamics. Human Movement Science, 16, 453–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Kelso, J.A.S., & Engstrøm, D.A. (2006). The Complementary Nature. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
  17. ∗Kelso, J.A.S., Southard, D., & Goodman, D. (1979). On the nature of human interlimb coordination. Science, 203, 1029–1031.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Kelso, J.A.S., Tuller, B., & Fowler, C.A. (1982). On the functional specificity of articulatory control and coordination. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 72, S103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Kelso, J.A.S., Scholz, J.P., & Schöner, G. (1986). Nonequilibrium phase transitions in coordinated biological motion: Critical fluctuations. Physics Letters A, 118, 279–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Kelso, J.A.S., DelColle, J.D., & Schöner, G. (1990). Action-Perception as a pattern formation process. In M. Jeannerod (Ed.), Attention and Performance XIII, Hillsdale, Erlbaum, NJ, pp. 139–169.Google Scholar
  21. ∗Kelso, J.A.S., Tuller, B., Bateson, E.V., & Fowler, C.A. (1984). Functionally specific articulatory cooperation following jaw perturbations during speech: Evidence for coordinative structures. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 10, 812–832.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. ∗Kelso, J.A.S., Schöner, G., Scholz, J.P., & Haken, H. (1987). Phase-locked modes, phase transitions and component oscillators in coordinated biological motion, Physica Scripta, 35, 79–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Kelso, J.A.S., Buchanan, J.J., DeGuzman, G.C., & Ding, M. (1993). Spontaneous recruitment and annihilation of degrees of freedom in biological coordination. Physics Letters A, 179, 364–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. ∗Latash, M.L., & Anson, J.G. (2006). Synergies in health and disease: Relations to adaptive changes in motor coordination. Physical Therapy, 86, 1151–1160.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  25. Latash, M., & Turvey, M.T. (Eds.) (1996). Dexterity and its development. Hillsdale, Erlbaum, NJ.Google Scholar
  26. Marsden, C.D., Merton, P.A., & Morton, H.B. (1983). Rapid postural reactions to mechanical displacement of the hand in man. In Desmedt., J.E., (ed) Motor control mechanisms in health and disease. Raven, New York, pp. 645–659.Google Scholar
  27. Nicolis, G., & Prigogine, I. (1977). Self-organization in nonequilibrium systems. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
  28. Oullier, O., DeGuzman, G.C., Jantzen, K.J., Lagarde, J., & Kelso, J.A.S. (in press) Social coordination dynamics: Measuring human bonding. Social Neuroscience Google Scholar
  29. Scholz, J.P., & Schöner, G. (1999). The uncontrolled manifold concept: identifying control variables for a functional task. Experimental Brain Research, 126, 289–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Schöner, G., & Kelso, J.A.S. (1988). Dynamic pattern generation in behavioral and neural systems. Science, 239, 1513–1520. Reprinted in K.L. Kelner, & D.E. Koshland, Jr. (Eds.), Molecules to Models: Advances in Neuroscience, pp 311–325.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Sherrington, C.S. (1906). The integrative action of the nervous system. Constable, London.Google Scholar
  32. Sternad, D., & Turvey, M.T. (1996). Control parameters, equilibria, and coordination dynamics. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 18, 780–783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Tognoli, E., Lagarde, J., DeGuzman, G.C., & Kelso, J.A.S. (2007). The phi complex as a neuromarker of human social coordination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104, 8190–8195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Turvey, M.T. (1977). Preliminaries to a theory of action with reference to vision. In Shaw, R.E., & Bransford, J. (Eds.) Perceiving, acting and knowing: toward an ecological psychology. Hillsdale, Erlbaum, NJ.Google Scholar
  35. ∗Turvey, M.T., & Carello, C. (1996). Dynamics of Bernstein's level of synergies. In M. Latash., & M.T. Turvey (Eds.), Dexterity and its development (pp. 339–376). Hillsdale, Erlbaum, NJ.Google Scholar
  36. von Neumann, J. (1951). On a logical and general theory of automata. In L.A. Jeffries, ed. Cerebral Mechanisms in Behavior: the Hixon Symposium. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
  37. Warren, W.H. (2006). The dynamics of perception and actipn. Psychological Review, 113, 358–389.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Weiss, P.A. (1963). The cell as unit. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 5.Google Scholar
  39. ∗Weiss, P.A. (1969). The living system: determinism stratified. In A. Koestler, & J.R. Smythies, (Eds.) Beyond Reductionism. Beacon Press, Boston.Google Scholar
  40. The references marked with an asterisk (∗) are specifically recommended for further introduction or background to the topic.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Center for Complex Systems and Brain SciencesFlorida Atlantic UniversityBoca RatonUSA

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter

Buy options