"Involving Interface": An Extended Mind Theoretical Approach to Roboethics

In 2008 the authors held Involving Interface, a lively interdisciplinary event focusing on issues of biological, sociocultural, and technological interfacing (see Acknowledgments). Inspired by discussions at this event, in this article, we further discuss the value of input from neuroscience for developing robots and machine interfaces, and the value of philosophy, the humanities, and the arts for identifying persistent links between human interfacing and broader ethical concerns. The importance of ongoing interdisciplinary debate and public communication on scientific and technical advances is also highlighted. Throughout, the authors explore the implications of the extended mind hypothesis for notions of moral accountability and robotics

Analysis of the role of Reelin in mouse brain development: Reelin positive non-gabaergic populations and impact of haploinsufficience on neuronal morpology

Reelin, a large extracellular matrix protein responsible for migration and laminar positioning of neurons during brain development, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and autism. There are extensive populations that have been identified in the adult mouse brain which contain cells secreting Reelin; previously these neurons were believed to be almost exclusively GABAergic. We used immunohistochemistry to reveal multiple groups of Reelin positive neurons that are not GABAergic. Specifically, we used Reelin and GABA antibodies or Vgat cre::Ai9 tdTomato to analyze whether Reelin positive cells are indeed GABAergic. Populations of Reelin positive, non-GABAergic were found in the olfactory bulb and piriform cortex; the perforant pathway; the entorhinal cortex, stratum lacunosum-moleculare of the hippocampus proper, and the dentate gyrus; lastly a small population was found in layer V of the visual cortex. These results suggest Reelin signaling may directly modulate excitatory synaptic circuits in the postnatal brain. In heterozygous reeler multiple morphological abnormalities were identified compared to wild type littermates. Branched analysis revealed a marked decrease in basal dendrite nodes in layer V cells the heterozygous reeler motor cortex and hippocampus as well as a decrease in basal length in the hippocampus. A detailed Sholl analysis indicated abnormalities in both the cortex and hippocampus of the heterozygous reeler. In the cortex we found decreased basal nodes and number of intersections as well as length at specific compartments of neuronal dendritic structure. More significant differences were found in the hippocampus, which showed a decreased total number of intersections as well as decreased intersections length of CA1 neurons. Changes in both the cortex and the hippocampus of the heterozygous brains were comparable to the homozygous reeler mutant. These findings point to underlying neuronal morphological correlates for the electrophysiological changes found in homozygous reeler mice and the physiological abnormalities exhibited in heterozygous reeler mice

Early modern extended minds and the Shakespearean subject of the mirror

The use of the mirror in Shakespeare's works, both as a stage prop and as a literary motif, opens a view for us into early modern concepts about cognition and subjectivity and enables the examination of their relation to current embodied, embedded and extended mind ideas. This closing chapter again shows Shakespeare adopting and transforming conventional mirror-motifs. The mirror-motifs provide evidence that characters who attempt to situate their subjectivity entirely within, as a transcendent, autonomous and centralised inwardness, are portrayed as failing to take into account the fundamental role of forms of extendedness and the intersubjective make up of their intrasubjectivity. Third-person perspectives, visual perception and introspection are compared in terms of performing similar functions and the body and passions are shown to be part ofthe loop of reason. Characters are depicted as both intentionally and unintentionally acting as a subjective prop for another character; either as a model for imitation or through providing a supplementary perspective. The intentions ofthe subject holding up the mirror do not necessarily affect the accuracy of the image they reflect, although like a character's introspective reflections they are not certainly reliable either. Since both third-person and first-person perspectives vary in reliability a combination of outward and inward mirrors appears the only way forward for a human subject. The Shakespearean character, like the early modern subject, is depicted as existing in a biological, sociocultural, technological and spiritual universe, in which all factors are at once variably divisible and dynamically in play

4E cognition and the mind-expanding arts

Examining imagination, 4E cognition and the arts together expands our understanding of them all. 4E cognition is a framework that comprises the theories separately known as embodied, enactive, embedded, and extended cognition. This paper draws on research in cognitive science (including 4E and recent predictive processing approaches), ideas in phenomenology, and artworks from The Extended Mind exhibition (2019–20). The artworks offer diverse reflections on 4E cognition, as well as revealing personal, political and ethical benefits and issues predicated on a 4E cognition perspective. This approach further provides a way of defending the epistemic value of the imagination and of unpacking the four key puzzles associated with its relationship with the arts regarding its production of emotional response, imaginative resistance, and moral persuasion, and the paradox of our attraction towards horror and tragedy. The arts are a valuable mode of inquiry into the nature of cognition and neglect of their relevance negatively impacts understandings of the mind