Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
Cogn Neuropsychol. 2005 May;22(3):262-75. doi: 10.1080/02643290442000095.
Cognitive scientists have traditionally specified the functional components of cognitive skills on the basis of behavioural studies of normal and neurologically impaired subjects. The results of functional imaging studies are challenging these classical models because there is a high degree of overlap among the neural systems activated by tasks that share no cognitive components. This suggests that a given neuronal structure can perform multiple functions that depend on the areas with which it interacts. However, there will be a limited range of functions that an area can perform given that its anatomical (intrinsic and extrinsic) connectivity is fixed. Assigning labels that encompass the operations that each area performs should enable a task to be re-described in terms of the functions of the areas activated. In other words, function should predict the structure and conversely structure should predict function. These systematic descriptions are referred to as ontologies. We argue that a systematic ontology for cognition would facilitate the integration of cognitive and anatomical models and organise the cognitive components of diverse tasks into a single framework. These points are illustrated with cognitive and anatomical models of reading and object recognition.
认知科学家传统上是根据正常和神经损伤受试者的行为研究来确定认知技能的功能成分。功能成像研究的结果对这些经典模型提出了挑战，因为在没有认知成分的任务所激活的神经系统之间存在高度重叠。这表明，给定的神经元结构可以执行多个功能，这些功能取决于与之相互作用的区域。然而，给定区域的功能范围是有限的，因为它的解剖结构（内在和外在）连接是固定的。为了能够根据激活区域的功能来重新描述任务，给每个区域执行的操作贴上标签是很有必要的。换句话说，功能应该可以预测结构，反之亦然。这些系统描述被称为本体论。我们认为，认知的系统本体论将有助于整合认知和解剖模型，并将不同任务的认知成分组织到一个单一的框架中。这些观点通过阅读和物体识别的认知和解剖模型得到了说明。
