Defining representations

Recent articles

This series explores the often-fuzzy concept of representation and the different ways researchers employ the term.

Illustration of a frog in front of a composite of images of flora and fauna in the frog’s surroundings.

When do neural representations give rise to mental representations?

To answer this question, consider the animal’s umwelt, or what it needs to know about the world.

By Kevin Mitchell
13 February 2024 | 7 min read
Illustration of a scientist looking a grid of four pictures; each picture gets blurrier proceeding from left to right.

What are we talking about? Clarifying the fuzzy concept of representation in neuroscience and beyond

To foster discourse, scientists need to account for all the different ways they use the term “representation.”

By Francis T. Fallon, Tomás J. Ryan, John W. Krakauer, The RPPF group
13 November 2023 | 6 min read

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‘Digital humans’ in a virtual world

By combining large language models with modular cognitive control architecture, Robert Yang and his collaborators have built agents that are capable of grounded reasoning at a linguistic level. Striking collective behaviors have emerged.

By Kevin Mitchell
10 February 2025 | 4 min read
Research image of brain glucose levels in mice.

Food for thought: Neuronal fuel source more flexible than previously recognized

The cells primarily rely on glucose—rather than lactate from astrocytes—to generate energy, according to recent findings in mice.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
7 February 2025 | 6 min read
Abstract illustration of overlapping lines.

Claims of necessity and sufficiency are not well suited for the study of complex systems

The earliest studies on necessary and sufficient neural populations were performed on simple invertebrate circuits. Does this logic still serve us as we tackle more sophisticated outputs?

By Grace Lindsay
7 February 2025 | 6 min read