Cognitive function: holarchy or holacracy?
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Cognitive function: holarchy or holacracy? Codruta Birle 1,2 & Dana Slavoaca 1,2 & Maria Balea 1,2 & Livia Livint Popa 1,2 & Ioana Muresanu 1,2 & Emanuel Stefanescu 2 & Vitalie Vacaras 1,2 & Constantin Dina 3 & Stefan Strilciuc 1,2 & Bogdan Ovidiu Popescu 4 & Dafin F. Muresanu 1,2 Received: 14 August 2020 / Accepted: 17 September 2020 # Fondazione Società Italiana di Neurologia 2020
Abstract Cognition is the most complex function of the brain. When exploring the inner workings of cognitive processes, it is crucial to understand the complexity of the brain’s dynamics. This paper aims to describe the integrated framework of the cognitive function, seen as the result of organization and interactions between several systems and subsystems. We briefly describe several organizational concepts, spanning from the reductionist hierarchical approach, up to the more dynamic theory of open complex systems. The homeostatic regulation of the mechanisms responsible for cognitive processes is showcased as a dynamic interplay between several anticorrelated mechanisms, which can be found at every level of the brain’s organization, from molecular and cellular level to large-scale networks (e.g., excitation-inhibition, long-term plasticity-long-term depression, synchronizationdesynchronization, segregation-integration, order-chaos). We support the hypothesis that cognitive function is the consequence of multiple network interactions, integrating intricate relationships between several systems, in addition to neural circuits. Keywords Cognitive function . Networks . Open complex systems . Anticorrelated mechanisms
Introduction From the concept of “diaschisis” introduced by von Monakov in 1914 to the novel idea of alterations of brain connectomics [1], cognitive dysfunction can be described as an imbalance of all three levels of brain’s structural and functional organization: molecular/cellular level, local circuits’ level, and largescale network level. Each one of these levels interacts dynamically with the rest and presents characteristics of an open complex system. Because of this, cognitive function can be regarded as a result of multiple systems and subsystems interactions, while cognitive dysfunction can be seen as a result of
* Dana Slavoaca [email protected] 1
Department of Neurosciences, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, No. 37 Mircea Eliade Street, 400486 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2
“RoNeuro” Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
3
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
4
Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, “Ovidius” University, Constanta, Romania
altered interactions. From this perspective, cognitive function represents more than neural connectivity—it implies the interaction between neural networks and other network types, namely the following: gene, protein interactions, metabolic, and neurotransmitters’ or neurotrophic factors’ network; all organized in a “broadcaste
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