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Article 2211 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: geb@speedy.cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Scaled up slug brains
Message-ID: <12773@pitt.UUCP>
Date: 17 Dec 91 20:50:43 GMT
References: <40705@dime.cs.umass.edu> <12743@pitt.UUCP> <45083@mimsy.umd.edu>
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Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Organization: Computer Science Dept., University of Pittsburgh
Lines: 31

In article <45083@mimsy.umd.edu> harwood@umiacs.umd.edu (David Harwood) writes:

>	Ahem - there is plenty of evidence that language-processing
>activates very large parts of the left hemisphere - 80% or more  of a
>normally lateralized brain - not some small localized parts. In fact it 
>was discovered that pyramidal motor neurons are activated in simple 
>word recognition. Moreover, lesser parts of the other hemisphere are
>activated. 
>	I think you are misrepresenting the situation - No scientist
>thinks that if you separated these well-known localized parts from the
>rest of the brain, they could produce or understand anything normally.
>(How could they without memory and perceptual/motor associations?)

I never represented any such thing.  But if you look at an ape
brain, you will find that talking to the ape will activate large
sections of its brain too.  All this says is that the brain has
enormous interconnectivity.  It is when you study lesions in
discrete places that you find out what parts of the brain are
really needed for language.  The other areas may get activated,
but the language can proceed without them if they are ablated.
And no one said you could separate the language areas and they
would function autonomously.  What a ridiculous idea!  I didn't
think anyone would be so naive as to read that into my comment.



--
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Gordon Banks  N3JXP        | "When in danger, or in doubt
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu     |  Run in circles, scream and shout" --Heinlein
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