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The emulation theory of representation: Motor control, imagery, and perception
Open accessAbstract
The emulation theory of representation is developed and explored as a framework that can revealingly synthesize a wide variety of representational functions of the brain. The framework is based on constructs from control theory (forward models) and signal processing (Kalman filters). The idea is that in addition to simply engaging with the body and environment, the brain constructs neural circuits that act as models of the body and environment. During overt sensorimotor engagement, these models are driven by efference copies in parallel with the body and environment, in order to provide expectations of the sensory feedback, and to enhance and process sensory information. These models can also be run off-line in order to produce imagery, estimate outcomes of different actions, and evaluate and develop motor plans. The framework is initially developed within the context of motor control, where it has been shown that inner models running in parallel with the body can reduce the effects of feedback delay problems. The same mechanisms can account for motor imagery as the off-line driving of the emulator via efference copies. The framework is extended to account for visual imagery as the off-line driving of an emulator of the motor-visual loop. I also show how such systems can provide for amodal spatial imagery. Perception, including visual perception, results from such models being used to form expectations of, and to interpret, sensory input. I close by briefly outlining other cognitive functions that might also be synthesized within this framework, including reasoning, theory of mind phenomena, and language.
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“Predictive coding models are now well-established in accounting for various features of perception (Rao and Ballard, 1999; Yuille and Kersten, 2006), cognition (Grush, 2004), and motor control (Wolpert and Ghahramani, 2000)”
From An Interoceptive Predictive Coding Model of Conscious Presence (2012) · cites this paper as Grush, 2004
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“Grush (2004) further proposes, based on the notion of a Kalman filter, that the proprioceptive and kinesthetic sensations produced during motor imagery are the consequences of emulation of planned motor commands.”
From Mental imagery of speech and movement implicates the dynamics of internal forward models (2010) · cites this paper as Grush, 2004
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“Common features include the appeal to forward models and the provision of mechanisms (such as Kalman fi ltering -see Friston 2002; Grush 2004; Rao & Ballard 1999) for estimating uncertainty and (thus) fl exibly balancing the in fl uence of prior expectations and driving sensory inputs.”
From Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science (2013) · cites this paper as Grush 2004
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“In addition, Grush ' s account of perception as ' environmental emulation ' (see section 5.2 of Grush 2004) looks highly congruent with the depiction (Friston 2003 and elsewhere) of perception as reconstructing the hidden causes structuring the sensory signal.”
From Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science (2013) · cites this paper as Grush 2004
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“For our couples, who have been in a committed relationship for some time, such familiarity can lead to greater neural synchrony, when familiar actions56 and communications57 are incorporated as neural predictions and pave the way for greater brain coordination.”
From Brain-to-Brain Synchrony during Naturalistic Social Interactions (2017) · cites this paper as [56]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Grush, R.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Grush, Rick
- ORCID
- Grush, Rick
- Venue
- Behavioral and Brain Sciences
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2004-06
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 377-396
- ISSN
- 0140-525X (ISSN-L)
- 1469-1825
- OpenAlex
- W2123786976
- Cited by
- 1,387
- References
- 312
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 39 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 136 · 2019: 66 · 2018: 55 · 2017: 49 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 74 · 2014: 66 · 2013: 97 · 2012: 50
- FWCI
- 19.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.escholarship.org
- Locations
- Behavioral and Brain Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (15700257, 15016113)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Keywords
- forward model, Kalman filter, efference copy, sensorimotor control, motor imagery, visual imagery, perception, feedback delay, motor planning, theory of mind, language, reasoning
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Environment, Humans, Imagination, Language, Models, Theoretical, Perception, Psychomotor Performance, Psychophysiology, Visual Perception
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