Cerebral Cortex Functions and Eliminative Materialism

Functional Anatomy of the Cerebral Cortex

The cerebral cortex is divided into four lobes, which are named after the cranial bones that are closest and are: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital. In the prefrontal areas, distinctions can be made between those related to the processing of sensory information as well as motor commands. These areas are called primary, secondary, or tertiary depending on the level of information processing.

Localization of Cognitive Functions

Cognitive functions are localized in specific areas of the brain. However, this does not mean that cognitive function is mediated solely by a single region of the brain; it is more correct to say that certain areas are more involved than others in developing a type of function. What is required for the proper development of most cognitive processes is the integrated action or cooperation of neurons belonging to different areas.

The Three Areas of Association Cortex

There are three distinct areas of association cortex:

• Prefrontal and premotor areas: They receive inputs from several areas of the upper level of the sensory cortex. These connections allow sensory information to influence the conduct and planning of movement. Perhaps the most important associative role of the prefrontal lobes is to weigh the consequences of actions that are to be performed and plan behavior accordingly.
• Temporo-parietal-occipital association cortex: It consists of several functional areas that are interspersed between somatic, visual, and auditory areas and receive projections from them. This area of the cortex provides links that are important in the processing of sensory information for perception and language.
• Limbic association cortex: It is located in the medial and ventral frontal lobe, the medial parietal lobe, and the anterior temporal lobe. It receives projections from higher-level sensory areas and sends projections to other cortical regions, including the prefrontal cortex. This route connects emotion with motor planning.

Eliminative Materialism and Neural Theory

The NWT is thus a materialist theory since its ontology is obligated only to the existence of material objects and events (neural events). It is also an eliminativist theory because, if true, the immediate consequence is the elimination of any type of objects or events that are not material and serve as a vehicle to explain the processes by which we represent the world and ourselves.

Paul Churchland defines eliminative materialism as: "The thesis that our common-sense conception of psychological phenomena constitutes a radically false theory, a theory so fundamentally flawed that both the principles and the ontology of that theory will eventually be displaced, rather than smoothly reduced, by a full neuroscience."