Equifinality
It is known that in many neurons the recurrence of a given afferent spatiotemporal configuration results in the recurrence of the same state of activity, independently of the way in which such a spatiotemporal configuration is generated. This is the understanding that two states of ativity in a given cell are the same (equivalent) if they belong to tyhe same class, as defined by the pattern of activity that they generate in their effector area, and not because they are a one-to-one mapping of each other. Also, the spatiotemporal configuration of the input on a neuron that causes in it the ecurrence of a given state of activity is a class of afferent influences defined by a pattern in the relations holding between the active afferents and the collector. Thus, there are neurons for which a given class of response is elicited by a given class of afferent influences. (NC 9-10, BC 19-20)
Two interactions that produce the same state of relative activity are identical for the nervous system, no matter how different they may be in the cognitive domain of the observer. (BC 33)
This page was last updated on June 26, 1996, by Rob Sable.