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Sophie F's picture

I-function, etc.

If the nervous system, through its complex network of boxes and connectivity assimilates information both from within the system (the nervous system) and without the system (the environment), as the corollary discharge signals and central pattern generators work in tandem, how might the corollary discharge signal reconcile external input that is in conflict with the signal it is receiving from within the nervous system that is not strictly sensory information? This issue makes sense as we explored in class using the two different eye experiments, one poking our eyes and the other closing one eye and following a finger. Does this, however, account for messages that we send ourselves, so-called “self-talk?” For example, someone with an eating disorder, who may be visibly emaciated to outside observers, but “believes” herself and may even “see” herself as being overweight. And what about people with schizophrenia who have more than one “voice” in their heads? Which signals are enhanced or inhibited that may lead to this?

Like Skye, I also had some questions about the I-function. How does the I-function come into play in terms of interpretation or signals, or is the I-function merely an audience to the symphony?

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