Pre-dispositional constitution and plastic disposition: toward a more adequate descriptive framework for the notions of habits, learning and plasticity

How Individual Habits Fit/Unfit Social Norms: From the Historical Perspective to a Neurobiological Repositioning of an Unresolved Problem

“…In order to define a habit, it seems necessary, at first sight, to follow a particular point of view in human science as the definition of habit, which in humanistic parlance sounds rather different from the one proposed by "hard" sciences (i.e., neurophysiology/neuropsychology, computer sciences, economy, etc.). However, upon closer examination, these differences are only a matter of steps or layers of abstract/experimental procedures subtended by the epistemological approach applied in habit interpretation and habit formation, and are based on a common ground which attempts to interpret these notions in a changing social context (humanistic disciplines) or ("hard" sciences) in a constitutional disposition or in a dispositional plasticity (Güell, 2014).…”

Anatomical constitution of sense organs as a marker of mental disorders

“…At a genetic level, there is also evidence that supports this novel approach. As we have noted in a recent article (Güell, 2014 ), four of the five known genes involved in the disrupted tangential migration of cortical interneurons (NRG1, ERBB4, GRIN1, and DTNBP1) are involved in the expression of molecules related to visual structures. We believe that it could be of great interest to assess how the expression of these genes (and their mutations) may impact the anatomical constitution of the visual system, since this feature could be used as a new diagnostic tool in schizophrenia.…”

“…As a final note, we would like to clarify that this potential association between the morphology of input structures and mental disorders does not mean a radical determinism. Even though certain morphological configurations may be related with a disease, they would not necessarily imply that a person is “schizophrenic,” or even as being on the “schizophrenic spectrum.” Rather, it would point to a constitutional predisposition (Güell, 2014 ) to suffer the disease, open to various environmental factors.…”

Editorial: Habits: plasticity, learning and freedom

“…Then, we present a set of articles with various views on habits: as configurators of personal identity (Wagner and Northoff, 2014 ), on their possible role on epigenetics (Novo, 2014 ), on the relationship between neuroplasticity and a characterization introduced in medieval philosophy (Larrivee and Gini, 2014 ), and from a dynamic systems perspective (Barrett, 2014 ). After that, we go deeper into the role of habits in behavioral plasticity from different points of view: a computational model of habits as consolidated patterns of motor behavior (Egbert and Barandiaran, 2014 ), an anthropological theoretical reflection on their role in the integral development of the person (Güell, 2014 ), and an explanation of their importance on the social basis of learning (Akrivou and Todorow di San Giorgio, 2014 ). Since the notion of “cognitive habit” may sound strange in neuroscience, we define it in one of our introductory contributions (Bernacer and Murillo, 2014 ).…”