Informational Aspect of the Functional System
The content of a functional system directly depends on the characteristics of the result the organism seeks to achieve. A specific informational equivalent of this outcome is formed within the system.
Levels of informational content vary depending on the goal:
- Physicochemical level: Operates when the result is related to the maintenance of internal parameters (homeostasis, metabolism).
- Sign (verbal) level: Characteristic exclusively of human behavioral activity. The ability to associate spoken sounds with objects of the external world led to words becoming an abstraction from reality. They carry semantic and emotional meaning, acting as powerful conditioned stimuli.
Motivation and Formation of the 'Functional Framework'
Dominant biological motivation (alimentary, defensive, reproductive) genetically programs the properties of stimuli that will bring satisfaction. This process is constantly corrected and refined through individual learning.
The guiding component (vector) of motivation programs the parameters of the required result. This is necessary for the continuous comparison of reality with expectation, behavioral regulation, and error correction.
Interaction between motivation and reinforcement (satisfaction of need) occurs via a complementary principle, often utilizing the same neurons in the brain.
Key Mechanisms at the Neuronal Level:
- Shift in Activity Pattern: Under high motivation (e.g., hunger), sensorimotor cortex neurons generate burst-like activity—groups of impulses interrupted by pauses. After food intake, the rhythm shifts to a uniform, regular pattern.
- Role of Pacemakers: Motivational centers of the hypothalamus act as pacemakers. They "tune" the cortex: neurons that previously did not respond to stimuli begin to perceive them. If pacemakers are experimentally destroyed, brain cells cease to respond to reinforcement.
- Concept of the 'Functional Framework': Dominant excitation creates a specific cortico-subcortical complex of excited neuronal, glial, and synaptic elements in the brain. Subsequent reinforcing signals imprint experience onto this prepared framework like a distinct pattern.
Architecture of the Behavioral Act (According to P.K. Anokhin)
The deployment of a behavioral act obeys strict cybernetic principles and passes through several mandatory stages.
I. Afferent Synthesis (AS) This is the initial stage that answers the question "What to do?". Four streams of information are integrated in this block:
- Motivation (M): The current dominant need.
- Situational Afferentation (SA): Static environmental conditions.
- Memory (P): Retrieval of past experience in solving similar problems.
- Trigger Afferentation: The specific triggering stimulus initiating the reaction right now.
II. Decision Making (DM) Logical conclusion of the previous stage. Out of many possible options (degrees of freedom), the system selects a single line of behavior, forming a specific goal.
III. Formation of the Program and Prediction Apparatus Processes then develop in parallel:
- Efferent Synthesis (ES): Creation of a motor command program ("How to do it?").
- Action Result Acceptor (ARA): The key feed-forward block. Here, an ideal neural model of the future result is formed and stored before the action is performed.
IV–V. Action, Result, and Feedback Afferentation Constrained by goal-directed action, the organism alters the environment, yielding a specific result. Parameters of this outcome are captured by receptors, and a stream of impulses (feedback afferentation) returns to the brain, entering the ARA block for evaluation.
Results of Comparison in the ARA:
- Match: The actual outcome corresponds to the prediction. A positive emotion arises, and the action concludes. A reinforcement image is formed—successful experience is fixed in memory, and excitation in the motivational center decreases.
- Mismatch: The outcome is erroneous. A negative emotion arises, triggering an orienting-investigatory reaction. The system is forced to restructure afferent synthesis and try again.