A question of special relevance to the CIN is: what exactly is integrative neuroscience? A fundamental question arising from this is how different levels of neuroscientific investigation relate to each other, and more widely, how do they relate to 'higher level' sciences such as psychology, and beyond that to philosophical questions about the mind.
In this respect the Centre takes its cue from the ideas of Werner Reichardt and the questions he raised about levels of investigation and explanation. From these stem the structure and the aims of the CIN itself, as it is based on the idea that integrative research is essential to making progress in explaining neural, sensory and cognitive phenomena. In particular, Marr’s (1982) three levels of analysis, heavily influenced by Reichardt’s multi-level integrative approach in researching visual processing (e.g. Reichardt and Poggio 1975, 1979), suggests that research can be divided into three distinct computational, algorithmic, and implementational levels. But it is worth investigating whether these are the only, or the best, ways to think about levels in neuroscience (e.g. Craver 2007), and to what extent current neuroscientific explanations are integrated, to what extent they can be integrated, and to what extent they should be integrated (Bechtel 2008, Mitchell 2003).
