Published date: Nov 01 2018

Journal Title: KnE Life Sciences

Issue title: The Fifth International Luria Memorial Congress «Lurian Approach in International Psychological Science»

Pages: 711–725

DOI: 10.18502/kls.v4i8.3329

J Pena-Casanovajpcasanova51@gmail.com

This paper reviews, elaborates, and rebuilds Luria’s model of the three functional units of the brain. As a result, five functional brain units have been delineated: preferential (unit for life-support and arousal regulation), limbic (unit for valuation/motivation and for context memory), cortical and thalamic-cortical (“the conscious agent”), basal ganglia (”the reinforcer”), and cerebellar (”the supervisor”). The new model is more realistic; it includes elements missing from Luria’s model and avoids a corticocentric approach. It will allow a better analysis of the effects of brain pathology on cognition, neuropsychiatry, and behavior. Within the framework, the concept of complex functional system is maintained and expanded.

Keywords: brain, functional model, complex systems, cortex, Luria

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