Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI): Challenges and opportunities for the implementation of research programs based on the 4E perspective to cognition

Summary

Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) offers a way to study human cognition with greater ecological validity than classical lab experiments, which often fail to capture real-world experiences. The approach is grounded in the Embodied, Embedded, Extended, and Enactive (4E) framework of cognition, integrating sensorimotor information, personal experience, and future events. The article reviews theoretical assumptions, technological advances enabling MoBI, and its strengths and limitations for studying cognition, with a focus on the Chilean context.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Human cognition is characterized by its complexity and multidimensionality. Adaptive and appropriate behavior in the here and now requires a system which integrates sensorimotor information from multiple modalities, the individual’s personal experience, and possible future events. Nevertheless, measuring such complexity has proven difficult, at best. Classical laboratory experiments have been crucial to informing models of brain functioning. These types of experiments, nevertheless, generally do not capture the experiences of the real world and therefore lack ecological validity. This is mostly a methodological -not necessarily epistemic- limitation. The first section of this article will address the theoretical assumptions underlying the Mobile Brain/Body Imaging approach, which -we argue- are best understood from the Embodied, Embedded, Extended and Enactive approach to cognition. Later, we briefly review the technological advances that have enabled MoBI implementation. Finally, a discussion of MoBI’s strengths and limitations for the study of cognition within the 4E framework is presented with an emphasis in the Chilean context.