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

Measuring the complexity of human cognition in real-world settings is difficult because traditional lab experiments lack ecological validity. The Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) approach addresses this by integrating sensorimotor information, personal experience, and future possibilities. This article argues that MoBI is best understood through the Embodied, Embedded, Extended, and Enactive (4E) framework. It reviews the technological advances enabling MoBI and discusses its strengths and limitations for studying cognition, with an emphasis 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.