AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 234, Issue 5 161-R166, Copyright © 1978 by American Physiological Society
Contributions of the communication sciences to physiology
W. M. Siebert
This paper reviews the impact on physiology of the revolutions in the
communication sciences and technology that have occurred in the last 35
years. Particular attention is given to the significance of the cybernetic
suggestions of Norbert Wiener--specifically, the ideas of negative
feedback, of the computer as a brain metaphor, and of signal-and-noise
considerations in information processing. It is argued that the first two
of these have not in fact made much lasting contribution to physiology
beyond providing loose analogies. On the other hand, the ready availability
of a wide variety of electronic measuring and signal-processing devices
from communication technology has clearly had a substantial impact. And it
is proposed that the kind of models and concepts that are necessary for the
characterization of the nervous system as an information-processing device
play now, and will continue to play in the future, a major role in
physiology.
