Imagine cooking up a complex thought using a recipe book of primitive concepts. That’s the idea behind the ‘language of thought’ theory, which suggests that our mental representations are like ingredients that can be combined to create new thoughts. Some have argued that this theory is impossible to implement in the brain, but new research disagrees! By studying the spatial navigation system in rodents, scientists have found evidence of the computational ingredients necessary for a neural implementation of the language of thought. Cells like border cells, object cells, and head-direction cells provide key types of representation and computation, showing that the language of thought is indeed neurobiologically feasible. So next time you’re constructing a thought, remember that your brain might just be following its own recipe book! If you want to dive deeper into the fascinating research behind the neural language of thought, check out the full article.

The classical notion of a ‘language of thought’ (LoT), advanced prominently by the philosopher Jerry Fodor, is an influential position in cognitive science whereby the mental representations underpinning thought are considered to be compositional and productive, enabling the construction of new complex thoughts from more primitive symbolic concepts. LoT theory has been challenged because a neural implementation has been deemed implausible. We disagree. Examples of critical computational ingredients needed for a neural implementation of a LoT have in fact been demonstrated, in particular in the hippocampal spatial navigation system of rodents. Here, we show that cell types found in spatial navigation (border cells, object cells, head-direction cells, etc.) provide key types of representation and computation required for the LoT, underscoring its neurobiological viability.

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