Does plasticity imply local learning?
The physical changes that are observed in synapses/cells in experimental neuroscience when some kind of external stimuli is applied to the cells may not result at all from any specific “learning” at the cells. The cells might simply be responding to a “signal to change” – that is, to change by a specific amount in a specific direction. In animal brains, it is possible that the “actual” learning occurs in some other part(s) of the brain, say perhaps by a global learning mechanism. This global mechanism can then send “change signals” to the various cells it is using to learn a specific task. So it is possible that in these neuroscience experiments, the external stimuli generates signals for change similar to those of a global learning agent in the brain and that the changes are not due to “learning” at the cells themselves. Please note that scientific facts/phenomenon like LTP/LTD or synaptic plasticity can probably be explained equally well by many theories of learning (e.g. local learn
