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Representations of the homunculus

The homunculus is also commonly used to describe the distorted human figure drawn to reflect the relative sensory space our body parts occupy on the cerebral cortex. The lips, hands, feet and sex organs are considerably more sensitive than other parts of the body, so the homunculus has grossly large lips, hands and genitals. Well known in the field of neurology, this is also commonly called 'the little man inside the brain.'Dr Wilder Penfield used a similar image to depict the body according to the areas of the motor cortex controlling it in voluntary movement. Sometimes thought to be the brain's map of the body, the motor homunculus is really a map of the proportionate association of the cortex with body members. It also reflects kinesthetic proprioception, the body an with certain types of brain damage. Like the sensory homunculus, the motor homunculus looks distorted. For example the thumb which is used in thousands of cotivities appears much larger than the thigh with its relatively simple movement. The motor homunculus develops over time and differs from one person to the next. The hand in the brain of an infant is different to the hand in the brain of a concert pianist. This kind of difference is open to introspection. You can probably flex and extend the end of your thumb at will. Most people can do this fairly easily, but relatively few can make analogous movements with any of their other fingers. The difference is due to differences in the functional organization of associated areas of the brain

A Homunculus argument accounts for a phenomenon in terms of the very phenomenon that it is supposed to explain Homunculus arguments are always fallacious. In the psychology and philosophy of mind 'homunculus arguments' are extremely useful for detecting where theories of mind fail or are incomplete.Homunculus arguments are common in the theory of vision. Imagine a person watching a movie. They see the images as something separate from them, projected on the screen. How is this done? A simple theory might propose that the light from the screen forms an image on the retinas in the eyes and something in the at these as if they are the screen. The Homunculus Argument shows this is not a full explanation because all that has been done is to place an entire person, or homunculus, behind the eye who gazes at the retinas. A more sophisticated argument might propose that the images on the retinas are transferred to the visual cortex where it is scanned. Again this cannot be a full explanation because all that has been dto place a little person in the brain behind the cortex. In the theory of vision the Homunculus Argument invalidates theories that do not explain 'projection', the experience that the viewing point is separate from the things that are seen.

Very few people would propose that there actually is a little man in the brain looking at brain activity. However, this proposal has been used as a 'straw man' in theories of mind. Gilbert Ryle proposed that the human mind is known by its intelligent acts. He argued that if there is an inner being inside the brain that could steer its own thoughts then this would lead to an absurd repetitive cycle or 'regress':

"According to the legend, whenever an agent does anything intelligently, his act is preceded and steered by another internal act of considering a regulative proposition appropriate to his practical problem.""Must we then say that for the ..].. reflections how to act to be intelligent he must first reflect how best to reflect how to act? The endlessness of this implied regress shows that the application of the appropriateness does not entail the occurrence of a process of considering this criterion."Ryle is proposing that if inner reflection were a process then it would be an endless activity if it occurred wholly within the brain .However, if the argument is applied rigorously it should be phrased in such a way is always that if a homunculus is required then the theory is wrong. After all, homunculi do not exist.The homunculus argument applied to Ryle's theory would be phrased in terms of whether the mental attribute of 'reflecting upon things internally' can beby the theory that the mind is 'intelligent acts' without the appearance of a homunculus. The answer, provided by Ryle's own logic, is that internal reflection would require a homunculus to prevent it from becoming an infinite regress. Therefore with these assumptions the Homunculus Argument does not support the theory that mind is wholly due to intelligent acts.The example of Ryle's theory demonstrates another Homunculus Argument in which it is possible to attribute to the mind various properties such as 'internal reflection' that are not universally accepted and use these contentiously to declare that a theory of mind is invalid.

Representations of the homunculus
In the classic horror film Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein's old teacher, Dr. Praetorius, shows him his own creations, a series of miniature humanoids kept in specimen jars, including a bishop, a king, a queen, a ballerina, a mermaid, and a devil. These are clearly intended to be forms of homunculi. In his source study of original novel upon which the film was based, Prof. Radu Florescu notes that her father, William Godwin was quite familiar with the lives and works of alchemists like Paracelsus and others, and their theories on the creation of the homunculus. Florescu also notes that Konrad Dippel, an alchemist whom he believes may have been the inspiration for Dr. Frankenstein, was a student of Dr. David Christianus.

German horror writer Hanns Heinz Ewers used the mandrake method for creating a homunculus as the inspiration for his 1911 novel Alraune, in which a prostitute is impregnated with semen from a hanged murderer to create a woman devoid of morals or conscience. Several cinematic adaptations of Alraune have been made othe years, the most recent in on Stroheim. The film Species also appears to draw some inspiration from this variation on the homunculus legend.The Japanese manga graphic novel Homunculus by Hideo Yamamoto refered to sensory homunculus from neurology in meaning for explain about their human experimental.In the American film The Golden Voyage of Sinbad the homunculus is portrayed as a miniature winged gargoyle looking creature, who is the nemesis of Sinbad.

In various works of fantasy and science fiction, the term "homunculus" describes any man-made humans or humanoid creatures that are created via alchemy or magic. Such hounculi feature in the comedy film The League of ins) and play a significant part in the story's plot. Homunculi are the product of failed attempts to resurrect humans who have died. Not possessinouls, they kill without restraint. A homunculamed Roger figures greatly into some of the Hellboy comic books. In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, wizard can use a spell to make a homunculus. In the Magic: the Gathering card game, tw creatures exist with "homunculus" in their name. Both are blue creatures, blue being the color of artificial creation and illusion, among other things. In the Enix console role-playing game Valkyrie Profile, the alchemist Lezard Valeth experiments with homonculi. Among them are his minion Bellion, and numerous female elven-like forms kept in large glass tubes.
Other uses of the name "homunculus"

Some of the smallest infusion pumps use osmotic power. Basically, a bag of salt solution absorbs water through a membrane, swelling its volume. The bag presses medicine out. The rate is precisely controlled by the salt concentrations and pump volume. Osmotic pumps are usually recharged with a syringe.Spring-powered clockwork infusion pumps have been developed, and are sometimes still used in veterinary work and for ambulatory small-volume pumps. They generally have one spring to power the infusion, and anotr the alarm bell when infusion completes.Battlefields often have a need to perfuse large amounts quickly, with dramatically changing pressures and patient condition. Specialized infusion pumps have been designed for this purpose, although they have not been deployed.Many infusion pumps are controlled by a small embedded system. They are carefully designed so that no single cause of failure can harm the patient. For example, most have batteries in case the wall-socket power fails. Additional hazards are uncontrolled flow causing an overdose, uncontrolled lack of flow, causing an underdose, reverse flow, which can siphon blood from a patient, and air in the line, which can starve a patient's tissues of oxygen if it floats to some part of a patient's body.

Safety features available on some pumps
The range of safety features varies widely with the age and make of the pump. A state of the art pump in 2003 may have the following safety features:Certified to have no single point . That is, no single cause of failure should cause the pump to silently fail to operate correctly. It should at least stop pumping and make at least an audible error indication. This is a minimum requirement on all human-rated infusion pumps of whatever age. It is not required for veterinary infusion pumps.
Batteries, so the pump can operate if the power fails or is unplugged.
Anti-free-flow devices prevent blood from draining from the patient, or infusate from freely entering the patient, when the infusion pump is being set-up.
A "down pressure" sensor will detect when the patient's vein is blocked, or the line to the patient is kinked. This may be configurable for high subcutaneous and epidural or low applications.
An "air-in-line" detector. A typical detector will use an ultrasonic transmitter and receiver to detect when air is being pumped. Some pumps actually measure the volume, and may even have configurable volumes, from 0.1 to 2 ml of air. None of these amounts can cause harm, but sometimes the air can interfere with the infusion of a low-dose medicine.
An "up pressure" sensor can detect when the bag or syringe is empty, or even if the bag or syringe is being squeezed.
Many pumps include an internal elog of the last several thousand therapy events. These

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