The Activity Modalities: A Priori Categories of Coordination

A conceptualization of a-priori forms of coordination as activity modalities is proposed. Sensations in various sensory modalities are integrated by our brain into a coherent, actionable percept, structured by the processes of objectivation, contextualization, spatialization, temporalization, stabilization, and transition. This conceptualization promises to bridge neuroscientific and applied research into the coordination problem. Introduction The understanding of how actions are coordinated and integrated in the pursuit of fulfilling needs is of prime importance for brain research: “I do not see any way to avoid the problem of coordination and still understand the physical basis of life” [1, p. 176] Coordination has been extensively investigated “internally” in various neuroscientific and cognitive studies, and “externally” in applied areas like, for example, organizational studies. Usually, neuroscientific research focuses of the inner workings of the brain, while the external environment is conceptualized in rather general, non-specific terms. As a case in point, see Figure 1: