Cogprints: No conditions. Results ordered -Date, Title.
2018-01-17T14:25:33Z
EPrints
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http://cogprints.org/
2016-01-12T20:51:35Z
2016-01-12T20:51:35Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/10046
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2016-01-12T20:51:35Z
Mosaic Brains? A Methodological Critique of Joel et al. (2015)
(no abstract)
Marco Del Giudice
marcodg@unm.edu
Richard A Lippa
David A Puts
Drew H Bailey
J Michael Bailey
David P Schmitt
2014-08-24T21:07:30Z
2015-04-20T11:40:47Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/9756
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/9756
2014-08-24T21:07:30Z
Co-Variations among Cognition, Cerebellar
Disorders and Cortical Areas With
Regional Glucose-Metabolic Activities in a
Homogeneous Sample with Uner Tan Syndrome:
Holistic Functioning of the Human Brain
Patients with Uner Tan syndrome (UTS) exhibit habitual quadrupedal locomotion (QL), intellectual disability, dysarthric speech and truncal ataxia. Examination of cognitive ability in this syndrome has not yet been demonstrated in the scientific literature. Aims: (i) To analyze the cognitive abilities of the siblings with UTS; (ii) to assess the grade of their ataxia in relation to cerebellar disorders; (iii) to measure the metabolic activities of various cerebral regions in comparison with healthy individuals; (iv) to detect the interrelationships among all of the measured variables (IQ test scores, ataxia scores, cerebro-cerebellar areas and their metabolic activity levels) to reveal the holistic activity of the
brain. The Minimental State Examination (MMSE) and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R) were applied to the affected cases and healthy subjects. Cerebellar disorders were assessed by the International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS). Brain MRI scans were performed and cerebro-cerebellar areas were measured on MRI scans, including their metabolic activities (SUV), measured by positron emission tomography (PET) scanning. MMSE and WAIS-R scores both correlated with cerebro-cerebellar areas. Cerebello-vermial areas and their metabolic activities were significantly smaller in patients than in normal controls; areas of the remaining structures were not significantly different between patients and healthy subjects. Brain areas significantly inter-correlated: ICARS negatively correlated with WAIS-R,MMSE scores, SUV, and cerebro-cerebellar areas, which significantly correlated with each other. The results suggested (i) ICARS may not only be a test for cerebellar disorders, but also may be related to global functioning of all of the
cerebro-cerebellar regions; (ii) ICARS, WAIS-R and MMSE may be measures of emergent properties of the holistic
activity of the brain; (iii) the psychomotor disorders in UTS may be related to decreased brain metabolism.
Prof. Dr. Uner Tan
unertan37@yahoo.com
2014-08-24T21:07:54Z
2015-04-20T11:40:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/9760
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2014-08-24T21:07:54Z
Motor Learning Mechanism on the Neuron Scale
Based on existing data, we wish to put forward a biological model of motor system on the neuron scale. Then we indicate its implications in statistics and learning. Specifically, neuron’s firing frequency and synaptic strength are probability estimates in essence. And the lateral inhibition also has statistical implications. From the standpoint of learning, dendritic competition through retrograde messengers is the foundation of conditional reflex and “grandmother cell” coding. And they are the kernel mechanisms of motor learning and sensory-motor integration respectively. Finally, we compare motor system with sensory system. In short, we would like to bridge the gap between molecule evidences and computational models.
Mr. Peilei Liu
lpl1520@163.com
Prof. Ting Wang
tingwang1970@163.com
2017-02-18T20:25:23Z
2017-02-18T20:25:23Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/9772
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2017-02-18T20:25:23Z
Neural Mechanism of Language
This paper is based on our previous work on neural coding. It is a self-organized model supported by existing evidences. Firstly, we briefly introduce this model in this paper, and then we explain the neural mechanism of language and reasoning with it. Moreover, we find that the position of an area determines its importance. Specifically, language relevant areas are in the capital position of the cortical kingdom. Therefore they are closely related with autonomous consciousness and working memories. In essence, language is a miniature of the real world. Briefly, this paper would like to bridge the gap between molecule mechanism of neurons and advanced functions such as language and reasoning.
Dr. Peilei Liu
lpl1520@163.com
Professor Ting Wang
tingwang1970@163.com
2014-02-25T12:39:56Z
2014-02-25T12:39:56Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/9132
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2014-02-25T12:39:56Z
Autism spectrum disorders: A relational cause
Jones and Klin (1) showed that newborns who will later develop autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) pay normal attention to eyes, but that attention declines from 2-6 months. This shows, they say, how 'initial genotypic vulnerabilities' cause ASDs. Their results suggest, however, that ASDs are caused by insufficient practice of early eye-contact.
Dr Maxson J McDowell
maxmcdowell@jungny.com
2013-11-18T21:06:44Z
2013-11-18T21:06:44Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/9085
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2013-11-18T21:06:44Z
Direct recordings of grid-like neuronal activity in human spatial navigation
Grid cells in the entorhinal cortex appear to represent spatial location via a triangular coordinate system. Such cells, which have been identified in rats, bats and monkeys, are believed to support a wide range of spatial behaviors. Recording neuronal activity from neurosurgical patients performing a virtual-navigation task, we identified cells exhibiting grid-like spiking patterns in the human brain, suggesting that humans and simpler animals rely on homologous spatial-coding schemes.
Joshua Jacobs
Christoph T. Weidemann
Jonathan F. Miller
Alec Solway
John F. Burke
Xue-Xin Wei
Nanthia Suthana
Michael R. Sperling
Ashwini D. Sharan
Itzhak Fried
Michael J. Kahana
2013-09-17T14:26:28Z
2013-09-17T14:26:28Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8982
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2013-09-17T14:26:28Z
Human quadrupedalism is not an epiphenomenon caused
by neurodevelopmental malformation and ataxia
Two cases with quadrupedal locomotion (QL) were presented. In both cases, cognitive and psychiatric functions were normal and, no neurological deficits were observed, except for a sequel paralysis of left leg in Case 2. It was suggested that human QL (1) should not be considered as an epiphenomenon caused by neurodevelopmental malformation and
ataxia, but (2) may be considered as a re-emergence of the ancestral diagonal QL, and (3) it may spontaneously emerge in humans with entirely normal brains, by taking advantage
of neural networks such as central pattern generators that have been preserved for about 400 million years.
Prof. Dr. Uner Tan
unertan37@yahoo.com
2012-11-09T19:37:13Z
2012-11-09T19:37:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8143
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2012-11-09T19:37:13Z
Cocaine self-administration in the mouse: A low- cost, chronic catheter preparation
Intravenous drug self-administration is the most valid animal model of human addiction because it allows volitional titration of the drug in the blood based on an individual’s motivational state together with the pharmacokinetic properties of the drug. Here we describe a reliable low-cost mouse self-administration catheter assembly and protocol that that can be used to assess a variety of drugs of abuse with a variety of protocols. We describe a method for intravenous catheter fabrication that allows for efficient and long-lasting intravenous drug delivery. The intravenous catheters remained intact and patent for several weeks allowing us to establish stable maintenance of cocaine acquisition. This was followed by a dose response study in the same mice. For collaborators interested in premade catheters for research please make a request at www.neuro-cloud.net/nature-precedings/pomerenze.
M Pomrenze
M Baratta
B Cadle
D.C. Cooper
2013-05-04T23:25:03Z
2013-05-04T23:25:03Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8968
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2013-05-04T23:25:03Z
Development of bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion in humans from a dynamical systems perspective
The first phase in the development 0f locomotion, pr,öary variability would occur in normal fetuses and infants, and those with Uner Tan syndrome. The neural networks for quadrupedal locomotion have apparently been transmitted epigenetically through many species since about 400 MYA.
The second phase is the neuronal selection process. During infancy, the most effective motor pattern(s) and their associated neuronal group(s) are selected through experience.
The third phase, secondary or adaptive variability, starts to bloom at two to three years of age and matures in adolescence. This third phase may last much longer in some patients with Uner Tan syndrome, with a considerably delay in selection of the well-balanced quadrupedal locomotion, which may emerge very late in adolescence in these cases.
Prof. Dr. Uner Tan
unertan37@yahoo.com
2013-05-04T23:24:57Z
2013-05-04T23:24:57Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8967
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2013-05-04T23:24:57Z
Üner Tan Syndrome: Review and Emergence of Human Quadrupedalism in Self-Organization,
Attractors and Evolutionary Perspectives
The first man reported in the world literature exhibiting habitual quadrupedal locomotion was discovered by a British traveler and writer on the famous Baghdat road near Havsa/Samsun on the middle Black-Sea coast of Turkey (Childs, 1917). Interestingly, no single case with human quadrupedalism was reported in the scientific literature after Child's first description in 1917 until the first report on the Uner Tan syndrome (UTS: quadrupedalism, mental retardation, and impaired speech or no speech)in 2005 (Tan, 2005, 2006). Between 2005 and 2010, 10 families exhibiting the syndrome were discovered in Turkey with 33 cases: 14 women (42.4%) and 19 men (57.6%). Including a few cases from other countries, there were 25 men (64.1%)and 14 women (35.9%). The number of men significantly exceeded the number of women (p < .05). Genetics alone did not seem to be informative for the origins of many syndromes, including the Uner Tan syndrome. From the viewpoint of dynamical systems theory, there may not be a single factor including the neural and/or genetic codes that predetermines the emergence of the human quadrupedalism.Rather, it may involve a self-organization process, consisting of many decentralized and local interactions among neuronal, genetic, and environmental subsystems. The most remarkable characteristic of the UTS, the diagonal-sequence quadrupedalism is well developed in primates. The evolutionarily advantage of this gait is not known. However, there seems to be an evolutionarily advantage of this type of locomotion for primate evolution, with regard to the emergence of complex neural circuits with related highly complex structures. Namely, only primates with diagonal-sequence quadrupedal locomotion followed an evolution favoring larger brains, highly developed cognitive abilities with hand skills, and language, with erect posture and bipedal locomotion, creating the unity of human being. It was suggested that UTS may be considered a further example for Darwinian diseases, which may be associated with an evolutionary understanding of the disorders using evolutionary principles, such as the natural selection. On the other hand, the human quadrupedalism was proposed to be a phenotypic example of evolution of reverse, i.e., the reacquisition by derived populations of the same character states as those of ancestor populations. It was also suggested that the emergence of the human quadrupedalism may be related to self-organizing processes occurring in complex systems, which select or attract one preferred behavioral state or locomotor trait out of many possible attractor states. Concerning the locomotor patterns, the dynamical systems in brain and body of the developing child may prefer some kind of locomotion, according to interactions of the internal components and the environmental conditions, without a direct role of any causative factor(s), such as genetic or neural codes, consistent with the concept of self-organization, suggesting no single element may have a causal priority.
Prof. Dr. Uner Tan
unertan37@yahoo.com
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Tamam
Dr. Sibel Karaca
sibelemre2003@yahoo.com
Prof. Dr. Meliha Tan
Meliha_Tan@yahoo.com
2012-11-09T20:00:07Z
2013-02-18T15:13:12Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8718
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2012-11-09T20:00:07Z
Neuronal Activity in the Human Subthalamic Nucleus Encodes Decision Conflict during Action Selection
The subthalamic nucleus (STN), which receives excitatory inputs from the cortex and has direct connections with the inhibitory pathways
of the basal ganglia, is well positioned to efficiently mediate action selection. Here, we use microelectrode recordings captured during
deep brain stimulation surgery as participants engage in a decision task to examine the role of the human STN in action selection. We
demonstrate that spiking activity in the STN increases when participants engage in a decision and that the level of spiking activity
increases with the degree of decision conflict. These data implicate the STN as an important mediator of action selection during decision
processes.
K. A. Zaghloul
Christoph T. Weidemann
B. C. Lega
J. L. Jaggi
G. H. Baltuch
M. J. Kahana
2017-02-18T20:23:42Z
2017-02-18T20:23:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/9649
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/9649
2017-02-18T20:23:42Z
Uner Tan Syndrome: Review and Emergence of Human Quadrupedalism in Self-Organization, Attarctors and evolutionary Perspectives
Uner Tan syndrome, discovered in 2005 by Dr. Tan, in Southern Turkey, mainly consists of habitual quadrupedal locomotioni impaired intelligence, and dysarthric or no speech, with or without (rarely) cerebello-vermial hypoplasia and mildly simplified cortical gyri.
This syndrome may be considered wthin the framework of the nonprogressive autosomal recessive cerebellar ataxias, associated with various genetic mutations (genetic heterogeneity). This is a unique condition among disequilibrium syndrome, Cayman ataxia, and Joubert syndrome.
From the viewpoint of dynamical systems theory, there may be not a single factor including a ganetic code that predetermines the emergence of human quıadrupedalism, seen for instance in Uner Tan syndrome. Rather it may involve self-organization process, consisting of many decentralized and local interactions among neuronal, genetic, and environmental subsystems.
Prof. Dr. Uner Tan
unertan37@yahoo.com
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Tamam
Prof. Dr. Sibel Karaca
Prof. Dr. Meliha Tan
Meliha_Tan@yahoo.com
2011-12-16T00:08:51Z
2011-12-16T00:08:51Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/7747
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2011-12-16T00:08:51Z
A neuroeconomic theory of rational addiction and
nonlinear time-perception.
Neuroeconomic conditions for “rational addiction” (Becker and Murphy, 1988) have
been unknown. This paper derived the conditions for “rational addiction” by utilizing a
nonlinear time-perception theory of “hyperbolic” discounting, which is mathematically
equivalent to the q-exponential intertemporal choice model based on Tsallis' statistics. It
is shown that (i) Arrow-Pratt measure for temporal cognition corresponds to the degree
of irrationality (i.e., Prelec’s “decreasing impatience” parameter of temporal
discounting) and (ii) rationality in addicts is controlled by a nondimensionalization
parameter of the logarithmic time-perception function. Furthermore, the present theory
illustrates the possibility that addictive drugs increase impulsivity via dopaminergic
neuroadaptation without increasing irrationality. Future directions in the application of
the model to studies in neuroeconomics are discussed.
Ph.D Taiki Takahashi
2011-12-16T00:09:00Z
2011-12-16T00:09:00Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/7746
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2011-12-16T00:09:00Z
Neuroeconomics of suicide.
Suicidal behavior is a leading cause of injury and death worldwide. Suicide has been associated with psychiatric illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia, as well as economic uncertainty, and social/cultural factors. This study proposes a neuroeconomic framework of suicide. Neuroeconomic parameters (e.g., risk-attitude, probability weighting, time discounting in intertemporal choice, and loss aversion) are predicted to be related to suicidal behavior. Neurobiological and neuroendocrinological substrates such as serotonin, dopamine, cortisol (HPA axis), nitric oxide, serum cholesterol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, gonadal hormones (e.g., estradiol and progesterone), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in brain regions such as the orbitofrontal/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and limbic regions (e.g., the amygdala) may supposedly be related to the neuroeconomic parameters modulating the risk of suicide. The present framework puts foundations for ―molecular neuroeconomics‖ of decision-making processes underlying suicidal behavior.
Ph.D Taiki Takahashi
taikitakahashi@gmail.com
2011-12-16T00:08:33Z
2011-12-16T00:08:33Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/7748
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/7748
2011-12-16T00:08:33Z
Toward molecular neuroeconomics of obesity.
Because obesity is a risk factor for many serious illnesses such as diabetes, better
understandings of obesity and eating disorders have been attracting attention in
neurobiology, psychiatry, and neuroeconomics. This paper presents future study
directions by unifying (i) economic theory of addiction and obesity (Becker and Murphy,
1988; Levy 2002; Dragone 2009), and (ii) recent empirical findings in neuroeconomics
and neurobiology of obesity and addiction. It is suggested that neurobiological
substrates such as adiponectin, dopamine (D2 receptors), endocannabinoids, ghrelin,
leptin, nesfatin-1, norepinephrine, orexin, oxytocin, serotonin, vasopressin, CCK,
GLP-1, MCH, PYY, and stress hormones (e.g., CRF) in the brain (e.g., OFC, VTA,
NAcc, and the hypothalamus) may determine parameters in the economic theory of
obesity. Also, the importance of introducing time-inconsistent and
gain/loss-asymmetrical temporal discounting (intertemporal choice) models based on
Tsallis’ statistics and incorporating time-perception parameters into the neuroeconomic
theory is emphasized. Future directions in the application of the theory to studies in
neuroeconomics and neuropsychiatry of obesity at the molecular level, which may help
medical/psychopharmacological treatments of obesity (e.g., with sibutramine), are
discussed.
Taiki Takahashi
taikitakahashi@gmail.com
2011-09-19T11:57:40Z
2012-05-18T14:25:32Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/7623
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2011-09-19T11:57:40Z
The Moral of Politics Constitutes Ideological Perspectives
The paper reports some insights that is acquired in the online survey observing the moral politics among Indonesian. The survey maps the participant’s responses into two dimensional axis of political ideology, comprised by the source of moral virtues (ethic-esoteric) and the method to achieve them (progressive-conservative). Since the political ideology is emerged from the moral political values, the observations through the responses in the survey are delivered. The observation also brings some insights from information theory, regarding to the uncertainty within the political minds as captured by the survey.
Hokky Situngkir
hs@compsoc.bandungfe.net
2011-01-11T03:27:22Z
2011-03-11T08:57:50Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/7168
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2011-01-11T03:27:22Z
Eye-contact and complex dynamic systems: an hypothesis on autism’s direct cause and a clinical study addressing prevention.
Estimates of autism’s incidence increased 5-10 fold in ten years, an increase which cannot be genetic. Though many mutations are associated with autism, no mutation seems directly to cause autism. We need to find the direct cause. Complexity science provides a new paradigm - confirmed in biology by extensive hard data. Both the body and the personality are complex dynamic systems which spontaneously self-organize from simple dynamic systems. Autism may therefore be caused by the failure of a simple dynamic system.
We know that infants who cannot track their mother’s face often become autistic, that eye-contact initiates intersubjectivity which is blocked in autism, and that the infant-mother pair seems designed to promote eye-contact, as does the eye’s appearance. This author earlier proposed that failure of eye-contact might directly cause autism and that early non-maternal childcare, including television/video, would therefore be statistically linked to autism.
Waldman et al. (2008; 2006) recently proved that autism is strongly linked to precipitation (indoor activity) and to the introduction of cable. The most plausible explanation? Early exposure to television/video is linked to autism. Furthermore a normal developmental cascade (blocked in autism) has been deciphered: (a) Infant-mother eye-contact triggers increased maternal attention. (b) Early maternal attention permanently increases not only baseline vasopressin but also that oxytocin release which is triggered by subsequent maternal attention. (c) Vasopressin and oxytocin promote face recognition, gazing-at-the-eyes, emotion recognition, and social bonding.
The eye-contact hypothesis suggests a clinical study addressing prevention: recruit prospective parents who agree to curtail television/video/computer/wi-fi in their families; measure autism’s incidence in their children.
Dr Maxson J. McDowell
maxmcdowell@jungny.com
2010-06-06T14:35:34Z
2011-03-11T08:57:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6854
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2010-06-06T14:35:34Z
Do we have Independent Visual Streams for Perception and Action? a Response.
Schenk and McIntosh (2009) present the thesis that most visual behaviours, especially those of any significant complexity, are likely to involve collaboration between both visual streams. While very likely true, this statement does not contradict the perception-action model as proposed by Milner and Goodale (1995, 2006). The two visual system hypothesis implies two functionally specialized systems, and not, as Schenk and McIntosh propose, two behaviourally independent systems.
Mr. Jason Locklin
jalockli@uwaterloo.ca
Dr. James Danckert
jdancker@uwaterloo.ca
2009-12-19T11:47:14Z
2011-03-11T08:57:34Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6754
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2009-12-19T11:47:14Z
Consciousness as Recursive, Spatiotemporal Self-Location
At the phenomenal level, consciousness arises in a consistently coherent fashion as a singular, unified field of recursive self-awareness (subjectivity) with explicitly orientational characteristics—that of a subject located both spatially and temporally in an egocentrically-extended domain. Understanding these twin elements of consciousness begins with the recognition that ultimately (and most primitively), cognitive systems serve the biological self-regulatory regime in which they subsist. The psychological structures supporting self-located subjectivity involve an evolutionary elaboration of the two basic elements necessary for extending self-regulation into behavioral interaction with the environment: an orientative reference frame which consistently structures ongoing interaction in terms of controllable spatiotemporal parameters, and processing architecture that relates behavior to homeostatic needs via feedback. Over time, constant evolutionary pressures for energy efficiency have encouraged the emergence of anticipative feedforward processing mechanisms, and the elaboration, at the apex of the sensorimotor processing hierarchy, of self-activating, highly attenuated recursively-feedforward circuitry processing the basic orientational schema independent of external action output. As the primary reference frame of active waking cognition, this recursive self-locational schema processing generates a zone of subjective self-awareness in terms of which it feels like something to be oneself here and now. This is consciousness-as-subjectivity.
Dr Frederic Peters
fhpeters@aapt.net.au
2010-09-13T03:59:01Z
2011-03-11T08:57:40Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6939
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2010-09-13T03:59:01Z
Uner Tan Syndrome: History, Clinical Evaluations, Genetics, and the
Dynamics of Human Quadrupedalism
Abstract: This review includes for the first time a dynamical systems analysis of human quadrupedalism in Uner Tan syndrome, which is characterized by habitual quadrupedalism, impaired intelligence, and rudimentary speech. The first family was discovered in a small village near Iskenderun, and families were later found in Adana and two other small villages near Gaziantep and Canakkale. In all the affected individuals dynamic balance was impaired during upright walking,and they habitually preferred walking on all four extremities. MRI scans showed inferior cerebellovermian hypoplasia with slightly simplified cerebral gyri in three of the families, but appeared normal in the fourth. PET scans showed a decreased glucose metabolic activity in the cerebellum, vermis and, to a lesser extent the cerebral cortex, except for one patient,
whose MRI scan also appeared to be normal. All four families had consanguineous marriages in their pedigrees,
suggesting autosomal recessive transmission. The syndrome was genetically heterogeneous. Since the initial discoveries
more cases have been found, and these exhibit facultative quadrupedal locomotion, and in one case, late childhood onset. It has been suggested that the human quadrupedalism may, at least, be a phenotypic example of reverse evolution. From the viewpoint of dynamic systems theory, it was concluded there may not be a single factor that predetermines human quadrupedalism in Uner Tan syndrome, but that it may involve self-organization, brain plasticity, and rewiring, from the many decentralized and local interactions among neuronal, genetic, and environmental subsystems.
Prof. Dr. Uner Tan
unertan37@yahoo.com
2009-02-13T01:14:59Z
2011-03-11T08:57:18Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6341
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6341
2009-02-13T01:14:59Z
The biopsychology of maternal behavior in nonhuman mammals
The term “maternal behavior,” when applied to nonhuman mammals, includes the behaviors exhibited in preparation for the arrival of newborn, in the care and protection of the newly arrived young, and in the weaning of those young, and represents a complex predictable pattern that is often regarded as a single, comprehensive, species-specific phenomenon. Although the delivering first-time mammalian mother is immediately and appropriately maternal, a maternal “virgin” with no prior exposure to young does not show immediate and appropriate behavior toward foster young. Nevertheless, the virgin female, and indeed the male, possess the neural circuitry that underlies the pattern referred to as maternal behavior, despite not exhibiting the pattern under normal circumstances. At parturition, or after extensive exposure to young, what emerges appears to be a single stereotyped maternal behavior pattern. However, it is actually a smoothly coordinated constellation of simpler actions with proximate causes that, when sequenced properly, have the appearance of a motivated, purposive, adaptive, pattern of caretaking. Over the past 50 years, much research has focused on finding the principal external and internal factors that convert the nonmaternal behavior patterns of the nonpregnant nullipara, the virgin, to the almost immediate and intense maternal behavior characteristic of the puerpera, the mother. This review is an attempt to summarize the many comprehensive, even encyclopedic, reviews of these factors, with an emphasis on brain mechanisms, and to highlight the gaps that remain in understanding the processes involved in the almost immediate onset of maternal caretaking behaviors observed in mammals at delivery. Where possible, the reader is directed to some of those excellent reviews.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2009-04-21T02:33:15Z
2011-03-11T08:57:21Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6430
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2009-04-21T02:33:15Z
Cultural Neuroeconomics of Intertemporal Choice
According to theories of cultural neuroscience, Westerners and Easterners may have distinct styles of cognition (e.g., different allocation of attention). Previous research has shown that Westerners and Easterners tend to utilize analytical and holistic cognitive styles, respectively. On the other hand, little is known regarding the cultural differences in neuroeconomic behavior. For instance, economic decisions may be affected by cultural differences in neurocomputational processing underlying attention; however, this area of neuroeconomics has been largely understudied. In the present paper, we attempt to bridge this gap by considering the links between the theory of cultural neuroscience and neuroeconomic theory
of the role of attention in intertemporal choice. We predict that (i) Westerners are more impulsive and inconsistent in intertemporal choice in comparison to Easterners, and (ii) Westerners more steeply discount delayed monetary losses than Easterners. We examine these predictions by utilizing a novel temporal discounting model based on Tsallis' statistics (i.e. a q-exponential model). Our preliminary analysis of temporal discounting of gains and losses by Americans and Japanese confirmed the predictions from the cultural neuroeconomic theory. Future study directions, employing computational modeling via neural networks, are briefly outlined and discussed.
Taiki Takahashi
Tarik Hadzibeganovic
Sergio Cannas
Takaki Makino
Hiroki Fukui
Shinobu Kitayama
2009-03-28T09:30:03Z
2011-03-11T08:57:20Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6399
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6399
2009-03-28T09:30:03Z
Evaluation of Buprenorphine in a Postoperative
Pain Model in Rats
We evaluated the commonly prescribed analgesic buprenorphine in a postoperative pain model in rats, assessing acute postoperative pain relief, rebound hyperalgesia, and the long-term effects of postoperative opioid treatment on subsequent opioid exposure. Rats received surgery (paw incision under isoflurane anesthesia), sham surgery (anesthesia only), or neither and were treated postoperatively with 1 of several doses of subcutaneous buprenorphine. Pain sensitivity to noxious and nonnoxious mechanical stimuli at the site of injury (primary pain) was assessed at 1, 4, 24, and 72 h after surgery. Pain sensitivity at a site distal to the injury (secondary pain) was assessed at 24 and 72 h after surgery. Rats were tested for their sensitivity to the analgesic and
locomotor effects of morphine 9 to 10 d after surgery. Buprenorphine at 0.05 mg/kg SC was determined to be the most effective; this dose induced isoalgesia during the acute postoperative period and the longest period of pain relief, and it did not induce longterm changes in opioid sensitivity in 2 functional measures of the opioid system. A lower dose of buprenorphine (0.01 mg/kg SC) did not meet the criterion for isoalgesia, and a higher dose (0.1 mg/kg SC) was less effective in pain relief at later recovery periods and induced a long-lasting opioid tolerance, indicating greater neural adaptations. These results support the use of 0.05 mg/kg SC buprenorphine as the upper dose limit for effective treatment of postoperative pain in rats and suggest that higher doses produce long-term effects on opioid sensitivity.
Dr. Leslie I. Curtin
licurtin@buffalo.edu
Julie A. Grakowsky
jg96@buffalo.edu
Mauricio Suarez
msuarez@ria.buffalo.edu
Dr. Alexis C. Thompson
athompso@ria.buffalo.edu
Dr. Jean M. DiPirro
dipirrjm@buffalostate.edu
Dr. Lisa B.E. Martin
lbmartin@buffalo.edu
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2009-03-28T09:32:38Z
2011-03-11T08:57:20Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6385
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6385
2009-03-28T09:32:38Z
Ingestion of amniotic fluid enhances the facilitative effect of VTA morphine on the onset of maternal behavior in virgin rats
Previous research has shown that injection of morphine into the ventral tegmental area(VTA) facilitates the onset of maternal behavior in virgin female rats, and injection of the opioid antagonist naltrexone into the VTA disrupts the onset of maternal behavior in parturient rats. Placentophagia – ingestion of placenta and amniotic fluid, usually at parturition – modifies central opioid processes. Ingestion of the active substance in placenta and amniotic fluid, Placental Opioid-Enhancing Factor (POEF), enhances the hypoalgesic effect of centrally administered morphine, and more specifically, enhances δ- and κ-opioid-receptor-
mediated hypoalgesia and attenuates μ-opioid-receptor-mediated hypoalgesia. POEF (in placenta or amniotic fluid) ingestion does not, by itself, produce hypoalgesia. In the
present study, we tested the hypothesis that ingestion of amniotic fluid enhances the facilitative effect of opioid activity (unilateral morphine injection) in the VTA on the rate of onset of maternal behavior. Virgin female Long-Evans rats were given one intra-VTA injection of morphine sulfate (0.0, 0.01, or 0.03 μg, in saline) and an orogastric infusion of 0.25 ml amniotic fluid or saline once each day of the first three days of the 10-day testing
period. Subjects were continuously exposed to foster pups that were replaced every 12 h; replacement of pups was followed by a 15-min observation period. Maternal behavior
latency was determined by the first of two consecutive tests wherein the subject displayed pup retrieval, pup licking in the nest, and crouching over all foster pups, during the 15-min observation. We confirmed the previous finding that the VTA injection, alone, of 0.03 μg morphine shortened the latency to show maternal behavior and that 0.0 μg and 0.01 μg morphine did not. Ingestion of amniotic fluid (and therefore POEF) facilitated the onset of
maternal behavior in rats receiving an intra-VTA microinjection of an otherwise subthreshold dose of morphine (0.01 μg).
Anne Neumann
aneumann@buffalo.edu
Robert F. Hoey
rhoey@buffalo.edu
Lindsey B. Daigler
ldaigler@buffalo.edu
Dr. Alexis C. Thompson
athompso@ria.buffalo.edu
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2008-12-17T22:13:26Z
2011-03-11T08:57:17Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6295
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6295
2008-12-17T22:13:26Z
Deconstructing Javanese Batik Motif: When Traditional Heritage Meets Computation
The paper discusses some aspects of Iterated Function System while referring to some interesting point of view into Indonesian traditional batik. The deconstruction is delivered in our recognition of the Collage Theorem to find the affine transform of the iterated function system that attracts the iteration of drawing the dots into the complex motif of – or at least, having high similarity to – batik patterns. We employ and revisit the well-known Chaos Game to reconstruct after having some basic motifs is deconstructed. The reconstruction of the complex pattern opens a quest of creativity broadening the computationally generated batik exploiting its self-similarity properties. A challenge to meet the modern computational generative art with the traditional batik designs is expected to yield synergistically interesting results aesthetically. The paper concludes with two arrows of our further endeavors in this field, be it enriching our understanding of how human cognition has created such beautiful patterns and designs traditionally since ancient civilizations in our anthropological perspective while in the other hand providing us tool to the empowerment of batik as generative aesthetics by employment of computation.
Hokky Situngkir
hs@compsoc.bandungfe.net
2008-08-06T16:51:42Z
2011-03-11T08:57:10Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6158
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6158
2008-08-06T16:51:42Z
Cultural Neuroeconomics of Intertemporal Choice
According to theories of cultural neuroscience, Westerners and Easterners may have distinct styles of cognition (e.g., different allocation of attention). Previous research has shown that Westerners and Easterners tend to utilize analytical and holistic cognitive styles, respectively. On the other hand, little is known regarding the cultural differences in neuroeconomic behavior. For instance, economic decisions may be affected by cultural differences in neurocomputational processing underlying attention; however, this area of neuroeconomics has been largely understudied. In the present paper, we attempt to bridge this gap by considering the links between the theory of cultural neuroscience and neuroeconomic theory
of the role of attention in intertemporal choice. We predict that (i) Westerners are more impulsive and inconsistent in intertemporal choice in comparison to Easterners, and (ii) Westerners more steeply discount delayed monetary losses than Easterners. We examine these predictions by utilizing a novel temporal discounting model based on Tsallis' statistics (i.e. a q-exponential model). Our preliminary analysis of temporal discounting of gains and losses by Americans and Japanese confirmed the predictions from the cultural neuroeconomic theory. Future study directions, employing computational modeling via neural networks, are briefly outlined and discussed.
Taiki Takahashi
Tarik Hadzibeganovic
Sergio Cannas
Takaki Makino
Hiroki Fukui
Shinobu Kitayama
2007-07-28Z
2011-03-11T08:56:55Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5623
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5623
2007-07-28Z
Decision-Making: A Neuroeconomic Perspective
This article introduces and discusses from a philosophical point of view the nascent field of neuroeconomics, which is the study of neural mechanisms involved in decision-making and their economic significance. Following a survey of the ways in which decision-making is usually construed in philosophy, economics and psychology, I review many important findings in neuroeconomics to show that they suggest a revised picture of decision-making and ourselves as choosing agents. Finally, I outline a neuroeconomic account of irrationality.
Benoit Hardy-Vallee
2009-12-31T15:00:25Z
2011-03-11T08:57:34Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6756
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6756
2009-12-31T15:00:25Z
The task complexity and Extraversion: an ERP study
Trying to prove the validity of Eysenck’s theories for the biological basis of personality many data for the differences between extraverts and introverts were collected. It was obtained, that the ERP differences between extraverts and introverts depend on the intensity and frequency of stimulation, but the papers concerning task difficulty dependence are very limited. The purpose of this work was to investigate how the task complexity affects ERP differences between extraverts and introverts. For testing the extraversion we used Eysenck Personality Questionary (EPQ). We recorded EEG under four equal audio series of pseudo-randomized low and high tones. We changed the level of task complexity by different instructions: 1 - passive listening; 2 – answering with the right index finger to the low tone and the left index finger to the high tone; 3 – counting the low tones; 4 – answering with the right index finger to low tones; We averaged stimulus locked ERP across each series and tones for extraverts and introverts separately. It was evident that the ERP differences between extraverts and introverts depend on the task complexity. We found P2, N2 and P3 latency differences and N1, P2, N2 and P3 amplitude differences. As whole extraverts showed larger N2 amplitudes and shorter N2 latencies. The differences were more pronounced in the task supposed less complexity and decreased with the increase of task complexity.
Stiliyan Georgiev
stilliyan@gmail.com
Dolja Philipova
dolja@bio.bas.bg
Yordanka Lalova
j_lalova@doctor.bg
2006-07-23Z
2011-03-11T08:56:32Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5011
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5011
2006-07-23Z
EVIDENCE FOR "UNERTAN SYNDROME" AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN MIND
A new family exhibiting “Unertan Sydnrome” was discovered. The pedigree analysis showed marriages between relatives. This family was similar to the first one (see Tan, 2006a), providing a firm evidence for the new syndrome. The affected children showed habitual quadrupedal walking gait, that is, they walked on wrists and feet with straight legs and arms. Their heads and bodies were mildly flexed; they exhibited mild cerebellar signs, and severe mental retardation. The pedigree demonstrated a typical autosomal-recessive inheritance. The genetic nature of
this syndrome suggests a backward stage in human evolution (devolution), which would be consistent with theories of punctuated evolution. The results reflected a
new theory on the evolution of human beings. That is, the evolution of humans would in fact be the evolution of the extensor motor system, responsible for upright posture, against the gravitational forces. This would be coupled with the emergence of the human mind, which can be considered a reflexion of the human motor system, in accord with the psychomotor theory (see Tan, 2005a). The
most important characteristic of the newly emerged human mind was the resistance against gravitational forces. This was the resistive mind, the origins of human creativity.
Prof. Dr. Uner Tan
2007-12-22T02:50:44Z
2011-03-11T08:57:02Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5884
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5884
2007-12-22T02:50:44Z
The Theory of Brain-Sign: A Physical Alternative to Consciousness
Consciousness and the mind are prescientific concepts that begin with Greek theorizing. They suppose human rationality and reasoning placed in the human head by God, who structured the universe he created with the same kind of underlying characteristics. Descartes’ development of the model included scientific objectivity by placing the mind outside the physical universe. In its failure under evidential scrutiny and without physical explanation, this model is destined for terminal decline. Instead, a genuine biological and physical function for the brain phenomenon can be developed. This is the theory of brain-sign. It accepts the causality of the brain as its physical characteristics, already under scientific scrutiny. What is needed is a new neurophysiological language that specifies the relation of the structure and operation of the brain to organismic action in the world. Still what is lacking is an account of how neurophysiologies in different organisms communicate on unpredictable dynamic tasks. It is this evolved capacity that has emerged as brain-sign. Thus rather than mentality being an inner epistemological parallel world suddenly appearing in the head, brain-sign, as the neural sign of the causal status of the brain capable of being held adequately in common, facilitates the communicative medium of otherwise isolated organisms. The biogenesis of the phenomenon thus emerges directly from the account of the physical brain, and functions as a monistic feature of organisms in the physical world. This new paradigm offers disciplinary compatibility, and genuine development in behavioral and brain sciences.
Philip Clapson
2006-09-08Z
2011-03-11T08:56:35Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5120
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5120
2006-09-08Z
An ERP study of low and high relevance semantic features
It is believed that the N400 elicited by concepts belonging to Living is larger than N400 to Non-living. This is considered as evidence that concepts are organized, in the brain, on the basis of categories. We conducted a feature-verification experiment where Living and Non-living concepts were matched for relevance of semantic features. Relevance is a measure of the contribution of semantic features to the “core” meaning of a concept. We found that when relevance is low the N400 is large. In addition, we found that when the two categories of Living and Non-living are equated for relevance the seemingly category effect at behavioral and neural level disappeared. In sum, N400 is sensitive, rather than to categories, to semantic features, thus showing that previously reported effects of semantic categories may arise as a consequence of the differing relevance of concepts belonging to Living and Non-living categories.
Prof. Giuseppe Sartori
Dr. Francesca Mameli
Dr. David Polezzi
Dr. Luigi Lombardi
2006-04-08Z
2011-03-11T08:56:23Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4831
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4831
2006-04-08Z
The evolutionary origins of volition
It appears to be a straightforward implication of distributed cognition principles that there is no integrated executive control system (e.g. Brooks 1991, Clark 1997). If distributed cognition is taken as a credible paradigm for cognitive science this in turn presents a challenge to volition because the concept of volition assumes integrated information processing and action control. For instance the process of forming a goal should integrate information about the available action options. If the goal is acted upon these processes should control motor behavior. If there were no executive system then it would seem that processes of action selection and performance couldn’t be functionally integrated in the right way. The apparently centralized decision and action control processes of volition would be an illusion arising from the competitive and cooperative interaction of many relatively simple cognitive systems. Here I will make a case that this conclusion is not well-founded. Prima facie it is not clear that distributed organization can achieve coherent functional activity when there are many complex interacting systems, there is high potential for interference between systems, and there is a need for focus. Resolving conflict and providing focus are key reasons why executive systems have been proposed (Baddeley 1986, Norman and Shallice 1986, Posner and Raichle 1994). This chapter develops an extended theoretical argument based on this idea, according to which selective pressures operating in the evolution of cognition favor high order control organization with a ‘highest-order’ control system that performs executive functions.
Dr Wayne Christensen
wayne.christensen
2009-07-02T01:41:07Z
2011-03-11T08:57:23Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6574
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6574
2009-07-02T01:41:07Z
Lighting as a Circadian Rhythm-Entraining and Alertness-Enhancing Stimulus in the Submarine Environment
The human brain can only accommodate a circadian rhythm that closely follows 24 hours. Thus, for a work schedule to meet the brain’s hard-wired requirement, it must employ a 24 hour-based program. However, the 6 hours on, 12 hours off (6/12) submarine watchstanding schedule creates an 18-hour “day” that Submariners must follow. Clearly, the 6/12 schedule categorically fails to meet the brain’s operational design, and no schedule other than one tuned to the brain’s 24 hour rhythm can optimize performance. Providing Submariners with a 24 hour-based watchstanding schedule—combined with effective circadian entrainment techniques using carefully-timed exposure to light—would allow crewmembers to work at the peak of their daily performance cycle and acquire more restorative sleep. In the submarine environment, where access to natural light is absent, electric lighting can play an important role in actively entraining—and closely maintaining—circadian regulation. Another area that is likely to have particular importance in the submarine environment is the potential effect of light to help restore or maintain alertness.
L. J. Crepeau
J. D. Bullough
bulloj@rpi.edu
M. G. Figueiro
S. Porter
M. S. Rea
2006-11-07Z
2011-03-11T08:56:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5251
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5251
2006-11-07Z
Symbols are not uniquely human
Modern semiotics is a branch of logics that formally defines symbol-based communication. In recent years, the semiotic classification of signs has been invoked to support the notion that symbols are uniquely human. Here we show that alarm-calls such as those used by African vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops), logically satisfy the semiotic definition of symbol. We also show that the acquisition of vocal symbols in vervet monkeys can be successfully simulated by a computer program based on minimal semiotic and neurobiological constraints. The simulations indicate that learning depends on the tutor-predator ratio, and that apprentice-generated auditory mistakes in vocal symbol interpretation have little effect on the learning rates of apprentices (up to 80% of mistakes are tolerated). In contrast, just 10% of apprentice-generated visual mistakes in predator identification will prevent any vocal symbol to be correctly associated with a predator call in a stable manner. Tutor unreliability was also deleterious to vocal symbol learning: a mere 5% of “lying” tutors were able to completely disrupt symbol learning, invariably leading to the acquisition of incorrect associations by apprentices. Our investigation corroborates the existence of vocal symbols in a non-human species, and indicates that symbolic competence emerges spontaneously from classical associative learning mechanisms when the conditioned stimuli are self-generated, arbitrary and socially efficacious. We propose that more exclusive properties of human language, such as syntax, may derive from the evolution of higher-order domains for neural association, more removed from both the sensory input and the motor output, able to support the gradual complexification of grammatical categories into syntax.
Sidarta Ribeiro
Angelo Loula
Ivan Araújo
Ricardo Gudwin
Joao Queiroz
2005-11-12Z
2011-03-11T08:56:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4601
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4601
2005-11-12Z
The face, beauty, and symmetry: Perceiving asymmetry in beautiful faces
The relationship between bilateral facial symmetry and beauty remains to be clarified. Here, straight head-on photographs of “beautiful” faces from the collections of professional modeling agencies were selected. First, beauty ratings were obtained for these faces. Then, the authors created symmetrical left-left and right-right composites of the beautiful faces and asked a new group of subjects to choose the most attractive pair member. “Same” responses were allowed. No difference between the left-left and right-right composites was revealed but significant differences were obtained between “same” and the left-left or right-right. These results show that subjects detected asymmetry in beauty and suggest that very beautiful faces can be functionally asymmetrical.
Dr. Dahlia W. Zaidel
Jennifer A. Cohen
2005-07-06Z
2011-03-11T08:56:07Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4432
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4432
2005-07-06Z
Single-Neuron Theory of Consciousness
By most accounts, the mind arises from the integrated activity of large populations of neurons distributed across multiple brain regions. A contrasting model is presented in the present paper that places the mind/brain interface not at the whole brain level but at the level of single neurons. Specifically, it is proposed that each neuron in the nervous system is independently conscious, with conscious content corresponding to the spatial pattern of a portion of that neuron's dendritic electrical activity. For most neurons, such as those in the hypothalamus or posterior sensory cortices, the conscious activity would be assumed to be simple and unable to directly affect the organism's macroscopic conscious behavior. For a subpopulation of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the lateral prefrontal cortices, however, an arrangement is proposed to be present such that, at any given moment: i) the spatial pattern of electrical activity in a portion of the dendritic tree of each neuron in the subpopulation individually manifests a complexity and diversity sufficient to account for the complexity and diversity of conscious experience; ii) the dendritic trees of the neurons in the subpopulation all contain similar spatial electrical patterns; iii) the spatial electrical pattern in the dendritic tree of each neuron interacts nonlinearly with the remaining ambient dendritic electrical activity to determine the neuron's overall axonal response; iv) the dendritic spatial pattern is reexpressed at the population level by the spatial pattern exhibited by a synchronously firing subgroup of the conscious neurons, thereby providing a mechanism by which conscious activity at the neuronal level can influence overall behavior. The resulting scheme is one in which conscious behavior appears to be the product of a single macroscopic mind, but is actually the integrated output of a chorus of minds, each associated with a different neuron.
Steven Sevush
2005-02-26Z
2011-03-11T08:55:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3908
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3908
2005-02-26Z
Consciousness And Adaptive Behavior
Consciousness has resisted scientific explanation for centuries. The main problem in explaining consciousness is its subjectivity. Subjective systems may be adaptive. Humans can produce voluntary new or novel intentional (adaptive) action and such action is always accompanied by consciousness. Action normally arises from perception. Perception must be rerepresented in order to produce new or novel adaptive action. The internal explicit states produced by a widespread nonlinear emergent mechanism from perception have all the same properties as consciousness. Hence they may be identical to consciousness. Consciousness is natural, material, and functional; utilized in the production of adaptive action.
Richard/A. Sieb
2005-09-18Z
2011-03-11T08:56:10Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4533
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4533
2005-09-18Z
Evolution and Mirror Neurons. An Introduction to the Nature of Self-Consciousness
Self-consciousness is a product of evolution. Few people today disagree with the evolutionary history of humans. But the nature of self-consciousness is still to be explained, and the story of evolution has rarely been used as a framework for studies on consciousness during the 20th century. This last point may be due to the fact that modern study of consciousness came up at a time where dominant philosophical movements were not in favor of evolutionist theories (Cunningham 1996). Research on consciousness based on Phenomenology or on Analytic Philosophy has been mostly taking the characteristics of humans as starting points. Relatively little has been done with bottom-up approaches, using performances of animals as a simpler starting point to understand the generation of consciousness through evolution. But this status may be changing, thanks to new tools coming from recent discoveries in neurology.
The discovery of mirror neurons about ten years ago (Gallese et al. 1996, Rizzolatti et al. 1996) has allowed the built up of new conceptual tools for the understanding of intersubjectivity within humans and non human primates (Gallese 2001, Hurley 2005). Studies in these fields are still in progress, with discussions on the level of applicability of this natural intersubjectivity to non human primates (Decety and Chaminade 2003).
We think that these subject/conspecific mental relations made possible by mirror neurons can open new paths for the understanding of the nature of self-consciousness via an evolutionist bottom-up approach.
We propose here a scenario for the build up of self-consciousness through evolution by a specific analysis of two steps of evolution: first step from simple living elements to non human primates comparable to chimpanzees, and second step from these non human primates to humans. We identify these two steps as representing the evolution from basic animal awareness to body self-awareness, and from body self-awareness to self-consciousness. (we consider that today non human primates are comparable to what were pre-human primates).
We position body self-awareness as corresponding to the performance of mirror self recognition as identified with chimpanzees and orangutans (Gallup). We propose to detail and understand the content of this body self-awareness through a specific evolutionist build up process using the performances of mirror neurons and group life.
We address the evolutionary step from body self-awareness to self-consciousness by complementing the recently proposed approach where self-consciousness is presented as a by-product of body self-awareness amplification via a positive feedback loop resulting of anxiety limitation (Menant 2004).
The scenario introduced here for the build up of self-consciousness through evolution leaves open the question about the nature of phenomenal-consciousness (Block 2002). We plan to address this question later on with the help of the scenario made available here.
Christophe Menant
2006-09-08Z
2011-03-11T08:56:35Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5121
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5121
2006-09-08Z
FEATURE TYPE EFFECTS IN SEMANTIC MEMORY:
AN EVENT RELATED POTENTIALS STUDY
It is believed that the N400 elicited by concepts belonging to Living is larger than N400 to Objects. This is considered as evidence that concepts are organized, in the brain, on the basis of categories. Similarly, differential N400 to sensory and non-sensory semantic features was taken as evidence for a neural organisation of conceptual memory based on semantic features. We conducted a feature-verification experiment where Living and Non-Living concepts are described by sensory and non-sensory features were matched for age-of-acquisition, typicality and familiarity and for relevance of semantic features. Relevance is a measure of the contribution of semantic features to the “core” meaning of a concept. We found that when Relevance is low then N400 is larger. In addition, we found that when the two categories of Living and Non-Living concepts are matched for relevance the seemingly category effect at the neural level disappeared. Also no difference between sensory and non-sensory descriptions was detected when relevance was matched. In sum, N400 does not differ between categories or feature types. Previously reported effects of semantic categories and feature type may have arisen as a consequence of the differing Relevance of concepts belonging to Living and Non-Living categories.
Prof. Giuseppe Sartori
Dr. David Polezzi
Dr. Francesca Mameli
Dr. Luigi Lombardi
2004-10-22Z
2011-03-11T08:55:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3891
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3891
2004-10-22Z
Single-Neuron Theory of Consciousness
A theory is outlined that shifts the presumed locus of mind/brain interaction from the whole brain level to that of single neurons. Neuroanatomical and neurophysiological evidence is offered in support of the existence of single neurons that may individually receive dendritic input of sufficient complexity and diversity to account for the full content of conscious experience, and of an arrangement in which the output of multiple such neurons summate to achieve amplification of the individually emitted messages. An ultramicroscopic extension of the theory is suggested as a way of moving forward on the philosophically difficult aspects of the mind/brain problem.
Steven Sevush
2009-06-10T08:01:22Z
2011-03-11T08:57:22Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6539
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6539
2009-06-10T08:01:22Z
A phenotypic and molecular characterization of the fmr1-tm1Cgr Fragile X mouse
Fragile X Syndrome is the most common form of
inherited mental retardation. It is also known for having
a substantial behavioral morbidity, including autistic features. In humans, Fragile X Syndrome is almost always
caused by inactivation of the X-linked FMR1 gene. A
single knockout mouse model, fmr1-tm1Cgr, exists. In
this report we further characterize the cognitive and
behavioral phenotype of the fmr1-tm1Cgr Fragile X
mouse through the use of F1 hybrid mice derived from
two inbred strains (FVB/NJ and C57BL/6J). Use of F1
hybrids allows focus on the effects of the fmr1-tm1Cgr
allele with reduced influence from recessive alleles
present in the parental inbred strains. We find that the
cognitive phenotype of fmr1-tm1Cgr mice, including
measures of working memory and learning set formation
that are known to be seriously impacted in humans with
Fragile X Syndrome, are essentially normal. Further testing of inbred strains supports this conclusion. Thus, any
fmr1-tm1Cgr cognitive deficit is surprisingly mild or
absent. There is, however, clear support presented for a
robust audiogenic seizure phenotype in all strains tested,
as well as increased entries into the center of an open
field. Finally, a molecular examination of the fmr1-tm1Cgr
mouse shows that, contrary to common belief, it is not a
molecular null. Implications of this finding for interpretation of the phenotype are discussed.
Dr. Robert P. Bauchwitz
rpb3@columbia.edu
2006-12-08Z
2011-03-11T08:56:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5283
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5283
2006-12-08Z
Brain-Sign or The End of Consciousness
There is no question that something goes on in the head, which has been called consciousness. But is it consciousness? Over the last fifty years, there has been a concerted attempt to show how consciousness can be physical, of the brain. The diversity of views is characteristic of a Kuhnian pre- normal science revolution: but the revolution has not arrived. This is because the assumption that consciousness exists is wrong. In this paper consciousness (with e.g. its subjective/objective distinction) is characterized as a pre-scientific theory. The biological ontology of the phenomenon is revealed, and its placement in organismic biology explained. The phenomenon will be termed brain-sign, as appropriate to its biological function. The nature of this function completely reconstructs our view of ourselves, and other creatures in which it is manifest. The detail and ramifications cannot be addressed at length in a paper, but a research program is outlined briefly.
Philip Clapson
2004-01-13Z
2011-03-11T08:55:27Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3381
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3381
2004-01-13Z
Visuo-vestibular interaction in the reconstruction of travelled trajectories
We recently published a study of the reconstruction of passively travelled trajectories from optic flow. Perception was prone to illusions in a number of conditions, and not always veridical in the others. Part of the illusionary reconstructed trajectories could be explained by assuming that subjects base their reconstruction on the ego-motion percept built during the stimulus' initial moments
. In the current paper, we test this hypothesis using a novel paradigm: if the final reconstruction is governed by the initial percept, providing additional, extra-retinal information that modifies the initial percept should predictably alter the final reconstruction. The extra-retinal stimulus was tuned to supplement the information that was under-represented or ambiguous in the optic flow: the subjects were physically displaced or rotated at the onset of the visual stimulus. A highly asymmetric velocity profile (high acceleration, very low deceleration) was used. Subjects were required to guide an input device (in the form of a model vehicle; we measured position and orientation) along the perceived trajectory. We show for the first time that a vestibular stimulus of short duration can influence the perception of a much longer lasting visual stimulus. Perception of the ego-motion translation component in the visual stimulus was improved by a linear physical displacement: perception of the ego-motion rotation component by a physical rotation. This led to a more veridical reconstruction in some conditions, but to a less veridical reconstruction in other conditions.
R.J.V. Bertin
A. Berthoz
2011-05-02T17:19:18Z
2011-05-02T17:19:18Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/7243
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/7243
2011-05-02T17:19:18Z
Autism, Early Narcissistic Injury, and Self Organization: a Role for the Image of the Mother's Eyes?
Holland has elucidated the new paradigm of self-organization in complex adaptive systems. This paradigm holds for all living systems, including the personality. In conjunction with the theory of archetypes, self-organization suggests two radical hypotheses, one about early development, the other about the origins of autism. Autism is associated with several medical conditions, with genetic markers, and with infant visual deprivation. None of these factors, however, is either necessary or sufficient to cause autism. It is proposed that each of these factors increases the probability of a primary psychological deficit: failure in the first few weeks to acquire (or retain) the image of the mother’s eyes. These hypotheses were derived from analytic work with patients who have early narcissistic injury and with patients who have mild autistic traits. Both diagnoses may arise from the same initial disturbance: Symington and others have argued that autism is an extreme form of infantile narcissism. Indirect evidence for the image-of-the-eyes hypotheses comes from the evolution of primates, from infant-mother observations, from observations of infant vision, and from experiments on vision in other vertebrates. Byrd recently confirmed that the incidence of autism is increasing dramatically. The image-of-the-eyes hypotheses suggest that this increase may be due to the increased use, in early infancy, of non-maternal childcare including television and video. The search for environmental triggers for autism must be interdisciplinary. This paper makes a timely contribution to that search.
Dr Maxson McDowell
maxmcdowell@jungny.com
2006-12-12Z
2011-03-11T08:56:44Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5299
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5299
2006-12-12Z
The evolution of brain lateralization: A game theoretical analysis of population structure
In recent years, it has become apparent that behavioural and brain lateralization is the rule rather than the exception among vertebrates. The study of lateralization has been so far the province of neurology and neuropsychology. We show how such research can be integrated with evolutionary biology to more fully understand lateralization. In particular, we address
the fact that, within a species, left- and right-type individuals are often in a definite proportion different from 1/2 (e.g., hand use in humans). We argue that traditional explanations of brain lateralization (that it may avoid costly duplication of neural circuitry and reduce interference between functions) cannot account for this fact, because increased individual efficiency is unre-
lated to the frequency of left- and right-type individuals in a population. A further puzzle is that, if a majority of individuals are of the same type, individual behaviour becomes more predictable to other organisms. Here we
show that alignment of the direction of behavioural asymmetries in a population can arise as an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS), when individually asymmetrical organisms must coordinate their behaviour with that of other
asymmetrical organisms. Thus, brain and behavioural lateralization, as we know it in humans and other vertebrates, may have evolved under basically
"social" selection pressures.
Stefano Ghirlanda
Giorgio Vallortigara
2007-09-28T23:22:25Z
2011-03-11T08:56:58Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5728
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5728
2007-09-28T23:22:25Z
Ingested placenta blocks the effect of morphine on gut transit in Long–Evans rats
Opioids produce antinociception, and ingested placenta or amniotic fluid modifies that antinociception. More specifically, ingested placenta enhances the antinociception produced by selective activation of central n-opioid or y-opioid receptors but attenuates that produced by activation of central A-opioid receptors. Opioids also slow gut transit by acting on central or peripheral A-opioid receptors. Therefore, we hypothesized that ingested placenta would reverse the slowing of gut transit that is produced by morphine, a preferential A-opioid-receptor agonist. Rats were injected with morphine either centrally or systemically and fed placenta, after which gastrointestinal transit was evaluated. We report here that ingested placenta reversed the slowing of gut transit produced by centrally administered morphine but did not affect the slowing of gut transit produced by systemically administered morphine. These results suggest another likely consequence of placentophagia at parturition in mammals—reversal of opioid-mediated, pregnancy-based disruption of gastrointestinal function—as well as an important consideration in opioid-based treatments for pain in humans—enhancement of desirable effects with attenuation of adverse effects.
Dr. James W. Corpening
Dr. Jean C. Doerr
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2005-04-14Z
2011-03-11T08:55:50Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4068
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4068
2005-04-14Z
Neural development and sensorimotor control
What is the relationship between development of the nervous system and the emergence of voluntary motor behavior? This is the central question of the nature-nurture discussion that has intrigued child psychologists and pediatric neurologists for decades. This paper attempts to revisit this issue. Recent empirical evidence on how infants acquire multi-joint coordination and how children learn to adapt to novel force environments will be discussed with reference to the underlying development of the nervous system. The claim will be made that the developing human nervous system by no means constitutes an ideal controller. However, its redundancy, its ability to integrate multi-modal sensory information and motor commands and its facility of time-critical neural plasticity are features that may prove to be useful for the design of adaptive robots.
Jürgen Konczak
2004-11-06Z
2011-03-11T08:55:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3928
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3928
2004-11-06Z
Objective measurement of simulator sickness and the role of visual-vestibular conflict situations: a study with vestibular-loss (a-reflexive) subjects
Simulators, in particular driving simulators, are gaining importance not only for research and development purposes, but also for education, training and even recreation. Progress in computer graphics and performance allow for highly realistic simulator visuals. High-end models are becoming somewhat better at generating acceptable inertial self-motion information, sometimes even providing real (but limited) linear translation in addition to angular movements. Simpler versions do not generate inertial information at all (fixed-base simulators). Here, we present a study on a problem that often occurs with driving simulators, i.e., simulator sickness. This phenomenon closely resembles the classically experienced motion sickness and can make a user abort a simulator run within minutes. We investigated the hypothesis that simulator sickness is caused by a visual-vestibular conflict, comparing susceptibility in normals and in vestibular-loss patients. We studied the psychophysical reactions of subjects, and quantitatively recorded their neurovegetative activity, to improve understanding of the underlying causes of simulator sickness, and to develop an objective measure for monitoring purposes. We used a fixed-base simulator, with an urban circuit with many sharp turns and traffic lights. No vestibular input was received during driving simulation, thus creating numerous visual-vestibular conflict situations. Subjects were asked to indicate continuously their discomfort on a visual-analog scale. We studied 33 normals (19 became sick) and 6 bilateral vestibular-loss subjects (one became truly sick, 2 others somewhat). Sickness correlated strongly with an increase in anxiety (Spielberger STAI). The subjective discomfort readings correlated well with simultaneous neurovegetative data and with a symptom scoring test administered immediately afterwards. There was no clear indication of an age or gender dependence in the normals. The fact that a complete vestibular-loss patient became sick indicates that more parameters may be responsible for simulator sickness than just a visuo-vestibular conflict situation (anxiety, nauseating odours, etc.). - Supported by the European Union (QLK6-CT-2002-00151: EUROKINESIS).
Dr R.J.V. Bertin
Dr A. Guillot
Dr C. Collet
F. Vienne
Dr S. Espié
Dr W. Graf
2007-10-22T10:43:55Z
2011-03-11T08:56:59Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5771
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5771
2007-10-22T10:43:55Z
Placenta ingestion by rats enhances d- and k-opioid antinociception, but suppresses m-opioid antinociception
Ingestion of placenta or amniotic fluid produces a dramatic enhancement of centrally mediated opioid antinociception in the rat. The present experiments investigated the role of each opioid receptor type (m, d, k) in the antinociception-modulating effects of Placental Opioid-Enhancing Factor (POEF—presumably the active substance). Antinociception was measured on a 52 C hotplate in adult, female rats after they ingested placenta or control substance (1.0 g) and after they received an intracerebroventricular injection of a d-specific ([D-Pen2,D-Pen5]enkephalin (DPDPE); 0, 30, 50, 62, or 70 nmol), m-specific ([D-Ala2,N-MePhe4,Gly5-ol]enkephalin (DAMGO); 0, 0.21, 0.29, or 0.39 nmol), or k-specific
(U-62066; spiradoline; 0, 100, 150, or 200 nmol) opioid receptor agonist. The results showed that ingestion of placenta potentiated d- and k-opioid antinociception, but attenuated m-opioid antinociception. This finding of POEF action as both opioid receptor-specific and complex
provides an important basis for understanding the intrinsic pain-suppression mechanisms that are activated during parturition and modified by placentophagia, and important information for the possible use of POEF as an adjunct to opioids in pain management.
Jean M. DiPirro
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2004-07-13Z
2011-03-11T08:55:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3719
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3719
2004-07-13Z
Siren call of Metaphor: subverting the proper task of System Neuroscience
Under the assumption that nervous systems form a distinct category among the objects in Nature, applying metaphors of psychological and behavioral science disciplines is flawed and invites confusion. Moreover, such practices obscure and detract from the primary task of Neurophysiology: to investigate the intrinsic properties of nervous systems, uncontaminated with concepts borrowed from other disciplines. A comprehensive fundamental theory of nervous systems is expected to have the character of high dimensional nonlinear systems in which state space transitions, set in motion by external influences, self-organize to dynamic state space configuration with consequences for behavior
M.D. Gerhard Werner
2003-09-19Z
2011-03-11T08:55:20Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3145
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3145
2003-09-19Z
Let's face it. A review of Keenan, Gallup, & Falk's book "The Face in the Mirror"
Using neuroimaging experiments and neuropsychological case studies, Keenan mainly examines the neural basis of mirror self-recognition (MSR) and Theory of Mind (TOM), and proposes that self-awareness is dominantly associated with areas of the right hemisphere. I believe that this conclusion is both inflated and premature. MSR is only superficially related to genuine, fully mature human self-awareness. Furthermore, TOM should not be equated with self-awareness because some forms of it (e.g., self-rumination) actually interfere with thinking about others' mental states. One more general (and serious) problem with the book is the proposal that because MSR and TOM are mainly generated by right hemispheric activity, then it follows that self-awareness itself is associated with activity of the same hemisphere. Recent studies on autobiographical memory and self-description also indicate left hemispheric activity
Alain Morin
2003-03-14Z
2011-03-11T08:55:14Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2830
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2830
2003-03-14Z
Optic flow based perception of two-dimensional trajectories and the effects of a single landmark.
It is well established that human observers can detect their heading direction on a very short time scale on the basis of optic flow. Can they also integrate these perceptions over time to reconstruct a 2D trajectory simulated by the optic flow stimulus? We investigated the visual perception and reconstruction of visually travelled two-dimensional trajectories from optic flow with and without a single landmark. Stimuli in which translation and yaw are unyoked can give rise to illusory percepts; using a structured visual environment instead of only dots can improve perception of these stimuli. Does the additional visual and/or extra-retinal information provided by a single landmark have a similar, beneficial effect? Here, seated, stationary subjects wore a head-mounted display showing optic flow stimuli that simulated various manoeuvres: linear or curvilinear 2D trajectories over a horizontal plane. The simulated orientation was either fixed in space, fixed relative to the path, or changed relative to both. Afterwards, subjects reproduced the perceived manoeuvre with a model vehicle, of which we recorded position and orientation. Yaw was perceived correctly. Perception of the travelled path was less accurate, but still good when the simulated orientation was fixed in space or relative to the trajectory. When the amount of yaw was not equal to the rotation of the path, or in the opposite direction, subjects still perceived orientation as fixed relative to the trajectory. This caused trajectory misperception because yaw was wrongly attributed to a rotation of the path. A single landmark could improve perception.
R.J.V. Bertin
I. Israël
2007-12-19T03:04:07Z
2011-03-11T08:57:02Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5878
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5878
2007-12-19T03:04:07Z
Habituation of Predator Inspection and Boldness in the Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
This study examined habituation of the predator inspection behavior in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) and its relationship with boldness (open field locomotion). Two different strategies were discovered: (1) initial inspection of a predator-like fish, correlated with boldness; (2) subsequent surveillance, governed by a random underlying process and unrelated with boldness. The surveillance inspection is probably linked with anti-predator vigilance. Possible implications to between-population variation in inspection behavior are discussed.
Dr. Sergey Budaev
2003-03-12Z
2011-03-11T08:55:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2824
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2824
2003-03-12Z
Neural Mechanisms for Information Compression by
Multiple Alignment, Unification and Search
This article describes how an abstract framework for perception and cognition may be realised in terms of neural mechanisms and neural processing.
This framework — called information compression by multiple alignment, unification and search (ICMAUS) — has been developed in previous research as a generalized model of any system for processing information, either natural or
artificial. It has a range of applications including the analysis and production of natural language, unsupervised inductive learning, recognition of objects and patterns, probabilistic reasoning, and others. The proposals in this article may be seen as an extension and development of
Hebb’s (1949) concept of a ‘cell assembly’.
The article describes how the concept of ‘pattern’ in the ICMAUS framework may be mapped onto a version of the cell
assembly concept and the way in which neural mechanisms may achieve the effect of ‘multiple alignment’ in the ICMAUS framework.
By contrast with the Hebbian concept of a cell assembly, it is proposed here that any one neuron can belong in one assembly and only one assembly. A key feature of present proposals, which is not part of the Hebbian concept, is that any cell assembly may contain ‘references’ or ‘codes’ that serve to identify one or more other cell assemblies. This mechanism allows information to be stored in a compressed form, it provides a robust mechanism by which assemblies may be connected to form hierarchies and other kinds of structure, it means that assemblies can express
abstract concepts, and it provides solutions to some of the other problems associated with cell assemblies.
Drawing on insights derived from the ICMAUS framework, the article also describes how learning may be achieved with neural mechanisms. This concept of learning is significantly different from the Hebbian concept and appears to provide a better account of what we know about human learning.
Dr J G Wolff
gerry_wolff
2003-03-19Z
2011-03-11T08:55:14Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2831
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2831
2003-03-19Z
Visuo-vestibular interaction in the reconstruction of travelled trajectories
We recently published a study of the reconstruction of passively travelled trajectories from optic flow. Perception was prone to illusions in a number of conditions, and not always veridical in the others. Part of the illusionary reconstructed trajectories could be explained by assuming that subjects base their reconstruction on the ego-motion percept built during the stimulus' initial moments
. In the current paper, we test this hypothesis using a novel paradigm: if the final reconstruction is governed by the initial percept, providing additional, extra-retinal information that modifies the initial percept should predictably alter the final reconstruction. The extra-retinal stimulus was tuned to supplement the information that was under-represented or ambiguous in the optic flow: the subjects were physically displaced or rotated at the onset of the visual stimulus. A highly asymmetric velocity profile (high acceleration, very low deceleration) was used. Subjects were required to guide an input device (in the form of a model vehicle; we measured position and orientation) along the perceived trajectory. We show for the first time that a vestibular stimulus of short duration can influence the perception of a much longer lasting visual stimulus. Perception of the ego-motion translation component in the visual stimulus was improved by a linear physical displacement: perception of the ego-motion rotation component by a physical rotation. This led to a more veridical reconstruction in some conditions, but to a less veridical reconstruction in other conditions.
R.J.V. Bertin
A. Berthoz
2002-05-04Z
2011-03-11T08:54:55Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2198
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2198
2002-05-04Z
Predictability of hand skill and cognitive abilities from craniofacial width in right- and left-handed men and women: relation of skeletal structure to cerebral function
Recently, a family of homeobox genes involved in brain and craniofacial development was identified. In light of this genetic background, we hypothesized that some functional characteristics of human brain (hand skill, cognition) may be linked to some structural characteristics of human skull (e.g. craniofacial width) in humans. Hand preference was assessed by the Oldfield`s Handedness Questionaire. Hand skill was measured by Peg Moving Task. Face width was measured from the anteroposterior cephalograms (X-ray) using right (R) and left (L) zygomatic points. Intelligence g was assessed by Cattell`s Culture Fair Intelligence Test; the perceptual-verbal ability was assessed by Finding A`s Test; the spatial ability was assessed by the mental rotation task, in right- and left-handed men and women. The percentages of right-, left-, and mixed-faced subjects were close to those found for paw preference in cats. So, Women tended to be more right-faced (R-L > 0) and less left-faced (R-L < 0) than men who were tended to be more left-faced and less right-faced than women. R-L face width inversely correlated with L-R PMT (peg moving time) in left-handers; there was a direct relation between these variables in right-handers. Cattell-IQ linearly increased with R-L face width in left-handers, negatively correlated in right-handed men and women. Verbal ability inversely related to R L face width in right- and left-handed men, but directly correlated in right-handed women. Number correct on mental rotation task positively linearly correlated with R-L face width in left-handers and right-handed women. It was concluded that the structural-functional coupling revealed in the present work may have its origins in parallel development of the craniofacial skeleton and brain under the influence of homeobox genes.
Ertunc Dayi
Mukadder Okuyan
Uner Tan
2002-05-04Z
2011-03-11T08:54:55Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2197
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2197
2002-05-04Z
Validity ty of spectral analysis of evoked potentials in brain research
The averaged electronencephologram (EEG) response of the brain to an external stimulus (evoked potential, EP) is usually subjected to spectral analysis using the fast Fourier transform (FFT), especially to discover the relation of cognitive ability to so-called brain dynamics. There is indeed a discrepancy between these two systems, because the brain is a highly complex nonlinear system, analyzed by a linear system (FFT). We present in this work some inaccuracies that occurred when EPs are subjected to spectral analysis, using a model signal. First of all, the EP power spectra depended upon the number of samples used for averaging; the input EP (model signal) and the output EP (from the system) seemed to be similar in forms, but they exhibited completely different spectral power curves. It was concluded that the spectral analysis of evoked responses by using FFT (linear system analysis) in relation to brain (highly complex nonlinear system) may mislead neuroscientists.
Alexander Kramarenko
UNER TAN
2002-10-22Z
2011-03-11T08:55:05Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2546
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2546
2002-10-22Z
Cognitive mechanisms underlying the creative process
This paper proposes an explanation of the cognitive change that occurs as the creative process proceeds. During the initial, intuitive phase, each thought activates, and potentially retrieves information from, a large region containing many memory locations. Because of the distributed, content-addressable structure of memory, the diverse contents of these many locations merge to generate the next thought. Novel associations often result. As one focuses on an idea, the region searched and retrieved from narrows, such that the next thought is the product of fewer memory locations. This enables a shift from association-based to causation-based thinking, which facilitates the fine-tuning and manifestation of the creative work.
Liane Gabora
2003-04-15Z
2011-03-11T08:55:15Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2872
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2872
2003-04-15Z
COMPARISON OF EMOTIONAL RESPONSES IN MONKEYS WITH RHINAL CORTEX OR AMYGDALA LESIONS
Four emotionally arousing stimuli were used to probe the behavior of monkeys with bilateral ablations of the entorhinal and perirhinal cortex. The animals’ behavioral changes were then contrasted with those observed earlier (Meunier et al., 1999) in monkeys with either neurotoxic or aspiration lesions of the neighboring amygdala. Rhinal cortex ablations yielded several subtle behavioral changes, but none of them resembled any of the disorders typically seen after amygdalectomies. The changes produced by rhinal damage took mainly the form of heightened defensiveness, and attenuated submission and approach responses, that is, just the opposite of some of the most distinctive symptoms following amygdala damage. These findings raise the possibility that the rhinal cortex and amygdala have distinct, interactive, functions in normal behavioral adaptation to affective stimuli.
PhD Martine Meunier
PhD Jocelyne Bachevalier
2004-01-17Z
2011-03-11T08:55:27Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3386
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3386
2004-01-17Z
Great Expectations: The Evolutionary Psychology of Faith-Healing and the Placebo Effect
none
Nicholas Humphrey
2013-05-04T23:22:04Z
2013-05-04T23:22:04Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8955
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8955
2013-05-04T23:22:04Z
Male-induced estrus synchronization in the female Siberian hamster (Phodopus sungorus sungorus)
Olfactory cues play an integral role in the organization of events that mediate reproductive success. In a variety of species, priming
pheromones, in particular, are important for ensuring reproductive fitness. To date, very little research has focused on how male-emitted
priming pheromones, such as those that regulate the onset of puberty and estrus synchronization in females, affect the reproductive
physiology of the female Siberian hamster (Phodopus sungorus sungorus). This lack of research may be due to the physiology of the
Phodopus genus; vaginal cytology cannot be used as a reliable indicator of estrus or ovulation. Using a jugular cannulation technique to
determine estrous stage by blood analysis of prolactin and luteinizing hormone, we sought to determine if male priming pheromones affect
estrous cyclicity in the female Siberian hamster and, if so, whether the production of these priming pheromones is androgen dependent. Our results showed that females exposed to bedding from mature, intact males showed a significantly higher incidence of proestrus 3 days later than did females exposed to the bedding of mature, gonadectomized males. Therefore, we found that not only do male Siberian hamsters emit chemical signals that induce estrus synchronization, but also that this ability is likely to be androgen dependent.
Dr. J.C. Dodge
Dr. M.B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
Dr. L.L. Badura
2002-10-01Z
2011-03-11T08:55:01Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2489
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2489
2002-10-01Z
Microgenesis, immediate experience and visual processes in reading
The concept of microgenesis refers to the development on a brief present-time scale of a percept, a thought, an object of imagination, or an expression. It defines the occurrence of immediate experience as dynamic unfolding and differentiation in which the ‘germ’ of the final experience is already embodied in the early stages of its development. Immediate experience typically concerns the focal experience of an object that is thematized as a ‘figure’ in the global field of consciousness; this can involve a percept, thought, object of imagination, or expression (verbal and/or gestural). Yet, whatever its modality or content, focal experience is postulated to develop and stabilize through dynamic differentiation and unfolding. Such a microgenetic description of immediate experience substantiates a phenomenological and genetic theory of cognition where any process of perception, thought, expression or imagination is primarily a process of genetic differentiation and development, rather than one of detection (of a stimulus array or information), transformation, and integration (of multiple primitive components) as theories of cognitivist kind have contended.
My purpose in this essay is to provide an overview of the main constructs of microgenetic theory, to outline its potential avenues of future development in the field of cognitive science, and to illustrate an application of the theory to research, using visual processes in reading as an example.
Victor Rosenthal
2004-01-20Z
2011-03-11T08:55:27Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3400
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3400
2004-01-20Z
Orienting of attention in left unilateral neglect
After right posterior brain damage, patients may ignore events occurring on their left, a condition known as unilateral neglect. Although deficits at different levels of impairment may be at work in different patients, the frequency and severity of attentional problems in neglect patients have been repeatedly underlined. Recent advances in the knowledge of the mechanisms of spatial attention in normals may help characterizing these deficits. The present review focuses on studies exploring several aspect of attentional processing in unilateral neglect, with particular reference to the dichotomy between 'exogenous', or stimulus-related, and 'endogenous', or strategy-driven, orienting of attention. A large amount of neuropsychological evidence suggests that a basic mechanism leading to left neglect behavior is an impaired exogenous orienting toward left-sided targets. In contrast, endogenous processes seem to be relatively preserved, if slowed, in left unilateral neglect. Other component deficits, such as a general slowing of the operations of spatial attention, might contribute to neglect behavior. These results are presented and discussed, and their implications for hemispheric specialization in attentional orienting and for the mechanisms of visual consciousness are explored.
P. Bartolomeo
S. Chokron
2003-03-03Z
2011-03-11T08:55:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2805
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2805
2003-03-03Z
Periodicity in wide-band time series
Summary: To test the hypotheses that (i) electroencephalograms (EEGs) are largely made up of oscillations at many frequencies and (ii) that the peaks in the power spectra represent oscillations, we applied a new method, called the Period Specific Average (PSA) to a wide sample of EEGs. Both hypotheses can be rejected.
T.H. Bullock
M.C. McClune
J.T. Enright
2004-04-30Z
2011-03-11T08:55:32Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3602
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3602
2004-04-30Z
Posture and laterality in human and nonhuman primates: Asymmetries in maternal handling and infant's early motor asymmetries
This chapter is concerned with the question of the relations and possible influences of environmental factors on the establishment of patterns of manual lateralization in human and non-human primates. More specifically, we
are interested in the relation between maternal postures and laterality in nonhuman primates (e.g. bias in cradling behaviour and hand preference of the mother) and the development of patterns of manual preferences in infants. In
order to understand fully the many ways in which these variables could interact, we first review the evidence of postural biases in human adults when cradling and carrying their offspring. Next, we examine the divergent
hypotheses advanced to explain the observed biases. The same is then done for non-human primates. A second part of our chapter describes the different asymmetric patterns observed during the development of the infant concerning head turning, nipple preference, etc. in both human
and non-human primates.
In a third part ...
E Damerose
J Vauclair
2002-07-25Z
2011-03-11T08:54:57Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2349
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2349
2002-07-25Z
The relationship between motor control and phonology in dyslexic children
Background: The goal of this study was to investigate the automaticity/cerebellar theory of dyslexia. We tested phonological skills and cerebellar function in a group of dyslexic 8-12 year old children and their matched controls. Tests administered included the Phonological Assessment Battery, postural stability, bead threading, finger to thumb and time estimation.
Results: Dyslexic children were found to be significantly poorer than the controls at all tasks but time estimation. About 75% of dyslexics were more than one standard deviation below controls in phonological ability, and 50% were similarly impaired in motor skills. However, at least part of the discrepancy in motor skills was due to dyslexic individuals who had additional disorders (ADHD and/or DCD). The absence of evidence for a time estimation deficit also casts doubt on the cerebellar origin of the motor deficiency. About half the dyslexic children didn't have any motor problem, and there was no evidence for a causal relationship between motor skills on the one hand and phonological and reading skills on the other.
Conclusion: This study provides partial support for the presence of motor problems in dyslexic children, but does not support the hypothesis that a cerebellar dysfunction is the cause of their phonological and reading impairment.
Franck Ramus
Elizabeth Pidgeon
Uta Frith
2002-07-26Z
2011-03-11T08:54:57Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2350
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2350
2002-07-26Z
Theories of developmental dyslexia: Insights from a multiple case study of dyslexic adults
A multiple case study was conducted in order to assess three leading theories of developmental dyslexia: the phonological, the magnocellular (auditory and visual) and the cerebellar theories. Sixteen dyslexic and 16 control university students were administered a full battery of psychometric, phonological, auditory, visual and cerebellar tests. Individual data reveal that all 16 dyslexics suffer from a phonological deficit, 10 from an auditory deficit, 4 from a motor deficit, and 2 from a visual magnocellular deficit. Results suggest that a phonological deficit can appear in the absence of any other sensory or motor disorder, and is sufficient to cause a literacy impairment, as demonstrated by 5 of the dyslexics. Auditory disorders, when present, aggravate the phonological deficit, hence the literacy impairment. However, auditory deficits cannot be characterised simply as rapid auditory processing problems, as would be predicted by the magnocellular theory. Nor are they restricted to speech. Contrary to the cerebellar theory, we find little support for the notion that motor impairments, when found, have a cerebellar origin, or reflect an automaticity deficit. Overall, the present data support the phonological theory of dyslexia, while acknowledging the presence of additional sensory and motor disorders in certain individuals.
Franck Ramus
Stuart Rosen
Steven C. Dakin
Brian L. Day
Juan M. Castellote
Sarah White
Uta Frith
2002-06-29Z
2011-03-11T08:54:56Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2300
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2300
2002-06-29Z
The Recommendation Architecture: Lessons from Large-Scale Electronic Systems Applied to Cognition
A fundamental approach of cognitive science is to understand cognitive systems by separating them into modules. Theoretical reasons are described which force any system which learns to perform a complex combination of real time functions into a modular architecture. Constraints on the way modules divide up functionality are also described. The architecture of such systems, including biological systems, is constrained into a form called the recommendation architecture, with a primary separation between clustering and competition. Clustering is a modular hierarchy which manages the interactions between functions on the basis of detection of functionally ambiguous repetition. Change to previously detected repetitions is limited in order to maintain a meaningful, although partially ambiguous context for all modules which make use of the previously defined repetitions. Competition interprets the repetition conditions detected by clustering as a range of alternative behavioural recommendations, and uses consequence feedback to learn to select the most appropriate recommendation. The requirements imposed by functional complexity result in very specific structures and processes which resemble those of brains. The design of an implemented electronic version of the recommendation architecture is described, and it is demonstrated that the system can heuristically define its own functionality, and learn without disrupting earlier learning. The recommendation architecture is compared with a range of alternative cognitive architectural proposals, and the conclusion reached that it has substantial potential both for understanding brains and for designing systems to perform cognitive functions.
l andrew coward
2007-09-28T23:23:12Z
2011-03-11T08:56:58Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5722
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5722
2007-09-28T23:23:12Z
Analgesic Efficacy of Orally Administered
Buprenorphine in Rats
The analgesic effect of orally administered buprenorphine was compared with that induced by a standard
therapeutic injected dose (0.05 mg/kg of body weight, s.c.) in male Long-Evans rats. Analgesia was assessed by
measuring pain threshold, using the hot-water tail-flick assay before and after administration of buprenorphine.
The results suggest that a commonly used formula for oral buprenorphine in flavored gelatin, at a dose of 0.5
mg/kg, does not increase pain threshold in rats. Instead, oral buprenorphine doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg were
necessary to induce significant increases in pain threshold. However, these doses had to be administered by
orogastric infusion because the rats would not voluntarily eat flavored gelatin containing this much buprenorphine.
The depth of analgesia induced by these infused doses was comparable to that induced by the clinically effective
s.c. treatment (0.05 mg/kg).
Dr. Lisa B.E. Martin
Dr. Alexis C. Thompson
Dr. Thomas Martin
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2001-05-29Z
2011-03-11T08:54:25Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1064
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1064
2001-05-29Z
Self-motion and the perception of stationary objects
One of the ways we perceive shape is through seeing motion. Visual motion may be actively generated (for example, in locomotion), or passively observed. In the study of how we perceive 3D structure from motion (SfM), the non-moving, passive observer in an environment of moving rigid objects has been used as a substitute for an active observer moving in an environment of stationary objects; the 'rigidity hypothesis' has played a central role in computational and experimental studies of SfM. Here we demonstrate that this substitution is not fully adequate, because active observers perceive 3D structure differently from passive observers, despite experiencing the same visual stimulus: active observers' perception of 3D structure depends on extra-visual self-motion information. Moreover, the visual system, making use of the self-motion information treats objects that are stationary (in an allocentric, earth-fixed reference frame) differently from objects that are merely rigid. These results show that action plays a central role in depth perception, and argue for a revision of the rigidity hypothesis to incorporate the special case of stationary objects.
Mark Wexler
Francesco Panerai
Ivan Lamouret
Jacques Droulez
2003-10-04Z
2011-03-11T08:55:21Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3188
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3188
2003-10-04Z
Autism and the Motor Theory of Language
Autism is a puzzling and distressing state which affects a considerable number of children world-wide. Autistic children display a range of deficiencies and often present bizarre patterns of behaviour. There is no consensus about the causes or treatment of autism. There may be a genetic element and autism may be a manifestation of errors in the programming of neural development pre- and post-natally. One of the central and most discussed aspects of autism is deficiencies in speech development; absence or distortion of the use of words and of syntax make communication difficult for autistic children. Coupled with their notable lack of social empathy, this intensifies the isolation from which the children suffer. No clearly successful treatment for their language or other difficulties has as yet emerged. Given this, it seems desirable to examine whether the different ideas about the origin and functioning of language offered by the motor theory may be relevant in understanding the nature of autism or suggesting ways in which these unfortunate children might be helped, in tackling their language deficiencies or more widely.
Robin Allott
2010-07-29T01:47:26Z
2011-03-11T08:57:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6890
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6890
2010-07-29T01:47:26Z
CRT screens may give rise to biased estimates of interhemispheric transmission time in the Poffenberger paradigm.
It has been shown that computer video-display units do not emit luminance uniformly over the entire screen, but emit more light on the right hand side than on the left hand side. The present study investigates whether this luminance asymmetry has implications for the manual and vocal estimates of interhemispheric transmission time (IHTT) in the Poffenberger paradigm. In particular, it is shown that previous reports of right visual-field advantages for vocal responses are an artifact of the luminance asymmetry of computer screens and that this asymmetry also has implications for estimates of differences in transmission time from the right to the left hemisphere in manual responses. In addition, we examined the impact of stimulus intensity and dark adaptation to the IHTT estimates and found that neither had an effect. This is in line with previous evidence that interhemispheric transfer in the Poffenberger paradigm does not depend on the transfer of visual information.
E. Ratinckx
M. Brysbaert
marc.brysbaert@ugent.be
E. Vermeulen
2001-06-19Z
2011-03-11T08:54:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1623
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1623
2001-06-19Z
Explaining the Mind: Problems, Problems
The mind/body problem is the feeling/function problem: How and why do
feeling systems feel? The problem is not just "hard" but insoluble (unless one
is ready to resort to telekinetic dualism). Fortunately, the "easy" problems of
cognitive science (such as the how and why of categorization and language)
are not insoluble. Five books (by Damasio, Edelman/Tononi, McGinn,
Tomasello and Fodor) are reviewed in this context.
Stevan Harnad
2001-08-06Z
2011-03-11T08:54:44Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1671
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1671
2001-08-06Z
Genetic dissection of mouse exploratory behaviour
A large variety of apparatus and procedures are being employed to measure mouse exploratory behaviour. Definitions of what constitutes exploration also vary widely. The present article reviews two studies, whose results permet a genetic dissection of behaviour displayed in an open-field situation. The results agree that factors representing exploration and stress/fear underly this type of behaviour. Both factors appear to be linked to neuroanatomical variation in the sizes of the hippocampal intra- and infrapyramidal mossy fiber terminal fields. Multivariate analysis of genetic correlations may render inmportant insights into the structure of behaviour and its relations with neuroanatomical and neurophysiological systems.
Wim E. Crusio
2001-07-29Z
2011-03-11T08:54:45Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1718
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1718
2001-07-29Z
Hemispheric effects of canonical views of category members with known typicality levels
Is there a preferred hemispheric canonical view of a visual concept? We investigated this question in a natural superordinate category membership decision task using a hemi-field paradigm. Participants had to decide whether or not an image of an object lateralized in the left (LVF) or right (RVF) visual half field is a member of a predesignated superordinate category. The objects represented high, medium, or low typicality levels, and each object had 6 different perspective views (front, front-right, front-left, side, back-left, and back-right). The latency responses revealed a significant interaction of Hemi Field X View X Typicality (there was no hemi-field difference in accuracy). The findings confirm the presence of asymmetry in stored concepts in long-term memory and suggest, in addition, a hemispheric canonical view of these concepts, a view strongly related to typicality level.
D. W. Zaidel
A. Kosta
2001-05-29Z
2011-03-11T08:54:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1524
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1524
2001-05-29Z
Movement prediction and movement production
The prediction of future positions of moving objects occurs in cases of actively produced and passively observed movement. We study the difference between active and passive movement prediction by asking subjects to estimate displacements of an occluded moving target, where the movement is produced by the subject or passively observed; in the passive condition, the target trajectory is either a replay of a preceding active trajectory, or a constant-speed approximation. In the active condition estimates are more anticipatory than in the passive conditions, but in all conditions, estimates become less anticipatory as the prediction distance increases, or the prediction time decreases. Decreasing the congruence between motor action and visual feedback diminishes but does not eliminate the anticipatory effect of action; introducing eye tracking, however, does eliminate it. Our results are compatible with common mechanisms underlying both active and passive movement prediction, with additional movement-related information in the active case making predictions more anticipatory.
Mark Wexler
François Klam
2001-12-05Z
2011-03-11T08:54:50Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1927
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1927
2001-12-05Z
Neuron Soma Size in the Left and Right Hippocampus of a Genius
NEURON SOMA SIZE IN THE LEFT AND RIGHT HIPPOCAMPUS OF A GENIUS
D.W. Zaidel*
Dept Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Underlying brain features of a genius are not understood. It is not
known if there is a smooth continuum between a genius and the thousands
of the brightest minds alive today. The few postmortem studies of brains
of remarkable mathematicians or physicists typically emphasized the
neocortex. In the present study, the hippocampus of Albert Einstein (AE)
was investigated postmortem. The importance of the hippocampus is
established for long-term, explicit, implicit, and episodic memory, and
establishment of semantic associations. A single microscope slide
(Nissl-stained stained in Harvey[Image]s lab not long after AE[Image]s
death at age 76 years) was available for the left and right sides. Soma
size of pyramidal neurons in coronal sections of AE[Image]s left and
right hippocampi were photographed, then digitized and systematically
measured on a computer in hippocampal subfields CA1, CA2, CA3, CA4, and
subiculum. An atypical left-right asymmetry emerged in AE, with soma
size being consistently and significantly larger in the left than in the
right side in all homologous subfields except for CA2, whereas in 10
ordinary adults, aged 22 to 84 years, there was minimal and inconsistent
soma size asymmetry in direction (left vs right) or extent. However, the
soma size variability revealed similarities in both AE and the ordinary
adults, particularly in hippocampal subfields CA1 and CA2, bilaterally.
The direction of the cell size asymmetry in AE[Image]s hippocampi could
simply reflect age-related changes in combination with unusual neuronal
connectivity of prenatal or experiential origin. This is difficult to
ascertain, and the relationship between the hippocampal status at the
time of his death and its role in his genius in his most creative years
is a matter for debate.
Dahlia Zaidel
2001-06-19Z
2011-03-11T08:54:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1624
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1624
2001-06-19Z
No Easy Way Out
The mind/body problem is the feeling/function problem: How and why do
feeling systems feel? The problem is not just "hard" but insoluble (unless one
is ready to resort to telekinetic dualism). Fortunately, the "easy" problems of
cognitive science (such as the how and why of categorization and language)
are not insoluble. Five books (by Damasio, Edelman/Tononi, McGinn,
Tomasello and Fodor) are reviewed in this context.
Stevan Harnad
2002-03-08Z
2011-03-11T08:54:54Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2121
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2121
2002-03-08Z
Optic flow based perception of two-dimensional trajectories and the effects of a single landmark.
It is well established that human observers can detect their heading direction on a very short time scale on the basis of optic flow (500ms; Hooge et al., 2000). Can they also integrate these perceptions over time to reconstruct a 2D trajectory simulated by the optic flow stimulus? We investigated the visual perception and reconstruction of passively travelled two-dimensional trajectories from optic flow with and without a single landmark. Stimuli in which translation and yaw are unyoked can give rise to illusory percepts; using a structured visual environment instead of only dots can improve perception of these stimuli. Does the additional visual and/or extra-retinal information provided by a single landmark have a similar, beneficial effect? Here, seated, stationary subjects wore a head-mounted display showing optic flow stimuli that simulated various manoeuvres: linear or curvilinear 2D trajectories over a horizontal ground plane. The simulated orientation was either fixed in space, fixed relative to the path, or changed relative to both. Afterwards, subjects reproduced the perceived manoeuvre with a model vehicle, of which we recorded position and orientation. Yaw was perceived correctly. Perception of the travelled path was less accurate, but still good when the simulated orientation was fixed in space or relative to the trajectory. When the amount of yaw was not equal to the rotation of the path, or in the opposite direction, subjects still perceived orientation as fixed relative to the trajectory. This caused trajectory misperception because yaw was wrongly attributed to a rotation of the path. A single landmark could improve perception.
R.J.V. Bertin
I. Israël
2002-03-08Z
2011-03-11T08:54:54Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2122
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2122
2002-03-08Z
Reconstructing passively travelled manoeuvres:
Visuo-vestibular interactions.
We recently published a study of the reconstruction of passively travelled trajectories from optic flow. Perception was prone to illusions in a number of conditions, and not always veridical in the other conditions. Part of the illusionary reconstructed trajectories could be explained if we assume that the subjects based their reconstruction on the ego-motion percept obtained during the stimulus' initial moments. In the current paper, we test this hypothesis using a novel paradigm. If indeed the final reconstruction is governed by the initial percept, then additional, extra-retinal information that modifies the initial percept should predictably alter the final reconstruction. We supplied extra-retinal stimuli tuned to supplement the information that was underrepresented or ambiguous in the optic flow: the subjects were physically displaced or rotated at the onset of the visual stimulus. A highly asymmetric velocity profile (high acceleration, very low deceleration) was used. Subjects were required to guide an input device (in the form of a model vehicle; we measured position and orientation) along the perceived trajectory. We show for the first time that a vestibular stimulus of short duration can influence the perception of a much longer lasting visual stimulus. Perception of the ego-motion translation component in the visual stimulus was improved by a linear physical displacement; perception of the ego-motion rotation component by a physical rotation. This led to a more veridical reconstruction in some conditions, but it could also lead to less veridical reconstructions in other conditions.
R.J.V. Bertin
A. Berthoz
2000-07-28Z
2011-03-11T08:54:21Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/904
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/904
2000-07-28Z
Representation, space and Hollywood Squares: Looking at things that aren't there anymore
It has been argued that the human cognitive system is capable of using spatial indexes or oculomotor coordinates to relieve working memory load (Ballard, Hayhoe, Pook & Rao, 1997) track multiple moving items through occlusion (Scholl & Pylyshyn, 1999) or link incompatible cognitive and sensorimotor codes (Bridgeman and Huemer, 1998). Here we examine the use of such spatial information in memory for semantic information. Previous research has often focused on the role of task demands and the level of automaticity in the encoding of spatial location in memory tasks. We present five experiments where location is irrelevant to the task, and participants' encoding of spatial information is measured implicitly by their looking behavior during recall. In a paradigm developed from Spivey and Geng (submitted), participants were presented with pieces of auditory, semantic information as part of an event occurring in one of four regions of a computer screen. In front of a blank grid, they were asked a question relating to one of those facts. Under certain conditions it was found that during the question period participants made significantly more saccades to the empty region of space where the semantic information had been previously presented. Our findings are discussed in relation to previous research on memory and spatial location, the dorsal and ventral streams of the visual system, and the notion of a cognitive-perceptual system using spatial indexes to exploit the stability of the external world.
Daniel Richardson
Michael Spivey
2007-04-04Z
2011-03-11T08:56:49Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5474
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5474
2007-04-04Z
The dimensions of personality in humans and other animals: A comparative and evolutionary perspective
This paper considers the structure and proximate mechanisms of personality in humans and other animals. Significant similarities were found between personality structures and mechanisms across species in at least two broad traits: Extraversion and Neuroticism. The factor space tapped by these personality dimensions is viewed as a general integrative framework for comparative and evolutionary studies of personality in humans and other animals. Most probably, the cross-species similarities between the most broad personality dimensions like Extraversion and Neuroticism as well as other Big Five factors reflect conservative evolution: constrains on evolution imposed by physiological, genetic and cognitive mechanisms. Lower-order factors, which are more species- and situation-specific, would be adaptive, reflecting correlated selection on and trade-offs between many traits.
Dr. Sergey Budaev
2007-04-04Z
2011-03-11T08:56:49Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5475
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5475
2007-04-04Z
The dimensions of personality in humans and other animals: A comparative and evolutionary perspective
This paper considers the structure and proximate mechanisms of personality in humans and other animals. Significant similarities were found between personality structures and mechanisms across species in at least two broad traits: Extraversion and Neuroticism. The factor space tapped by these personality dimensions is viewed as a general integrative framework for comparative and evolutionary studies of personality in humans and other animals. Most probably, the cross-species similarities between the most broad personality dimensions like Extraversion and Neuroticism as well as other Big Five factors reflect conservative evolution: constrains on evolution imposed by physiological, genetic and cognitive mechanisms. Lower-order factors, which are more species- and situation-specific, would be adaptive, reflecting correlated selection on and trade-offs between many traits.
Dr. Sergey Budaev
2000-09-02Z
2011-03-11T08:54:23Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/950
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/950
2000-09-02Z
Self-motion and the perception of stationary objects
One of the ways we perceive shape is through seeing motion. Visual motion may be actively generated (for example, in locomotion), or passively observed. In the study of how we perceive 3D structure from motion (SfM), the non-moving, passive observer in an environment of moving rigid objects has been used as a substitute for an active observer moving in an environment of stationary objects; the 'rigidity hypothesis' has played a central role in computational and experimental studies of SfM. Here we demonstrate that this substitution is not fully adequate, because active observers perceive 3D structure differently from passive observers, despite experiencing the same visual stimulus: active observers' perception of 3D structure depends on extra-visual self-motion information. Moreover, the visual system, making use of the self-motion information treats objects that are stationary (in an allocentric, earth-fixed reference frame) differently from objects that are merely rigid. These results show that action plays a central role in depth perception, and argue for a revision of the rigidity hypothesis to incorporate the special case of stationary objects.
Mark Wexler
Francesco Panerai
Ivan Lamouret
Jacques Droulez
2000-05-09Z
2011-03-11T08:53:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/143
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/143
2000-05-09Z
Error detection and the Error-related ERP in patients with lesions involving the anterior cingulate and adjacent regions
Evidence indicates that the anterior cingulate region generates what appears to be a specific electrophysiological marker for the monitoring of error responses. When an auditory or visual stimulus is presented in such a way that the subject is likely to make an error, averaged encephalography (EEG) trials to erroneous responses consistently show a negative-going waveform which has been coined the error-related negativity (ERN). We examined ERNs in patients with a ruptured aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery (AACA), who are particularly prone to showing damage in the anterior cingulate and adjacent regions, and frequently display a variety of behavioral and cognitive disturbances such as disorientation, confabulation, apathy, unawareness of deficit, and problems of attention, control and monitoring. We found that these patients generally did not produce an ERN in comparison to healthy control participants suggesting that the anterior cingulate is essential for the ERN response. However, the patients' error rates were comparable to that of the controls and they showed a dissociation between overt error awareness and ERN production, suggesting that the ERN does not simply represent an error detection signal.
Brigitte Stemmer
Sidney J. Segalowitz
Wolfgang Witzke
Sieglinde Lacher
Paul Walter Schönle
2000-11-23Z
2011-03-11T08:54:22Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/918
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/918
2000-11-23Z
How to solve the mind-body problem
None
Nicholas Humphrey
2003-04-15Z
2011-03-11T08:55:15Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2869
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2869
2003-04-15Z
How to solve the mind-body problem
None
Nicholas Humphrey
2000-06-14Z
2011-03-11T08:53:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/149
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/149
2000-06-14Z
THE MIND AND BRAIN SCHOLAR AS A HITCH-HIKER IN POST-GUTENBERG GALAXY: PUBLISHING AT 2000 AND BEYOND
Electronic journal (e-journal) publishing has started to change the ways we think about publish-ing. However, many scholars and scientists in the mind and brain sciences are still ignorant of the new possibilities and on-going debates. This paper will provide a summary of the issues in-volved, give an update of the current discussion, and supply practical information on issues re-lated to e- journal publishing and self-archiving relevant for the mind and brain sciences. Issues such as differences between traditional and e-journal publishing, open archive initiatives, world-wide conventions, quality control, costs involved in e-journal publishing, and copyright questions will be addressed. Practical hints on how to self-archive, how to submit to the e-journal Psycolo-quy, how to create an open research archive, and where to find information relevant to e-publishing will be supplied.
Brigitte Stemmer
Marianne Corre
Yves Joanette
2000-05-13Z
2011-03-11T08:53:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/147
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/147
2000-05-13Z
The study of the regenesis of mind in the 21st century
The enigma of consciousness and the brain-mind relationship will - most likely - be unveiled in the 21st century through the new technologies developed at the end of the 20th century and new technologies yet to come. The new technologies will be used to tackle the problem from evolu-tionary, developmental, normal and pathological brain functioning. A major contribution, how-ever, will surface when investigating a particular perspective of pathological brain functioning - a perspective that has not received any attention in the past: the investigation of the re-emergence of mind out of prolonged coma and coma like states.
Paul Walter Schönle
Brigitte Stemmer
2000-02-04Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/138
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/138
2000-02-04Z
Direct evidence for local oscillatory current sources and intracortical phase gradients in turtle visual cortex
Visual stimuli induce oscillations in the membrane potential of neurons in cortices of several species. In turtle, these oscillations take the form of linear and circular traveling waves. Such waves may be a consequence of a pacemaker that emits periodic pulses of excitation that propagate across a network of excitable neuro-nal tissue or may result from continuous and possibly reconfigu-rable phase shifts along a network with multiple weakly coupled neuronal oscillators. As a means to resolve the origin of wave propagation in turtle visual cortex, we performed simultaneous measurements of the local field potential at a series of depths throughout this cortex. Measurements along a single radial pen-etration revealed the presence of broadband current sources, with a center frequency near 20 Hz ( g band), that were activated by visual stimulation. The spectral coherence between sources at two well-separated loci along a rostral caudal axis revealed the pres-ence of systematic timing differences between localized cortical oscillators. These multiple oscillating current sources and their timing differences in a tangential plane are interpreted as the neuronal activity that underlies the wave motion revealed in previous imaging studies. The present data provide direct evidence for the inference from imaging of bidirectional wave motion that the stimulus-induced electrical waves in turtle visual cortex corre-spond to phase shifts in a network of coupled neuronal oscillators.
James C. Prechtl
T.H. Bullock
David. Kleinfeld
2002-06-10Z
2011-03-11T08:54:56Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2248
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2248
2002-06-10Z
Anticipatory Semantic Processes
Why anticipatory processes correspond to cognitive abilities of living systems? To be adapted to an environment, behaviors need at least i) internal representations of events occurring in the external environment; and ii) internal anticipations of possible events to occur in the external environment. Interactions of these two opposite but complementary cognitive properties lead to various patterns of experimental data on semantic processing.
How to investigate dynamic semantic processes? Experimental studies in cognitive psychology offer several interests such as: i) the control of the semantic environment such as words embedded in sentences; ii) the methodological tools allowing the observation of anticipations and adapted oculomotor behavior during reading; and iii) the analyze of different anticipatory processes within the theoretical framework of semantic processing.
What are the different types of semantic anticipations? Experimental data show that semantic anticipatory processes involve i) the coding in memory of sequences of words occurring in textual environments; ii) the anticipation of possible future words from currently perceived words; and iii) the selection of anticipated words as a function of the sequences of perceived words, achieved by anticipatory activations and inhibitory selection processes.
How to modelize anticipatory semantic processes? Localist or distributed neural networks models can account for some types of semantic processes, anticipatory or not. Attractor neural networks coding temporal sequences are presented as good candidate for modeling anticipatory semantic processes, according to specific properties of the human brain such as i) auto-associative memory; ii) learning and memorization of sequences of patterns; and iii) anticipation of memorized patterns from previously perceived patterns.
Frédéric Lavigne
Pascal Lavigne
2001-07-23Z
2011-03-11T08:54:45Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1713
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1713
2001-07-23Z
Different organization of concepts and meaning systems in the two cerebral hemispheres
The left and right hemispheres are asymmetrical with respect to specific cognitive abilities as well as organization of concepts and meaning systems. Several hemi-field experiments using the notion of typicality in different cognitive domains are described in this paper, as well as experiments which tap the notion of hemispheric-specific schemata. The results suggest that the 2 cerebral hemispheres can process the same external information but in ways which suggest asymmetry in concept and meaning organization.
Dahlia Zaidel
2005-05-02Z
2011-03-11T08:54:46Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1725
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1725
2005-05-02Z
Different organization of concepts and meaning systems in the two cerebral hemispheres
The left and right hemispheres are asymmetrical with respect to specific cognitive abilities as well as organization of concepts and meaning systems. Several hemi-field experiments using the notion of typicality in different cognitive domains are described in this paper, as well as experiments which tap the notion of hemispheric-specific schemata. The results suggest that the 2 cerebral hemispheres can process the same external information but in ways which suggest asymmetry in concept and meaning organization.
Dahlia Zaidel
2000-10-19Z
2011-03-11T08:54:25Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1042
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1042
2000-10-19Z
Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases
The empathy literature is characterized by debate regarding the nature of the phenomenon. We propose a unified theory of empathy, divided into ultimate and proximate levels, grounded in the emotional link between individuals. On an ultimate level, emotional linkage supports group alarm, vicariousness of emotions, mother-infant responsiveness, and the modeling of competitors and predators; these exist across species and greatly effect reproductive success. Proximately, emotional linkage arises from a direct mapping of another's behavioral state onto a subject's behavioral representations, which activate responses in the subject. This ultimate and proximate account parsimoniously explains different phylogenetic and ontogenetic levels of empathy.
Stephanie D. Preston
Frans B. M. de Waal
2004-12-04Z
2011-03-11T08:55:45Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3971
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3971
2004-12-04Z
Factor structure and familiality of first-rank symptoms in sibling pairs with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder
Background Since their introduction as diagnostic criteria by Schneider in 1937, nuclear symptoms have played a key role in concepts of schizophrenia, but their relationship to each other and to genetic predisposition has been unclear.
Aims To ascertain the factor structure and familiality of nuclear symptoms.
Methods Nuclear (Schneiderian) symptoms were extracted from case notes and interviews in a study of 103 sibling pairs with DSM-III-R schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
Results Principal components analysis demonstrated two major factors : one, accounting for about 50% of the variance, groups thought withdrawal, insertion and broadcasting, with delusions of control ; and the second, accounting for <20% of the variance, groups together third-person voices, thought echo and running commentary. Factor I was significantly correlated within sibling pairs.
Conclusions The correlation within sibling pairs suggests that, contrary to the conclusion of some previous studies, some nuclear symptoms do show a degree of familiality and therefore perhaps heritability.
Dr J Loftus
Prof LE DeLisi
Prof TJ Crow
2002-06-29Z
2011-03-11T08:54:56Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2302
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2302
2002-06-29Z
A Functional Architecture Approach to Neural Systems
The technology for the design of systems to perform extremely complex combinations of real-time functionality has developed over a long period. This technology is based on the use of a hardware architecture with a physical separation into memory and processing, and a software architecture which divides functionality into a disciplined hierarchy of software components which exchange unambiguous information. This technology experiences difficulty in design of systems to perform parallel processing, and extreme difficulty in design of systems which can heuristically change their own functionality. These limitations derive from the approach to information exchange between functional components. A design approach in which functional components can exchange ambiguous information leads to systems with the recommendation architecture which are less subject to these limitations. Biological brains have been constrained by natural pressures to adopt functional architectures with this different information exchange approach. Neural networks have not made a complete shift to use of ambiguous information, and do not address adequate management of context for ambiguous information exchange between modules. As a result such networks cannot be scaled to complex functionality. Simulations of systems with the recommendation architecture demonstrate the capability to heuristically organize to perform complex functionality.
l andrew coward
2000-11-02Z
2011-03-11T08:54:25Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1078
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1078
2000-11-02Z
Great Expectations: The Evolutionary Psychology of Faith-Healing and the Placebo response
none
Nicholas Humphrey
2003-04-15Z
2011-03-11T08:55:15Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2867
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2867
2003-04-15Z
Great Expectations: The Evolutionary Psychology of Faith-Healing and the Placebo response
none
Nicholas Humphrey
2008-11-02T10:00:10Z
2011-03-11T08:57:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6250
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6250
2008-11-02T10:00:10Z
Ingested bovine amniotic fluid enhances morphine antinociception in rats
Ingestion by rats of rat placenta or amniotic fluid enhances opioid-mediated, or partly opioid-mediated, antinociception produced by morphine injection, vaginal or cervical stimulation, late pregnancy, and foot shock. This phenomenon is believed to be produced by a placental
opioid-enhancing factor (POEF). Ingestion by rats of human or dolphin placenta has also been shown to enhance opioid antinociception, suggesting that POEF may be common to many mammalian species. We tested bovine amniotic fluid (BAF) for its capacity to enhance morphine antinociception in female Long-Evans rats, as determined by percentage change from baseline tail-flick latency in response to radiant heat, and we report that 0.50 mL BAF effectively enhanced morphine antinociception but did not by itself produce antinociception. The efficacy of POEF across species suggests that POEF may have been functionally (and structurally) conserved during evolution. Furthermore, the availability of POEF at parturition, as well as its ability to enhance pregnancy-mediated antinociception without
disrupting maternal behavior, offers a tenable explanation for the long-debated ultimate causality of placentophagia.
James W. Corpening
Jean C. Doerr
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2004-04-30Z
2011-03-11T08:55:32Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3593
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3593
2004-04-30Z
Picture recognition in animals and in humans : a review
The question of object–picture recognition has received relatively little attention in both human and comparative psychology; a paradoxical situation given the important use of image technology (e.g. slides, digitised pictures) made by neuroscientists in their experimental investigation of visual cognition. The present review examines the relevant literature pertaining to the question of the
correspondence between and:or equivalence of real objects and their pictorial representations in animals and humans. Two classes of reactions towards pictures will be considered in turn: acquired responses in picture recognition experiments and spontaneous responses to pictures of biologically relevant objects (e.g. prey or conspecifics). Our survey will lead to the conclusion that humans show evidence of picture recognition from an early age; this recognition is, however, facilitated by prior exposure to pictures. This same exposure or training effect appears also to be necessary in nonhuman primates as well as in other mammals and in birds. Other factors are also identified as playing a role in the acquired responses to pictures: familiarity with and nature of the stimulus objects, presence of motion in the image, etc. Spontaneous and adapted reactions to pictures are a wide phenomenon present in different phyla including invertebrates but in most instances, this phenomenon is more likely to express confusion between objects and pictures than discrimination and active correspondence between the two. Finally, given the nature of a picture (e.g. bi-dimensionality, reduction of cues related to depth), it is suggested that object–picture recognition be envisioned in various levels, with true equivalence being a limited case, rarely observed in the behaviour of animals and even humans.
D Bovet
J Vauclair
2000-05-12Z
2011-03-11T08:53:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/144
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/144
2000-05-12Z
The relation between movement parameters and motor learning.
In a recent paper, Flament et al (1999) studied the learning to flex the elbow fast. They concluded from their data that time-related parameters (e.g. movement time) changed faster during learning than magnitude-related parameters (e.g. peak velocity), and discussed this finding in terms of neural substrates responsible for the apparently different learning mechanisms. In this note, I will argue that finding different time constants does not imply different learning mechanisms. I will give a theoretical example of the development of parameters during learning to move faster. Despite the fact that I model only one learning process, various kinematic parameters show different time courses of learning. The differences the model predicts are comparable with the experimental results.
Jeroen B.J. Smeets
2000-02-01Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/134
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/134
2000-02-01Z
EFFECTS OF ASPIRATION VERSUS NEUROTOXIC LESIONS OF THE AMYGDALA ON EMOTIONAL RESPONSES IN MONKEYS
All previous reports describing alterations in emotional reactivity after amygdala damage in monkeys were based on aspiration or radiofrequency lesions which likely disrupted fibers of passage coursing to and from adjacent ventral and medial temporal cortical areas. To determine whether this associated indirect damage was responsible for some or all of the changes described earlier, we compared the changes induced by aspiration of the amygdala to those induced by fiber-sparing neurotoxic lesions. Four different stimuli, two with and two without a social component, were used to evaluate the expression of Defense, Aggression, Submission, and Approach responses. In unoperated controls, Defense and Approach behaviors were elicited by all four stimuli, "social" and inanimate alike, whereas Aggression and Submission responses occurred only in the presence of the two "social" stimuli. Furthermore, all Defense reactions were reduced with an attractive inanimate item, while Freezing was selectively increased with an aversive one. Relative to controls, monkeys with neurotoxic amygdala lesions showed the same array of behavioral changes as those with aspiration lesions, namely reduced fear and aggression, increased submission, and excessive manual and oral exploration. Even partial neurotoxic lesions involving less than two-thirds of the amygdala significantly altered fear and manual exploration. These findings convincingly demonstrate that the amygdala is crucial for the normal regulation of emotions in monkeys. Nevertheless, since some of the symptoms observed after neurotoxic lesions were less marked than those seen after aspiration lesions, the emotional disorders described earlier after amygdalectomy in monkeys were likely exacerbated by the attendant fiber damage.
Martine Meunier
Jocelyne Bachevalier
Elisabeth A. Murray
Ludie Málková
Mortimer Mishkin
2002-06-29Z
2011-03-11T08:54:56Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2299
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2299
2002-06-29Z
A physiologically based approach to consciousness
The nature of a scientific theory of consciousness is defined by comparison with scientific theories in the physical sciences. The differences between physical, algorithmic and functional complexity are highlighted, and the architecture of a functionally complex electronic system created to relate system operations to device operations is compared with a scientific theory. It is argued that there are two qualitatively different types of functional architecture, and that electronic systems have the instruction architecture based on exchange of unambiguous information between functional components, and biological brains have been constrained by natural selection pressures into the recommendation architecture based on exchange of ambiguous information. The mechanisms by which a recommendation architecture could heuristically define its own functionality are described, and compared with memory in biological brains. Dream sleep is interpreted as the mechanism for minimizing information exchange between functional components in a heuristically defined functional system. The functional role of consciousness of self is discussed, and the route by which the experience of that function described at the psychological level can be related to physiology through a functional architecture is outlined.
l andrew coward
2000-02-02Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/135
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/135
2000-02-02Z
Incidences of asymmetries for the palmar grasp reflex in neonates and hand preference in adults
It was hypothesized that adult handedness might be predicted from the neonatal grasp reflex. Grasp reflex was measured from right and left hand (10 trials for each hand) in neonates. According to significance for the difference between the mean grasp reflex strength from the right and left hands, the subjects were designated as right-, left-, and mixed-handers. Adult hand preference was assessed by Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. The percentage of left-handedness (8.3%) in neonates coincided with adult left-handedness (6.3-9.2%). The percentage of consistent right-hand preference in adults coincided with percentage of right-handedness in neonates (25.7%). The high percentage of neonatal mixed-handedness was similar to that to be expected from the right shift model of hand preference. It was concluded that left-handedness and consistent right- handedness may be determined prenatally, under genetic and/or hormonal control, and that a large majority of neonatal handedness, mixed-handers, might change their hand preference in favor of right-handedness under socio-cultural and developmental influences of speech centres.
Uner Tan
Meliha Tan
1999-10-11Z
2011-03-11T08:53:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/184
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/184
1999-10-11Z
The Geometry of Stimulus Control
Many studies, both in ethology and comparative psychology, have shown that animals react to modifications of familiar stimuli. This phenomenon is often referred to as generalisation. Most modifications lead to a decrease in responding, but to certain new stimuli an increase in responding is observed. This holds for both innate and learned behaviour. Here we propose a heuristic approach to stimulus control, or stimulus selection, with the aim of explaining these phenomena. The model has two key elements. First, we choose the receptor level as the fundamental stimulus space. Each stimulus is represented as the pattern of activation it induces in sense organs. Second, in this space we introduce a simple measure of `similarity' between stimuli by calculating how activation patterns overlap. The main advantage we recognise in this approach is that the generalisation of acquired responses emerges from a few simple principles which are grounded in the recognition of how animals actually perceive stimuli. Many traditional problems that face theories of stimulus control (e.g. the Spence-Hull theory of gradient interaction or ethological theories of stimulus summation) do not arise in the present framework. These problems include the amount of generalisation along different dimensions, peak-shift phenomena (with respect to both positive and negative shifts), intensity generalisation, and generalisation after conditioning on two positive stimuli
Stefano Ghirlanda
Magnus Enquist
1999-08-31Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/117
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/117
1999-08-31Z
Differences in the ability to process a visuo-spatial task are reflected in event-related slow cortical potentials of human subjects.
Recent Positron Emission (PET) and EEG studies suggest that higher ability in a cognitive task is associated with a more efficient neuronal processing of this task. However, the validity and generalizability of these studies is limited for several reasons. We investigated 20 male and 18 female human subjects with good vs. poor spatial ability performing a visuo-spatial task (cube test). Processing-related slow event-related potentials were recorded via 22 electrodes, evenly distributed over the scalp. Significant differences between good and poor performers were found in both sexes: Poor subjects showed higher activity in the parietal region, and their topography was more extended into fronto-central regions. Since the amount and topography of brain activity may vary considerably depending on subjects' ability, we conclude that careful (experimental) control of task-specific ability of subjects is mandatory for cognitive neuroscience studies.
Claus Lamm
Herbert Bauer
Oliver Vitouch
Reinhard Gstättner
1999-05-04Z
2011-03-11T08:54:18Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/811
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/811
1999-05-04Z
Movement prediction and movement production
The prediction of future positions of moving objects occurs in cases of actively produced and passively observed movement. We study the difference between active and passive movement prediction by asking subjects to estimate displacements of an occluded moving target, where the movement is produced by the subject or passively observed; in the passive condition, the target trajectory is either a replay of a preceding active trajectory, or a constant-speed approximation. In the active condition estimates are more anticipatory than in the passive conditions, but in all conditions, estimates become less anticipatory as the prediction distance increases, or the prediction time decreases. Decreasing the congruence between motor action and visual feedback diminishes but does not eliminate the anticipatory effect of action; introducing eye tracking, however, does eliminate it. Our results are compatible with common mechanisms underlying both active and passive movement prediction, with additional movement-related information in the active case making predictions more anticipatory.
Mark Wexler
François Klam
1999-07-16Z
2011-03-11T08:53:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/183
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/183
1999-07-16Z
The Fifth Influence
This article is a theoretical consideration on the role of sensory pleasure and mental joy as optimizers of behavior. It ends with an axiomatic proposal. When they compare the human body to its environment, Philosophers recognise the cosmos as the Large Infinite, and the atomic particles as the Small Infinite. The human brain reaches such a degree of complexity that it may be considered as a third infinite in the universe, a Complex Infinite. It follows that any force capable of moving such an infinite deserves a place among the forces of the universe. Physicists have recognized four forces, the gravitational, the electromagnetic, the weak, and the strong nuclear force. Forces are defined in four dimentions (reversible or not in time) and it is postulated that these forces are valid and applicable everywhere. Pleasure and displeasure, the affective axis of consciousness, can move the infinitely complex into action and no human brain can avoid the trend to maximize its pleasure. Therefore, we suggest, axiomatically, that the affective capability of consciousness operates in a way similar to the four forces of the Physics, i.e. influences the behavior of conscious agents in a way similar to the way the four forces influence masses and particles. However, since a mental phenomenon is dimensioneless we propose to call the affective capability of consciousness the fifth influence rather than the fifth force.
Michel Cabanac
Remi A. Cabanac
Harold T. Hammel
1999-07-14Z
2011-03-11T08:53:40Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/106
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/106
1999-07-14Z
The Future of Research on Electroreception and Electrocommunication.
Besides the rounding out of presently active areas, six are selected for predictions of marked advance. (1) Most discoveries will be in cellular componentry and molecular mechanisms for one or another class of receptors or central pathways. (2) More major taxa will be found with electroreceptive species, possibly birds, reptiles or invertebrates, representing independent evolutionary "inventions". (3) Electric organs with weak and episodic electric discharges will be found in new taxa; first, among siluriforms. (4) New examples are expected, like lampreys, where synchronized muscle action potentials add up to voltages in the range of weakly electric fish. Some of these will look like intermediates in the evolution of electric organs. (5) Ethological significance will be found for a variety of known physiological features. Exs.: uranoscopids, skates and weakly electric catfish with episodic electric discharges of unknown role; electroreceptive ability of some of the diverse group having Lorenzinian-type ampullae (besides elasmobranchs) including lampreys, chimaeras, lungfish, sturgeons, paddlefish, and salamanders; gymnotiform and mormyrid detection of capacitive component of impedance. (6) The organization of some higher functions in the cerebellum and forebrain will gradually come to light.
Theodore H. Bullock
1999-12-15Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/125
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/125
1999-12-15Z
Introduction
The introduction to the special issue briefly discusses the origins and development of the word "pragmatics", pragmatic theory and its application to neurolinguistics. The special issue covers a total of 11 articles investigating pragmatic and neuropragmatic issues from different theoretical, experimental and clinical perspectives.
Brigitte Stemmer
2000-01-21Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/128
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/128
2000-01-21Z
Neuroethology has pregnant agendas
Two of the many agendas of neuroethology are illustrated with examples. (1) What cells or assemblies of cells and what patterns of activity are sufficient to accomplish recognition of ethologically important stimulus configurations and initiation of behavioral action? The theme is the opportunities available in relatively neglected approaches to these objectives. As an example, the approach is developed of gentle microstimulation of loci in the brain where cells have been found responsive to complex, natural stimuli, under conditions conducive to the performance of tell-tale behavior. Other approaches include (a) microinjection of modulatory substances into regions with such complex recognition cells and (b) recording in efficient and informative ways, by using multiple electrode arrays, recording wideband activity, in behaving animals. (2) What brain and behavior differences has evolution produced between major taxa at distinct grades of complexity? Emphasized are our relative ignorance of basic aspects of connectivity, physiology and cognitive capacities in the major grades and the probability of surprises from new studies that employ comparison.
T.H. Bullock
2005-06-05Z
2011-03-11T08:56:04Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4376
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4376
2005-06-05Z
Neuronal connectivity, regional differentiation, and brain damage in humans.
When circumscribed brain regions are damaged in humans, highly specific iimpairments in language, memory, problem solving, and cognition are observed. Neurosurgery such as "split brain" or hemispherectomy, for example has shown that encompassing regions, the left and right cerebral hemispheres each control human behavior in unique ways. Observations stretching over 100 years of patients with unilateral focal brain damage have revealed, withouth the theoretical benefits of "cognitive neuroscience" or "cognitive psychology," that human behavior is indeed controlled by the brain and its neurons.
Dahlia W. Zaidel
2004-04-30Z
2011-03-11T08:55:32Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3604
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3604
2004-04-30Z
Nonhuman primates as models of hemispheric specialization
The present chapter concerns the issue of hemispheric specialization
for perceptual and cognitive processes. In spite of a long-lasting view that only humans are lateralized (e.g., Warren, 1980), there is now strong documentation for anatomical lateralizations, functional lateralizations, or both in several animal taxa, including birds, rodents, and nonhuman primates (see Bradshaw & Rogers, 1993; Hellige, 1993). We selectively report demonstrations from studies of nonhuman primates. After a short review of the evidence for structural (anatomical) lateralization, we describe...
J Vauclair
J Fagot
D Dépy
1998-09-25Z
2011-03-11T08:54:15Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/740
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/740
1998-09-25Z
On the neural computation of utility: implications from studies of brain stimulation reward
1. Like other vertebrates, from goldfish to humans, rats will work in order to deliver electrical stimulation to certain brain sites. Although the stimulation produces no evident physiological benefit, it is sought out avidly, as if it were a biologically significant resource. Thus, it has long been thought that the rewarding stimulation activates neural circuitry involved in the evaluation and selection of goals. 2. Computing the utility of goal objects involves a tightly integrated set of perceptual, cognitive, and motivational mechanisms. I argue that rewarding electrical brain stimulation engages only a subset of these mechanisms. If so, comparison of the ways in which the utility of electrical brain stimulation and natural reinforcers are computed may highlight operating principles and isolate components of the computational mechanisms. 3. In the view proposed here, information about goal objects and consummatory acts is processed, in parallel, in three different channels. 3.1. Perceptual processing indicates what and where the goal object is. 3.2. A stopwatch-like interval timer predicts when or how often the goal object will be available. 3.3. Under the influence of information about the current physiological state, an evaluative channel returns a subjective weighting of strength variables such as the concentration of a sucrose solution or the temperature of an air current. 3.4. The output of these channels is recorded in multidimensional records that include 3.4.1. information of perceptual origin about amount and kind (e.g., food, water,or salt) 3.4.2. information from the timer about rate and delay 3.4.3. a subjective assessment of intensity provided by the evaluative channel 4. This chapter addresses the relationships between brain stimulation reward (BSR), the perceptual, interval timing, and evaluative channels, and the variants of utility proposed by Kahneman and his coworkers on the basis of their studies of evaluation and choice in human subjects. 4.1. It is argued that the output of the evaluative channel can be manifested in experience as pleasure or suffering but that awareness is not necessary in order for this signal to influence action. 5. The neural signal injected by rewarding electrical stimulation is portrayed as providing meaningful information about rate, delay and intensity but not about amount or kind. This proposal is used to account for 5.1. competition and summation between BSR and natural rewards 5.2. differential effects of physiological feedback on the utility of BSR and natural rewards 5.3. matching of behavioral allocation to the relative rates and intensities of BSR 5.4. differences in the elasticity of demand for BSR and food in a closed economy 5.5. the high substitutability of BSR for food and water in an open economy 6. The powerful aftereffect of BSR that potentiates efforts to obtain additional stimulation is related to expectancy.
Peter Shizgal
1999-12-15Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/126
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/126
1999-12-15Z
An On-Line Interview with Noam Chomsky: On the Nature of Pragmatics and Related Issues
The authors and editor of the special issue of Brain and Language: Pragmatics: Theoretical and Clinical Issues as well as the editor of Brain and Language framed some questions which were sent to and readily discussed by Noam Chomsky via e-mail.
Brigitte Stemmer
2000-02-09Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/139
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/139
2000-02-09Z
The theory of the organism-environment system: III. Role of efferent influences on receptors in the formation of knowledge.
The present article is an attempt to give - in the frame of the theory of the organism-environment system (Jarvilehto 1998a) - a new interpretation to the role of efferent influences on receptor activity and to the functions of senses in the formation of knowledge. It is argued, on the basis of experimental evidence and theoretical considerations, that the senses are not transmitters of environmental information, but they create a direct connection between the organism and the environment, which makes the development of a dynamic living system, the organism-environment system, possible. In this connection process the efferent influences on receptor activity are of particular significance, because with their help the receptors may be adjusted in relation to the parts of the environment which are most important in the achievement of behavioral results. Perception is the process of joining of new parts of the environment to the organism-environment system; thus, the formation of knowledge by perception is based on reorganization (widening and differentiation) of the organism-environment system, and not on transmission of information from the environment. With the help of the efferent influences on receptors each organism creates its own peculiar world which is simultaneously subjective and objective. The present considerations have far reaching influences as well on experimental work in neurophysiology and psychology of perception as on philosophical considerations of knowledge formation.
Timo Jarvilehto
1998-12-14Z
2011-03-11T08:53:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/72
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/72
1998-12-14Z
Using spontaneous and induced mutations to genetically-dissect brain and behavior
Report on the First Brain Research Interactive Conference "Knockouts and Mutants, Genetically Dissecting Brain and Behavior". Held in San Diego, CA, USA; 4-6 November 1998.
Wim E. Crusio
2002-08-12Z
2011-03-11T08:54:20Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/848
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/848
2002-08-12Z
Why Grandmothers May Need Large Brains. (Commentary on Skoyles on Brain Expertise)
Skoyles's case against human brain size being related to IQ is strong; but his case in favor of its being related to expertise is weak. I propose that the explanation for the evolutionary expansion of the human brain in fact lies far away, in the need to have a brain that could continue to function into old age.
Nicholas Humphrey
1998-10-12Z
2011-03-11T08:53:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/64
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/64
1998-10-12Z
Event-related alpha oscillations are functionally associated with P300 during information processing
Recent findings indicate that the electroencephalographic alpha (7-14 Hz) activity is functionally involved in cognitive brain functioning, but the issue of whether and how event-related alpha oscillations may relate to the processes indexed by the P300 component of the event-related brain potentials (ERPs) has not been addressed. The present study assessed the effect of auditory oddball task processing on slow (7-10 Hz) and fast (10-14 Hz) alpha activity from the P300 latency range. ERPs from mentally counted targets (20%) and not counted nontargets (80 %) were recorded at Fz, Cz, and Pz in nine subjects. Single-sweep phase-locking, power of phase-locked, and power of non-phase-locked alpha responses during P300 activity were quantified. The results demonstrated that larger and more synchronized phase-locked fast alpha components at anterior (frontal-central) locations, with reduced non-phase-locked slow alpha responses at the parietal site were produced by targets relative to nontargets. Because the simultaneously recorded P300 and alpha activity manifested a similar sensitivity to the oddball task, event-related alpha appears to be functionally associated with the cognitive processing demands eliciting P300. Also, evidence is provided for the functional involvement of frontally synchronized and enhanced alpha oscillations in task processing. NeuroReport 9: 3159-3164 © 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Juliana Yordanova
Vasil Kolev
2000-03-03Z
2011-03-11T08:53:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/142
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/142
2000-03-03Z
Observations on the relationship between verbal explicit and implicit memory and neuronal density in the left and right hippocampus in temporal lobectomy patients.
The relationship between neuronal density and verbal memory in left and right hippocampal subfields was investigated in patients who underwent surgery for alleviation of temporal lobe epilepsy. The surgery consisted of unilateral partial removal of the hippocampus along with the anterior temporal lobe and amygdala. Study 1 looked at post-surgical explicit versus implicit verbal memory for lists of words while Study 2 looked at pre- and post-surgical explicit memory for word pairs. Left subfield CA1 appeared to be the most consistently involved in explicit and implicit memory. The results of the two studies confirm presence of hemispheric asymmetry in verbal memory. The notion that hippocampal control of memory is most apparent in post-surgical performance is discussed.
Dahlia W. Zaidel
Margaret Esiri
Elizabeth Beardsworth
1998-10-13Z
2011-03-11T08:53:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/65
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/65
1998-10-13Z
The genetic dissection of brain-behaviour relationships: An introduction to neurobehavioural genetics
No abstract available
Wim E. Crusio
1998-08-27Z
2011-03-11T08:53:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/172
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/172
1998-08-27Z
The Secrets of Faces
This is a comment on an article by Perrett et al., on the same issue of Nature, investigating face perception. With computer graphics, Perrett and colleagues have produced exaggerated male and female faces, and asked people to rate them with respect to femininity or masculinity, and personality traits such as intelligence, emotionality and so on. The key question is: what informations do faces (and sexual signals in general) convey? One view, supported by Perrett and colleagues, is that all aspects of sexual signals convey important information about partner quality. We suggest instead that the interaction between the signal and the receiver's nervous system can result in the evolution of sexual traits not linked to partner quality.
Magnus Enquist
Stefano Ghirlanda
1998-06-18Z
2011-03-11T08:54:12Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/690
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/690
1998-06-18Z
Facial beauty and fractal geometry
What is it that makes a face beautiful? Average faces obtained by photographic (Galton 1878) or digital (Langlois & Roggman 1990) blending are judged attractive but not optimally attractive (Alley & Cunningham 1991) --- digital exaggerations of deviations from average face blends can lead to higher attractiveness ratings (Perrett, May, & Yoshikawa 1994). My novel approach to face design does not involve blending at all. Instead, the image of a female face with high ratings is composed from a fractal geometry based on rotated squares and powers of two. The corresponding geometric rules are more specific than those previously used by artists such as Leonardo and Duerer. They yield a short algorithmic description of all facial characteristics, many of which are compactly encodable with the help of simple feature detectors similar to those found in mammalian brains. This suggests that a face's beauty correlates with simplicity relative to the subjective observer's way of encoding it.
Juergen Schmidhuber
2001-11-19Z
2011-03-11T08:54:49Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1903
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1903
2001-11-19Z
Replicability of cognitive imaging of the cerebral cortex By PET and fMRI: A survey of recent literature.
PET and fMRI are relatively new techniques, which allows imaging of the brain without disturbing it, and they are important tools in clinical treatment and investigation. They are also used for cognitive investigation, by which I mean investigation the working of the healthy brain (Frackowiak et al, 1997). Naturally, the main focus of investigation is the cerebral cortex. In this paper, I survey the recent literature for evidence about the replicability of these studies. The survey covers 125 primary research articles, taken from 21 different journals during the first 10 months of 1997. The main findings are: 1.The data about replicability in cognitive imaging is extremely sparse. 2.The sparse data that does exists is mostly negative, i.e. points to irreplicability. These findings suggest that there is a problem with replicability in cognitive imaging, and an effort is required to resolve it.
Yehouda Harpaz
1999-07-06Z
2011-03-11T08:53:40Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/105
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/105
1999-07-06Z
Submicrosecond pacemaker precision is behaviorally modulated: The gymnotiform electromotor pathway
What are the limits and modulators of neural precision? We address this question in the most regular biological oscillator known, the electric organ command in the brainstem of wave-type electric fish. The oscillating electric organ discharge (EOD), used in electrolocation and communication, has high regularity measured by a low coefficient of variation (CV as low as 2 x 10-4) in five species from three families ranging in mean EOD from 70 to 1250 Hz. Intracellular recording in the nucleus (Pn) pacing EODs reveals that individual Pn neurons also display an extremely low CV. While the CV can remain at its minimum for hours, it varies with novel environmental conditions, during communication, and spontaneously. Spontaneous changes occur as abrupt steps (250 msec), oscillations (35 Hz), or slow ramps (1030 sec). Several findings suggest that these changes are under active control and depend on behavioral state. Mean EOD frequency and CV can change independently. CV often decreases in response to stimuli. Lesions of one of the two inputs to the Pn had more influence on CV than lesions of the other input
Katherine T. Moortgat
Clifford H. Keller
Theodore H. Bullock
Terrence J. Sejnowski
1998-10-19Z
2011-03-11T08:53:51Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/362
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/362
1998-10-19Z
THE THEORY OF THE ORGANISM-ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE THEORY
The theory of the organism-environment system starts with the proposition that in any functional sense organism and environment are inseparable and form only one unitary system. The organism cannot exist without the environment and the environment has descriptive properties only if it is connected to the organism. Although for practical purposes we do separate organism and environment, this common-sense starting point leads in psychological theory to problems which cannot be solved. Therefore, separation of organism and environment cannot be the basis of any scientific explanation of human behavior. The theory leads to a reinterpretation of basic problems in many fields of inquiry and makes possible the definition of mental phenomena without their reduction either to neural or biological activity or to separate mental functions. According to the theory, mental activity is activity of the whole organism-environment system, and the traditional psychological concepts describe only different aspects of organisation of this system. Therefore, mental activity cannot be separated from the nervous system, but the nervous system is only one part of the organismenvironment system. This problem will be dealt with in detail in the second part of the article.
Timo Jarvilehto
1998-10-20Z
2011-03-11T08:53:51Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/365
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/365
1998-10-20Z
THE THEORY OF THE ORGANISM-ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM: II. SIGNIFICANCE OF NERVOUS ACTIVITY IN THE ORGANISM-ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM
The relation between mental processes and brain activity is studied from the point of view of the theory of the organism-environment system. It is argued that the systemic point of view leads to a new kind of definition of the primary tasks of neurophysiology and to a new understanding of the traditional neurophysiological concepts. Neurophysiology is restored to its place as a part of biology: its task is the study of neurons as living units, not as computer chips. Neurons are living units which are organised as metabolic systems in connection with other neurons; they are not units which would carry out some psychological functions or maintain states which are typical only of the whole organism-environment system. Psychological processes, on the other hand, are processes always comprising the whole organism-environment system.
Timo Jarvilehto
1999-04-22Z
2011-03-11T08:53:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/81
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/81
1999-04-22Z
Anatomy of word and sentence meaning
Reading and listening involve complex psychological processes that recruit many brain areas. The anatomy of processing English words has been studied by a variety of imaging methods. Although there is widespread agreement on the general anatomical areas involved in comprehending words, there are still disputes about the computations that go on in these areas. Examination of the time relations (circuitry) among these anatomical areas can aid in under-standing their computations. In this paper we concentrate on tasks which involve obtaining the meaning of a word in isolation or in relation to a sentence. Our current data support a finding in the literature that frontal semantic areas are active well before posterior areas. We use the subjects attention to amplify relevant brain areas involved either in semantic classification or in judging the relation of the word to a sentence in order to test the hypothesis that frontal areas are concerned with lexical semantics while posterior areas are more involved in comprehension of propositions that involve several words.
Michael I. Posner
Antonella Pavese
1998-06-18Z
2011-03-11T08:53:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/45
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/45
1998-06-18Z
A single sweep analysis of the theta frequency band during auditory oddball task
The P300 component and the oscillatory 47 Hz electroencephalographic activity of auditory event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were assessed to study differences between passive and oddball task conditions. Theta responses from 15 adults were analyzed for single-sweep amplitude, phase-locking, and enhancement against prestimulus activity. ERPs were characterized by enhanced and strongly phase-locked theta oscillations in the early (0300 ms) post-stimulus epoch, with only the late (300600 ms) theta responses at Fz and Pz affected by the oddball condition. P300 was strongly associated not only with the concurrent theta oscillations but also with the evoked theta activity preceding P300 (0300 ms). It is concluded that single theta response parameters can reveal specific functional differences between passive and oddball conditions, and there is a strong relationship between the theta frequency component and the time-domain P300 ERP component.
Juliana Yordanova
Vasil Kolev
2003-10-17Z
2011-03-11T08:55:22Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3218
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3218
2003-10-17Z
Competing for Consciousness: A Darwinian Mechanism at an Appropriate Level of Explanation
Treating consciousness as awareness or attention greatly underestimates it, ignoring the temporary levels of organization associated with higher intellectual function (syntax, planning, logic, music). The tasks that require consciousness tend to be the ones that demand a lot of resources. Routine tasks can be handled on the back burner but dealing with ambiguity, groping around offline, generating creative choices, and performing precision movements may temporarily require substantial allocations of neocortex. Here I will attempt to clarify the appropriate levels of explanation (ranging from quantum aspects to association cortex dynamics) and then propose a specific mechanism (consciousness as the current winner of Darwinian copying competitions in cerebral cortex) that seems capable of encompassing the higher intellectual function aspects of consciousness as well as some of the attentional aspects. It includes features such as a coding space appropriate for analogies and a supervisory Darwinian process that can bias the operation of other Darwinian processes.
William H Calvin
2013-05-04T23:21:58Z
2013-05-04T23:21:58Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8954
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8954
2013-05-04T23:21:58Z
Effects of cocaethylene on dopamine and serotonin synthesis in Long–Evans and Sprague–Dawley brains
We examined the behavioral and neurochemical effects of cocaethylene treatment in Long–Evans (�LE). and Sprague–Dawley� (SD) rats. Cocaethylene-induced behaviors were significantly less in LE rats. Cocaethylene caused an inhibition of dopamine synthesis in the caudate nucleus and nucleus accumbens that was equivalent in both rat lines. Serotonin synthesis was also suppressed by cocaethylene treatment, however this phenomenon was less pronounced when compared with the effects on dopamine synthesis.
Dr. M.H. Baumann
Dr. J.M. Horowitz
Dr. M.B. Kristal
Dr. G. Torres
1999-07-14Z
2011-03-11T08:53:40Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/107
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/107
1999-07-14Z
Forays with the additive periodogram applied to the EEG.
The most information-rich measure of the working brain is the electrical activity, recorded as wideband, extracellular local field potentials from multiple sites, in extent and depth, with millisecond and millimeter resolution. We still lack a common view of the electrical activity in terms of simple description - which must precede explanation in terms of mechanisms. The situation is much like the diverse views on the nature and characteristics of a jungle. We have elsewhere addressed related questions. (i) How much of the wideband activity is stochastic - concluding that a significant and highly labile amount of coherence and bicoherence bespeak temporal fine structure and cooperativity. (ii) How much fine structure is spatial, concluding that differentiation increases as the volume sampled is smaller (Bullock et al. 1995a,b, 1997).
T.H. Bullock
J.T. Enright
K.M. Chong
1998-10-20Z
2011-03-11T08:53:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/67
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/67
1998-10-20Z
AN INTRODUCTION TO QUANTITATIVE GENETICS
This chapter provides a brief overview of quantitative-genetic theory. Quantitative-genetics provides important tools to help elucidate the genetic underpinnings of behavioral and neural phenotypes. This information can then provide substantial insights into the previous evolutionary history of a phenotype, as well as into brain-behavior relationships. The most often employed crossbreeding designs are the classical Mendelian cross and the diallel cross. The information rendered by the former is limited to the two parental strains used and cannot be broadly generalized. The principal usefulness of this design is for testing whether a given phenotype is influenced by either one gene or by more genes. The diallel cross renders more generalizable information, the more so if many different strains are used, such as estimates of genetic correlations. To estimate the latter, correlations between inbred strain means may provide a helpful shortcut. Some commonly encountered mistakes in the interpretation of the results of quantitative-genetic studies are presented and explained.
WIm E. Crusio
1999-05-08Z
2011-03-11T08:53:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/84
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/84
1999-05-08Z
Mixing Memory and Desire: Want and Will in Neural Modeling
Values are critical for intelligent behavior, since values determine interests, and interests determine relevance. Therefore we address relevance and its role in intelligent behavior in animals and machines. Animals avoid exhaustive enumeration of possibilities by focusing on relevant aspects of the environment, which emerge into the (cognitive) foreground, while suppressing irrelevant aspects, which submerge into the background. Nevertheless, the background is not invisible, and aspects of it can pop into the foreground if background processing deems them potentially relevant. Essential to these ideas are questions of how contexts are switched, which defines cognitive/behavioral episodes, and how new contexts are created, which allows the efficiency of foreground/background processing to be extended to new behaviors and cognitive domains. Next we consider mathematical characterizations of the foreground/background distinction, which we treat as a dynamic separation of the concrete space into (approximately) orthogonal subspaces, which are processed differently. Background processing is characterized by large receptive fields which project into a space of relatively low dimension to accomplish rough categorization of a novel stimulus and its approximate location. Such background processing is partly innate and partly learned, and we discuss possible correlational (Hebbian) learning mechanisms. Foreground processing is characterized by small receptive fields which project into a space of comparatively high dimension to accomplish precise categorization and localization of the stimuli relevant to the context. We also consider mathematical models of valences and affordances, which are an aspect of the foreground. Cells processing foregound information have no fixed meaning (i.e., their meaning is contextual), so it is necessary to explain how the processing accomplished by foreground neurons can be made relative to the context. Thus we consider the properties of several simple mathematical models of how the contextual representation controls foreground processing. We show how simple correlational processes accomplish the contextual separation of foreground from background on the basis of differential reinforcement. That is, these processes account for the contextual separation of the concrete space into disjoint subspaces corresponding to the foreground and background. Since an episode may comprise the activation of several contexts (at varying levels of activity) we consider models, suggested by quantum mechanics, of foreground processing in superposition. That is, the contextual state may be a weighted superposition of several pure contexts, with a corresponding superposition of the foreground representations and the processes operating on them. This leads us to a consideration of the nature and origin of contexts. Although some contexts are innate, many are learned. We discuss a mathematical model of contexts which allows a context to split into several contexts, agglutinate from several contexts, or to constellate out of relatively acontextual processing. Finally, we consider the acontextual processing which occurs when the current context is no longer relevant, and may trigger the switch to another context or the formation of a new context. We relate this to the situation known as "breakdown" in phenomenology.
Bruce J. MacLennan
2001-05-29Z
2011-03-11T08:54:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1523
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1523
2001-05-29Z
Motor processes in mental rotation
Much indirect evidence supports the hypothesis that transformations of mental images are at least in part guided by motor processes, even in the case of images of abstract objects rather than of body parts. For example, rotation may be guided by processes that also prime one to see results of a specific motor action. We directly test the hypothesis by means of a dual-task paradigm in which subjects perform the Cooper-Shepard mental rotation task while executing an unseen motor rotation in a given direction and at a previously learned speed. Four results support the inference that mental rotation relies on motor processes. First, motor rotation that is compatible with mental rotation results in faster times and fewer errors in the imagery task than when the two rotations are incompatible. Second, the angle through which subjects rotate their mental images, and the angle through which they rotate a joystick handle are correlated, but only if the directions of the two rotations are compatible. Third, motor rotation modifies the classical inverted V-shaped mental rotation response time function, favoring the direction of the motor rotation; indeed, in some cases motor rotation even shifts the location of the minimum of this curve in the direction of the motor rotation. Fourth, the preceding effect is sensitive not only to the direction of the motor rotation, but also to the motor speed. A change in the speed of motor rotation can correspondingly slow down or speed up the mental rotation.
Mark Wexler
Stephen M. Kosslyn
Alain Berthoz
1998-05-06Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/32
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/32
1998-05-06Z
A Multivariate Quantitative-Genetic Analysis of Behavioral Development in Mice
The present experiment attempted a behavior-genetic dissection of early behavioral development in laboratory mice. To this end, we used a full, replicated diallel cross to uncover the genetical architecture as well as the multivariate genetic structure underlying early behavioral ontogeny. A number of standard sensory-motor tests were administered on postnatal days 3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 17, and 22 to a total of 622 pups from 120 litters (4-6 pups per litter) from a 4 times replicated complete diallel cross between five inbred mouse strains. The first day on which an animal showed adult performance was taken as its score on that test. MANOVA did not show any effects of the pup's sex on the speed of development. Hayman's analysis of variance for diallel tables indicated no or only weak additive-genetic effects. Dominance was absent in almost all cases, except for the auricular startle response, where weak directional dominance for fast development was found. These results are in accordance with an evolutionary past of directional selection for well-canalized development. Factor analyses of the phenotypic and additive-genetic correlation matrices indicate that at least two factors are necessary to describe the behavioral variation.
Wim E. Crusio
Andrea Schmitt
2000-08-02Z
2011-03-11T08:54:22Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/915
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/915
2000-08-02Z
Neural implementation of psychological spaces
Psychological spaces give natural framework for construction of mental representations. Neural model of psychological spaces provides a link between neuroscience and psychology. Categorization performed in high-dimensional spaces by dynamical associative memory models is approximated with low-dimensional feedforward neural models calculating probability density functions in psychological spaces. Applications to the human categorization experiments are discussed.
Wlodzislaw Duch
1998-11-14Z
2011-03-11T08:53:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/69
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/69
1998-11-14Z
Participation of Placental Opioid-Enhancing Factor in opioid-modulated events at parturition
Parturition in mammals occurs in the context of sensory, neurochemical, and endocrinological factors that are orchestrated and timed so that maternal behavior and the object of the behavior, the neonate, "emerge" almost simultaneously. Among the factors found to be important for the suppression of pain during delivery as well as for the emergence of caretaking behavior toward the young, are changes in endogenous opioid activity in the central nervous system. In most mammalian species, these changes are likely initiated by sensory events arising in the distended reproductive tract and abdominal musculature, and are modified by the parturitional endocrine milieu and substances ingested in amniotic fluid and placenta (e.g., Placental Opioid-Enhancing Factor, or POEF). In addition, ingestion of afterbirth material may decrease the probability that the vaginal/cervical sensory stimulation arising during delivery will trigger pseudopregnancy, a condition that decreases, if not eliminates, the likelihood of fertilization in the postpartum estrus. The research described herein primarily focuses on elucidating the manner in which POEF modulates opioid antinociception, and otherwise participates in opioid-mediated parturitional events.
M. B. Kristal
2000-07-11Z
2011-03-11T08:53:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/153
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/153
2000-07-11Z
Relative hand skill predicts academic ability: global deficits at the point of hemispheric indecision
Population variation in handedness (a correlate of cerebral dominance for language) is in part genetic and, it has been suggested, its persistence represents a balanced polymorphism with respect to cognitive ability. This hypothesis was tested in a sample of 12,770 individuals in a UK national cohort (the National Child Development Study) by assessing relative hand skill (in a square checking task) as a predictor of verbal, non-verbal, and mathematical ability and reading comprehension at the age of 11 years. Whereas some modest decrements were present in extreme right handers the most substantial deficits in ability were seen close to the point of equal hand skill (hemispheric indecision). For verbal ability females performed better than males, but the relationship to relative hand skill was closely similar for the two sexes; for reading comprehension males close to the point of equal hand skill showed greater impairments than females. Analysed by writing hand the relationship of ability to hand skill appeared symmetrical about the point of hemispheric indecision. The variation associated with degrees of dominance may reflect the operation of continuing selection on the gene (postulated to be X-Y linked) by which language evolved and speciation occurred.
T. J. Crow
L. R. Crow
D. J. Done
S. Leask
1998-04-03Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/14
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/14
1998-04-03Z
Stimulus predictability and the gap effect on pre-saccadic smooth pursuit
There is disagreement in the literature as to whether smooth pursuit latency is reduced when a temporal gap is introduced between the extinction of a central fixation target and the illumination of an eccentric moving target. This study confirms that in human subjectssmooth pursuit latency is reduced by gaps and that the magnitude of the reduction is related to the duration of the gap. However, latency is not solely determined either by visual factors or by task parameters such as spatial predictability, but is affected by task context. The results suggest a role for non-visual factors such as attention in the initiation of pursuit.
Paul C. Knox
1998-05-05Z
2011-03-11T08:54:10Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/655
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/655
1998-05-05Z
Motor processes in mental rotation
Much indirect evidence supports the hypothesis that transformations of mental images are at least in part guided by motor processes, even in the case of images of abstract objects rather than of body parts. For example, rotation may be guided by processes that also prime one to see results of a specific motor action. We directly test the hypothesis by means of a dual-task paradigm in which subjects perform the Cooper-Shepard mental rotation task while executing an unseen motor rotation in a given direction and at a previously learned speed. Four results support the inference that mental rotation relies on motor processes. First, motor rotation that is compatible with mental rotation results in faster times and fewer errors in the imagery task than when the two rotations are incompatible. Second, the angle through which subjects rotate their mental images, and the angle through which they rotate a joystick handle are correlated, but only if the directions of the two rotations are compatible. Third, motor rotation modifies the classical inverted V-shaped mental rotation response time function, favoring the direction of the motor rotation; indeed, in some cases motor rotation even shifts the location of the minimum of this curve in the direction of the motor rotation. Fourth, the preceding effect is sensitive not only to the direction of the motor rotation, but also to the motor speed. A change in the speed of motor rotation can correspondingly slow down or speed up the mental rotation.
Mark Wexler
Stephen M. Kosslyn
Alain Berthoz
1998-06-22Z
2011-03-11T08:53:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/49
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/49
1998-06-22Z
The Phase-Locking of Auditory Gamma Band Responses in Humans is Sensitive to Task Processing
The present study assessed the effects of stimulus task-relevance and certainty on early and late 40 Hz (gamma band) responses (GBRs) in humans. Auditory GBRs of nine young adults were recorded in passive listening, simple reaction task, and choice-reaction task (target probability = 0.5) conditions and evaluated in three consecutive post-stimulus periods (0-120, 120-250, 250-400 ms) corresponding to the serial occurrence of gamma oscillation bursts. Amplitude and phase-locking of GBRs within these bursts were analyzed separately at the level of single sweeps by applying a method that allows the independent quantification of between-sweep synchronization. Major results showed that the effects of stimulus certainty and task-relevance on single-response amplitude were specific and different from the effects on the phase-locking. Also, the functional involvement of the early and late auditory gamma responses was distinct: early auditory gamma band responses appear primarily associated with focused attention, while the late gamma responses vary with motor-task relevance. It is concluded that along with power measures, the stability of phase-locking of gamma band responses should be regarded as a functionally meaningful parameter that varies with processing demands and recording site.
Juliana Yordanova
Vasil Kolev
Demiralp Tamer
1998-08-04Z
2011-03-11T08:53:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/55
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/55
1998-08-04Z
Developmental changes in the event-related EEG theta response and P300
Event-related potentials (ERPs) from 50 children (6 to 11 years) and ten adults were elicited by auditory passive, and by rare target and frequent nontarget stimuli, and analyzed in the time and frequency domains. The latency of the maximal theta response (or the theta frequency component of the ERP) was evaluated with respect to age and scalp topography effects. The major findings were: (1) The latency of the maximal theta response decreased with increasing age in children, although for each stimulus type and location adults had shorter latencies than the children. (2) The developmental time course of latency reduction depended on the electrode location, with the most prominent reduction occurring at 8 years at Cz, and no differences between children groups obtained for the frontal site. (3) Maximal theta response latency was strongly associated with the latency of the late parietal P400-700 (P3b) component in children. The results suggest that the developmental latency decrease in P300 processes originate from a decrease in the preceding theta-related processes and may reflect a speeding of cognitive stimulus evaluation.
Juliana Yordanova
Vasil Kolev
1998-06-22Z
2011-03-11T08:53:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/48
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/48
1998-06-22Z
Time-Frequency Analysis Reveals Multiple Functional Components During Oddball P300
A time-frequency decomposition was applied to rare target and frequent non-target event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited in an oddball condition to assess whether multiple functional components occur in the P300 latency range. The wavelet transform (WT) was used because it allows capture of simultaneous or partly overlapping components in ERPs without loosing their temporal relationships. The application of a four-octave quadratic B-spline wavelet transform at the level of single-sweep data allowed us to obtain new information and revealed the presence of separate events during P300 development. Several delta, theta, and alpha frequency components in the P300 latency range differed between target and non-target processing. These findings indicate that P300 is composed of multiple functional components and that the WT method is of use for the study of P300 functional correlates more precisely.
Vasil Kolev
Tamer Demiralp
Juliana Yordanova
Ahmet Ademoglu
Ümmühan Isoglu-Alkaç
2000-07-10Z
2011-03-11T08:53:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/151
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/151
2000-07-10Z
Brain asymmetry and facial attractiveness: Facial beauty is not simply in the eye of the beholder.
We recently reported finding asymmetry in the appearance of beauty on the face [39]. Here we investigated whether facial beauty is a stable characteristic (on the owner's very face) or is in the perceptual space of the observer. We call the question 'the owner versus observer hypothesis'. We compared identity judgements and attractiveness ratings of observers. Subjects viewed left-left and right-right composites of faces and decided which most resembled the normal face (Experiment 1). Identity judgements (resemblance) are known to be associated with perceptual factors in the observer. Another group viewed the same normal faces and rated them on attractiveness (Experiment 2). In each experiment there were two separate viewing conditions, original and reversed (mirror-image). Lateral reversal did affect the results of Experiment 1 (confirming previous findings [3,18]) but did not affect the results of Experiment 2. The fact that lateral reversal did not affect the results of Experiment 2 suggests that facial attractiveness is more dependent on physiognomy (of the owner) and less dependent on an asymmetrical perceptual process (in the observer) than is facial identity. The results are discussed in the context of beautys biological significance and facial processing in the brain.
Audrey C. Chen
Craig German
Dahlia W. Zaidel
2010-07-29T01:47:16Z
2011-03-11T08:57:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6891
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6891
2010-07-29T01:47:16Z
Age and interhemispheric transfer time: A failure to replicate.
In a recent study with the Poffenberger paradigm, Brizzolara et al. reported longer estimates of interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) for children aged 7 years than for adults. They interpreted this finding as evidence for incomplete functional maturity of the corpus callosum in young children. The present study was we were unable to replicate the age effect reported by Brizzolara et al. A closer look at the original study revealed that only 80 observations per child had been collected, which makes it probable that the larger IHTTs in 7-year-olds were caused by stimulus-response compatibility rather than by the lower efficiency of the corpus callosum during childhood years.
E. Ratinckx
M. Brysbaert
marc.brysbaert@ugent.be
G. d'Ydewalle
2008-11-02T10:00:17Z
2011-03-11T08:57:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6248
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6248
2008-11-02T10:00:17Z
The Analgesia-Enhancing Component of
Ingested Amniotic Fluid Does Not Affect
Nicotine-Induced Antinociception in
Naltrexone-Treated Rats
Ingestion of amniotic fluid and placenta by rats has been shown to enhance opioid-mediated antinociception but not affect the nonopioid-mediated antinociception produced by aspirin, suggesting spccificity for opioid-mediated processes. However, enhancement by the active substance(s) in amniotic fluid and placenta1 (POEF, for placental opioid-enhancing factor) of antinociception produced by other nonopioid mechanisms has yet to be examined. The present experiments tested whether ingestion of amniotic fluid enhances the antinociception produced by nicotine injection. In Experiment IA, Enhancement of morphine-mediated antinociception by ingestion of amniotic fluid was demonstrated in a hot-plate assay. In Experiment IB, rats pretreated with naltrexone were given an orogastric infusion of amniotic fluid or control (0.25 ml), then injected with nicotine (0, 0.075, 0.125, or 0.225 mg/kg subcutaneously), then tested for antinociception in a hot-plate assay. Amniotic fluid ingestion did not enhance the antinociception produced by various doses of nicotine. In Experiment 2, rats pretreated with naltrexone were given an orogastric infusion of amniotic fluid (0, 0.125,
0.25, or 0.50 ml) and then injectcd with 0.125 mg/kg nicotine. None of the doses of amniotic fluid enhanced the nicotine-induced antinociception. The findings of these experiments lend support to our contention that the enhancement by POEF of antinociception is specific to opioid-mediated processes.
T.M. ROBINSON-VANDERWERF
Jean M. DiPirro
Dr. A.R. Caggiula
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
1998-08-03Z
2011-03-11T08:53:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/54
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/54
1998-08-03Z
Developmental changes in the theta response system: a single-sweep analysis
Recently, increased interest was focused on the EEG frequency responses in the theta (4-7 Hz) range because of their association with stimulus information processing. However, it is not known whether the event-related theta response depends on the development of the spontaneous theta activity and how it varies with age in children. In the present study, a single-sweep analysis was applied to assess the developmental changes in the event-related EEG theta activity. Auditory passive, oddball target, and standard event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded at Fz, Cz, and Pz from 50 children aged 6-11 years and 10 young adults. Theta responses were analyzed in two time windows of the post-stimulus epochs for three single-sweep parameters: amplitude, phase-locking with stimulus, and enhancement relative to prestimulus activity. For all three types of stimuli adults had theta responses with lower amplitude, higher enhancement, and stronger phase-locking than those of children. Unlike adults, no reliable differences between the early and late theta response were found for children. Significant developmental changes were observed for theta response amplitude that decreased and phase-locking of early theta responses that increased with advancing age. These findings indicate that the theta component of the auditory ERP differs remarkably between children and adults and undergoes developmental alterations, possibly reflecting specific differences in stimulus information processing.
Juliana Yordanova
Vasil Kolev
2013-05-04T23:21:53Z
2013-05-04T23:21:53Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8953
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8953
2013-05-04T23:21:53Z
Differential Behavioral Responses to
Cocaethylene of Long-Evans and
Sprague-Dawley Rats: Role of Serotonin
Cocaethylene is a neuroactive metabolite derived from the concurrent consumption of cocaine and ethanol. The effects of cocaethylene on locomotor activity, stereotypy, and rearing in Long-Evans and Sprague-Dawley rats were compared.A single cocaine injection (molar equivalent of 60 μmol/kg cocaethylene, intraperitoneal) elicited a robust series of motor output behaviors, including locomotion, stereotypy, and rearing over a 30-minute testing period in Long-Evans rats. In contrast, cocaethylene administration,
under comparable testing conditions, produced no significant changes in locomotor and investigatory behaviors. Because cocaethylene has relatively little impact on serotonin (5-HT) reuptake as opposed to reuptake of dopamine, we pretreated Long-Evans rats with fluoxetine (10 mg/kg; IP), a selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitor. Fluoxetine profoundly augmented cocaethylene-stimulated behaviors in this rat phenotype. To examine whether other rat strains exhibit a similar response to cocaethylene, Sprague-Dawley rats were injected (IP) with cocaethylene and their behavior patterns monitored over a 30-minute testing period. Cocaethylene produced marked locomotor and exploratory behaviors in this strain, suggesting therefore that Long-Evans and Sprague-
Dawley rats differ in their response to cocaethylene. To relate these behavioral differences to possible structural differences in the neuronal density of dopaminergic or
serotonergic neurons, Long-Evans and Sprague-Dawley brains were evaluated for tyrosine hydroxylase and 5-HT immunocytochemistry. No gross morphological differences
in neuronal architecture or density were found in the ventral tegmental area or dorsal raphe nucleus of the two rat phenotypes. These results indicate that two commonly used rat strains show a differential response to cocaethylene and the neurochemical basis for this behavioral difference may be related to synaptic 5-HT bioavailability.
Dr. J.M. Horowitz
Dr. M.B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
Dr. G. Torres
2013-05-04T23:21:37Z
2013-05-04T23:21:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8952
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8952
2013-05-04T23:21:37Z
Dopaminergic, glutamatergic but not opioidergic mechanisms mediate induction of FOS-like protein by cocaethylene
Cocaethylene is a psychoactive metabolite formed
during the combined consumption of cocaine and ethanol. As
this metabolite has many properties in common with cocaine, it is conceivable that cocaethylene administration may induce the activity of nuclear transcription factors that regulate the expression of late-response genes. Therefore, the temporal induction of FOS-like protein in rat brain was examined following IP administration of 60 mmol/kg cocaethylene. Immunoreactivity for the protein was detectable at 1 h in striatal neurons and had virtually disappeared 6 h after drug treatment. Administration of
specific dopaminergic (SCH-23390; 0.5 mg/kg) and glutamatergic (MK-801; 1 mg/kg) receptor antagonists prior to cocaethylene indicated a significant role for dopamine (D1) and Nmethyl-D-aspartate receptor subtypes in mediating the nuclear induction of the aforementioned transcription factor protein. In contrast, no significant effects on FOS-like protein in discrete neurons of the caudate putamen were found when spiradoline (U-62066), a kappa opioid-receptor agonist, was administered either IP (10 mg/kg) or directly (50 nmol) into the brain parenchyma. In addition, we uncovered a differential sensitivity of Long–Evans rats to the behavioral effects of cocaethylene, with the psychoactive metabolite producing significantly less behavioral activity (e.g., locomotion, rearing, and continuous sniffing)than that produced by cocaine (molar equivalent of 60 mmol/kg cocaethylene). These findings indicate both common and disparate effects of cocaethylene and its parent compound, cocaine, on receptor pathways that regulate target alterations in gene expression and drug-induced motor behavior.
Dr. J.M. Horowitz
Dr. J.M. DiPirro
Dr. M.B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
Dr. G. Torres
1998-05-06Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/28
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/28
1998-05-06Z
The hunting of the hippocampal function
The present theory suffers from a lack of ecological validation. It is not at all clear why the hypothesized faculties would have evolved and what would be their adaptive value. I argue that hippocampal function can only be understood if the animal is seen in its natural context.
Wim E. Crusio
1998-03-06Z
2011-03-11T08:53:36Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1
1998-03-06Z
Neural Basis of Utility Estimation
The allocation of behavior among competing activities and goal objects depends on the payoffs they provide.Payoff is evaluated among multiple dimensions including intensity, rate, delay, and kind. Recent findings suggest that by triggering a stream of action potentials in myelinated, medial forebrain bundle axons, rewarding electrical brain stimulation delivers a meaningful intensity signal to the process that computes payoff.
Peter Shizgal
2000-01-21Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/127
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/127
2000-01-21Z
Neuroethology of Zooplankton
Whereas the neural analysis of behavior of planktonic species and stages has been relatively neglected, we have many clues that it is going to be rich, diverse and interesting. The aims of this contribution are to defend that statement, with selected examples, and to suggest that neural analysis, particularly sensory physiology, has great explanatory power of ecologically significant behavior. I have to begin with a personal note about plankton, recalling the lasting impression made long ago by a film on invertebrates in the Arctic where scyphomedusan jellyfish were pulsing at a rate well within the range familiar in summer temperate waters, warmer by 20º C. I must have been influenced by this observation and my own experiences in a study of the neural basis of fluctuations in the rate of pulsation of medusae (Bullock 1943), some of which was made in December 1941 in Pensacola, where my wife and I collected Rhopilema cruising at random in the Sound, stopped now and then by Army bridge guards concerned about saboteurs in that first fortnight after Pearl Harbor. At any rate, by the early fifties about half of my laboratory group was devoted to the physiological ecology of temperature acclimation in marine invertebrates. That field, which I left in the early sixties, still offers a challenge in the ecologically fundamental question of why some species are able to acclimate much more than others. The proposal I made in 1955, that different rates in the same organism acclimate to different degrees, resulting in greater disharmony in some species than others, may still be viable and most likely applies to rate processes in sensory and central nervous functions, among others. Medusae are large animals, relatively, although generally treated as planktonic. The first reaction from most workers when neurophysiology of plankton is mentioned concerns their small size or gelatinous nature. The first message I bring is not new but also not widely appreciated.
T.H. Bullock
1998-05-06Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/29
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/29
1998-05-06Z
Neuropsychological inference using a microphrenological approach does not need a locality assumption
Farah's (1994) target article provides an admirable overview of the problems connected with the use of the locality assumption, one that more or less equalizes the function of a lesioned structure with the defects exhibited by the damaged brain and is almost always invoked to interpret the results of lesion studies. In an elegant way, Farah provides evidence that this reasoning may lead to false conclusions. Besides convincing, her treatment is also constructive, in that she provides alternative hypotheses that may explain the data.
Wim E. Crusio
1998-08-27Z
2011-03-11T08:53:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/63
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/63
1998-08-27Z
A paradigmatic working memory (attractor) cell in it cortex
We discuss paradigmatic properties of activity of single cells comprising an attractor -- a developed stable delay activity distribution. To demonstrate these properties and a methodology for measuring their values, we present a detailed account of the spike activity recorded from one single cell in infero-temporal (IT) cortex of a monkey performing a delayed match-to-sample (DMS) task of visual images. In particular, we discuss and exemplify: 1. the relation between spontaneous activity and activity immediately preceding the first stimulus in each trial during a series of DMS trials; 2. the effect on the visual response (i.e. activity {\bf during} stimulation) of stimulus degradation (moving in the space of IT afferents); 3. the behaviour of the delay activity (i.e. activity {\bf following} visual stimulation) under stimulus degradation (attractor dynamics, and the basin of attraction); and, 4. the propagation of information between trials -- the vehicle for the formation of (contextual) correlations by learning a fixed stimulus sequence, as found in Miyashita 1988. In the process of the discussion and demonstration, we expose effective tools for the identification and characterisation of attractor dynamics.
Daniel J. Amit
Stefano Fusi
Volodya Yakovlev
2000-12-08Z
2011-03-11T08:54:27Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1143
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1143
2000-12-08Z
The problems of inattention: methods and interpretations. (Editorial)
None
R. D. OADES
G. SARTORY
1999-07-26Z
2011-03-11T08:53:40Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/113
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/113
1999-07-26Z
Signals and signs in the nervous system: The dynamic anatomy of electrical activity
The dichotomy between two groups of workers on neuroelectrical activity is retarding progress. To study the interrelations between neuronal unit spike activity and compound field potentials of cell populations is both unfashionable and technically challenging. Neither of the mutual disparagements is justified: that spikes are to higher functions as the alphabet is to Shakespeare and that slow field potentials are irrelevant epiphenomena. Spikes are not the basis of the neural code but of multiple codes that coexist with nonspike codes. Field potentials are mainly information-rich signs of underlying processes, but sometimes also signals for neighboring cells, that is, exert influence. This paper concerns opportunities for new research with many channels of wideband (spike and slow wave) recording. A wealth of structure in time and 3-dimensional space, is different at each scale, micro-, meso- and macroactivity. The depth of our ignorance is emphasized to underline the opportunities for uncovering new principles. We cannot currently estimate the relative importance of spikes and synaptic communication vs extrasynaptic, graded signals. In spite of a preponderance of literature on the former, we must consider the latter as probably important. We are in a primitive stage of looking at the time series of wideband voltages in the compound, local field potentials and of choosing descriptors that discriminate appropriately among brain loci, states (functions), stages (ontogeny, senescence) and taxa (evolution). This is not surprising since the brains in higher species are surely the most complex systems known. They must be the greatest reservoir of new discoveries in nature. The complexity should not deter us but a dose of humility can stimulate the imaginative juices.
T.H. Bullock
1998-05-15Z
2011-03-11T08:53:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/37
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/37
1998-05-15Z
Sparse Coding of Faces in a Neuronal Model: Interpreting Cell Population Response in Object Recognition.
Response to faces as measured by cell discharge in the temporal cortex of monkeys suggests a sparse cell-population coding of complex visual stimuli. The prevailing view assumes that a sparse population code requires the joint contribution of a relatively small group of cells (a neuronal ensemble) for effective coding and recognition. This assumption is based primarily on the consistent observation that single cells in the temporal cortex are broadly tuned rather than narrowly tuned to individual faces. It has been argued that the joint activity of a relatively small number of broadly tuned cells, each responsive to a different constituent feature of a face, could form an ensemble code selective enough to distinguish individual faces. In the present study, schematic faces were presented as stimuli to a model neuronal system for visual pattern learning and recognition. This model effectively codes individual faces by means of competitive activity among single cells during recognition instead of by ensemble coding. The computer simulation permitted an analysis of the activity profiles of all tuned cells during learning and recognition of the faces. All cells were found to be broadly tuned even though coding was mediated by the discrete output of single cells on a competitive basis in a sparse neuronal population rather than by the joint activity of a group of cells. The results show that the observation of broad tuning of cells in temporal cortex under typical experimental conditions does not warrant the conclusion that neuronal ensembles are required for the coding of individual faces. Suggestions are made for changes in the design of experiments to better test hypotheses about the coding of faces (or any other complex visual patterns).
Arnold Trehub
1998-08-12Z
2011-03-11T08:53:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/58
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/58
1998-08-12Z
On the neural computation of utility
The rewarding effect produced by electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus can compete and summate with gustatory rewards. However, physiological manipulations, such as sodium depletion and the accumulation of an energy-rich solution in the gut, can alter the rewarding impact of the gustatory stimuli without producing substantial changes in the rewarding effect of the electrical stimulation. On the basis of their competition and summation, it is argued that the artificial and natural rewards are evaluated in a common currency, represented in an aggregate firing-rate code. Such a code would make it possible for the synchronous, spatially contiguous pattern of neural firing induced by the electrode to simulate a signal normally produced by asynchronous, spatially distributed activity. It is suggested that a unidimensional code of this sort is employed to represent the utility of a goal object. In order for physiological feedback to alter the utility of one natural reward, such as sucrose, without changing the utility of a second natural reward, such as a salt solution, the physiological feedback signals must enter into the computation of utility at a stage of processing in which the representations of the two natural rewards are distinct. However, orderly choice between such rewards implies that their utilities are expressed ultimately in a common neural currency. That physiological feedback alters the rewarding effects of the gustatory stimuli suggests that the physiological feedback signals modulate the value of such natural stimuli at a stage of processing prior to their translation into a common currency. In contrast, physiological feedback would fail to alter the rewarding effect of the electrical stimulation if the electrically evoked signal is injected at a later stage processing, a stage in which different rewards are represented in a common currency. In this view, the signal injected by the electrical stimulation mimics the utility of a natural stimulus but not its sensory quality.
Peter Shizgal
Kent Conover
1998-08-06Z
2011-03-11T08:53:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/56
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/56
1998-08-06Z
Binding - a proposed experiment and a model
The binding problem is regarded as one of today's key questions about brain function. Several solutions have been proposed, yet the issue is still controversial. The goal of this article is twofold. Firstly, we propose a new experimental paradigm requiring feature binding, the delayed binding response task. Secondly, we propose a binding mechanism employing fast reversible synaptic plasticity to express the binding between concepts. We discuss the experimental predictions of our model for the delayed binding response task.
Jochen Triesch
Christoph von der Malsburg
2000-08-02Z
2011-03-11T08:54:22Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/914
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/914
2000-08-02Z
Computational physics of the mind
In the XIX century and earlier such physicists as Newton, Mayer, Hooke, Helmholtz and Mach were actively engaged in the research on psychophysics, trying to relate psychological sensations to intensities of physical stimuli. Computational physics allows to simulate complex neural processes giving a chance to answer not only the original psychophysical questions but also to create models of mind. In this paper several approaches relevant to modeling of mind are outlined. Since direct modeling of the brain functions is rather limited due to the complexity of such models a number of approximations is introduced. The path from the brain, or computational neurosciences, to the mind, or cognitive sciences, is sketched, with emphasis on higher cognitive functions such as memory and consciousness. No fundamental problems in understanding of the mind seem to arise. From computational point of view realistic models require massively parallel architectures.
Wlodzislaw Duch
1998-02-12Z
2011-03-11T08:54:06Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/596
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/596
1998-02-12Z
Consciousness and the "Causal Paradox"
Viewed from a first-person perspective consciousness appears to be necessary for complex, novel human activity - but viewed from a third-person perspective consciousness appears to play no role in the activity of brains, producing a "causal paradox". To resolve this paradox one needs to distinguish consciousness of processing from consciousness accompanying processing or causing processing. Accounts of consciousness/brain causal interactions switch between first- and third-person perspectives. However, epistemically, the differences between first- and third-person access are fundamental. First- and third-person accounts are complementary and mutually irreducible.
Max Velmans
1998-05-07Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/36
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/36
1998-05-07Z
Gene targeting studies: New methods, old problems
Techniques to create transgenic organisms or animals with targeted mutations ('knock-out' mutants) have become increasingly important tools in the neurosciences over the last few years. As always, new techniques, besides providing new tools to investigate problems or to test hypotheses, also give rise to unforeseen difficulties and it takes some time for researchers to become aware of this. Gene targeting techniques provide no exception and Gerlai's1 alert is very timely indeed. The complications described by Gerlai are, not very surprisingly, strongly reminiscent of those encountered in the study of spontaneous mutations in the mouse. In that field congenic strains have been used since many years2. Congenic strains are obtained by repeatedly backcrossing a mutant to an inbred strain. If we now consider the possible complications that may be encountered with this approach we may, in fact, distinguish two rather different types of 'background' effects. As I will show in the following, the distinction between the two is crucial.
Wim E. Crusio
2009-01-05T23:58:11Z
2011-03-11T08:57:17Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6311
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6311
2009-01-05T23:58:11Z
Opioid stimulation in the ventral tegmental area facilitates the onset of maternal behavior in rats
This research investigated the effect of an increase or decrease in opioid activity in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) on the onset of maternal behavior in rats. In Experiment 1, the latency to show maternal behavior toward foster rat pups (sensitization latency) was determined in maternally naive female rats given either nothing or a unilateral intra-VTA injection of morphine sulfate (MS) (0.0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.1 or 0.3 µg), on the first three days of a 10-day period of constant exposure to pups. Rats treated with 0.03 µg MS had significantly shorter sensitization latencies than did rats treated with 0.0 µg MS, 0.01 µg MS, or receiving no treatment (higher doses of morphine produced intermediate results). The facilitating effect of intra-VTA MS on the onset of maternal behavior was blocked by pretreatment with naltrexone hydrochloride and was found to have a specific site of action in the VTA (MS injections dorsal to the VTA were ineffective). In Experiment 2, sensitization latencies were determined in periparturitional rats given a bilateral intra-VTA injection of either the opioid antagonist naltrexone methobromide (quaternary naltrexone), its vehicle, a sham injection, or left untreated 40 min after delivery of the last pup. The mothers' own pups were removed at delivery; mothers were nonmaternal at the time of testing. Quaternary naltrexone treatment produced significantly slower sensitization to foster pups than did control conditions. Total activity and pup-directed activity did not differ significantly with treatment. The results demonstrate that increased opioid activity in the VTA facilitates the onset of maternal behavior in inexperienced nonpregnant female rats, and decreased opioid activity in the VTA disrupts the rapid onset of maternal behavior at parturition.
Alexis C. Thompson
Mark B. Kristal
1998-05-07Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/35
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/35
1998-05-07Z
Prenatal Effects of Parity on Behavioral Ontogeny in Mice
In mice, parity and previous experience with pups may influence a mother's behavior towards her pups, thus possibly causing postnatal maternal effects on the subsequent development of the pups. The present experiment addressed the question whether parity also might have prenatal effects. We studied 622 pups from second or third litters that originated from 25 genetically different populations and had been fostered to random-bred lactating females. Development of responses was significantly delayed in mice from third litters, when compared to pups from second litters in 3 out of 5 sensorial and 4 out of 8 motor tests. In addition, pups from second litters initially were slightly heavier than those from third litters. This difference in body weight disappeared after the 10th day postnatally. However, it should be noted that effect sizes were quite small.
Wim E. Crusio
Andrea Schmitt
2000-01-24Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/130
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/130
2000-01-24Z
Theodore Holmes Bullock
They tell me I was born on a sunny Sunday in May in Nanking, China, in 1915. I was the second of four children of Presbyterian missionary parents, Amasa Archibald Bullock and Ruth Beckwith, who had come to China in 1909, honeymooning on the way for six months in Europe and India. Several years before, father had answered a call for western teachers, published by the Empress; he spent a contract year in Chengtu, in western Szechuan, teaching chemistry, his major subject at U.C. Berkeley. He fell in love with the people, their eagerness to listen, and their respect for learning. Seeing a niche that called him, in the scattered experiments with western style education, especially teacher training, he returned to the states to take a master's degree in education at Chicago and then advanced work in psychology with Thorndike at Columbia. His college roommate's sister was preparing to be a missionary in Hartford Theological Seminary and they had corresponded but not met before he came to visit and in four days secured her assent to return with him and spend a life in China. He joined the faculty of the University of Nanking to start its normal school and, among other activities, its program in agriculture. The still extant guest book of our home shows the signatures of Sun Yat Sun, then President of China, and several members of his cabinet.
T.H. Bullock
2008-11-02T10:00:39Z
2011-03-11T08:57:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6246
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6246
2008-11-02T10:00:39Z
Blockade of Digestion by Famotidine
Pretreatment Does Not Interfere With the Opioid-Enhancing
Effect of Ingested Amniotic Fluid
Ingestion of placenta or amniotic fluid by rats has been shown to enhance ongoing opioid-mediated antinociception, but does not, by itself, produce antinociception. This enhancement is produced by an active substance(s) in placenta and amniotic fluid that we have termed POEF for placental opioid-enhancing factor. Previous research has shown that enhancement requires mediation by the gastrointestinal system: gastric vagotomy blocks enhancement produced by ingested placenta; amniotic fluid injected SC or IP does not produce enhancement. The present study was designed to distinguish between two possible explanations for the blockade of the POEF effect produced by gastric vagotomy: that afferent information arising in vagal gastric receptors conveys the critical information to the CNS, or that disruption of vagal efferent action on digestion blocks the manufacture or activation of the POEF molecule in the gut. Famotidine is an H2-histamine receptor antagonist that reduces gastric acid and pepsin secretion to an extent at least as great as gastric vagotomy. Rats treated with either famotidine or a vehicle were fed placenta or a control substance, then stimulated with vaginal/cervical probing to produce antinociception that is partly opioid mediated. Famotidine did not block POEF enhancement of vaginal/cervical stimulation-induced analgesia in a tail flick latency test. These results suggest that enhancement by POEF does not require normal digestive processes or other processes inhibited by famotidine.
T.M. Robinson
Patricia Abbott
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
1998-11-14Z
2011-03-11T08:53:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/68
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/68
1998-11-14Z
Ingestion of amniotic fluid by postpartum rats enhances morphine antinociception without liability to maternal behavior
Ingestion of amniotic fluid or placenta by rats has been shown to enhance opioid-mediated analgesia induced by morphine injection, foot shock, vaginal/cervical stimulation, or late pregnancy. The present study was designed to determine whether this mechanism might be a means of providing greater analgesia during the periparturitional period without contributing to the disruption of maternal behavior (measured primarily as retrieval) that can result from excessive opioid levels. Postpartum primiparous rats, injected with either 2 or 3 mg/kg morphine sulfate or vehicle and given orogastric infusions of either amniotic fluid or saline, were tested for maternal behavior. Pain threshold (determined by tail-flick latency test) in rats injected with 2 mg/kg morphine and infused with amniotic fluid was elevated to a level that did not differ significantly from that of a separate group of rats injected with 3 mg/kg morphine and infused with saline. This enhanced analgesia was not, however, accompanied by the significant disruption of maternal behavior found among the rats receiving the higher morphine dose.
J. A. Tarapacki
M. Piech
M. B. Kristal
1998-05-07Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/34
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/34
1998-05-07Z
Natural Selection on Hippocampal Circuitry Underlying Exploratory Behaviour in Mice: Quantitative-Genetic Analysis
Behaviour is an animal's way of interacting with its environment and it is therefore a prime target for natural selection. As behaviour is the output of an animal's nervous system, this indirectly leads to selection pressures on neuronal structures. In consequence, each species' behaviour and nervous system have co-evolved in the context of its natural habitat and can be properly comprehended only when their interrelationships are regarded against that background [7]. This notion implies that to arrive at a profound understanding of neurobehavioral traits, one will have to consider problems of causation. Van Abeelen [59] distinguished between the phenogenetic and the phylogenetic aspects of causation. Both concern the genetic correlates of neurobehavioral traits, the first in a gene-physiological, the latter in an evolutionary sense. Stated otherwise, neurobehavioral geneticists attempt to uncover the physiological pathways underlying the expression of a trait and to provide an answer to the question of what exactly is the adaptive value of this trait for the organism. As I have argued before [12, 13], quantitative-genetic methods may be employed with profit to address problems related to both aspects of causation. As an illustration of this research strategy, I present here the results of some experiments concerning mouse exploratory behaviour and hippocampal neuroanatomy.
Wim E. Crusio
2000-03-28Z
2011-03-11T08:53:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/185
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/185
2000-03-28Z
She is not a beauty even when she smiles: Possible evolutionary basis for a relationship between facial attractiveness and hemispheric specialization
The asymmetrical status of facial beauty has rarely been investigated. We studied positive facial characteristics, attractiveness and smiling, through the use of left-left and right-right composites of unfamiliar faces of women and men with natural expressions. Results showed that women's right-right composites were judged significantly more attractive than left-left composites while there was no left-right difference in men's composites (Experiment 1). On the other hand, left-left composites were judged to have more pronounced smiling expressions than right-right composites in both women's and men's faces (Experiment 2). The results confirm previous findings for leftward facial expressiveness and show for the first time asymmetry in facial attractiveness and a difference in its manifestation in women's and men's faces. The findings have biological implications for the relationship between the appearance of the sides of the face and hemispheric specialization. The organization of beauty in the human face may have been shaped by evolutionary pressures on facial asymmetries, especially as they pertain to mate selection.
Dahlia. W. Zaidel
Audrey Chen
Craig German
2003-10-14Z
2011-03-11T08:55:22Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3214
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3214
2003-10-14Z
The emergence of intelligence
Language, foresight, musical skills and other hallmarks of intelligence are connected through an underlying facility that enhances rapid movements. Creativity may result from a Darwinian contest within the brain.
William H Calvin
2004-04-07Z
2011-03-11T08:55:30Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3528
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3528
2004-04-07Z
Behavioral estimates of interhemispheric transmission time and the signal detection method: A reappraisal
On the basis of a review of the literature, Bashore (1981) concluded that only simple reaction time experiments with manual responses yielded consistent behavioral estimates of interhemispheric transmission time. A closer look at the data, however, revealed that these experiments were the only ones in which large numbers of observations were invariably obtained from many subjects. To investigate whether the methodological flaw was the origin of Bashore’s conclusion, two experiments were run in which subjects had to react to lateralized light flashes. The first experiment dealt with manual reactions, the second with verbal reactions. Each experiment included a condition without catch trials (i.e., simple reaction time) and two conditions with catch trials. Catch trials were trials in which no stimulus was given and in which the response was to be withheld. Both experiments returned consistent estimates of interhemispheric transmission time in the range of 2–3 msec. No differences were found between the simple reaction time condition and the signal detection conditions with catch trials. Data were analyzed according to the variable criterion theory. This showed that the effect of catch trials, as well as the effect of interhemispheric transmission, was situated at the height of the detection criterion, and not in the rate of the information transmission.
Marc Brysbaert
2003-11-27Z
2011-03-11T08:55:24Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3286
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3286
2003-11-27Z
Motor theory of language origin: The diversity of languages
The motor theory proposes that the complex semantic, syntactic and phonetic
structures of language developed from a pre-existing complex system, more
specifically the pre-existing motor system. Language thus emerged as an external
physical expression of the neural basis for movement control. Features which
made a wide range of skilled actions possible -- a set of elementary motor
subprograms together with rules, expressed in neural organisation, for combining
subprograms into extended action-sequences -- were transferred to form a
parallel set of programs and rules for speech and language. The already
established integration of motor control with perceptual organisation led
directly to a systematic relation between language and the externally-perceived
world. But if language originated in the establishment of new brain connections
between the organisation of motor control and perception on the one hand and the
neural and physiological systems involved in language on the other, how is it
that as far back as can be traced there has been a multiplicity of different
languages, with different phonological systems, different lexicons and different
grammatical (syntactic and morphological) structures? Because of these
differences, de Saussure, Bloomfield and most linguists have concluded, or
assumed, that languages must be arbitary constructs, certainly as regards their
lexicons, and that there can be no direct relation between the sound-structures
of languages and the external world. The paper examines ways in which a
reconciliation can be made between the hypothesis of a biological (physiological
and neurological) process of language evolution and the observed diversity of
languages.
Robin Michael Allott
1998-05-07Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/33
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/33
1998-05-07Z
Bi- and Multivariate Analyses of Diallel Crosses: A Tool for the Genetic Dissection of Neurobehavioral Phenotypes
The genetic-correlational approach provides a very powerful tool for the analysis of causal relationships between phenotypes. It appears to be particularly appropriate for investigating the functional organization of behavior and/or of causal relationships between brain and behavior. A method for the bivariate analysis of diallel crosses that permits the estimation of correlations due to environmental effects, additive-genetic effects, and/or dominance deviations is described, together with a worked-out example stemming from a five times replicated 4 x 4 diallel cross between inbred mouse strains. The phenotypes chosen to illustrate the analysis were locomotor activity and rearing frequency in an open field. Large, positive additive-genetic and dominance correlations between these two phenotypes were obtained. This finding was replicated in another, independently-executed, diallel cross.
Wim E. Crusio
1998-02-12Z
2011-03-11T08:54:06Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/595
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/595
1998-02-12Z
Consciousness, Causality and Complementarity
Abstract of 1991 target article: Investigations of the function of consciousness in human information processing have focused mainly on two questions: (1) where does consciousness enter into the information processing sequence and (2) how does conscious processing differ from preconscious and unconscious processing. Input analysis is thought to be initially "preconscious," "pre-attentive," fast, involuntary, and automatic. This is followed by "conscious," "focal-attentive" analysis which is relatively slow, voluntary, and flexible. It is thought that simple, familiar stimuli can be identified preconsciously, but conscious processing is needed to identify complex, novel stimuli. Conscious processing has also been thought to be necessary for choice, learning and memory, and the organization of complex, novel responses, particularly those requiring planning, reflection, or creativity. The present target article reviews evidence that consciousness performs none of these functions. Consciousness nearly always results from focal-attentive processing (as a form of output) but does not itself enter into this or any other form of human information processing. This suggests that the term "conscious process" needs re-examination. Consciousness appears to be necessary in a variety of tasks because they require focal-attentive processing; if consciousness is absent, focal-attentive processing is absent. From a first-person perspective, however, conscious states are causally effective. First-person accounts are complementary to third-person accounts. Although they can be translated into third-person accounts, they cannot be reduced to them.
Max Velmans
1998-05-06Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/26
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/26
1998-05-06Z
Genetic Analysis of Isolation-Induced Aggression. II. Postnatal Environmental Influences in AB Mice
Recently, we reported on two closely-related inbred mouse strains, ABG and AB//Halle, that display extreme differences in isolation-induced intermale aggression. In the present article we investigated the influence of both maternal and social postnatal environmental influences. No effects were found of the postnatal maternal environment. Likewise, whether animals after weaning were housed together in same-strain or mixed-strain groups did not influence their subsequent aggressive behavior. We conclude that the aggressive behavior of ABG and AB//Halle is rather robust with regard to postnatal environmental modification and that the difference between the two strains is most likely due to only few genetic factors.
Hans-Jurgen Hoffman
Regine Schneider
Wim E Crusio
1998-05-06Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/27
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/27
1998-05-06Z
Genetic Analysis of Isolation-induced Aggression. III. Classical Cross-breeding Analysis of Differences Between Two Closely-Related Inbred Mouse Strains
In two preceding papers we reported on two closely-related inbred mouse strains, ABG and AB//Halle that display very large differences in isolation-induced intermale aggression. In the present article we investigated animals from a complete Mendelian cross between these strains to test the hypothesis that the behavioral difference is due to genetic variation at only few loci, possibly just one. In the quantitative-genetic analysis of generation means and variances for the behavioral variables analyzed, relatively simple models were found. As epistasis was present in some cases, the monogenic hypothesis could not be confirmed. Also, the analysis of the segregating generations by means of Collins' nonparametric method revealed significant deviations of observed from expected distributions. We conclude that differences at more than just one single locus are correlated with the behavioral difference.
Horst Schicknick
Hans-Jurgen Hoffmann
Regine Schneider
Wim E Crusio
1999-10-21Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/121
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/121
1999-10-21Z
Interval-specific event related potentials to omitted stimuli in the electrosensory pathway in elasmobranchs: an elementary form of expectation
Multiunit activity and slow local field potentials show Omitted Stimulus Potentials (OSP) in the electrosensory system in rays after a missing stimulus in a 3 to >20 Hz train of microvolt pulses in the bath, at levels from the primary medullary nucleus to the telencephalon. A precursor can be seen in the afferent nerve. The OSP follows the due-time of the first omitted stimulus with a, usually, constant main peak latency, 30-50 ms in medullary dorsal nucleus, 60-100 ms in midbrain, 120-190 ms in telencephalon - as though the brain has an expectation specific to the interstimulus interval (ISI). The latency, form and components vary between nerve, medulla, midbrain and forebrain. They include early fast waves, later slow waves and labile induced rhythms. Responsive loci are quite local. Besides ISI, which exerts a strong influence, many factors affect the OSP slightly, including train parameters and intensity, duration and polarity of the single stimulus pulses. Jitter of ISI does not reduce the OSP substantially, if the last interval equals the mean; the mean and the last interval have the main effect on both amplitude and latency. Taken together with our recent findings on visually evoked OSPs, we conclude that OSPs do not require higher brain levels or even the complexities of the retina. They appear in primary sensory nuclei and are then modified at midbrain and telencephalic levels. We propose that the initial processes are partly in the receptors and partly in the first central relay including a rapid increase of some depressing influence contributed by each stimulus. This influence comes to an ISI-specific equilibrium with the excitatory influence; withholding a stimulus and hence its depressing influence causes a rebound excitation with a specific latency.
T.H. Bullock
Sacit Karamürsel
Michael H. Hofmann
1998-07-19Z
2011-03-11T08:54:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/722
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/722
1998-07-19Z
Nonconscious Acquisition of Information
We are reviewing and summarizing evidence for the processes of acquisition of information outside of conscious awareness (processing information about covariations, nonconscious indirect and interactive inferences, self-perpetuation of procedural knowledge). A considerable amount of data indicates that as compared to consciously controlled cognition, the nonconscious information-acquisition processes are not only much faster but also structurally more sophisticated in the sense that they are capable of efficient processing of multidimensional and interactive relations between variables. Those mechanisms of nonconscious acquisition of information provide a major channel for the development of procedural knowledge which is indispensable for such important aspects of cognitive functioning as encoding and interpretation of stimuli and the triggering emotional reactions.
Pawel Lewicki
Thomas Hill
Maria Czyzewska
2007-11-13T01:06:13Z
2011-03-11T08:56:59Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5800
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5800
2007-11-13T01:06:13Z
Gastric vagotomy blocks opioid analgesia enhancement produced by placenta ingestion
Ingestion of amniotic fluid or placenta by rats has been shown to enhance opioid-mediated analgesia induced by morphine injection, footshock, vaginal/cervical stimulation, or late pregnancy. This enhancement by ingestion appears to be specific to the central actions of opioids. The present study was designed to examine the possibility that information traveling via the vagus nerve might be involved in mediating this effect. Rats that had undergone either selective gastric vagotomy or sham vagotomy were injected with either morphine sulfate or vehicle and fed either placenta or a meat control. Enhancement was observed in rats that had undergone sham vagotomy but not in those that had undergone gastric vagotomy. These results support an interpretation of vagal involvement in the enhancement of opioid-mediated analgesia by placenta.
J. A. Tarapacki
A. C. Thompson
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
1998-03-13Z
2011-03-11T08:53:36Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4
1998-03-13Z
Is Consciousness Integrated?
In the visual system, the represented features of individual objects (shape, colour, movement, and so on) are distributed both in space and time within the brain. Representations of inner and outer event sequences arrive through different sense organs at different times, and are likewise distributed. Objects are nevertheless perceived as integrated wholes - and event sequences are experienced to form a coherent "consciousness stream." In their thoughtful article, Dennett & Kinsbourne ask how this is achieved.
Max Velmans
2008-09-19T13:55:20Z
2011-03-11T08:57:12Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6212
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6212
2008-09-19T13:55:20Z
Amniotic-Fluid Ingestion Enhances
Morphine Analgesia During Morphine
Tolerance and Withdrawal in Rats
Ingestion of placenta and amniotic fluid has been shown to enhance opioid-mediated analgesia in rats produced by morphine injection. footshock, vaginal/cervical stimulation, and during late pregnancy. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of amniotic fluid ingestion on the characteristics of morphine dependency and withdrawal. Tail-flick latencies in Long-Evans rats were determined before and after repeated daily injections of morphine sulfate. It was found that ingestion of amniotic fluid after establishment of the morphine dependency, coupled with an injection of an otherwise ineffective dose of morphine, enhanced analgesia in morphine-dependent rats, and reversed hyperalgesia seen during withdrawal from morphine dependency.
Jean C. Doerr
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2008-09-19T13:55:05Z
2011-03-11T08:57:12Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6211
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6211
2008-09-19T13:55:05Z
Amniotic-Fluid Ingestion Enhances the Central
Analgesic Effect of Morphine
Amniotic fluid and placenta contain a substance (POEF) that when ingested enhances opioid-mediated analgesia produced by several agents (morphine injection, vaginal/cervical stimulation, late pregnancy, footshock), but not that produced by aspirin injection. The present series of experiments employed quaternary naltrexone, an opioid antagonist that does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier, in conjunction with either peripheral or central administration of morphine, to determine whether amniotic-fluid ingestion (and therefore POEF ingestion) enhances opioid-mediated analgesia by affecting the central and/or peripheral actions of morphine. The results suggest that POEF affects only the central analgesic effects of morphine.
Jean M. DiPirro
dipirrjm@buffalostate.edu
Alexis C. Thompson
athompso@ria.buffalo.edu
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
1998-02-12Z
2011-03-11T08:54:06Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/594
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/594
1998-02-12Z
Consciousness From a First-Person Perspective
The sequence of topics in this reply roughly follows that of the target article. The latter focused largely on experimental studies of how consciousness relates to human information processing, tracing their relation from input through to output. The discussion of the implications of the findings both for cognitive psychology and philosophy of mind was relatively brief. The commentaries reverse this emphasis, and so, correspondingly, does the reply.
Max Velmans
2006-09-25Z
2011-03-11T08:56:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5182
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5182
2006-09-25Z
Does the Need for Agreement Among Reviewers Inhibit the Publication of Controversial Findings?
As Cicchetti indicates, agreement among reviewers is not high. This conclusion is empirically supported by Fiske and Fogg (1990), who reported that two independent reviews of the same papers typically had no critical point in common. Does this imply that journal editors should strive for a high level of reviewer consensus as a criterion for publication? Prior research suggests that such a requirement would inhibit the publication of papers with controversial findings. We summarize this research and report on a survey of editors.
J. Scott Armstrong
Raymond Hubbard
1998-11-15Z
2011-03-11T08:53:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/180
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/180
1998-11-15Z
Enhancement of Opioid-Mediated Analgesia: A Solution to the Enigma of Placentophagia
Two major consequences of placentophagia, the ingestion of afterbirth materials that occurs usually during mammalian parturition, have been uncovered in the past several years. The first is that increased contact, associated with ingesting placenta and amniotic fluid from the surface of the young, causes an accelerated onset of maternal behavior toward those young. The second, which probably has importance for a broader range of mammalian taxa than the first, is that ingestion of afterbirth materials produces enhancement of ongoing opioid-mediated analgesia. The active substance in placenta and amniotic fluid has been named POEF, for Placental Opioid-Enhancing Factor. Recent research on both consequences is summarized, with particular attention to POEF, the generalizability of the enhancement phenomenon, its locus and mode of action, and its significance for new approaches to the management of pain and addiction.
Mark B. Kristal
1998-05-06Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/31
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/31
1998-05-06Z
Genetic effects on 'environmental' measures: Consequences for behavior-genetic analysis
Dr. Plomin is one of the most accomplished human behavior-geneticists of the moment, as evidenced by the many valuable contributions to the field by him and his collaborators. Again, the present target article has some important implications, this time not only for behavior genetics, but also for mainstream psychology. P&B argue quite convincingly that certain measures often used by psychologists to assess environmental influences on a subject contain a genetic component. Hence, at least as long as indirect environmental measures are involved, these variables are not valid as such, but, rather, phenotypes amenable to genetic analysis. Unfortunately, P&B do not phrase their conclusions in this way. Although in the title of their target article the word 'environmental' is placed within quotation marks, in the rest of their target article they stick to this terminology. In my opinion, this is unfortunate and promotes confusion between some important concepts of genetic analysis.
Wim E. Crusio
1998-02-10Z
2011-03-11T08:54:06Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/593
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/593
1998-02-10Z
Is Human Information Processing Conscious?
Investigations of the function of consciousness in human information processing have focused mainly on two questions: (1) where does consciousness enter into the information processing sequence and (2) how does conscious processing differ from preconscious and unconscious processing. Input analysis is thought to be initially "preconscious," "pre-attentive," fast, involuntary, and automatic. This is followed by "conscious," "focal-attentive" analysis which is relatively slow, voluntary, and flexible. It is thought that simple, familiar stimuli can be identified preconsciously, but conscious processing is needed to identify complex, novel stimuli. Conscious processing has also been thought to be necessary for choice, learning and memory, and the organization of complex, novel responses, particularly those requiring planning, reflection, or creativity.
Max Velmans
1998-11-29Z
2011-03-11T08:54:16Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/759
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/759
1998-11-29Z
Maintenance and decline of the suppression of infanticide in mother rats
Virgin female rats kill foster neonates, whereas newly parturient mothers do not. We demonstrated previously that this tendency to kill is suppressed shortly prepartum, presumably by physiological factors. In this study, we show that a) suppression of infanticide is maintained through the first two weeks of lactation; b) the mothers that do not kill foster neonates are not necessarily the same mothers that respond maternally toward older foster pups, and those that kill neonates are not necessarily the same ones that are nonmaternal to older pups, the two behaviors being somewhat independent; and c) some virgins can be induced to be noninfanticides by prolonged exposure to young, but only under special testing conditions not required by actual mothers, which are nonkillers of foster young. This suggests that the maintenance of the suppression of infanticide in mothers owes something so the special circumstances of lactation other than continued exposure to young.
L. C. Peters
T. C. Sist
M. B. Kristal
2003-11-14Z
2011-03-11T08:55:24Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3269
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3269
2003-11-14Z
The motor theory of language
This paper amplifies and at certain points extends the account of the motor
theory given previously. The semantic, syntactic and phonetic structures of
language developed on the basis of a complex pre-existing system. More
specifically, the structures of language were a transfer from or a calque of
the structures of the pre-existing motor system. The motor system had
developed in terms of neural motor programs controlling the different
categories of movement. The motor programs were formed from a limited set of
basic subroutines which in combination could be used to produce an open-ended
and essentially infinite range of actions. The development of language made
use of these pre-existing subroutines into extended programs. By way of the
motor patterning imposed on the anatomical features which went to form the
articulatory system, language emerged as an external physical expression of
the physiological and neurological basis for movement control. Movement
control was already necessarily closely integrated with the parallel system
for the processing and control of perception. Language thus acquired the
ability to express the range and inter-relations of perceptual content.
Robin Allott
1998-05-06Z
2011-03-11T08:53:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/30
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/30
1998-05-06Z
The neuropsychology of schizophrenia: A perspective from neurobehavioral genetics
Gray et al. have presented an admirable integration of an enormous amount of both clinical and experimental data (deriving from many different fields: neurology, psychiatry, neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, etc.) to arrive at the most complete hypothesis about the neural bases of schizophrenia to date. According to their model, most disruptions of the complex neural pathways involved will lead to schizophrenic symptoms. Both genetic and environmental influences may, separately or together, have multiple effects at many different places in these neural systems. Hence, one of the strengths of the present model is that it provides a way to explain schizophrenia's well-known heterogeneity with regard to symptomatology (e.g., Dworkin et al. 1988; Van Eerdewegh et al. 1987) and presence or absence of certain biological markers in defined subgroups of patients (e.g., Markianos et al. 1990), but also with regard to the genetic correlates underlying this psychiatric disease (e.g., Baron 1986; Faraone and Tsuang 1985; Kennedy et al. 1988).
Wim E. Crusio
1999-10-08Z
2011-03-11T08:53:41Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/120
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/120
1999-10-08Z
On the Time of Peripheral Sensations and Voluntary Motor Actions
Libet's notions of backwards referral for peripheral sensations and unconscious cerebral initiative accompanying voluntary motor action are explored. It is proposed that the unexpected discrepancy between the time at which a peripheral sensation is experienced and the time at which cerebral neuronal adequacy underlying the sensation is attained is due to fundamentally different forms of temporality which are applicable to experiential and neurophysiological reference frames. A similar proposal is made for the unexpected discrepancy in the time of a neurophysiological readiness potential accompanying a voluntary motor action and the time of onset of the intention accompanying the action. Correspondences between experiential and neurophysiological levels of peripheral sensations and voluntary motor actions indicated by Libet's empirical evidence are shown to be adaptive if an individual's experience is important in his interaction with the environment.
Douglas M. Snyder
2007-10-22T10:46:07Z
2011-03-11T08:56:58Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5763
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5763
2007-10-22T10:46:07Z
Placental opioid-enhancing factor (POEF): Generalizability of effects
A substance in amniotic fluid and placenta (POEF for Placental Opioid-Enhancing Factor) has been shown to enhance opiate- or opioid-mediated analgesia in rats. Recent studies have only touched on the generalizability of the phenomenon. The present studies further tested the generalizability of the POEF effect: they examined sex specificity of the mechanism, whether POEF activity exists in afterbirth material of species other than the rat; whether POEF activity exists in tissue other than afterbirth material; whether POEF activity could be demonstrated after injection rather than ingestion of afterbirth material; and whether POEF enhances all opioid-mediated phenomena. We found that (a) POEF is effective in male rats as well as in female rats; (b) POEF activity exists in human and dolphin afterbirth material; (c) ingestion of pregnant-rat liver does not produce enhancement of opioid-mediated analgesia; (d) POEF does not seem to be effective when amniotic fluid is injected either IPO or SC; and (e) POEF does not modify morphine-induced hyperthermia.
P. Abbott
A. C. Thompson
E.J. Ferguson
J. C. Doerr
J. A. Tarapacki
Dr. P.J. Kostyniak
J.A. Syracuse
D.M. Cartonia
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
1998-06-12Z
2011-03-11T08:53:58Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/455
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/455
1998-06-12Z
Why todays computers dont learn the way people do
Speaking is conceiving, not translating what has already been represented inside the brain in a hidden way
William J. Clancey
2008-11-02T10:00:23Z
2011-03-11T08:57:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6249
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6249
2008-11-02T10:00:23Z
Amniotic Fluid Ingestion Enhances
Opioid-Mediated But Not
Nonopioid-Mediated Analgesia
Ingestion of amniotic fluid or placenta by rats has been shown to enhance several types of opioid-mediated analgesia: that induced by morphine, footshock, vaginal/cervical stimulation, and late pregnancy. This enhancement has also been blocked by administration of opioid antagonists. The present study was designed to examine further the specificity of the enhancement effect for opioid-mediated analgesia by testing for enhancement following administration of aspirin, a nonopioid analgesic. The formalin test was used as the pain threshold assay. Amniotic fluid or beef bouillon was administered by orogastric tube to rats that were treated either with morphine sulfate or saline. or pretreated with naltrexone, then treated with aspirin or vehicle. Both morphine and aspirin treatments produced analgesia. Amniotic fluid significantly enhanced the analgesia produced by morphine, but did not enhance the analgesia produced by aspirin, further suggesting that the enhancing effect of amniotic fluid ingestion is specific for opioid-mediated analgesia, such as that existing at the start of parturition.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
J. A. Tarapacki
Debra Barton
2007-10-22T10:44:38Z
2011-03-11T08:56:59Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5769
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5769
2007-10-22T10:44:38Z
Amniotic-fluid ingestion by parturient rats enhances pregnancy-mediated analgesia
Amniotic fluid and placenta contain a substance (POEF, for Placental Opioid-Enhancing Factor) that, when ingested, enhances opioid-mediated analgesia in nonpregnant rats; ingestion of the substance by rats not experiencing opioid-mediated analgesia, however, does not produce analgesia. It is highly likely that periparturitional analgesia-enhancement is a significant benefit of ingestion of the afterbirth (placentophagia) during delivery. Here we report that prepartum ingestion of amniotic fluid (via orogastric infusion) does indeed enhance the endogenous-opioid-mediated analgesia evident at the end of pregnancy and during delivery; that the degree of enhancement is greater with 0.75 ml than with 0.25 ml, and that the prepartum enhancement of analgesia can be blocked with the opioid antagonist naloxone.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
Alexis C. Thompson
P. Abbott
Jean M. DiPirro
E.J. Ferguson
J. C. Doerr
2001-03-09Z
2011-03-11T08:54:35Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1353
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1353
2001-03-09Z
Attention deficit disorder and hyperkinetic syndrome: biological perspectives
The condition, biological indicators and animal models of the symptoms and the disorder are briefly reviewed.
Condition: No single symptom is indispensable to diagnosis. But measures of the condition include motor activity, attention, motivation and psychostimulant responsiveness.Caveat: In the study of the condition, measuring biological correlates of unusual function may prove useful for management of the condition, but could mislead in the search for causes.
Biological indicators: Investigation of attention-related function and associated regional cerebral activity would be improved by the careful application of the results of neuropsychological and psychophysiological study. A more extensive use of within subject protocols would greatly assist interpretation of the relevance of physiological states and the contribution of activity in different transmitter systems.Why are MHPG levels low, and lower in stimulant responders: HVA/MHPG ratios high in responders and nonresponders alike? However, the author sees the paradox to lie less with the induced (sic) metabolic changes as with the inability to mimic the changes with other catecholaminergic agents. Attention is drawn to the trophic effects of the monoamines. Attention is also drawn to the colocalisation of neuropeptide Y in NA neurons and the possibility that alterations in this relationship could underlie other ADHD characteristics such as thirst (1).
Models: Symptom-models attempt to investigate the determinants a single feature of the illness. Examples have been recent demonstrations that where NA activity is low or depleted selective attention may be impaired (e.g. latent inhibition). An interesting observation here is that where NA activity is low, learning in a variety of situations occurs at normal rates to a modest criterion, but then slows severely before eventually reaching good stringent criteria. It is suggested that this is consistent with an NA role in "tuning" (2).Discussion of the various roles of DA must make mention of the specific improvement seen after amphetamine treatment in those children who only achieve a low response criterion: in contrast in animals amphetamine promotes the impulsive response lowering beta-criterion. The resolution oif the enigma may well lie in a better understanding of the interactions of the mesolimbic with the mesocortical DA system. Mesocortical activity can suppress mesolimbic activity, impairment of frontal function releases the mesolimbic system - a change that can be countered by psychostimulant treatment.
Disorder-models are concerned with mimicking a whole cluster of symptoms if not the syndrome itself. Claims of the usefulness of depleting catecholamines with 6-hydroxydopamine (on the one hand) and modifying the environment in which young animals are brought up (rich andsocial contexts for development) are elaborated elsewhere in this book. The similarity of some of the features of hypertensive patients and those of youngsters with ADHD initiates interest in the "spontaneously hypertensive rat" (SHR). Encouraging the use of the SHR as a model are similarities in the DA and NA activity and reactivity. Further, there are similarities in between the responses of the SHR and children on learning schedules requiring the delay of response, - the delay of gratification that is characteristic of many ADHD children, and leads to impulsive responding in the SHR.
Lastly one should not overlook the possible lessons to be learned in the comparative approach, - namely to look at syndromes with more or fewer comorbid symptoms such as Tourette, Conduct-Disorder, Autism, Lesch.Nyhan and Phenylketonuria (3).
R.D. Oades
2008-10-16T13:50:10Z
2011-03-11T08:57:12Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6217
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6217
2008-10-16T13:50:10Z
Enhancement of Opioid-Mediated Analgesia
by Ingestion of Amniotic Fluid:
Onset Latency and Duration
Ingestion of placenta and amniotic fluid has been shown to enhance opioid-mediated analgesia produced by morphine injection, footshock, vaginal/cervical stimulation, and during late pregnancy in rats. The present study was designed to determine how soon after ingestion the enhancement begins and how long it lasts. Tail-flick latencies in Long-Evans rats were determined before and during vaginal/cervical stimulation; analgesia was measured as the percent increase in tail-flick latency during vaginal stimulation. After determination of baseline, rats were intubated with 0.25 ml of either amniotic fluid or beef bouillon. We found that analgesia enhancement was detectable as early as 5 minutes after ingestion of amniotic fluid, and the effect lasted at least 30 minutes, but no longer than 40 minutes.
Jean C. Doerr
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2008-10-16T13:49:45Z
2011-03-11T08:57:12Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6220
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6220
2008-10-16T13:49:45Z
Dose-Dependent Enhancement of Morphine-Induced Analgesia
by Ingestion of Amniotic Fluid and Placenta
Ingestion of amniotic fluid and placenta by rats has been shown to enhance opioid-mediated analgesia. The present studies were designed to examine the effect of several doses and volumes of placenta and amniotic fluid on tail-flick latency in rats treated with 3 mg/kg morphine. The optimal dose of amniotic fluid was found to be 0.25 ml, although 0.50 and 1.0 ml also produced significant enhancement. Doses of 0.125 and 2 ml of amniotic fluid were ineffective, as was a dose of 0.25 ml diluted to 2 ml with saline. The optimal dose of placenta was found to be 1 placenta, although the resulting enhancement was not significantly greater than that produced by 0.25, 0.50, 2.0 or 4.0 placentas. Doses smaller than 0.25 placenta or larger than 4.0 placentas were ineffective. The most effective doses of amniotic fluid and placenta correspond to the amounts delivered with each pup during parturition.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
Patricia Abbott
Alexis C. Thompson
athompso@RIA.Buffalo.EDU
2001-03-16Z
2011-03-11T08:54:36Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1371
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1371
2001-03-16Z
Catecholamines and conditioned blocking: effects of ventral tegmental, septal and frontal 6-hydroxydopamine lesions in rats
Introduction:
The performance of rats on the conditioned blocking test (CB) of learned inattention was measured in a two-way shuttle avoidance task after sham and dopamine (DA) - depleting lesions of
the frontal cortex,
the limbic septum, and
the ventral tegmental area (VTA - A10).
Methods:
Animals were trained on two sessions with tone and / or light as conditioned stimuli. One group was trained with both stimuli on both sessions. A second group was trained on the first session with one stimulus and on the second with both stimuli. The blocking of conditioning to the added stimulus (b) was tested by presenting the stimuli (a and b) separately and measuring the blocking ration (avoidance to b/a + b) and response latencies.
Results:
1/ No deficits were recorded on tests of sensory and motor ability;
2/ The VTA group alone showed a hyperlocomotor response to apomorphine treatment, - and did not acquire the avoidance response (i.e. did not learn the active avoidance task);
3/ The appearance of blocking in the septally lesioned group was delayed until the end of the 20-trial test session - then it was exaggerated;
4/ Blocking was mildly attenuated in the frontally lesioned group.
5/ Dopamine (DA) levels were depleted by about 80% and noradrenaline (NA) levels by, respectively, 20% and 50% in the frontal and septal regions.
Figure 2 illustrates a) the CB impairment in the frontal group relative to sham controls, and b) the late development of "supr-blocking" in septally-damage animals.
Figure 3 illustrates the results of the HPLC analysis for NA, DA and DOPAC in frontal cortex, septum, N. accumbens and striatum after 6-OHDA lesions (& vehicle treatment) in the frontal, septal, and VTA areas.
Conclusions:
The results show that the levels of DA activity, or rather the balance between the activity of DA and NA in frontal and limbic regions can contribute to efficient associative conditioning and / or the normal ability of rats not to attend to a redundant stimulus.
R.D. Oades
J-M. Rivet
K. Taghzouti
M. Kharouby
H. Simon
M. Le Moal
1998-11-25Z
2011-03-11T08:53:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/71
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/71
1998-11-25Z
Induction of maternal behavior in rats: Effects of pseudopregnancy termination and placenta-smeared pups
The onset of maternal behavior in Long-Evans rats was examined after pseudopregnancy (PsP) termination, both with and without exogenous estrogen administration, and in response to either clean or placenta-smeared stimulus pups. Natural (spontaneous) PsP termination was as effective in hastening the onset of maternal behavior as ovariectomy plus estrogen injection. If clean foster pups were presented as soon as pseudopregnancy terminated (first proestrus or cornified smear), maternal behavior was exhibited within 2 days; placenta-smeared foster pups presented at the same time elicited maternal behavior within 2 hr. The combination of initiating maternal- behavior testing immediately after the natural termination of pseudopregnancy and proffering placenta-smeared pups apparently simulates the hormonal milieu as well as the environmental cues present at parturition, noninvasively, producing optimal conditions for the rapid induction of maternal behavior.
M. A. Steuer
A. C. Thompson
J. C. Doerr
M. Youakim
M. B. Kristal
2007-10-22T10:42:24Z
2011-03-11T08:56:59Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5776
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5776
2007-10-22T10:42:24Z
Sensory innervation of the external and internal genitalia of the female rat
Using a whole-nerve recording method, the genitalia of the female rat were found to receive afferent innervation as follows. Pelvic nerve: vagina, cervix, and perineal skin; hypogastric nerve: cervix and proximal three fifths of the uterus; pudendal nerve: skin of perineum, inner thigh, and clitoral sheath. It is probable that the pudendal and pelvic nerves are activated during copulation, and that all 3 nerves are activated during parturition.
Lawrence C. Peters
Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
Barry R. Komisaruk
2007-11-13T01:05:54Z
2011-03-11T08:56:59Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5801
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5801
2007-11-13T01:05:54Z
Effects of hypothalamic knife cuts and experience on maternal behavior in the rat
Recent investigations suggest that the disruption of placentophagia, pup-directed maternal behavior, and nestbuilding seen after lesions of the medial preoptic area (MPO) or the lateral hypothalamus may be due to the interruption at different points of a single longitudinal neural system mediating these behaviors. To test this, we compared the effects of knife cuts on the lateral border of the MPO, and of the posterior medial forebrain bundle (MFB), with asymmetrical cuts combining a unilateral MPO cut with a contralateral MFB cut. We observed placentophagia, nestbuilding, and pup-directed maternal behaviors at, and after, parturition in both primiparous and biparous rats. In primiparae, MPO cuts (a) disrupted placentophagia, (b) delayed the onset of crouching and pup-licking, and (c) eliminated retrieval and nestbuilding. Asymmetrical cuts (a) disrupted placentophagia, and (b) delayed the onset of maternal behavior. In biparous rats, MPO cuts eliminated nestbuilding and retrieval. MFB cuts (a) disrupted placentophagia, and (b) eliminated nestbuilding. Asymmetrical cuts (a) delayed nestbuilding. These results suggest the involvement of a longitudinal neural system in the production of immediate pup-directed maternal behavior, placentophagia, and nestbuilding in parturient primiparae, but which is not critical for the eventual display of maternal behavior and nestbuilding in maternally naive rats, nor for the immediate onset of placentophagia and maternal behavior in maternally experienced rats.
J.R. Franz
R.J. Leo
M. A. Steuer
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2008-11-02T09:59:53Z
2011-03-11T08:57:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6252
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6252
2008-11-02T09:59:53Z
Ingestion of Amniotic Fluid Enhances
Opiate Analgesia in Rats
Placenta ingestion has recently been shown to enhance opiate-mediated analgesia produced by morphine injection, footshock, or vaginal/cervical stimulation. The enhancement of the effect of endogenous opiates (especially analgesia) may be one of the principal benefits to mammalian mothers of placentophagia at delivery. During labor and delivery, however, mothers also ingest amniotic fluid (AF) which, unlike placenta, becomes available during, or even before expulsion of the infant. The present experiments were undertaken to determine (a) whether AF ingestion, too, enhances analgesia; if so, (b) whether the effect requires ingestion of, or merely exposure to, AF; (c) whether the effect can be produced by AF delivered directly to the stomach by tube; and (d) whether the enhancement, if it exists, can be blocked by administering an opiate antagonist. Nulliparous Long-Evans rats were tested for analgesia using tail-flick latency. We found that (a) rats that ingested AF after receiving a morphine injection showed significantly more analgesia than did rats that ingested a control substance;' (b) AF ingestion, alone, did not produce analgesia; (c) ingestion of AF, rather than just smelling and seeing it, was necessary to produce analgesia enhancement; (d) AF produced enhancement
when oropharyngeal factors were eliminated by delivering it through an orogastric tube; and (e) treatment of the rats with naltrexone blocked the enhancement of morphine-induced analgesia that results from AF ingestion.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
Alexis C. Thompson
athompso@RIA.Buffalo.EDU
Patricia Abbott
2001-03-16Z
2011-03-11T08:54:36Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1372
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1372
2001-03-16Z
Locomotor activity in relation to dopamine and noradrenaline in the nucleus accumbens, septal and frontalk areas: a 6-hydroxydopamine study
The Study and the Method:
The locomotor activity of adult male Sprague-Dawley was automatically recorded in a circular corridor - circadian changes are described as well as the response to the novel situation and its habituation over three hours.
Four groups of animals were compared, - those with sham/vehicle operations and those with 6-OHDA dopamine (DA) depleting lesions in -
the frontal cortex,
the limbic septum, and
the ventral tegmental area (VTA - A10).
Results:
1/ Lesions of the VTA resulted in increased dark-phase activity, - and a large response to an apomorphine challenge in comparison to other lesion and control groups:
2/ Septal 6-OHDA lesions did not alter locomotion:
3/ After frontal DA depletion there was a small increase of locomotion after the apomorphine challenge, that might reflect increased receptor sensitivity in cortical or sub-cortical areas:
(Table 1: HPLC measures of NA, DA and DOPAC for each group in the prefrontal cortex, septum and N. accumbens)
Figure 1 illustrates the cumulative photocell counts per hour over 24 hours for the 4 groups:.
Figure 2 illustrates the cumulative photocell counts every 10 minutes over 90 minutes post-apomorphine treatment - maximal at 20-30 minutes and habituating over 60 minutes (90 minutes for the VTA group): overall activity VTA >> Frontal > Septal > Controls.
Conclusions:
Along with correlations found for motor activity with cortical levels of DA and NA, these results are interpreted to support a role for DA, NA and the region of the frontal cortex in modulating locomotion that is primarily mediated by mesolimbic VTA - accumbens - DA activity.
R.D. Oades
K. Taghzouti
J-M. Rivet
H. Simon
M. Le Moal
2008-11-02T09:59:45Z
2011-03-11T08:57:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6254
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6254
2008-11-02T09:59:45Z
Placenta Ingestion Enhances Analgesia
Produced by Vaginal/Cervical
Stimulation in Rats
Ingestion of placenta has previously been shown to enhance opiate-mediated analgesia (measured as tail-flick latency) induced either by morphine injection or by footshock. The present study was designed to test whether placenta ingestion would enhance the partly opiate-mediated analgesia produced by vaginal/cervical stimulation. Nulliparous Sprague-Dawley rats were tested for analgesia, using tail-flick latency, during and after vaginal/cervical stimulation; the tests for vaginal/cervical stimulation-induced analgesia were administered both before and after the rats ate placenta or ground beef. Placenta ingestion, but not beef ingestion. significantly heightened vaginal/cervical stimulation-induced analgesia. A subsequent morphine injection provided evidence that, as in a previous report, placenta ingestion, but not beef ingestion, enhanced morphine-induced analgesia.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
Alexis C. Thompson
athompso@RIA.Buffalo.EDU
Steve B. Heller
Dr. Barry R. Komisaruk
2001-04-05Z
2011-03-11T08:54:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1435
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1435
2001-04-05Z
Dopamine-sensitive alternation and collateral behaviour in a Y-maze: effects of d-amphetamine and haloperidol
Introduction:
The frequency of spontaneous alternation in a Y-maze (visiting each arm in turn at p>50%) depends on the influence of the attention given to intra- and extra-maze cues.
We examined the observing responses shown by rats (collateral rearing and head-turning behaviour), the habituation to the novelty and alternation responses over 15 minutes/day, four days in a row - in a Y-maze under enhanced and reduced dopamine (DA) activity (amphetamine- and haloperidol treatment).
Methods:
Prior to placement in a Y-maze for 15 minutes observation on 4 successive days animals were treated with either amphetamine (0.5 or 2.5 mg/kg) or pre-treated with a low dose of haloperidol (0.08 mg/kg, ip).
Results:
1/ Amphetamine treated animals chose the arms at random on day 1, but after the higher dose on day 2-4 they perseverated their choice. The controls maintained their alternation over this period.
2/ The amphetamine-induced effects on alternation were prevented by prior treatment with the neuroleptic haloperidol.
3/ Amphetamine treatment increased the frequency of rearing in the middle at the choice point of the Y-maze. Haloperidol pre-treatment blocked this increase at the midpoint on day 1, and blocked the rearing behavior at the end of an arm on day 2.
4/ Amphetamine also increased the frequency of head turning and "looking", - an effect that was also prevented by haloperidol. (day 2 onwards).
5/ Haloperidol increased the duration of" looking" and of rearing at the end of an arm later in testing..
Conclusions:
Two effects are postulated to have occurred.
a) a conflict on day 1 between the novelty-controlled sensory or attentional effects, that leads to an alternation of arm-choice, and amphetamine-induced DA activity that facilitates an alternation of behavioural responses: -- the result was random choice and increased rearing at the choice point.
b) On days 2-4 the drug-induced effects on switching motor responses came to control behaviour
R.D. Oades
K. Taghzouti
H. Simon
M. Le Moal
2007-10-22T10:45:33Z
2011-03-11T08:56:58Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5764
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5764
2007-10-22T10:45:33Z
Placenta ingestion enhances opiate analgesia in rats.
Analgesia, produced by either a morphine injection or footshock, was monitored (using a tail-flick test) in nonpregnant female rats. Analgesia was induced within minutes of having the rats eat on of several substances. When the substance eaten was rat placenta, both the morphine- and shock-induced types of analgesia were significantly grater than in controls that ingested other substances (or nothing). When footshock (hind-paw) was administered in conjunction with the opiate antagonist naltrexone, the analgesia produced was attenuated but detectable; in this case, placenta ingestion did not enhance the analgesia, suggesting that the effect of placenta is specific to opiate-mediated analgesia. It is possible that this enhancement of analgesia is one of the principal benefits to mammalian mothers of ingesting placenta and birth fluids (placentophagia) at delivery.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
A. C. Thompson
H.L. Grishkat
2001-04-05Z
2011-03-11T08:54:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1436
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1436
2001-04-05Z
The role of noradrenaline in tuning and dopamine in switching between signals in the CNS
Introduction- Thesis:
Neuronal catecholaminergic activity modulates central nervous (CNS) function. - Specifically -
Noradrenaline (NA) can exert a tuning or biassing function, whereby the signal-to-noise ratio is altered.
Dopamine (DA) activity may promote switching between inputs and outputs of information to specific brain regions.
Background:
It has been ten years since evidence for a tuning function was advanced for NA (Segal & Bloom, 1976 a, b), and in the last five years the switching hypothesis for DA has been tentatively put forward (Cools, 1980).
Review:
Recent studies are reviewed to show that while catecholamine activity contributes to neural interactions in separate brain regions, that give rise to the organization of different functions, their working principles may be common between species and independent of the nucleus of origin. Behavioral examples are discussed and an attempt is made to integrate this with evidence from intracellular recording studies. It is suggested that the tuning principle in NA systems is particularly important for the formation of associations and neural plasticity (interference control), and that the switching principle of DA systems modulates the timing, time-sharing and initiation of responses (program-control).
R.D. Oades
1998-12-02Z
2011-03-11T08:54:16Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/760
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/760
1998-12-02Z
Suppression of infanticide in mother rats
In order to test the hypothesis that infanticidal tendencies are suppressed when rats become mothers, very young newborn pups, either naturally born or cesarean-delivered, were presented to virgin females and to newly delivered mothers. Provided that the pups were lively, uncleaned of fetal fluids or membranes, and presented without placentas, nearly all virgins killed and nearly all mothers did not. Newborns were also presented to Day 22 pregnant rats and to rats whose pregnancies had recently been surgically terminated. Large proportions of both groups either were nonkillers or were actively maternally responsive (and a smaller proportion were both) despite the fact that none of these rats had undergone parturition or cared for pups. These results indicate that, independent of its effect on maternal caretaking, pregnancy suppresses infanticide in previously infanticidal nulliparae even before they become mothers. Hence, infants are protected from their own parents. In addition, evidence was obtained in support of the idea that freshly delivered pups have stimulus properties that make them specially suited for promoting the onset of maternal caretaking.
L. C. Peters
M. B. Kristal
2001-04-25Z
2011-03-11T08:54:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1462
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1462
2001-04-25Z
Search strategies on a hoile-board are impaired with ventral tegmental damage: animal model for tests of thought disorder
Introduction:
Attention-related mechanisms distinguish relevance from irrelevance. A disturbance of this capability underlies thought-disorder in schizophrenia (e.g. see Oades, Attention and Schizophrenia. Pitman Press, 1982).
Stimulus choice strategies depend, inter alia, on such selective mechanisms and are anomalous in some patients with schizophrenia, a disorder in which ventral tegmental area (VTA) functions have been postulated to be impaired.
Here, the effects of VTA damage on making the relevance/irrelevance distinction and the formation of problem-solving strategies has been studied in rats.
Methods:
Food-deprived animals searched for food pellets placed consistently in 4 holes of a 16-hole-board (figure 2). They were presented with 9 sessions of 10 trials/session. VTA damage resulted from coagulation with a stylet inserted down a stereotaxically implanted cannula, sham operations consisted of cannula placement alone (figure 1).
Results:
1/ a) Across sessions the control group reduced the number of empty hole-visits (errors) more rapidly than the lesioned animals:
b) the proportion of repeated visits to relevant holes (had contained food, working memory errors) to irrelevant holes (had never contained food, reference memory errors) increased for intact, but not for lesioned animals.
2/ Intact animals developed a preferred sequence of hole-visits (a strategy) across sessions: this habit was not learned by the lesioned animals.
3/ The animals with VTA damage developed a preference across trials within a session and maintained a preference for the first-hole visited across sessions (i.e. were capable of simple learning), but switched their preferred overall strategy (hole-visit-sequence) between sessions.
Conclusions:
.The results are discussed in terms of a) the overall behaviour of the animals, and b) the interaction between selective attention and the establishment of a short-term working memory - both for the efficiency of search (errors) and the strategy that facilitates search success (hole-visit-sequence).
It is proposed that VTA function contributes to the succesful deployment of attention-related strategies in rodents, and that these strategies model those impaired when patients with schizophrenia have to interpret words with multiple meanings, categories in card-sorting tasks - to assess the contingencies or context that normally control the making of a choice.
Oades
2001-05-08Z
2011-03-11T08:54:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1481
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1481
2001-05-08Z
Dopaminergic agonistic and antagonistic drugs in the ventral tegmentum of rats inhibit and facilitate changes of food-search behaviour
Introduction:
The proposal that an increase of dopaminergic (DA) activity in the mesocorticolimbic pathway with an origin in the ventral tegmental area (VTA A10) increases the probability of behavioural change was tested (Koob et al., 1978 - see also Oades, 1985 on the switching role of DA)
Methods:
Food-deprived animals searched for food pellets placed consistently in 4 holes of a 16-hole-board. They were presented with 9 sessions of 10 trials/session. Groups of rats received lesions of the VTA or injections of the DA D2 antagonist spiroperidol (2µg/0.5 µl) or the DA agonist apomorphine (2 µg(0.5µl) into the VTA before sessions 4 and 7.
[Neuroleptic treatment should block local inhibition via autoreceptors and thus lead to increased DA activity in the terminal regions]
Results:
1/ Compared to vehicle- or apomorphine-treatment, spiroperidol increased the number of empty hole-visits (errors)
2/ Comparison animals (vehicle- and apomorphine treated) developed individually specific but consistent sequences of hole-visits ("strategy") -- these were disrupted on sessions 4 and 7 after neuroleptic treatment and following VTA damage.
(i.e. there was much intra-session switching between sequences from trial to trial.)
3/ Further the identity of the preferred sequence on session 7 was more often different than on session 4 for lesioned and neuroleptic treated animals than for the comparison groups.
(i.e there was also inter-session switching between sequences between sessions 4 and 7.)
4/ Although many apomorphine-treated animals changed their preference on session 4, this was not repeated after the second treatment on session 7 - when fewer changes were recorded than for the controls..
Conclusions:
.The results are consistent with increased switching of strategies in animals with increased mesocorticolimbic DA activity - where the learning and maintenance of strategies are seen as an aid to recall the adaptive sequence of behaviour likely to lead to the relevant baited holes.
Oades
2007-10-22T10:41:27Z
2011-03-11T08:56:58Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5765
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5765
2007-10-22T10:41:27Z
The effect of pregnancy and stress on the onset of placentophagia in Long-Evans rats
Most virgin rats do not eat placenta when it is presented to them; virtually all parturient rats do. This study was designed to examine the role of the duration and termination of pregnancy on the induction of placentophagia. Time-bred rats determined by a pretest not to be attracted to placenta (nonplacentophages), were tested for placentophagia on one of a number of days of pregnancy. A comparable group was tested for placentophagia after surgical termination of pregnancy on Day 21. Groups of virgins were run controlling for the time interval between the pretest and the placentophagia test, and for a time interval that included a "stressful" event. The results were that (a) the incidence of placentophagia rose gradually from Day 7 to Day 15 of pregnancy, then remained stable, at about 0.4 until delivery; (b) pregnancy termination did not produce an effect on placentophagia greater than that of unterminated pregnancy; (c) a pretest-test interval containing a "stressful" event produced significantly more placentophagia than one that did not contain such an event; and (d) the maximum level of placentophagia observed during pregnancy was the same as that produced in virgins by a "stressful" event.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
L. C. Peters
J.R. Franz
J.F. Whitney
J. Ken Nishita
M. A. Steuer
2001-05-16Z
2011-03-11T08:54:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1503
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1503
2001-05-16Z
Impairments of search behaviour in rats after haloperidol treatment, hippocampal or neocortical damage suggest a mesocorticolimbic role in cognition
Introduction:
In view of reports that fimbria-fornix or hippocampal lesions impair working rather than reference memory in a radial maze (Olton et al., 1979) the performance of rodents with hippocampal damage was examined on a hole-board search task.
Methods:
Food-deprived animals searched for food pellets placed consistently in 4 holes of a 16-hole-board (figure 1). They were presented with 11 sessions of 10 trials/session. There were three groups of animals, - one with aspiration lesions of the hippocampus and overlying neocortex, one with damage only to the overlying neocortex and sham-controls that went through the procedure but the brain was left intact (Oades and Isaacson, 1978). Half of each group received haloperidol (0.275 mg/kg) or saline injections 15 minutes before each of the sessions 4-10.
Working memory error = a visit to a correct hole that has just been visited, and thus no longer contains a food pellet.
Reference memory error = visit to a hole that is never baited.
Results:
1/ Hippocampal damage resulted in poorer performance on both working and reference memory measures: this was unaffected by haloperidol treatment.
2/ Neuroleptic treatment also impaired the performance of the sham-controls on both measures.
3/ Animals with neocortical damage were impaired on reference mmeory measures alon, after haloperidol treatment.
Conclusions:
.The lack of a neuroleptic effect on performance after hippocampal damage suggests that this lesion does not impair performance on these two measures of memory performance through a dopaminergic mechanism.
Haloperidol impaired working memory measures in sham-controls, but only reference memory measures in the neocortical group.. The results imply that there are (at least) three separate mechanisms (i.e. meso-cortico-limbic interactions) at work here involved in shorter- and longer-term consolidation of the consequences of selective attention mechanism required to efficiently learn a search task.
Oades
2007-10-22T10:45:16Z
2011-03-11T08:56:58Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5767
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5767
2007-10-22T10:45:16Z
Observing birth and placentophagia affects placentophagia but not maternal behavior of virgin rats
To determine whether observing components of periparturitional behavior affects the manifestation of those behaviors in virgin rats, virgins selected for nonplacentophagia and for the absence of spontaneous maternal behavior toward pups were exposed to stimulus rats that were giving birth, eating placenta, or eating lab chow. During observations, subjects could either eat donor placenta or just see and smell it. The subjects were tested subsequently for placentophagia and for the rate of onset of pup-induced maternal behavior. The results indicated that: (1) access to placenta in the presence of other rats led to placentophagia; (2) when such placentophagia occurred in conjunction with exposure to other rats that were giving birth or eating donor placenta, the subjects became permanent placentophages (otherwise, the subjects reverted and did not eat on subsequent placentophagia tests); (3) none of the observation conditions, regardless of the availability of placenta during observation, affected the maternal sensitization latency. The results are discussed in terms of social facilitation, exposure learning, and desensitization to exteroceptive stimuli.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
J. Ken Nishita
2007-10-25T10:18:52Z
2011-03-11T08:56:59Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5785
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5785
2007-10-25T10:18:52Z
Placenta on pups' skin accelerates onset of maternal behaviour in non-pregnant rats
Previous research has indicated that virgin rats (Rattus norvegicus) behave maternally (sensitize) more rapidly if kept in close proximity with pups. Since both parturient rats and a large percentage of virgin rats avidly consume placenta, we tested whether placenta and amnionic fluid, applied to the skin of the stimulus pups, would draw the female adults into closer contact with the pups and therefore hasten the onset of maternal behaviour. The results indicated that the procedure indeed shortened the maternal sensitization latency. Furthermore, this effect was not due to the wetness of the pups, to the presence of placenta in the cage, or to the adults having previously ingested placenta. Other attractive ingestibles applied to the pups' skin produced intermediate, but not significant, shortening of the maternal sensitization latency.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
J.F. Whitney
L. C. Peters
2001-05-16Z
2011-03-11T08:54:38Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1504
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1504
2001-05-16Z
Testosterone administration in chicks affects responding in the presence of task irrelevant stimulus changes
Introduction:
A series of studies have shown that circulating testosterone increases the persistence with which animals search for and select a particular visual cue to respond to (as a consequence of experience with it) - and hence incur a perseveration of response towards such cues (e.g. Rogers 1971; Andrew 1972, Archer 1976; Earley & Leonard 1978).
We tested the effect of testosterone on such attention-related mechanisms by studying the effect of intradimensionsional colour changes to cues relevant and irrelevant to an operant discrimination on continuous reinforcement learning (non-reversal shifts).
Methods:
Treatment: Chicks (20 males) were given 12.5 mg testosterone enanthate im after training on a continuous reinforcement schedule of response (CRF); 19 controls received sesame oil vehicle and 8 males and 15 females had no treatment.
Testing: Birds were given A) test sessions on day 10 and 11: whereby each session consisted of 2 minutes training, 5 minutes test then 2 minutes re-training: B) 4 types of test --(i) the negative key colour changed from red to deep blue, (ii) the positive key colour changed from pale blue to green, and (iii) both key colours changed as described, and (iv) the overhead lighting changed with the introduction of a pale red filter.
Results:
1/ Treatment did not affect CRF patterns of discriminative responding.
2/ All birds decreased their response rate after a colour change.
3/ After changes on the non-reinforced key, testosterone treated birds showed significantly less attenuation of response rate.
4/ Testosterone treatment also maintained a higher rate of response (and hence fewer reinforcements) - seen especially after a change in the negative cue or overhead lighting vs. changes in the positive cue (irrelevant changes of stimulation).
5/ Testosterone treated birds also showed a shorter latency to respond after a colour change.
6/ The female birds did not differ from the males
Conclusions:
The results support a role for testosterone in the discrimination between relevant and irrelevant stimulus changes and the persistent expression of learned sets.
The fact that responding after testosterone treatment was altered by irrelevant rather than relevant stimulus changes suggests that testosterone achieves its persistence effect by enhancing the activated set or what is at the focus of attention, rather than the inhibition of features irrelevant to the ongoing situation - these provide the reference for 'what is relevant' and changes in them disturb this mechanism
R.D. Oades
Messent
2001-05-08Z
2011-03-11T08:54:37Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1482
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1482
2001-05-08Z
Types of memory or attention ? Impairments after lesions of the hippocampus and limbic ventral tegmentum
Introduction:
An animal with an unimpaired reference memory can distinguish between alternatives that belong to a rewarded set and those that are always unrewarded. An animal with an unimpaired working memory can distinguish beween alternatives where it has been rewarded (e.g. food has been eaten, but not replaced) and those where it will still be rewarded.
Olton et al., 1979 proposed that fimbria-fornix or hippocampal lesions impairs working rather than reference memory in a radial maze. This hypothesis was tested for rats with damage to the hippocampus, limbic ventral tegmentum (VTA A10 ) and neocortex, intact and operated controls on a 16-hole-board search task.
Methods:
Food-deprived animals searched for food pellets placed consistently in 4 holes of a 16-hole-board (figure 1). They were presented with 11 sessions of 10 trials/session. There were five groups of animals, - one with aspiration lesions of the hippocampus and overlying neocortex, one with damage only to the overlying neocortex and sham-controls that went through the procedure but the brain was left intact (Oades and Isaacson, 1978) - VTA damage resulted from coagulation with a stylet in a sterotaxically implanted cannula and their controls received the cannula alone.
Working memory error = a visit to a correct hole that has just been visited, and thus no longer contains a food pellet.
Reference memory error = visit to a hole that is never baited.
Results:
1/ A reference and a working memory impairment (in terms of errors made) was recorded for animals with hippocampal or with VTA damage.
2/ The impairments were significant by session 3 and the differences amounted to more than 50% by the end of testing.
Conclusions:
.There was a striking similarity between the performances of animals with damage to the hippocampus and those with damage to the VTA (that projects to the lateral septum, entorhinal cortex and dentate gyrus. The different results obtained by Olton in the radial maze may be explained by the discrete trial testing conducted in the radial maze that contrasts with the multiple choices that an animal makes on a hole-board. Further in the current study training occurred exclusively post-operatively, while in the radial maze animals had received some preoperative training.
Both lesioned and control animals expressed preferred sequences of hole-visits. The preference was weaker in the lesioned animals but the number of changes of preference between sessions did not differ between groups. Thus it is argued that limbic and mesolimbic DA substrates are crucially involved in attentive mechanisms important to adaptive learning and the impairment is not merely one of forming and using memory.
Oades
2001-06-08Z
2011-03-11T08:54:40Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1548
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1548
2001-06-08Z
Discriminatory approach to auditory stimuli in Guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) after hyperstriatal/hippocampal brain damage
Introduction:
The dorsomedial hyperstriatum accessorium (DMHA) appears to mediate some functions simialr to the mammalian hippocampus on tests in the visual modality ( Oades 1976a, 1976b). Here we investigate similar attention-related functions in the auditory modality after brain damage in and around the avian hippocampus. To what extent do these functions extend posterior to the posterior commissure (parahippocampus) and relate to the apparent hierarchical function reported from auditory areas that are adjacent posteriorly (e.g. Field L) ?
Methods:
Operation: Aspiration lesions and cuts were made to discrete parts of the hyperstriatum/hippocampus anterior and posterior to the posterior commissure in adult birds: the performance of these two lesion groups was compared with sham-controls..
Training/testing: Guinea fowl were trained to approach, feed and retreat from a food dish after hearing a species-specific food-trill. An ethogram including approach, search, locomotion and tension behaviour was recorded before and after operation for a training and test regime of variations of the natural calls and other sounds
Histology is shown in figure 1 : Sonograms of fast-, slow, novel-, arousal-trills and "watch-winding" are shown in figure 2 : Photographs and Sketches of the behavioural responses are shown in figure 3.
Results:
1/ Both groups with anterior and posterior lesions showed impaired recognition of the stimulus variations, shown a) by more search behaviour in both groups, and b) increased approach tendencies in the posterior-lesion group.
[Nonetheless test stimuli were rcognized to be different - e.g. search after extinction > after filtered trills > after novel stimuli]
2/ Extended approach after posterior-lesions was followed by a long period of arousal / high tension.
3/ Transient tension behaviour after anterior damage habituated rapidly - search behaviour changed to low tension..
[The anterior lesioned group responded with search to filtered trills - there was message content still in the stimulus, whereas the posterior group changed behaviour.]
Conclusions:
It is proposed that after anterior hyperstriatal damage (hippocampus) there were changes in the thresholds for matching specifications of learned stimuli with new sensory input - initial activation was followed by disengagement.
In contrast more posterior damage incurred an impairment to the general rules for the selection of sensory input - hence this led to more generalised approach and arousal responses.
In conclusion there is a hierarchy of associative function extending anterior from the sensory field L, and this is discussed in terms of the function impaired after brain damage - perseveration (gross behavioural consequences) and persistence (application of recognition units to patterns of sensory stimulation).
Oades
1998-12-03Z
2011-03-11T08:54:16Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/762
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/762
1998-12-03Z
Neophobia and water intake after repeated pairings of novel flavors with toxicosis
The ability of rats (a) to acquire a generalized neophobia and (b) to maintain total daily fluid intake (by increasing intake of plain water) during the neophobia, was assessed. Rats trained to drink on a 23 1/2-hr water deprivation schedule were presented with a series of novel-flavored drinking solutions at 4-day intervals. Fifteen min of exposure to the novel flavor was followed first by 15 min of access to plain water, and then by an injection of lithium chloride. A saline-injected group and a noncontingent lithium chloride-injected group served as controls. Re-exposure to flavors did not occur between presentations of novel flavors. The rats in the group receiving novel flavors paired with toxicosis not only showed suppressed intake of all subsequent novel flavors after several pairings, but also eventually showed suppressed intake of plain water, which was limited to the days of novel-flavor presentation.
Mark B. Kristal
Melissa Ann Steuer
J. Ken Nishita
Lawrence C. Peters
1998-11-19Z
2011-03-11T08:54:16Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/757
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/757
1998-11-19Z
Placentophagia: A biobehavioral enigma (or De gustibus non disputandum est)
Although ingestion of the afterbirth during delivery is a reliable component of parturitional behavior of mothers in most mammalian species, we know almost nothing of the direct causes or consequences of the act. Traditional explanations of placentophagia, such as general or specific hunger, are discussed and evaluated in light of recent experimental results. Next, research is reviewed which has attempted to distinguish between placentophagia as a maternal behavior and placentophagia as an ingestive behavior. Finally, consequences of the behavior, which may also be viewed as ultimate causes in an evolutionary sense, are considered, such as the possibility of beneficial effects on maternal behavior or reproductive competence, on protection against predators, and on immunological protection afforded either the mother or the young.
Mark B. Kristal
2008-09-19T13:55:51Z
2011-03-11T08:57:12Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6213
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6213
2008-09-19T13:55:51Z
Effects of Medial Preoptic Lesions on
Placentophagia and on the Onset of Maternal
Behavior in the Rat
Lesions of the medial preoptic area (MPO) were produced through permanently indwelling electrodes 24 hr prior to parturition in pregnant rats, or 24 hr prior to donor-placenta presentation in virgin rats determined in a pretest to be placentophages. The lesions had no disruptive effect on placentophagia in the virgin females. However, MPO lesions did delay the onset of placentophagia, pup-retrieval, and nestbuilding in some parturient rats. In others, lesions produced an impairment (in latency and quality) only of nest-building. None showed any impairment of pup-licking, or in the clear tendency to leave excreted waste away from the gathered pups. These results suggest the possibility of at least semi-independent mechanisms for the various components of maternal behavior.
Michael Noonan
noonan@canisius.edu
Dr. Mark B Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2001-06-08Z
2011-03-11T08:54:40Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1546
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1546
2001-06-08Z
Search and attention: Interactions of the hippocampal-septal axis, adrenocortical and gonadal hormones
The phenomenon of attention is treated in terms of the ability to select some sensory input channels over others by the central nervous system for further processing and behavioral organization.
Studies of birds and mammals are reviewed to illustrate two major points : -
1) The physiological interactions of the hippocampus and septum modulated by adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), adrenal and gonadal steroids have an important influence on the selective aspects of perception.
2) The theme is developed that some of these interactions mediate one of the attributes of an attention process: namely, the ability to direct attention (facilitated processing capacity)to salient stimuli to the exclusion of an irrelevant background.
Contents:
. A hippocampal role in attention --
a) Electrophysiological correlates, b) Behavioral approaches,
. Active sites for hormones --
a) Pituitary-adrenal hormones, b) Gonadal steroid hormones,
. ACTH 4-10 related molecules and behavior,
. Effects of carbohydrate active steroids,
. Physiological interactions of pituitary-adrenal hormones with the hippocampus,
. Circulating gonadal steroids and persistence --
a) Testosterone, b) Estrogen,
. Conclusions
Oades
2001-01-22Z
2011-03-11T08:54:29Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1247
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1247
2001-01-22Z
Self recognition and social awareness in the deconnected minor hemisphere
Two patients with cerebral commissurotomy were tested with visual input lateralized to left or right half of the visual field by an opaque hemifield screen set in the focal plane of an optical system mounted on a scleral contact lens which allowed prolonged exposure and ocular scanning of complex visual arrays. Key personal and affect-laden stimuli along with items for assessing general social knowledgability were presented among neutral unknowns in visual arrays with 4-9 choices. Selective manual and associated emotional responses obtained from the minor hemisphere to pictures of subject's self, relatives, pets and belongings, and of public, historical and religious figures and personalities from the entertainment world revealed a characteristic social, political, personal and self-awareness comparable roughly to that of the major hemisphere of the same subject.
Roger W. Sperry
Eran Zaidel
Dahlia W. Zaidel
2001-05-29Z
2011-03-11T08:54:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1521
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1521
2001-05-29Z
The development of food search behavior by rats: the effects of hippocampal damage and haloperidol
Introduction:
The aim of the study was to see if some of the effects of hippocampal brain damage on attention-related function may be mediated perhaps trans-synaptically in the dopamine (DA) system.
Methods:
A food search task in a 16-hole board was developed (based on search studies used to investigate the avian hippocampus (Oades 1976), but suitable for rodents). Food-deprived rats were required to locate 4 pellets located in 4 of 16 holes in an enclosed arena.
Three groups of animals were studied in 11 test sessions : - rats with bilateral hippocampal aspiration lesions, bilateral neocortical damage (overlying the hippocampus), and an unoperated group. Half of each group received haloperidol (DA D2 antagonist) and half saline before sessions 4 through 10. No injections were administered on the first three or the last test session.
Results:
1/ Animals with hippocampal damage visited more non-food holes (errors) than the controls, AND did not develop consistent sequences of food-hole visits as the other animals did.
2/ In unoperated controls haloperidol reduced the number of preferred sequences of food-hole visits, WITHOUT affecting the efficiency of performance as measured by the number of non-food-holes visited (i.e., the number of errors did not increase).
3/ Haloperidol treatment of those with hippocampal damage
reduced the number of non-food-hole visits (i.e. reduced the number of errors made in comparison to the saline treated animals with hippocampal damage).
Conclusions:
It is likely that hippocampal damage incurs increased DA activity elsewhere that for the search task is not adaptive and brings about an increase in the number of errors made. This contrasts with the normal development of a consistent sequence of food-hole visits (individually specific) - one form of working memory aid - that is disrupted by haloperidol and by hippocampal damage. Neuroleptic treatment of the hippocampal animals did not reinstate this preferred sequence but by dampening DA activity (reducing switching between alternatives, Oades 1985) improved attention-related search performance by decreasing the number of erros made.
This result may be seen post-hoc as a model for some of the functions disturbed in schizophrenia - where there is evidence for impaired medial temporal lobe function (hippoicampus, parahippocampal gyrus) and often hyper-active DA systems, sometimes ameliorated through neuroleptic treatment (see further studies by Lipska and Weinberger: e.g. Lipska et al. 1992; 1993, 1994, 1995; Sams-Dodd et al., 1997; Wood et al., 1997).
Oades
Isaacson
2001-08-16Z
2011-03-11T08:54:46Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1736
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1736
2001-08-16Z
Effects of red light and loud noise on the rate at which monkeys sample the sensory environment
Monkeys, given the opportunity to move between two featureless chambers, 'sample' first one, then the other in a way which reflects a Poisson decision process. The rate of sampling is higher in red light than in blue and in loud noise than in quietness. We suggest that monkeys 'tune' their sampling rate to the a priori probability of change in the environment.
Nicholas K Humphrey
Graham R Keeble
1998-12-03Z
2011-03-11T08:54:16Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/761
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/761
1998-12-03Z
Learning in escape/avoidance tasks in female rats does not vary with reproductive condition
To determine whether the development of novel stimulus-response associations by the mother during the periparturient period is attributable to a general facilitation of learning produced by the hormonal milieu during that period, learning ability under various reproductive conditions was assessed in two tasks unrelated to the periparturitional situation. The two tasks, selected because they equalized the various groups for motivation and performance variables, were acquisition of a water-maze escape (including two reversals), and acquisition and retention of an unsignalled shuttlebox shock avoidance. The groups tested in the water maze were a midpregnant group, an immediately prepartum group, and an immediately postpartum group. In the shuttlebox, the same conditions (different rats) were compared, together with a nonpregnant estrus condition, and a nonpregnant diestrus condition. The results of both experiments indicate that although learning occurred, the characteristics of acquisition and retention were not influenced by reproductive condition.
Mark B. Kristal
Seymour Axelrod
Michael Noonan
2001-06-26Z
2011-03-11T08:54:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1636
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1636
2001-06-26Z
More persistence during task acquisition by intact vs. castrated Japanese Quail
Introduction:
In view of reports that circulating testosterone levels can lead to the persistence of the selection of previously used stimulus specifications in selective attention mechanisms (Andrew and Rogers, 1972), adult male Japanese Quail with and without circulating gonadal steroids were tested in on a match to sample task in a T-maze. As the specifications (sample) change from trial to trial, it would be predicted that testosterone would not facilitate acquisition of this task if a type of stimulus controls response, but would enhance acquisition if the steroid acts on the activation of a set.
Methods:
Treatment: Data from 13 castrated and 12 intact male Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) are reported.
Testing: Birds were tested with and without prior experience of simple T-maze discrimination. The main test consisted of responding to the same colour door (black or white) in one of the two arms as had been encountered in the runway (i.e. match-to-sample).
Results:
1/ Both groups of birds acquired the simple discrimination rapidly and at similar rates.
2/ On the match-to-sample task intact birds exhibited a relatively stable performance with longer response sequences, while castrates showed a more variable pattern of responding - increasing then decreasing error rates across sessions.
3/ Sequences of 3 or more responses to position or to brightness were more numerous in birds with circulating gonadal steroids.
4/ All birds showed a preference for longer sequences of response to position than to brightness .
5/ Birds with prior experience of the T-maze discrimination made fewer errors.
Conclusions:
The results support a role for testosterone in the persistent selection of familiar or learned sets for controlling response - as suggested in the introduction the effect is on the "rule" used in attention not the nature of an individual stimulus.
Oades
2013-09-17T14:28:01Z
2013-09-17T14:28:01Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8987
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8987
2013-09-17T14:28:01Z
Nonparturitional exposure to donor placenta and placentophagia after lateral hypothalamic lesions in rats
Previous research has shown that parturitionally experienced rats with lateral hypothalamic (LH) lesions that rendered them otherwise aphagic, still ate placenta when it was delivered (pregnant subjects) or presented (nonpregnant subjects). Subsequent studies have shown that some virgin rats are spontaneously attracted to donor placenta, whereas the others clearly avoid it. The present study was designed to demonstrate that the sparing of placentophagia after LH lesions observed in the earlier study was not due merely to the previous ingestion of placenta, per se, or to inadvertent selection for spontaneous placentophages. Virgin placentophages were allowed to consume donor placenta; some were then bred. Prior to parturition or after an equivalent time interval, LH lesions were produced through indwelling electrodes. The next day, not only were the animals with properly placed lesions aphagic to a cookie/milk mash,but none ate delivered or presented placenta.
Dr. Michael Noonan
noonan@canisius.edu
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2001-06-26Z
2011-03-11T08:54:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1637
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1637
2001-06-26Z
The effect of unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions in the substantia nigra on hippocampal noradrenaline-induced feeding and other behaviour in the rat
Introduction:
Given that administration of noradrenaline (NA) to the cerebral ventricles or into the hippocampus can elicit feeding, and that lesion the the dopaminergic (DA) substantia nigra (SN) can bring about aphagia, the present report considers the interaction of these two manipulations.
Methods:
Cannulae were implanted into the SN and the dorsal hippocampus of rats kept on a normal food and water regimen.
One week after surgery 13 µg NA in 0.6 µl were administered to the hippocampus and the animals were observed for 20 minutes or until 3 minutes had elapsed after feeding had stopped.
The behavioural effects of 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the SN were recorded from a circular open arena.
Results:
1/ Feeding in short bouts was elicited after NA injection to 25/30 sites in the hippocampus
2/ More feeding was observed from sites where later histology suggested there had been no leakage to the ventricles (88%). The feeding behavior did not result from spreading depression (>7 shakes recorded on 3% of tests).
3/ After SN lesion, NA still elicited feeding from all hippocampal sites (on two or more occasions).
4/ The SN lesion did not alter the latency to feed, the duration of feeding or the intake of food. (A temporary decrease of body weight was registered on the third postoperative day, only).
5/ NA treatment did not affect locomotion (pre- or post-lesion) although the lesion on its own increased the latency to move and rotation in the open field.
Conclusions:
Unilateral SN-6-OHDA treatment did not affect feeding elicited by ipsi- or contralateral hippocampal teatment with NA.
It is suggested that 6-OHDA induced hypophagia may result from non-specific effects of treatment as the latencies to rest, the duration of grooming increased and feeding bout-duration decreased following the injection of vehicle or toxin.
Oades
2001-05-29Z
2011-03-11T08:54:39Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1520
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1520
2001-05-29Z
p-Chlorophenylalanine-produced effects on behavior in intact and brain-damaged rats
Introduction:
Our aim was to determine if a reduction of serotonin (5-HT) synthesis in the brain would provide any protection from the behavioral alterations induced by hippocampal brain-damage. The development of open-field activity (5 minute sessions) over two weeks and the acquisition of a passive avoidance task were chosen for study.
Methods:
There were 3 groups of lesioned rats - those hippocampal aspiration lesions, those with only damage to the neocortex overlying the hippocampus, and a sham-operated group. Half of each group was treated 300 mg/kg p-chlorphenylalanine (PCPA) for 3 successive days to deplete levels of 5-HT and the other half were given the saline vehicle alone.
[Hippocampal damage is associated with increased activity in the open field and impaired learning of the step-through passive avoidance response.]
Results:
1/ Animals with hippocampal damage became hyperactive in the second week after operation.
2/ PCPA treatment had no effect on locomotion, (nor on the frequently observed thigmotaxic nature of the behavior)
3/ Rearing was initially depressed after the operation, and PCPA treatment facilitated its recovery - but PCPA decreased rearing in intact animals during the second week of testing.
4/ Reduced levels of grooming were seen in hippocampal animals, while PCPA reduced grooming in those with neocortical damage
5/ The animals with hippocampal damage were impaired in witholding response in the passive avoidance task - those treated with PCPA performed even worse in not witholding the shock-reinforced step-through response. This contrasted with the intact animals, where PCPA treatment reduced the amount of footshock the animals were exposed to in the task
Conclusions:
.The results are consistent with a role for mesolimbic 5-HT innervation of the dorsal hippocampus having an influence on novelty-elicited responses (e.g. grooming in home vs. novel cage and investigative rearing behavior) and in modulation of the sensitivity of response to electric footshock (hypersensitive in PCPA-intact animals, hyposensitive in PCPA-hippocampal animals).
R.D. Oades
Isaacson
2007-10-22T10:44:54Z
2011-03-11T08:56:59Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5768
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5768
2007-10-22T10:44:54Z
Placentophagia in rats is modifiable by taste aversion conditioning
An aversion to placenta was conditioned by pairing ingestion with LiCl-induced illness in virgins, in nonpregnant primipara, and in primipara during the first parturition. Persistence of the aversion was assessed at the subsequent parturition, immediately after the subsequent parturition, and two weeks after the subsequent parturition. The results indicated that (a) female rats can learn an aversion to placenta, (b) the aversion was expressed during parturition, (c) previous parturitional experience reduced retention of the aversion, but not acquisition, (d) rats can distinguish between their own normally delivered placenta and donor placenta, and (e) an aversion to placenta at parturition did not appear to have a major effect on pup care.
Douglas B. Engwall
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2007-10-22T10:44:17Z
2011-03-11T08:56:59Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5770
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5770
2007-10-22T10:44:17Z
Uterine distention facilitates the onset of maternal behavior in pseudopregnant but not in cycling rats
The latency to onset of maternal behavior toward foster pups was examined in maternally-naive female rats treated either with uterine distention, a sham procedure, or no uterine manipulation. Uterine distention was achieved by intrauterine injection of hypertonic saline. The treatments were applied to either cycling, Day 10 pseudopregnant, or Day 11 pseudopregnant-decidualized virgins. The latency to onset of maternal behavior for both pseudopregnant groups was significantly shorter than that for the nonpseudopregnant group, when uterine distention was applied. The results suggest that uterine distention during pregnancy (during high progesterone level) may bring about both pregnancy termination (delivery) and the almost immediate maternal behavior seen at parturition, by the same hormonal mechanism.
Gary C. Graber
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2001-06-19Z
2011-03-11T08:54:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1618
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1618
2001-06-19Z
A persistence of responding in hyperstriatal chicks
Introduction:
Various lesions in the dorsomedial hyperstriatum accessorium (DMHA) of chicks were investigated because a substrate with functions similar to the mammalian hippocampus has been proposed for this region (cf. Oades 1976).
Methods:
Operation: Chicks were given aspiration lesions or bilateral scalpel cuts to disconnect the DMHA on day 10 of life (4 types of lesion) and along with sham-operates first exposed to the the training regime 24h later.
Training/testing: Birds were given a) a runway task with distraction at the focus of attention (black and white food dish) or peripherally (black and white panels on runway wallswith a grid to cross), b) operant conditioning for food reward on a DRL-10 schedule [differential learning at low rate of reinforcement - one response in 10 sec is rewarded] and c) a passive avoidance task (with the need to withold entering a compartment or receive an electric footshock).
Results:
1/ DMHA lesioned animals were less distracted by all forms of novelty in the runway, except the presentation of differently coloured food). This feature was specific to DMHA damage and not seen with brain damage elsewhere or in sham-operates.
2/ After DMHA damage the animals had difficulty to learn to withold response on the passive avoidance task, and to learn to withold peck responses to achieve reward on the DRL schedule.
Conclusions:
The continuation of the characteristics associated with the trained response in DMHA-lesioned chicks (damage to the hyperstriatum accessorium) when experimental contingencies change is compared with the behaviour of mammals with lesions in the limbic system (the hippocampus and septum).
Oades
2001-06-19Z
2011-03-11T08:54:42Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1613
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1613
2001-06-19Z
Persistence of the pattern of feeding in chicks with hyperstriatal lesions
Introduction:
Strategies for coloured food pellet selection (response sequences to one or another colour) were studied after training for a red (vs. yellow) preference on a board with/without distracting coloured pebbles.
Various lesions in the dorsomedial hyperstriatum accessorium (DMHA) of chicks were investigated because a) a substrate with functions similar to the mammalian hippocampus has been proposed for this region (Oades 1976), b) perseveration of choice based on persistent stimulus representations is a feature of selective attention after hippocampal brain-damage, and c) treatment with testosterone, with uptake sites in the hippocampus (i.a) also induced persistence in this task Rogers, 1971; Andrew, 1972).
Methods:
Operation: Chicks were given aspiration lesions or bilateral scalpel cuts to disconnect the DMHA on day 10 of life (5 types of lesion) and along with sham-operates first exposed to the the training regime 24h later.
Training/testing: Birds were given red-dyed food for 10 days, (but would accept normal yellow grains). On test they were presented with 200 red, 200 yellow grains spread on either a plain perspex floor or one with pebbles coloured like the food glued to the floor, and the identity of the first 100 pecks scored. The influence of priming with 50 pecks on one or the other colour vs. overnight experience of the non-preferred colour of food was also tested over 2 days
Results:
1/ Colour choice in terms of mean run length (MRL) or first 10 pecks was more stable in the lesioned birds and varied more with the test (and prior experience) in intact animals.
2/ On the plain floor - controls decreased their non-preferred food intake on day 1, but with overnight experience increased it markedly on day 2.
3/ On the pebble floor - controls were more distracted and pecked more pebbles. By comparison the DMHA group retained longer MRL for the trained colour preference.
4/ Chicks with lesions more lateral to the DMHA differed by showing a disruption of the trained preference
5/ Chicks with more ventral or more posterior brain-damage showed a food choice pattern that was indistinguishable from intact controls.
Conclusions:
The lack of lability of the trained feeding preferences of the DMHA animals (whether primed for short or long periods) and in the face of distracting stimuli is interpreted as consistent with the functions of the mammalian hippocampus in tests of selective attention. Different behaviour following damage to the DMHA periphery point to the specificity of the role attributed to the hyperstriatum accessorium
Oades
2001-08-20Z
2011-03-11T08:54:46Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1757
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1757
2001-08-20Z
Vision in a monkey without striate cortex: a case study
A rhesus monkey, Helen, from whom the striate cortex was almost totally removed, was studied intensively over a period of 8 years. During this time she regained an effective, though limited, degree of visually guided behaviour. The evidence suggests that while Helen suffered a permanent loss of 'focal vision' she retained (initially unexpressed) the capacity for 'ambient vision'.
Nicholas K Humphrey
2008-11-02T09:59:35Z
2011-03-11T08:57:13Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6253
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6253
2008-11-02T09:59:35Z
Effects of Lateral Hypothalamic Lesions on Placentophagia in Virgin, Primiparous, and Multiparous Rats
Lesions of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) were produced in pregnant and nonpregnant female rats through chronically implanted electrodes to investigate the effect of LH damage on placentophagia. Other variables investigated were prior parturitional experience and stimulus properties of the placenta. Lesions were produced under ether anesthesia 24 hr. prior to parturition in pregnant females and 24 hr. prior to placenta presentation in nonpregnant females.
The LH lesions produced aphagia to a liquid diet. Pregnancy was not a significant variable in the initiation of placentophagia, but prior parturitional experience was a critical variable. Virgin and primiparous females did not exhibit placentophagia following LH damage, but multiparous females would eat placenta whenever the opportunity arose, independently of LH damage and pregnancy.
Dr. Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
2001-06-26Z
2011-03-11T08:54:43Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1638
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1638
2001-06-26Z
Escape, hiding and freezing behaviour elicited by electrical stimulation of the chick diencephalon
Introduction:
An escape, hide and freeze (EHF) system has been plotted in the chick diencephalon and compared with that described in mammals, with particular reference to the defensive threat and fleeing system described for the cat. It is largely medially distributed and supra-threshold stimulation at different sites in the core of this system can elicit a mix of these behaviours. (These EHF behaviours can also be elicited peripherally. These results emerged from a broadly based study of CNS sites that were investigated for their potential to support electrical self-stimulation.)
Results:
1/ The EHF system starts in the rostral anterior hypothalamus and runs backward through the medial dorsal hypothalamus.
2/ A lateral extension occurs at the entry of the hypothalamic component of the Tractus occipito-mesencephalicus (TOM).
3/ Posterior to this TOM junction the system shows a ventral extension, but this does not include the N. ventromedialis: it coincides instead with medial and periventricular fibres.
4/ The preoptic area, lateral hypothalamic and mamillary areas were all free of EHF sites.
Conclusions:
a - The EHF system thus corresponds well with the distribution of the defensive escape-threat system in mammals.
b - In both mammals and birds similar behaviour can be elicited from both the diencephalic escape system and the central mesencephalic gray. The two are probably connected in the bird by periventricular routes, part of which can be identified by EHF sites.
c - The discussion also refers to other properties of the EHF system such as its role in vocalisation and activation by non-reinforcement.
Andrew
Oades
2007-10-22T10:42:43Z
2011-03-11T08:56:59Z
http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5774
This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5774
2007-10-22T10:42:43Z
Food and water intake prior to parturition in the rat
Food and water intakes were measured in pregnant rats to determine whether parturition is preceded by significant changes in food and water intake. Three diets of different palatability and caloric value were used. Over the last 5 days of pregnancy, pregnant rats were found to ingest more calories/day than nonpregnant rats, and females with prior parturitional experience (multiparous) ingested more than virgin or primiparous females. Pregnant rats also ingested significantly greater amounts of fluid when compared to nonpregnant rats, and multiparous rats (pregnant or not) ingested greater amounts of fluid than did virgin or primiparous rats. On the last day of pregnancy, the intake of solid foods or a liquid diet did not change significantly, but the intake of either water or 5% sucrose was significantly reduced.
Mark B. Kristal
kristal@buffalo.edu
Richard S. Wampler