Genes, brain, and behavior: Bridging disciplines

With excitement surrounding the publication of the human genome, scientists have set out to uncover the functions of specific genes. This special issue on Genes, Brain, and Behavior attempts to present research strategies that connect major avenues of genetic research across disciplines. For example, anatomical information provided by brain imaging can serve as a convenient link between anatomical abnormalities seen in knockout/transgenic mouse models and abnormal patterns of brain activity seen in certain patient populations. Identifying genetic risk factors for disorders with carefully designed cognitive assays is another strategy that has gained increasing attention. These approaches are being combined with behavioral studies of mouse models of gene function. Alone, each of these approaches provides limited information on gene function in complex human behavior, but together, they are forming bridges between animal models and human psychiatric disorders.     

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: An Overview

When fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) was initially described, diagnosis was based upon physical parameters including facial anomalies and growth retardation, with evidence of developmental delay or mental deficiency. Forty years of research has shown that FAS lies towards the extreme end of what are now termed fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The most profound effects of prenatal alcohol exposure are on the developing brain and the cognitive and behavioral effects that ensue. Alcohol exposure affects brain development via numerous pathways at all stages from neurogenesis to myelination. For example, the same processes that give rise to the facial characteristics of FAS also cause abnormal brain development. Behaviors as diverse as executive functioning to motor control are affected. This special issue of Neuropsychology Review addresses these changes in brain and behavior highlighting the relationship between the two. A diagnostic goal is to recognize FAS as a disorder of brain rather than one of physical characteristics.     

Hierarchical models of behavior and prefrontal function

The recognition of hierarchical structure in human behavior was one of the founding insights of the cognitive revolution. Despite decades of research, however, the computational mechanisms underlying hierarchically organized behavior are still not fully understood. Recent findings from behavioral and neuroscientific research have fueled a resurgence of interest in the problem, inspiring a new generation of computational models. In addition to developing some classic proposals, these models also break fresh ground, teasing apart different forms of hierarchical structure, placing a new focus on the issue of learning and addressing recent findings concerning the representation of behavioral hierarchies within the prefrontal cortex. In addition to offering explanations for some key aspects of behavior and functional neuroanatomy, the latest models also pose new questions for empirical research.     

Integrating a cognitive computational model of planning and decision-making considering affective information

Planning and decision-making are two of the cognitive functions involved in the solution of problems. These functions, among others, have been studied from the point of view of a new field known as cognitive informatics focused on the development of cognitive architectures, autonomous agents, and human robots that are capable of showing human-like behavior. We present an exhaustive study of current biological and computational models proposed in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive informatics. Also, we present a deep review of the brain areas involved in planning, decision-making, and affection. However, the majority of the proposed computational models are seeking to mimic human external behavior. This paper aims to contribute to the cognitive informatics field with an innovative cognitive computational model of planning and decision-making. The two main differences of our model with respect to the current models in the literature are: (i) our model considers affective and motivational information as a basic and essential trigger in planning and decision-making processes; (ii) our model attempts to mimic both the internal human brain as well as the external human behavior. We developed a computational model capable of offering a direct mapping from human brain areas to computational modules of our model. Thus, in this paper we present our model from a conceptual, formal, and computational approach in order to show how our proposal must be implemented. Finally, a set of tests were conducted in order to validate our proposal. These tests show an interesting comparison between the behavior of our prototype and the behavior exhibited by some people involved in a case study.     

The Adolescent Brain and the Emergence and Peak of Psychopathology

Adolescence is a period of heightened emotionality and increased risk for mental illness, affecting as many as one in five persons. This article reviews recent human imaging and animal studies that demarcate adolescent specific changes in brain and behavior that may help to explain this period of increased risk for psychopathology. We highlight adolescence as a sensitive period when: 1) the environment has particularly strong influences on brain and behavior and 2) normative changes in brain development can lead to an imbalance between rapidly changing limbic circuitry and relatively slower developing prefrontal circuitry. This imbalance can be exacerbated by both genetic and environmental influences leading to less capacity to regulate emotions and higher risk for psychopathology. We discuss these findings in the context of understanding who may be at greatest risk for psychopathology and when and how to best treat symptoms of emotional dysregulation.     

Brain mechanisms of altered consciousness in focal seizures

Consciousness is a central concept in epileptology, relevant to the understanding of both focal and generalized seizures. Within focal seizures, impairment of consciousness has long been considered as the main criterion differentiating complex partial seizures (CPS) from simple partial seizures With the development of improved tools for investigating human brain function, new insights into the brain mechanisms of altered consciousness in CPS have become available. This paper reviews the existing literature on how the currently available methods can be used to address the fundamental issue of how CPS alter consciousness.     

Introduction to the special section on theory and data in categorization: Integrating computational, behavioral, and cognitive neuroscience approaches

This special section brings together behavioral, computational, mathematical, and neuroimaging approaches to understand the processes underlying category learning. Over the past decade, there has been growing convergence in research on categorization, with computational-mathematical models influencing the interpretation of brain imaging and neuropsychological data, and with cognitive neuroscience findings influencing the development and refinement of models. Classic debates between single-system and multiple-memory-system theories have become more nuanced and focused. Multiple brain areas and cognitive processes contribute to categorization, but theories differ markedly in whether and when those neurocognitive components are recruited for different aspects of categorization. The articles in this special section approach this issue from several diverse angles.     

The anterior cingulate gyrus and the mechanism of self-regulation

The midfrontal cortex, and particularly the anterior cingulate gyrus, appears active in many studies of functional imaging. Various models have competed to explain the functions of the anterior cingulate in relation to its patterns of activation. We believe that the concept of self-regulation is valuable in considering the role of the cingulate. The sensitivity of the cingulate to both reward and pain, and evidence for cingulate coupling to cognitive and emotional areas during task performance, support this identification. Self-regulation is a very broad concept that does not lend itself very well to specific models or tests, but it does provide a framework for examining development. We trace the role of the midfrontal cortex in evolution and infant development. Both genes and environment influence self-regulation. The presence of both genetic and environmental effects raises the issue of their interaction, which we discuss in relation to the dopamine 4 receptor gene and parenting methods. The role of the midfrontal cortex in self-regulation allows us to consider both brain networks common to all people and network efficiency underlying individual differences in behavior. This research was supported by NIMH Grant HD5801 to Georgia State University and by a grant from the Dana Foundation for the study of the arts.     

Cognitive developmental biology: history, process and fortune's wheel

Biological contributions to cognitive development continue to be conceived predominantly along deterministic lines, with proponents of different positions arguing about the preponderance of gene-based versus experience-based influences that organize brain circuits irreversibly during prenatal or early postnatal life, and evolutionary influences acting through selection on small numbers of genes. This article discusses evolutionary, mechanistic and probabilistic aspects of developmental processes that cognitive scientists need to better integrate. Developmental processes inseparably fuse experience-dependent and experience-independent components, have important stochastic contributions, and exhibit a greater degree of mechanistic continuity between developing and adult nervous systems than previously thought. Their balanced integration leads to new models for "critical or sensitive" period phenomena and behavioral biases. A general understanding of behavioral development - cognitive developmental biology--will require better coordination between comparative animal and human developmental research programs.     

Change and continuity in neurobehavioral development: lessons from the study of neurobiology and neural plasticity

The goal of this paper is to discuss our current understanding of change and continuity in neurobehavioral development. After describing the basic elements of neurobiological development, attention is focused on the myriad of ways experience influences the developing and developed brain. This literature is used to illustrate the complexity of both brain and behavioral development in the context of change and continuity. The implications of considering brain/behavior relations in the context of development comprise the final section of the paper.     

Synapses,Schizophrenia, and Civilization: What Made Homo Sapient?

Progress in technology has allowed dynamic research on the development of the human brain that has revolutionized concepts. Particularly, the notions of plasticity, neuronal selection, and the effects of afferent stimuli have entered into thinking about brain development. Here I focus on development from the age of four years to early adulthood, during which a 30 percent reduction in some brain synapses occurs that is out of proportion to changes in neuronal numbers. This corresponds temporally with changes in normal child behavior from the loose‐associative, almost schizoid, thinking and art of the four‐year‐old to the more trained, or disciplined, or acculturated—and restrained—personality of the young adult. I propose that the synaptic changes can best be thought of as a winnowing process likely subject to environmental influences. Acquisition of language and the ability to link linguistic cognition to the plastic development of the brain provide a potentially powerful means of explaining the evolutionally explosive development of human cognition and culture. Schizophrenia, a disease that can be envisioned as representing a derangement of synaptic maturation, may provide an entry into the search for genes controlling the processes mediating the unprecedented development of Homo sapiens over the past 40,000 to 70,000 years. The recently completed mapping of the genome of the chimpanzee provides a new frame of reference that may speed the search.     

Mapping gray matter development: Implications for typical development and vulnerability to psychopathology

Recent studies with brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have scanned large numbers of children and adolescents repeatedly over time, as their brains develop, tracking volumetric changes in gray and white matter in remarkable detail. Focusing on gray matter changes specifically, here we explain how earlier studies using lobar volumes of specific anatomical regions showed how different lobes of the brain matured at different rates. With the advent of more sophisticated brain mapping methods, it became possible to chart the dynamic trajectory of cortical maturation using detailed 3D and 4D (dynamic) models, showing spreading waves of changes evolving through the cortex. This led to a variety of time-lapse films revealing characteristic deviations from normal development in schizophrenia, bipolar illness, and even in siblings at genetic risk for these disorders. We describe how these methods have helped clarify how cortical development relates to cognitive performance, functional recovery or decline in illness, and ongoing myelination processes. These time-lapse maps have also been used to study effects of genotype and medication on cortical maturation, presenting a powerful framework to study factors that influence the developing brain.     

Training the brain: practical applications of neural plasticity from the intersection of cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, and prevention science

Prior researchers have shown that the brain has a remarkable ability for adapting to environmental changes. The positive effects of such neural plasticity include enhanced functioning in specific cognitive domains and shifts in cortical representation following naturally occurring cases of sensory deprivation; however, maladaptive changes in brain function and development owing to early developmental adversity and stress have also been well documented. Researchers examining enriched rearing environments in animals have revealed the potential for inducing positive brain plasticity effects and have helped to popularize methods for training the brain to reverse early brain deficits or to boost normal cognitive functioning. In this article, two classes of empirically based methods of brain training in children are reviewed and critiqued: laboratory-based, mental process training paradigms and ecological interventions based upon neurocognitive conceptual models. Given the susceptibility of executive function disruption, special attention is paid to training programs that emphasize executive function enhancement. In addition, a third approach to brain training, aimed at tapping into compensatory processes, is postulated. Study results showing the effectiveness of this strategy in the field of neurorehabilitation and in terms of naturally occurring compensatory processing in human aging lend credence to the potential of this approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

The Study of the Development of Civic Engagement Within Contemporary Developmental Science: Theory,Method, and Application

Within contemporary developmental science, models derived from relational developmental systems metatheory emphasize that the basic process involved in the ontogeny of civic engagement involves mutually-influential and beneficial relations between the developing individual and his or her complex and changing social, cultural, and physical contexts (represented as individual ← → context relations). The authors suggest that research on the development of civic engagement should be theoretically predicated, use change-sensitive, longitudinal methods, and be comparative across time and place. Using these facets of scholarship as a lens, we discuss the contributions to this special issue. We conclude that the present set of studies provides a useful basis for future research and applications aimed at understanding and promoting individuals’ civic contributions, and their support of social organizations promoting individual thriving and freedom, liberty, and social justice.     

Towards Understanding the Psychology of the Filipino

This article describes the development of a new consciousness in Philippine psychology called "Sikolohiyang Pilipino" (Filipino Psychology). It attempts to give national form and substance to the scientific discipline of psychology by critically examining the strong influence of American psychological models in Philippine psychology and explains how the practical implications of "Sikolohiyang Pilipino" in therapy differ from Western methods. It presents an alternative framework of looking at human behavior particularly in the context of non-Western cultures and identifies key concepts in understanding the Filipino's mind, personality, and behavior. It elaborates on indigenous research methods that are more relevant and appropriate to Philippine realities.     

Quantifying developing country research capacity in the areas of malaria,schistosomiasis, and leprosy

Implicit in addressing the issue of how to build and strengthen health related endogenous research capacity is that both donor organizations and developing country policymakers distinguish betweenhealth priorities andhealth research priorities. This distinction has important policy consequences in that the majority of developing countries are not in a position, either in financial or human resource terms, to simultaneously generate and implement broad-based priorities in both areas. In this context, it is important that health research priority setting be developed in tandem with existing research capacity. This underlines the importance of assessing the amount and nature of available expertise, and positioning research output, both in the national health needs, and the international science research contexts. The present article, which more properly constitutes a feasibility study, uses scientometric methods to assess the amount and nature of scientific output in three important tropical diseases: malaria, schistosomiasis and leprosy. The major goals of this study have been to i) compare the amount and nature of research produced in developed and developing countries for the three diseases; ii) determine in how far scientometric methods can be used to measure research capacity, and whether this measurement can facilitate the determination of health (research) priorities.     

MRI-based morphometric of typical and atypical brain development

The neuroinformatics landscape in which human brain morphometry occurs has advanced dramatically over the past few years. Rapid advancement in image acquisition methods, image analysis tools and interpretation of morphometric results make the study of in vivo anatomic analysis both challenging and rewarding. This has revolutionized our expectations for current and future diagnostic and investigative work with the developing brain. This paper will briefly cover the methods of morphometric analysis available for neuroanatomic analysis, and tour some sample results from a prototype retrospective database of neuroanatomic volumetric information. From these observations, issues regarding the anatomic variability of developmental maturation of neuroanatomic structures in both typically and atypically developing populations can be discussed.     

文化视域下文化神经科学学科主张与检讨

文化神经科学是在宏大的文化背景下来全面深入考察个体的"心理、行为与脑认知机制"之间规律的一门学科。文化神经科学所倡导的神经-文化交互作用模型表明该学科以融合视野引领心理学研究范式的变革成为可能。同时,从文化学视野来审视,亦折射出其在文化学层面的短板,即人文精神与文化意蕴在"文化"名义下日渐式微。     

精神分裂症的潜伏抑制动物模型

精神分裂症动物模型的建立,是当前研究精神分裂症的神经生物学机制以及开发新的抗精神病药物的一个重要课题。文章系统地阐述了以潜伏抑制为行为模式的精神分裂症动物模型的理论以及神经机制,并重点介绍了精神分裂症的潜伏抑制动物模型的建立方法,包括（1）调节某些与精神分裂症相关的中枢神经递质的传递活动;（2）对与精神分裂症有关的中脑-伏隔核神经环路进行结构损伤或药物性干预;（3）在发育早期给予免疫刺激或环境应激