From cybernetics to brain theory,and more: A memoir

While structured as an autobiography, this memoir exemplifies ways in which classic contributions to cybernetics (e.g., by Wiener, McCulloch & Pitts, and von Neumann) have fed into a diversity of current research areas, including the mathematical theory of systems and computation, artificial intelligence and robotics, computational neuroscience, linguistics, and cognitive science. The challenges of brain theory receive special emphasis. Action-oriented perception and schema theory complement neural network modeling in analyzing cerebral cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, and basal ganglia. Comparative studies of frog, rat, monkey, ape and human not only deepen insights into the human brain but also ground an EvoDevoSocio view of “how the brain got language.” The rapprochement between neuroscience and architecture provides a recent challenge. The essay also assesses some of the social and theological implications of this broad perspective.     

来源记忆与年老化

来源记忆不同于项目记忆,它更容易受年老化的影响,与这一现象有关的因素既有生理的又有心理的,前额皮层功能老化是影响老年人来源记忆的生理因素,而注意分配困难以及记忆加工困难是影响老年人来源记忆的两个重要心理因素。     

A Sex Difference on a Novel Spatial Working Memory Task in Humans

Neurophysiological and behavioral evidence suggests that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) may be sexually differentiated in nonhuman primates. The present study examined whether there are sex differences in working memory in humans that might reflect sexual differentiation of human PFC. Male and female undergraduates were administered a novel multitrial spatial working memory task (SPWM) and a verbal working memory task. In three experiments, females committed significantly fewer working memory errors and took significantly less time to reach criterion than males on the SPWM task. The female advantage was not accounted for by differences in general intellectual ability, attention, perceptual speed, incidental memory, or speed of verbal access. In Study 3, a sex difference was also observed on a measure of verbal working memory. The findings suggest that some prefrontal functions may be sexually differentiated in humans.     

Cognitive Neuroscience, Temporal Ordering, and the Human Spirit

Understanding purpose and intent requires attention to our experience of time. Cognitive neuroscientific research into the functional and neural substrates of higher cognitive functions have direct bearing on the experience of temporal ordering. Consciousness, located within the short span of working memory, is made cognitively possible and evolutionarily valuable by biological constraints in time. These constraints, including our longevity, make thought about more extended events both possible and useful. Such cognitive processes, rooted in the neurophysiology of cortical function, are a sine qua non for the construction of meaning, relationship, morality, and purposes that may extend beyond our mortality. Research in the cognitive neurosciences is overviewed, and implications are discussed for questions of mortality, design and intention, the reconstruction of meaning, and the experience of eternity.     

Tuning the engine of cognition: a focus on NMDA/D1 receptor interactions in prefrontal cortex

The prefrontal cortex of the primate frontal lobes provides the capacity for judgment which can constantly adapt behavior in order to optimize its outcome. Adjudicating between long-term memory programs and prepotent responses, this capacity reviews all incoming information and provides an interpretation dependent on the events that have just occurred, the events that are predicted to happen, and the alternative response strategies that are available in the given situation. It has been theorized that this function requires two essential integrated components, a central executive which guides selective attention based on mechanisms of associative memory, as well as the second component, working memory buffers, in which information is held online, abstracted, and translated on a mental sketchpad of work in progress. In this review, we critically outline the evidence that the integration of these processes and, in particular, the induction and maintenance of persistent activity in prefrontal cortex and related networks, is dependent upon the interaction of dopamine D1 and glutamate NMDA receptor signaling at critical nodes within local circuits and distributed networks. We argue that this interaction is not only essential for representational memory, but also core to mechanisms of neuroadaptation and learning. Understanding its functional significance promises to reveal major new insights into prefrontal dysfunction in schizophrenia and, hence, to target a new generation of drugs designed to ameliorate the debilitating working memory deficits in this disorder.     

Using TD learning to simulate working memory performance in a model of the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia

Delayed-response tasks (DRTs) have been used to assess working memory (WM) processes in human and nonhuman animals. Experiments have shown that the basal ganglia (BG) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) subserve DRT performance. Here, we report the results of simulation studies of a systems-level model of DRT performance. The model was trained using the temporal difference (TD) algorithm and uses an actor-critic architecture. The matrisomes of the BG represent the actor and the striosomes represent the critic. Unlike existing models, we hypothesize that the BG subserve the selection of both motor- and cognitive-related information in these tasks. We also assume that the learning of both processes is based on reward presentation. A novel feature of the model is the incorporation of delay-active neurons in the matrisomes, in addition to DLPFC. Another novel feature of the model is the subdivision of the matrisomal neurons into segregated winner-take-all (WTA) networks consisting of delay- versus transiently-active units.Our simulation model proposes a new neural mechanism to account for the occurrence of perseverative responses in WM tasks in striatal-, as well as in prefrontal damaged subjects. Simulation results also show that the model both accounts for the phenomenon of time shifting of dopamine phasic signals and the effects of partial reinforcement and reward magnitude on WM performance at both behavioral and neural levels. Our simulation results also found that the TD algorithm can subserve learning in delayed-reversal tasks.     

The neural basis of cognitive control: Response selection and inhibition

The functional neuroanatomy of tasks that recruit different forms of response selection and inhibition has to our knowledge, never been directly addressed in a single fMRI study using similar stimulus–response paradigms where differences between scanning time and sequence, stimuli, and experimenter instructions were minimized. Twelve right-handed participants were scanned on two standard cognitive control tasks, a stimulus–response incompatibility task, and a response inhibition task. A compound trial design allowed comparison of preparing to inhibit an upcoming automatic response to wholly inhibiting an automatic response. Furthermore, inhibiting an automatic response to perform an alternative task-relevant response was compared to wholly inhibiting an automatic response. No differences were found in prefrontal activity when preparing to inhibit an automatic response was compared to wholly inhibiting an automatic response, suggesting a mostly common network. The left inferior frontal gyrus was found to be commonly recruited during both tasks when controlled responses were required, likely due to its role in response selection. In contrast, the right inferior frontal gyrus was found to be more involved when task demands were stronger for response inhibition. Our results are largely consistent with models of cognitive control that postulate that separate psychological constructs, such as response selection and inhibition, are related processes largely served by a common prefrontal network. This prefrontal network is recruited to a greater or lesser extent depending on specific task demands.     

Self-referential processing of negative stimuli within the ventral anterior cingulate gyrus and right amygdala

Neural activity associated with self-referential processing of emotional stimuli was investigated using whole brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Fifteen healthy subjects underwent fMRI scanning while making judgments about positive and negative trait words in four conditions (self-reference, other-reference, semantic processing, and letter processing). Significant activity was observed in the right ventral anterior cingulate gyrus and the right amygdala in the negative-word/self-reference condition, and in the left amygdala in the positive-word/self-reference condition. Compared with the semantic-processing condition, the self-reference conditions showed significantly more activity in the medial prefrontal and temporal gyri, posterior cingulate gyrus, and precuneus. These results suggest that the medial prefrontal gyrus, posterior cingulate gyrus, and precuneus are associated with a self-referential processing, and the ventral anterior cingulate gyrus is involved in self-referential processing of negative emotional stimuli. The results also suggest that the amygdala is associated with self-referential processing of both positive and negative emotional stimuli.     

A developmental study of the influence of task characteristics on motor overflow

Motor overflow refers to involuntary movement or muscle activity that may coincide with voluntary movement. This study examined factors influencing motor overflow in 17 children (8-11 years), and 17 adults (18-35 years). Participants performed a finger pressing task by exerting either 33% or 66% of their maximal force output using their dominant or non-dominant hand. Attention was manipulated by tactile stimulation to one or both hands. Overflow relative to the target force was greater in children compared to adults, and at the lower target force for both groups, but was not influenced by attentional stimulation. Childhood overflow was greater when the left-hand performed the task. Although an immature motor system may underlie an inability to suppress involuntary movement, childhood overflow may provide motor stabilization.     

工作记忆的保持与操控：腹侧和背侧额叶皮层的特异性功能磁共振成像活动

为了进行大样本的老化与记忆的功能磁共振成像(fMRI)研究, 研究者设计了言语工作记忆的方案, 并且对一组健康青年人进行了施测。字母的呈现方式主要为两种条件: (i) 保持, 要求被试记住呈现的字母并且能够在4秒的间隔后保持; (ii) 操控, 被试需要将呈现的字母按字母表的顺序进行转换, 并且记住新的顺序。不管是用全脑分析, 还是用预先定义的感兴趣区域的分析方法, 对fMRI数据的分析表明本方案诱发了可靠的额叶皮层的激活, 且操控条件则引发了更为广泛的激活。背外侧和腹内侧前额叶的激活也表现出了不同特点, 操控引发了更多的背外侧前额叶激活。一些皮下区域也得到了激活, 特别是以前发现与工作记忆任务相关的一些区域。这说明该工作记忆研究方案适合探索额叶功能的与年龄相关的改变。