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PubMed2005

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in cognitive neuroscience of the primate brain.

We describe the use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a suitable means of assessing hemodynamic changes in the cerebral cortex of awake and behaving monkeys. NIRS can be applied to animals performing cognitive tasks in conjunction with electrophysiological methods, thus offering the possibility of investigating cortical neurovascular coupling in cognition. Because it imposes fewer constraints on behavior than fMRI, NIRS appears more practical than fMRI for certain studies of cognitive neuroscience on the primate cortex. In the present study, NIRS and field potential signals were simultaneously recorded from the association cortex (posterior parietal and prefrontal) of monkeys performing two delay tasks, one spatial and the other non-spatial. Working memory was accompanied by an increase in oxygenated hemoglobin mirrored by a decrease in deoxygenated hemoglobin. Both the trends and the amplitudes of these changes differed by task and by area. Field potential records revealed slow negative potentials that preceded the task trials and persisted during their memory period. The negativity during that period was greater in prefrontal than in parietal cortex. Between tasks, the potential differences were less pronounced than the hemodynamic differences. The present feasibility study lays the groundwork for future correlative studies of cognitive function and neurovascular coupling in the primate.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

The semantics of space: integrating linguistic typology and cognitive neuroscience.

In the cognitive neuroscience literature on the distinction between categorical and coordinate spatial relations, it has often been observed that categorical spatial relations are referred to linguistically by words like English prepositions, many of which specify binary oppositions-e.g., above/below, left/right, on/off, in/out. However, the actual semantic content of English prepositions, and of comparable word classes in other languages, has not been carefully considered. This paper has three aims. The first and most important aim is to inform cognitive neuroscientists interested in spatial representation about relevant research on the kinds of categorical spatial relations that are encoded in the 6000+ languages of the world. Emphasis is placed on cross-linguistic similarities and differences involving deictic relations, topological relations, and projective relations, the last of which are organized around three distinct frames of reference--intrinsic, relative, and absolute. The second aim is to review what is currently known about the neuroanatomical correlates of linguistically encoded categorical spatial relations, with special focus on the left supramarginal and angular gyri, and to suggest ways in which cross-linguistic data can help guide future research in this area of inquiry. The third aim is to explore the interface between language and other mental systems, specifically by summarizing studies which suggest that although linguistic and perceptual/cognitive representations of space are at least partially distinct, language nevertheless has the power to bring about not only modifications of perceptual sensitivities but also adjustments of cognitive styles.

Cognition↗
PubMed2005

Investigating principles of human brain function underlying working memory: what insights from schizophrenia?

Working memory dysfunction is a core component of schizophrenia, which likely contributes substantially to the pervasive and profound cognitive deficits observed in patients with this illness. Developments in functional imaging have facilitated the investigation of the neural basis of these cognitive deficits. A strong tradition within neuropsychology has been that circumscribed lesions provide observations which constrain theoretical models, and generate testable predictions on the basis of observed relationships between structural abnormalities and behavioral dysfunction. In this article, the extent to which the neuropsychological tradition can be applied to neuropsychiatry to advance understanding of the biological basis of working memory is addressed. Empirical studies in schizophrenia research are reviewed in relation to principles of normal brain function sub-serving working memory: the functional role of the lateral prefrontal cortex, physiological response capacity constraints, inter-regional functional integration, and compensatory adaptations. However, complex heterogeneous psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia cannot be considered akin to a pure lesion model, and there are considerable methodological challenges in interpreting disruptions of working memory in psychiatric conditions, resulting from clinical, treatment and performance related confounds. The increasing use of psychopharmacological models of disease in healthy human subjects is therefore considered as an attempt to address, or to some extent circumvent these issues.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Working memory as an emergent property of the mind and brain.

Cognitive neuroscience research on working memory has been largely motivated by a standard model that arose from the melding of psychological theory with neuroscience data. Among the tenets of this standard model are that working memory functions arise from the operation of specialized systems that act as buffers for the storage and manipulation of information, and that frontal cortex (particularly prefrontal cortex) is a critical neural substrate for these specialized systems. However, the standard model has been a victim of its own success, and can no longer accommodate many of the empirical findings of studies that it has motivated. An alternative is proposed: Working memory functions arise through the coordinated recruitment, via attention, of brain systems that have evolved to accomplish sensory-, representation-, and action-related functions. Evidence from behavioral, neuropsychological, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging studies, from monkeys and humans, is considered, as is the question of how to interpret delay-period activity in the prefrontal cortex.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

What can research on schizophrenia tell us about the cognitive neuroscience of working memory?

Work with individuals with lesions to specific brain regions has long been used to test or even generate theories regarding the neural systems that support specific cognitive processes. Work with individuals who have neuropsychiatric disorders that also involve neurobiological disturbances may be able to play a similar role in theory testing and building. For example, schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder thought to involve a range of neurobiological disturbances. Further, individuals with schizophrenia are known to suffer from deficits in working memory, meaning that examining the work on the neurobiology of working memory deficits in schizophrenia may help to further our understanding of the cognitive neuroscience of working memory. This article discusses the pros and cons of extrapolating from work in schizophrenia to models of healthy working memory function, and reviews the literature on working memory function in schizophrenia in relationship to existing human and non-human primate models of the cognitive neuroscience of working memory.

Brain↗
PubMed2006

The multi-component model of working memory: explorations in experimental cognitive psychology.

There are a number of ways one can hope to describe and explain cognitive abilities, each of them contributing a unique and valuable perspective. Cognitive psychology tries to develop and test functional accounts of cognitive systems that explain the capacities and properties of cognitive abilities as revealed by empirical data gathered by a range of behavioral experimental paradigms. Much of the research in the cognitive psychology of working memory has been strongly influenced by the multi-component model of working memory [Baddeley AD, Hitch GJ (1974) Working memory. In: Recent advances in learning and motivation, Vol. 8 (Bower GA, ed), pp 47-90. New York: Academic Press; Baddeley AD (1986) Working memory. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press; Baddeley A. Working memory: Thought and action. Oxford: Oxford University Press, in press]. By expanding the notion of a passive short-term memory to an active system that provides the basis for complex cognitive abilities, the model has opened up numerous questions and new lines of research. In this paper we present the current revision of the multi-component model that encompasses a central executive, two unimodal storage systems: a phonological loop and a visuospatial sketchpad, and a further component, a multimodal store capable of integrating information into unitary episodic representations, termed episodic buffer. We review recent empirical data within experimental cognitive psychology that has shaped the development of the multicomponent model and the understanding of the capacities and properties of working memory. Research based largely on dual-task experimental designs and on neuropsychological evidence has yielded valuable information about the fractionation of working memory into independent stores and processes, the nature of representations in individual stores, the mechanisms of their maintenance and manipulation, the way the components of working memory relate to each other, and the role they play in other cognitive abilities. With many questions still open and new issues emerging, we believe that the multicomponent model will continue to stimulate research while providing a comprehensive functional description of working memory.

Brain↗
PubMed2005

Norms for emotions: biological functions and representational contents.

Normative standards are often applied to emotions. Are there normative standards that apply to emotions in virtue solely of facts about their nature? I will argue that the answer is no. The psychological, behavioural, and neurological evidence suggests that emotions are representational brain states with various kinds of biological functions. Facts about biological functions are not (and do not by themselves entail) normative facts. Hence, there are no normative standards that apply to emotions just in virtue of their having various kinds of biological functions. Moreover, the peculiar features of emotions make the view that representational content is essentially normative very implausible. Hence, the representational properties of emotions cannot be seen as entailing normative standards. The conclusion is that there are no normative standards that apply to emotions solely in virtue of their nature.

Cognition↗
PubMed2004

Social cognitive neuroscience: where are we heading?

Humans crave the company of others and suffer profoundly if temporarily isolated from society. Much of the brain must have evolved to deal with social communication and we are increasingly learning more about the neurophysiological basis of social cognition. Here, we explore some of the reasons why social cognitive neuroscience is captivating the interest of many researchers. We focus on its future, and what we believe are priority areas for further research.

Bayes Theorem↗
PubMed2005

The cognitive neuroscience of auditory distraction.

We are often aware of the content of distracting sound, although typically remain unaware of the processes by which that sound is disruptive. Disruption can occur even when the sound is ignored and unrelated to the task being performed. In a recent major development, Gisselgård et al. have used positron emission tomography to reveal how distracting sounds recruit the involvement of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Auditory Perception↗
PubMed2005

The dawn of cognitive genetics? Crucial developmental caveats.

Attempts to bridge genetics and cognition are rapidly coming to the forefront of cognitive neuroscience. It is therefore crucial to evaluate the current state of knowledge about disorders of known genetic origin as a way of assessing whether, and if so how, links between genotype and cognitive phenotype can be drawn, however indirect these links might be. We review recent empirical findings from research on genetic disorders at three levels of description--cognitive, neural systems, and cellular--that caution against simple genotype-phenotype mappings at all levels. Most importantly, interdisciplinary efforts to integrate human genetics and cognition will need to operationalize the mechanisms driving both typical and atypical developmental processes over time.

Brain↗
PubMed2006

Modeling developmental cognitive neuroscience.

In the past few years connectionist models have greatly contributed to formulating theories of cognitive development. Some of these models follow the approach of developmental cognitive neuroscience in exploring interactions between brain development and cognitive development by integrating structural change into learning. We describe two classes of these models. The first focuses on experience-dependent structural elaboration within a brain region by adding or deleting units and connections during learning. The second models the gradual integration of different brain areas based on combinations of experience-dependent and maturational factors. These models provide new theories of the mechanisms of cognitive change in various domains and they offer an integrated framework to study normal and abnormal development, and normal and impaired adult processing.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

Game theory and human evolution: a critique of some recent interpretations of experimental games.

Economists and psychologists have been testing Nash equilibrium predictions of game theory models of human behavior. In many instances, humans do not conform to the predictions. These results are of great interest to biologists because they also raise questions about well-known ESS models of cooperation. Cooperation in certain one-shot, anonymous interactions, and a willingness to punish others at a net cost to oneself are some of the most intriguing deviations from standard theory. One proposed explanation for these results that is receiving increasing attention invokes the cultural group selection of 'other regarding' social norms. We critically review this explanation. We conclude that experimental results reveal limits in two implicit models of cognitive structure commonly employed by economists and evolutionary biologists.

Altruism↗
PubMed1997

Bridging barriers between paradigms: making cognitive concepts relevant for behavior analysis.

We sketch the cognitive-behavioral debate and outline the purpose of the subsequent articles. Together, these articles constitute a symposium designed to show how behavior analysts can learn from the work of cognitivists and cognitive-behavior therapists. This is done by interpreting some cognitive concepts in terms that are familiar and acceptable to behavior analysts. When behavior analysts can understand these concepts in their own terms, perhaps they can incorporate them in their language about behavior and their work with clients.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1997

A behavior analytic interpretation of attributions in the context of behavior therapy.

Clients often provide reasons, justifications, and explanations (i.e., attributions) about the causes of their problems and what they believe needs to be done to ameliorate them. Behavior therapists also frequently generate hypotheses about causal factors contributing to client behavior problems. We discuss the function of attributing in the context of behavior therapy and interpret the cognitive construct of attributions from a behavior analytic perspective as a verbal act of relating otherwise arbitrary events with origins in a social-verbal community. The applied implications of our interpretive analysis of attributions and their role in client problems suggest different therapeutic strategies.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1997

Cognitive concepts, behavior analysis, and behavior therapy.

This symposium acknowledges that the dispute between cognitively oriented and behavior analytically oriented behavior therapists is, in fact, a paradigm clash and that the essential disagreements are "pre-analytic" in nature and are not resolvable by data alone.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1996

The Darwinian status of mind.

Behavioristic criticisms of cognitive psychology stem from a Skinnerian argument by analogy, to wit, natural selection of species replaced divine creation, and therefore shaping of behavior by reinforcement replaces the immaterial mind. But Darwin argued that mind existed materially in mental organs evolved by natural selection, thus Skinner's analogy is false. Neuroscientists are rapidly amassing evidence for the Darwinian status of cognitive functions within the central nervous systems of animals and humans.

Behaviorism↗