Social neuroscience and theory of mind.

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Westby, Carol E

2014-01-01

The role of theory of mind (ToM) in autism spectrum disorders and other communication impairments has been an active area of research in the last 30 years. Advances in neuroimaging in the last 10 years have led to the rise of the field of social neuroscience, which has markedly increased the understanding of the neurophysiological/neuroanatomical and neurochemical nature of ToM functioning and deficits in typically developing individuals and in children and adults with a variety of social and communication impairments. The goal of this paper is to (a) describe the current concepts of ToM based on neuroscience research, and (b) present a framework for the dimensions of ToM that have been identified, which can be used to guide assessment and intervention for persons with deficits in ToM that affect social interactions. This article presents neuroscience research that has documented the neurophysiological/neuroanatomical bases for cognitive and affective ToM and interpersonal and intrapersonal ToM as well as neurochemical and epigenetic influences on ToM. This information provides an important framework for assessing ToM deficits in persons with social and communication impairments and developing interventions that target the specific dimensions of ToM deficits. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

An affective neuroscience framework for the molecular study of Internet addiction

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Christian Montag

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Internet addiction represents an emerging global health issue. Increasing efforts have been made to characterize risk factors for the development of Internet addiction and consequences of excessive Internet use. During the last years, classic research approaches from psychology considering personality variables as vulnerability factor, especially in conjunction with neuroscience approaches such as brain imaging, have led to coherent theoretical conceptualizations of Internet addiction. Although such conceptualizations can be valuable aid, the research field is currently lacking a comprehensive framework for determining brain-based and neurochemical markers of Internet addiction. The present work aims at providing a framework on the molecular level as a basis for future research on the neural and behavioral level, in order to facilitate a comprehensive neurobiological model of Internet addiction and its clinical symptomatology.To help establish such a molecular framework for the study of Internet addiction, we investigated in N = 680 participants associations between individual differences in tendencies towards Internet addiction measured by the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale-2 (GPIUS-2 and individual differences in primary emotional systems as assessed by the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS. Regression analysis revealed that the ANPS scales FEAR and SADNESS were the ANPS scales most robustly positively linked to nearly all (subscales of the GPIUS-2. Also the scales SEEKING, CARE and PLAY explain variance in some of the GPIUS-2 subscales. As such, these scales are negatively linked to the GPIUS-2 subscales.As the ANPS has been constructed on substantial available brain data including an extensive molecular body with respect to evolutionary highly conserved emotional circuitry in the ancient mammalian brain, the present study gives first ideas on putative molecular mechanisms underlying different facets of Internet

An Affective Neuroscience Framework for the Molecular Study of Internet Addiction

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Montag, Christian; Sindermann, Cornelia; Becker, Benjamin; Panksepp, Jaak

2016-01-01

Internet addiction represents an emerging global health issue. Increasing efforts have been made to characterize risk factors for the development of Internet addiction and consequences of excessive Internet use. During the last years, classic research approaches from psychology considering personality variables as vulnerability factor, especially in conjunction with neuroscience approaches such as brain imaging, have led to coherent theoretical conceptualizations of Internet addiction. Although such conceptualizations can be valuable aid, the research field is currently lacking a comprehensive framework for determining brain-based and neurochemical markers of Internet addiction. The present work aims at providing a framework on the molecular level as a basis for future research on the neural and behavioral level, in order to facilitate a comprehensive neurobiological model of Internet addiction and its clinical symptomatology. To help establish such a molecular framework for the study of Internet addiction, we investigated in N = 680 participants associations between individual differences in tendencies toward Internet addiction measured by the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale-2 (GPIUS-2) and individual differences in primary emotional systems as assessed by the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS). Regression analysis revealed that the ANPS scales FEAR and SADNESS were the ANPS scales most robustly positively linked to several (sub)scales of the GPIUS-2. Also the scales SEEKING, CARE and PLAY explain variance in some of the GPIUS-2 subscales. As such, these scales are negatively linked to the GPIUS-2 subscales. As the ANPS has been constructed on substantial available brain data including an extensive molecular body with respect to evolutionary highly conserved emotional circuitry in the ancient mammalian brain, the present study gives first ideas on putative molecular mechanisms underlying different facets of Internet addiction as derived

An Affective Neuroscience Framework for the Molecular Study of Internet Addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Montag, Christian; Sindermann, Cornelia; Becker, Benjamin; Panksepp, Jaak

2016-01-01

Internet addiction represents an emerging global health issue. Increasing efforts have been made to characterize risk factors for the development of Internet addiction and consequences of excessive Internet use. During the last years, classic research approaches from psychology considering personality variables as vulnerability factor, especially in conjunction with neuroscience approaches such as brain imaging, have led to coherent theoretical conceptualizations of Internet addiction. Although such conceptualizations can be valuable aid, the research field is currently lacking a comprehensive framework for determining brain-based and neurochemical markers of Internet addiction. The present work aims at providing a framework on the molecular level as a basis for future research on the neural and behavioral level, in order to facilitate a comprehensive neurobiological model of Internet addiction and its clinical symptomatology. To help establish such a molecular framework for the study of Internet addiction, we investigated in N = 680 participants associations between individual differences in tendencies toward Internet addiction measured by the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale-2 (GPIUS-2) and individual differences in primary emotional systems as assessed by the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS). Regression analysis revealed that the ANPS scales FEAR and SADNESS were the ANPS scales most robustly positively linked to several (sub)scales of the GPIUS-2. Also the scales SEEKING, CARE and PLAY explain variance in some of the GPIUS-2 subscales. As such, these scales are negatively linked to the GPIUS-2 subscales. As the ANPS has been constructed on substantial available brain data including an extensive molecular body with respect to evolutionary highly conserved emotional circuitry in the ancient mammalian brain, the present study gives first ideas on putative molecular mechanisms underlying different facets of Internet addiction as derived

A framework for streamlining research workflow in neuroscience and psychology

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Jonas eKubilius

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Successful accumulation of knowledge is critically dependent on the ability to verify and replicate every part of scientific conduct. However, such principles are difficult to enact when researchers continue to resort on ad hoc workflows and with poorly maintained code base. In this paper I examine the needs of neuroscience and psychology community, and introduce psychopy_ext, a unifying framework that seamlessly integrates popular experiment building, analysis and manuscript preparation tools by choosing reasonable defaults and implementing relatively rigid patterns of workflow. This structure allows for automation of multiple tasks, such as generated user interfaces, unit testing, control analyses of stimuli, single-command access to descriptive statistics, and publication quality plotting. Taken together, psychopy_ext opens an exciting possibility for faster, more robust code development and collaboration for researchers.

Attachment Theory and Neuroscience for Care Managers.

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Blakely, Thomas J; Dziadosz, Gregory M

2016-09-01

This article describes a model for care managers that is based on attachment theory supplemented by knowledge from neuroscience. Together, attachment theory and basic knowledge from neuroscience provide for both an organizing conceptual framework and a scientific, measureable approach to assessment and planning interventions in a care plan.

Integrated neuroscience program: an alternative approach to teaching neurosciences to chiropractic students.

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He, Xiaohua; La Rose, James; Zhang, Niu

2009-01-01

Most chiropractic colleges do not offer independent neuroscience courses because of an already crowded curriculum. The Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida has developed and implemented an integrated neuroscience program that incorporates neurosciences into different courses. The goals of the program have been to bring neurosciences to students, excite students about the interrelationship of neuroscience and chiropractic, improve students' understanding of neuroscience, and help the students understand the mechanisms underpinning the chiropractic practice. This study provides a descriptive analysis on how the integrated neuroscience program is taught via students' attitudes toward neuroscience and the comparison of students' perceptions of neuroscience content knowledge at different points in the program. A questionnaire consisting of 58 questions regarding the neuroscience courses was conducted among 339 students. The questionnaire was developed by faculty members who were involved in teaching neuroscience and administered in the classroom by faculty members who were not involved in the study. Student perceptions of their neuroscience knowledge, self-confidence, learning strategies, and knowledge application increased considerably through the quarters, especially among the 2nd-year students. The integrated neuroscience program achieved several of its goals, including an increase in students' confidence, positive attitude, ability to learn, and perception of neuroscience content knowledge. The authors believe that such gains can expand student ability to interpret clinical cases and inspire students to become excited about chiropractic research. The survey provides valuable information for teaching faculty to make the course content more relevant to chiropractic students.

The brain at the centre of the information universe: lessons from popular neuroscience

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Paul Sturges

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Insights from the recent wealth of popular books on neuroscience are offered to suggest a strengthening of theory in information science. Information theory has traditionally neglected the human dimension in favour of ‘scientific’ theory often derived from the Shannon-Weaver model. Neuroscientists argue in excitingly fresh ways from the evidence of case studies, non-intrusive experimentation and the measurements that can be obtained from technologies that include electroencephalography, positron emission tomography (PET, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI, and magnetoencephalography (MEG. The way in which the findings of neuroscience intersect with ideas such as those of Kahneman on fast and slow thinking and Csikszentmihalyi on flow, is tentatively explored as lines of connection with information science. It is argued that the beginnings of a theoretical underpinning for current web-based information searching in relation to established information retrieval methods can be drawn from this.

Attitudes toward neuroscience education in psychiatry: a national multi-stakeholder survey.

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Fung, Lawrence K; Akil, Mayada; Widge, Alik; Roberts, Laura Weiss; Etkin, Amit

2015-04-01

The objective of this study is to assess the attitudes of chairs of psychiatry departments, psychiatrists, and psychiatry trainees toward neuroscience education in residency programs and beyond in order to inform future neuroscience education approaches. This multi-stakeholder survey captured data on demographics, self-assessments of neuroscience knowledge, attitudes toward neuroscience education, preferences in learning modalities, and interests in specific neuroscience topics. In 2012, the authors distributed the surveys: by paper to 133 US psychiatry department chairs and electronically through the American Psychiatric Association to 3,563 of its members (1,000 psychiatrists and 2,563 trainees). The response rates for the chair, psychiatrist, and trainee surveys were 53, 9, and 18 %, respectively. A large majority of respondents agreed with the need for more neuroscience education in general and with respect to their own training. Most respondents believed that neuroscience will help destigmatize mental illness and begin producing new treatments or personalized medicines in 5-10 years. Only a small proportion of trainees and psychiatrists, however, reported a strong knowledge base in neuroscience. Respondents also reported broad enthusiasm for transdiagnostic topics in neuroscience (such as emotion regulation and attention/cognition) and description at the level of neural circuits. This study demonstrates the opportunity and enthusiasm for teaching more neuroscience in psychiatry among a broad range of stakeholder groups. A high level of interest was also found for transdiagnostic topics and approaches. We suggest that a transdiagnostic framework may be an effective way to deliver neuroscience education to the psychiatric community and illustrate this through a case example, drawing the similarity between this neuroscience approach and problem-based formulations familiar to clinicians.

Teaching Ethics Informed by Neuroscience

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Sayre, Molly Malany

2016-01-01

New findings about the brain are explicating how we make moral and ethical decisions. The neuroscience of morality is relevant to ethical decision making in social work because of a shared biopsychosocial perspective and the field's explanatory power to understand possible origins of universally accepted morals and personal attitudes at play in…

Educational Neuroscience: Neuroethical Considerations

Science.gov (United States)

Lalancette, Helene; Campbell, Stephen R.

2012-01-01

Research design and methods in educational neuroscience involve using neuroscientific tools such as brain image technologies to investigate cognitive functions and inform educational practices. The ethical challenges raised by research in social neuroscience have become the focus of neuroethics, a sub-discipline of bioethics. More specifically…

Epigenetics: An Emerging Framework for Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing.

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DeSocio, Janiece E

2016-07-01

The aims of this paper are to synthesize and report research findings from neuroscience and epigenetics that contribute to an emerging explanatory framework for advanced practice psychiatric nursing. Discoveries in neuroscience and epigenetics reveal synergistic mechanisms that support the integration of psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and psychoeducation in practice. Advanced practice psychiatric nurses will benefit from an expanded knowledge base in neuroscience and epigenetics that informs and explains the scientific rationale for our integrated practice. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Towards new human rights in the age of neuroscience and neurotechnology.

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Ienca, Marcello; Andorno, Roberto

2017-12-01

Rapid advancements in human neuroscience and neurotechnology open unprecedented possibilities for accessing, collecting, sharing and manipulating information from the human brain. Such applications raise important challenges to human rights principles that need to be addressed to prevent unintended consequences. This paper assesses the implications of emerging neurotechnology applications in the context of the human rights framework and suggests that existing human rights may not be sufficient to respond to these emerging issues. After analysing the relationship between neuroscience and human rights, we identify four new rights that may become of great relevance in the coming decades: the right to cognitive liberty, the right to mental privacy, the right to mental integrity, and the right to psychological continuity.

Neuroscience challenges to philosophical anthropology

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Antonio Sánchez Orantos

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This article aims to provide a possible framework to critically define the concept of human nature and person in dialogue with Neuroscience. He tries to help meet the challenge of the naturalism in the current thought.

Teachers' Beliefs about Neuroscience and Education

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Zambo, Debby; Zambo, Ron

2011-01-01

Information from neuroscience is readily available to educators, yet instructors of educational psychology and related fields have not investigated teachers' beliefs regarding this information. The purpose of this survey study was to uncover the beliefs 62 teachers held about neuroscience and education. Results indicate there were three types of…

Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment: A Neuroscience-Based Framework for Addictive Disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwako, Laura E; Momenan, Reza; Litten, Raye Z; Koob, George F; Goldman, David

2016-08-01

This article proposes a heuristic framework for the Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment that incorporates key functional domains derived from the neurocircuitry of addiction. We review how addictive disorders (ADs) are presently diagnosed and the need for new neuroclinical measures to differentiate patients who meet clinical criteria for addiction to the same agent while differing in etiology, prognosis, and treatment response. The need for a better understanding of the mechanisms provoking and maintaining addiction, as evidenced by the limitations of current treatments and within-diagnosis clinical heterogeneity, is articulated. In addition, recent changes in the nosology of ADs, challenges to current classification systems, and prior attempts to subtype individuals with ADs are described. Complementary initiatives, including the Research Domain Criteria project, that have established frameworks for the neuroscience of psychiatric disorders are discussed. Three domains-executive function, incentive salience, and negative emotionality-tied to different phases in the cycle of addiction form the core functional elements of ADs. Measurement of these domains in epidemiologic, genetic, clinical, and treatment studies will provide the underpinnings for an understanding of cross-population and temporal variation in addictions, shared mechanisms in addictive disorders, impact of changing environmental influences, and gene identification. Finally, we show that it is practical to implement such a deep neuroclinical assessment using a combination of neuroimaging and performance measures. Neuroclinical assessment is key to reconceptualizing the nosology of ADs on the basis of process and etiology, an advance that can lead to improved prevention and treatment. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Neurosciences

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... this page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007456.htm Neurosciences To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Neurosciences (or clinical neurosciences) refers to the branch of ...

Culture and neuroscience: additive or synergistic?

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Dapretto, Mirella; Iacoboni, Marco

2010-01-01

The investigation of cultural phenomena using neuroscientific methods—cultural neuroscience (CN)—is receiving increasing attention. Yet it is unclear whether the integration of cultural study and neuroscience is merely additive, providing additional evidence of neural plasticity in the human brain, or truly synergistic, yielding discoveries that neither discipline could have achieved alone. We discuss how the parent fields to CN: cross-cultural psychology, psychological anthropology and cognitive neuroscience inform the investigation of the role of cultural experience in shaping the brain. Drawing on well-established methodologies from cross-cultural psychology and cognitive neuroscience, we outline a set of guidelines for CN, evaluate 17 CN studies in terms of these guidelines, and provide a summary table of our results. We conclude that the combination of culture and neuroscience is both additive and synergistic; while some CN methodologies and findings will represent the direct union of information from parent fields, CN studies employing the methodological rigor required by this logistically challenging new field have the potential to transform existing methodologies and produce unique findings. PMID:20083533

Culture, attribution and automaticity: a social cognitive neuroscience view.

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Mason, Malia F; Morris, Michael W

2010-06-01

A fundamental challenge facing social perceivers is identifying the cause underlying other people's behavior. Evidence indicates that East Asian perceivers are more likely than Western perceivers to reference the social context when attributing a cause to a target person's actions. One outstanding question is whether this reflects a culture's influence on automatic or on controlled components of causal attribution. After reviewing behavioral evidence that culture can shape automatic mental processes as well as controlled reasoning, we discuss the evidence in favor of cultural differences in automatic and controlled components of causal attribution more specifically. We contend that insights emerging from social cognitive neuroscience research can inform this debate. After introducing an attribution framework popular among social neuroscientists, we consider findings relevant to the automaticity of attribution, before speculating how one could use a social neuroscience approach to clarify whether culture affects automatic, controlled or both types of attribution processes.

Attitudes toward neuroscience education among psychiatry residents and fellows.

Science.gov (United States)

Fung, Lawrence K; Akil, Mayada; Widge, Alik; Roberts, Laura Weiss; Etkin, Amit

2014-04-01

The purpose of this study is to assess the attitudes of psychiatry trainees toward neuroscience education in psychiatry residency and subsequent training in order to inform neuroscience education approaches in the future. This online survey was designed to capture demographic information, self-assessed neuroscience knowledge, attitudes toward neuroscience education, preferences in learning modalities, and interest in specific neuroscience topics. Volunteers were identified through the American Psychiatric Association, which invited 2,563 psychiatry trainees among their members. Four hundred thirty-six trainees completed the survey. Nearly all agreed that there is a need for more neuroscience education in psychiatry residency training (94%) and that neuroscience education could help destigmatize mental illness (91%). Nearly all (94%) expressed interest in attending a 3-day course on neuroscience. Many neuroscience topics and modes of learning were viewed favorably by participants. Residents in their first 2 years of training expressed attitudes similar to those of more advanced residents and fellows. Some differences were found based on the level of interest in a future academic role. This web-based study demonstrates that psychiatry residents see neuroscience education as important in their training and worthy of greater attention. Our results suggest potential opportunities for advancing neuroscience education.

Promoting Healthy Child Development via a Two-Generation Translational Neuroscience Framework: The Filming Interactions to Nurture Development Video Coaching Program.

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Fisher, Philip A; Frenkel, Tahl I; Noll, Laura K; Berry, Melanie; Yockelson, Melissa

2016-12-01

In this article, we focus on applying methods of translational neuroscience to two-generation, family-based interventions. In recent years, a small but growing body of evidence has documented the reversibility of some of the neurobiological effects of early adversity in the context of environmental early interventions. Some of these interventions are now being implemented at scale, which may help reduce disparities in the face of early life stress. Further progress may occur by extending these efforts to two-generation models that target caregivers' capabilities to improve children's outcomes. In this article, we describe the content and processes of the Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND) video coaching intervention. We also discuss the two-generation, translational neuroscience framework on which FIND is based, and how similar approaches can be developed and scaled to mitigate the effects of adversity.

Building a functional multiple intelligences theory to advance educational neuroscience.

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Cerruti, Carlo

2013-01-01

A key goal of educational neuroscience is to conduct constrained experimental research that is theory-driven and yet also clearly related to educators' complex set of questions and concerns. However, the fields of education, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience use different levels of description to characterize human ability. An important advance in research in educational neuroscience would be the identification of a cognitive and neurocognitive framework at a level of description relatively intuitive to educators. I argue that the theory of multiple intelligences (MI; Gardner, 1983), a conception of the mind that motivated a past generation of teachers, may provide such an opportunity. I criticize MI for doing little to clarify for teachers a core misunderstanding, specifically that MI was only an anatomical map of the mind but not a functional theory that detailed how the mind actually processes information. In an attempt to build a "functional MI" theory, I integrate into MI basic principles of cognitive and neural functioning, namely interregional neural facilitation and inhibition. In so doing I hope to forge a path toward constrained experimental research that bears upon teachers' concerns about teaching and learning.

Clinical management departments for the neurosciences.

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Matías-Guiu, J; García-Ramos, R; Ramos, M; Soto, J

2016-01-01

Neuroscience-related clinical management departments (UGC in Spanish) represent a means of organising hospitals to deliver patient-centred care as well as specific clinical and administrative management models. The authors review the different UGC models in Spain and their implementation processes as well as any functional problems. We pay special attention to departments treating neurological patients. Neuroscience-related specialties may offer a good framework for the units that they contain. This may be due to the inherent variability and costs associated with neurological patients, the vital level of coordination that must be present between units providing care, and probably to the dynamic nature of the neurosciences as well. Difficulties associated with implementing and gaining acceptance for the new model have limited such UGCs until now. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Layers of Neuroscience

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dumoulin, Serge O

2017-01-01

In a patch of cortex, laminae connect to different parts of the brain. Huber et al. (2017) demonstrate the ability of human neuroimaging to derive laminar information flow between brain regions, paving the way for human neuroscience applications.

Nutritional Cognitive Neuroscience: Innovations for Healthy Brain Aging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Karolina Zamroziewicz

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Nutritional cognitive neuroscience is an emerging interdisciplinary field of research that seeks to understand nutrition’s impact on cognition and brain health across the life span. Research in this burgeoning field demonstrates that many aspects of nutrition – from entire diets to specific nutrients – affect brain structure and function, and therefore have profound implications for understanding the nature of healthy brain aging. The aim of this Focused Review is to examine recent advances in nutritional cognitive neuroscience, with an emphasis on methods that enable discovery of nutrient biomarkers that predict healthy brain aging. We propose an integrative framework that calls for the synthesis of research in nutritional epidemiology and cognitive neuroscience, incorporating: (i methods for the precise characterization of nutritional health based on the analysis of nutrient biomarker patterns, along with (ii modern indices of brain health derived from high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. By integrating cutting-edge techniques from nutritional epidemiology and cognitive neuroscience, nutritional cognitive neuroscience will continue to advance our understanding of the beneficial effects of nutrition on the aging brain and establish effective nutritional interventions to promote healthy brain aging.

Terminology for Neuroscience Data Discovery: Multi-tree Syntax and Investigator-Derived Semantics

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, David H.; Grafstein, Bernice; Robert, Adrian; Gardner, Esther P.

2009-01-01

The Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF), developed for the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research and available at http://nif.nih.gov and http://neurogateway.org, is built upon a set of coordinated terminology components enabling data and web-resource description and selection. Core NIF terminologies use a straightforward syntax designed for ease of use and for navigation by familiar web interfaces, and readily exportable to aid development of relational-model databases for neuroscience data sharing. Datasets, data analysis tools, web resources, and other entities are characterized by multiple descriptors, each addressing core concepts, including data type, acquisition technique, neuroanatomy, and cell class. Terms for each concept are organized in a tree structure, providing is-a and has-a relations. Broad general terms near each root span the category or concept and spawn more detailed entries for specificity. Related but distinct concepts (e.g., brain area and depth) are specified by separate trees, for easier navigation than would be required by graph representation. Semantics enabling NIF data discovery were selected at one or more workshops by investigators expert in particular systems (vision, olfaction, behavioral neuroscience, neurodevelopment), brain areas (cerebellum, thalamus, hippocampus), preparations (molluscs, fly), diseases (neurodegenerative disease), or techniques (microscopy, computation and modeling, neurogenetics). Workshop-derived integrated term lists are available Open Source at http://brainml.org; a complete list of participants is at http://brainml.org/workshops. PMID:18958630

Neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience: contributions to neurology.

Science.gov (United States)

Javor, Andrija; Koller, Monika; Lee, Nick; Chamberlain, Laura; Ransmayr, Gerhard

2013-02-06

'Neuromarketing' is a term that has often been used in the media in recent years. These public discussions have generally centered around potential ethical aspects and the public fear of negative consequences for society in general, and consumers in particular. However, positive contributions to the scientific discourse from developing a biological model that tries to explain context-situated human behavior such as consumption have often been neglected. We argue for a differentiated terminology, naming commercial applications of neuroscientific methods 'neuromarketing' and scientific ones 'consumer neuroscience'. While marketing scholars have eagerly integrated neuroscientific evidence into their theoretical framework, neurology has only recently started to draw its attention to the results of consumer neuroscience. In this paper we address key research topics of consumer neuroscience that we think are of interest for neurologists; namely the reward system, trust and ethical issues. We argue that there are overlapping research topics in neurology and consumer neuroscience where both sides can profit from collaboration. Further, neurologists joining the public discussion of ethical issues surrounding neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience could contribute standards and experience gained in clinical research. We identify the following areas where consumer neuroscience could contribute to the field of neurology:First, studies using game paradigms could help to gain further insights into the underlying pathophysiology of pathological gambling in Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia, epilepsy, and Huntington's disease.Second, we identify compulsive buying as a common interest in neurology and consumer neuroscience. Paradigms commonly used in consumer neuroscience could be applied to patients suffering from Parkinson's disease and frontotemporal dementia to advance knowledge of this important behavioral symptom.Third, trust research in the medical context lacks

How Social Status Shapes Person Perception and Evaluation: A Social Neuroscience Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattan, Bradley D; Kubota, Jennifer T; Cloutier, Jasmin

2017-05-01

Inferring the relative rank (i.e., status) of others is essential to navigating social hierarchies. A survey of the expanding social psychological and neuroscience literatures on status reveals a diversity of focuses (e.g., perceiver vs. agent), operationalizations (e.g., status as dominance vs. wealth), and methodologies (e.g., behavioral, neuroscientific). Accommodating this burgeoning literature on status in person perception, the present review offers a novel social neuroscientific framework that integrates existing work with theoretical clarity. This framework distinguishes between five key concepts: (1) strategic pathways to status acquisition for agents, (2) status antecedents (i.e., perceptual and knowledge-based cues that confer status rank), (3) status dimensions (i.e., domains in which an individual may be ranked, such as wealth), (4) status level (i.e., one's rank along a given dimension), and (5) the relative importance of a given status dimension, dependent on perceiver and context characteristics. Against the backdrop of this framework, we review multiple dimensions of status in the nonhuman and human primate literatures. We then review the behavioral and neuroscientific literatures on the consequences of perceived status for attention and evaluation. Finally, after proposing a social neuroscience framework, we highlight innovative directions for future social status research in social psychology and neuroscience.

An Integrated Neuroscience Perspective on Formulation and Treatment Planning for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Educational Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, David A; Arbuckle, Melissa R; Travis, Michael J; Dwyer, Jennifer B; van Schalkwyk, Gerrit I; Ressler, Kerry J

2017-04-01

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychiatric illness, increasingly in the public spotlight in the United States due its prevalence in the soldiers returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. This educational review presents a contemporary approach for how to incorporate a modern neuroscience perspective into an integrative case formulation. The article is organized around key neuroscience "themes" most relevant for PTSD. Within each theme, the article highlights how seemingly diverse biological, psychological, and social perspectives all intersect with our current understanding of neuroscience. Any contemporary neuroscience formulation of PTSD should include an understanding of fear conditioning, dysregulated circuits, memory reconsolidation, epigenetics, and genetic factors. Fear conditioning and other elements of basic learning theory offer a framework for understanding how traumatic events can lead to a range of behaviors associated with PTSD. A circuit dysregulation framework focuses more broadly on aberrant network connectivity, including between the prefrontal cortex and limbic structures. In the process of memory reconsolidation, it is now clear that every time a memory is reactivated it becomes momentarily labile-with implications for the genesis, maintenance, and treatment of PTSD. Epigenetic changes secondary to various experiences, especially early in life, can have long-term effects, including on the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, thereby affecting an individual's ability to regulate the stress response. Genetic factors are surprisingly relevant: PTSD has been shown to be highly heritable despite being definitionally linked to specific experiences. The relevance of each of these themes to current clinical practice and its potential to transform future care are discussed. Together, these perspectives contribute to an integrative, neuroscience-informed approach to case formulation and treatment planning. This may

Neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience: contributions to neurology

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background ‘Neuromarketing’ is a term that has often been used in the media in recent years. These public discussions have generally centered around potential ethical aspects and the public fear of negative consequences for society in general, and consumers in particular. However, positive contributions to the scientific discourse from developing a biological model that tries to explain context-situated human behavior such as consumption have often been neglected. We argue for a differentiated terminology, naming commercial applications of neuroscientific methods ‘neuromarketing’ and scientific ones ‘consumer neuroscience’. While marketing scholars have eagerly integrated neuroscientific evidence into their theoretical framework, neurology has only recently started to draw its attention to the results of consumer neuroscience. Discussion In this paper we address key research topics of consumer neuroscience that we think are of interest for neurologists; namely the reward system, trust and ethical issues. We argue that there are overlapping research topics in neurology and consumer neuroscience where both sides can profit from collaboration. Further, neurologists joining the public discussion of ethical issues surrounding neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience could contribute standards and experience gained in clinical research. Summary We identify the following areas where consumer neuroscience could contribute to the field of neurology: First, studies using game paradigms could help to gain further insights into the underlying pathophysiology of pathological gambling in Parkinson’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, epilepsy, and Huntington’s disease. Second, we identify compulsive buying as a common interest in neurology and consumer neuroscience. Paradigms commonly used in consumer neuroscience could be applied to patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease and frontotemporal dementia to advance knowledge of this important behavioral symptom

Culture in the mind's mirror: how anthropology and neuroscience can inform a model of the neural substrate for cultural imitative learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Losin, Elizabeth A Reynolds; Dapretto, Mirella; Iacoboni, Marco

2009-01-01

Cultural neuroscience, the study of how cultural experience shapes the brain, is an emerging subdiscipline in the neurosciences. Yet, a foundational question to the study of culture and the brain remains neglected by neuroscientific inquiry: "How does cultural information get into the brain in the first place?" Fortunately, the tools needed to explore the neural architecture of cultural learning - anthropological theories and cognitive neuroscience methodologies - already exist; they are merely separated by disciplinary boundaries. Here we review anthropological theories of cultural learning derived from fieldwork and modeling; since cultural learning theory suggests that sophisticated imitation abilities are at the core of human cultural learning, we focus our review on cultural imitative learning. Accordingly we proceed to discuss the neural underpinnings of imitation and other mechanisms important for cultural learning: learning biases, mental state attribution, and reinforcement learning. Using cultural neuroscience theory and cognitive neuroscience research as our guides, we then propose a preliminary model of the neural architecture of cultural learning. Finally, we discuss future studies needed to test this model and fully explore and explain the neural underpinnings of cultural imitative learning.

A POST-MODERNIST ANALYSIS OF THE NEURO-SCIENCES ...

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Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Rand Afrikaans University. Anita Stuart. D Litt et Phil ... of neuro-science, including the assumptive framework upon which the dominant discourse in this field is based, which ultimately serves to maintain .... 1978:52; 1979:67). Each narrative or text, once embraced, “invites certain.

Can Neuroscience Contribute to Practical Ethics? A Critical Review and Discussion of the Methodological and Translational Challenges of the Neuroscience of Ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Racine, Eric; Dubljević, Veljko; Jox, Ralf J; Baertschi, Bernard; Christensen, Julia F; Farisco, Michele; Jotterand, Fabrice; Kahane, Guy; Müller, Sabine

2017-06-01

Neuroethics is an interdisciplinary field that arose in response to novel ethical challenges posed by advances in neuroscience. Historically, neuroethics has provided an opportunity to synergize different disciplines, notably proposing a two-way dialogue between an 'ethics of neuroscience' and a 'neuroscience of ethics'. However, questions surface as to whether a 'neuroscience of ethics' is a useful and unified branch of research and whether it can actually inform or lead to theoretical insights and transferable practical knowledge to help resolve ethical questions. In this article, we examine why the neuroscience of ethics is a promising area of research and summarize what we have learned so far regarding its most promising goals and contributions. We then review some of the key methodological challenges which may have hindered the use of results generated thus far by the neuroscience of ethics. Strategies are suggested to address these challenges and improve the quality of research and increase neuroscience's usefulness for applied ethics and society at large. Finally, we reflect on potential outcomes of a neuroscience of ethics and discuss the different strategies that could be used to support knowledge transfer to help different stakeholders integrate knowledge from the neuroscience of ethics. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Semantic SenseLab: Implementing the vision of the Semantic Web in neuroscience.

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Samwald, Matthias; Chen, Huajun; Ruttenberg, Alan; Lim, Ernest; Marenco, Luis; Miller, Perry; Shepherd, Gordon; Cheung, Kei-Hoi

2010-01-01

Integrative neuroscience research needs a scalable informatics framework that enables semantic integration of diverse types of neuroscience data. This paper describes the use of the Web Ontology Language (OWL) and other Semantic Web technologies for the representation and integration of molecular-level data provided by several of SenseLab suite of neuroscience databases. Based on the original database structure, we semi-automatically translated the databases into OWL ontologies with manual addition of semantic enrichment. The SenseLab ontologies are extensively linked to other biomedical Semantic Web resources, including the Subcellular Anatomy Ontology, Brain Architecture Management System, the Gene Ontology, BIRNLex and UniProt. The SenseLab ontologies have also been mapped to the Basic Formal Ontology and Relation Ontology, which helps ease interoperability with many other existing and future biomedical ontologies for the Semantic Web. In addition, approaches to representing contradictory research statements are described. The SenseLab ontologies are designed for use on the Semantic Web that enables their integration into a growing collection of biomedical information resources. We demonstrate that our approach can yield significant potential benefits and that the Semantic Web is rapidly becoming mature enough to realize its anticipated promises. The ontologies are available online at http://neuroweb.med.yale.edu/senselab/. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Decomposing dendrophilia. Comment on “Toward a computational framework for cognitive biology: Unifying approaches from cognitive neuroscience and comparative cognition” by W. Tecumseh Fitch

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Honing, Henkjan; Zuidema, Willem

2014-09-01

The future of cognitive science will be about bridging neuroscience and behavioral studies, with essential roles played by comparative biology, formal modeling, and the theory of computation. Nowhere will this integration be more strongly needed than in understanding the biological basis of language and music. We thus strongly sympathize with the general framework that Fitch [1] proposes, and welcome the remarkably broad and readable review he presents to support it.

Buildings, Beauty, and the Brain: A Neuroscience of Architectural Experience.

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Coburn, Alex; Vartanian, Oshin; Chatterjee, Anjan

2017-09-01

A burgeoning interest in the intersection of neuroscience and architecture promises to offer biologically inspired insights into the design of spaces. The goal of such interdisciplinary approaches to architecture is to motivate construction of environments that would contribute to peoples' flourishing in behavior, health, and well-being. We suggest that this nascent field of neuroarchitecture is at a pivotal point in which neuroscience and architecture are poised to extend to a neuroscience of architecture. In such a research program, architectural experiences themselves are the target of neuroscientific inquiry. Here, we draw lessons from recent developments in neuroaesthetics to suggest how neuroarchitecture might mature into an experimental science. We review the extant literature and offer an initial framework from which to contextualize such research. Finally, we outline theoretical and technical challenges that lie ahead.

Science and Society Bridging the Information Gap in Neuroscience

CERN Multimedia

2000-01-01

In the final Science and Society Colloquium of 2000, Professor Mark Ellisman of the University of California in San Diego will examine the ways that information technology is bringing about changes in the field of neuroscience. Professor Ellisman is Director of the US National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, and is involved in several projects that merge advanced computing and networking technologies with advanced forms of microscopy. These include the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored Human Brain Project that aims to fill the gap in our understanding of how low-level operations of individual neurons scale up to higher-level mental activity. In his talk, Professor Ellisman will describe the promise offered by advanced informatics. Parallel processing and distributed computing, for example, are allowing new advances in visualising and understanding 3-D neuronal structures, while progress in the field of remote access to highly specialized and expensive instruments - like high voltage ...

The Neuroscience of Growth Mindset and Intrinsic Motivation.

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Ng, Betsy

2018-01-26

Our actions can be triggered by intentions, incentives or intrinsic values. Recent neuroscientific research has yielded some results about the growth mindset and intrinsic motivation. With the advances in neuroscience and motivational studies, there is a global need to utilize this information to inform educational practice and research. Yet, little is known about the neuroscientific interplay between growth mindset and intrinsic motivation. This paper attempts to draw on the theories of growth mindset and intrinsic motivation, together with contemporary ideas in neuroscience, outline the potential for neuroscientific research in education. It aims to shed light on the relationship between growth mindset and intrinsic motivation in terms of supporting a growth mindset to facilitate intrinsic motivation through neural responses. Recent empirical research from the educational neuroscience perspective that provides insights into the interplay between growth mindset and intrinsic motivation will also be discussed.

Extending the Mind: A Review of Ethnographies of Neuroscience Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tara eMahfoud

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews ethnographies of neuroscience laboratories in the United States and Europe, organizing them into three main sections: 1 descriptions of the capabilities and limitations of technologies used in neuroimaging laboratories to map ‘activity’ or ‘function’ onto structural models of the brain, 2 discussions of the ‘distributed’ or ‘extended’ mind in neuroscience practice, and 3 the implications of neuroscience research and the power of brain images outside the laboratory. I will try to show the importance of ethnographic work in such settings, and place this body of ethnographic work within its historical framework - such ethnographies largely emerged within the Decade of the Brain, as announced by former President of the United States George H. W. Bush in 1990. The main argument is that neuroscience research and the context within which it is taking place has changed since the 1990’s - specifically with the launch of ‘big science’ projects such as the Human Brain Project in the European Union and the BRAIN initiative in the United States. There is an opportunity for more research into the institutional and politico-economic context within which neuroscience research is taking place, and for continued engagement between the social and biological sciences.

The neuroscience of learning: beyond the Hebbian synapse.

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Gallistel, C R; Matzel, Louis D

2013-01-01

From the traditional perspective of associative learning theory, the hypothesis linking modifications of synaptic transmission to learning and memory is plausible. It is less so from an information-processing perspective, in which learning is mediated by computations that make implicit commitments to physical and mathematical principles governing the domains where domain-specific cognitive mechanisms operate. We compare the properties of associative learning and memory to the properties of long-term potentiation, concluding that the properties of the latter do not explain the fundamental properties of the former. We briefly review the neuroscience of reinforcement learning, emphasizing the representational implications of the neuroscientific findings. We then review more extensively findings that confirm the existence of complex computations in three information-processing domains: probabilistic inference, the representation of uncertainty, and the representation of space. We argue for a change in the conceptual framework within which neuroscientists approach the study of learning mechanisms in the brain.

Educational neuroscience: definitional, methodological, and interpretive issues.

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Byrnes, James P; Vu, Lien T

2015-01-01

In this study, we hope to accomplish three aims as follows: (1) provide greater clarity regarding the nature and scope of the field of educational neuroscience, (2) propose a framework for understanding when and how neuroscientific research could be informative for educational practice, and (3) describe some examples of neuroscientific findings from the domains of reading and mathematics that are informative according to this framework. We propose that psychological models of learning-related processes should be the basis of instructional decisions, and that neuroscientific evidence in combination with traditional evidence from psychological experiments should be used to decide among competing psychological models. Our review of the neuroscientific evidence for both reading and mathematics suggests that while much has been learned over the past 20 years, there is still a 'disconnect' between contemporary psychological models that emphasize higher level skills and neuroscientific studies that focus on lower level skills. Moreover, few researchers have used neuroscientific evidence to decide among psychological models, but have focused instead on identifying the brain regions that subtend component skills of reading and math. Nevertheless, neuroscientific studies have confirmed the intrinsic relationship between reading and spoken language, revealed interesting predictive relationships between anatomical structures and reading and math disabilities, and there is the potential for fruitful collaborations between neuroscientists and psychologists in the future. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Neuroscience of Growth Mindset and Intrinsic Motivation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Betsy Ng

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Our actions can be triggered by intentions, incentives or intrinsic values. Recent neuroscientific research has yielded some results about the growth mindset and intrinsic motivation. With the advances in neuroscience and motivational studies, there is a global need to utilize this information to inform educational practice and research. Yet, little is known about the neuroscientific interplay between growth mindset and intrinsic motivation. This paper attempts to draw on the theories of growth mindset and intrinsic motivation, together with contemporary ideas in neuroscience, outline the potential for neuroscientific research in education. It aims to shed light on the relationship between growth mindset and intrinsic motivation in terms of supporting a growth mindset to facilitate intrinsic motivation through neural responses. Recent empirical research from the educational neuroscience perspective that provides insights into the interplay between growth mindset and intrinsic motivation will also be discussed.

NeuroMorpho.Org implementation of digital neuroscience: dense coverage and integration with the NIF.

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Halavi, Maryam; Polavaram, Sridevi; Donohue, Duncan E; Hamilton, Gail; Hoyt, Jeffrey; Smith, Kenneth P; Ascoli, Giorgio A

2008-09-01

Neuronal morphology affects network connectivity, plasticity, and information processing. Uncovering the design principles and functional consequences of dendritic and axonal shape necessitates quantitative analysis and computational modeling of detailed experimental data. Digital reconstructions provide the required neuromorphological descriptions in a parsimonious, comprehensive, and reliable numerical format. NeuroMorpho.Org is the largest web-accessible repository service for digitally reconstructed neurons and one of the integrated resources in the Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF). Here we describe the NeuroMorpho.Org approach as an exemplary experience in designing, creating, populating, and curating a neuroscience digital resource. The simple three-tier architecture of NeuroMorpho.Org (web client, web server, and relational database) encompasses all necessary elements to support a large-scale, integrate-able repository. The data content, while heterogeneous in scientific scope and experimental origin, is unified in format and presentation by an in house standardization protocol. The server application (MRALD) is secure, customizable, and developer-friendly. Centralized processing and expert annotation yields a comprehensive set of metadata that enriches and complements the raw data. The thoroughly tested interface design allows for optimal and effective data search and retrieval. Availability of data in both original and standardized formats ensures compatibility with existing resources and fosters further tool development. Other key functions enable extensive exploration and discovery, including 3D and interactive visualization of branching, frequently measured morphometrics, and reciprocal links to the original PubMed publications. The integration of NeuroMorpho.Org with version-1 of the NIF (NIFv1) provides the opportunity to access morphological data in the context of other relevant resources and diverse subdomains of neuroscience, opening

What does the interactive brain hypothesis mean for social neuroscience? A dialogue

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Di Paolo, Ezequiel; Adolphs, Ralph

2016-01-01

A recent framework inspired by phenomenological philosophy, dynamical systems theory, embodied cognition and robotics has proposed the interactive brain hypothesis (IBH). Whereas mainstream social neuroscience views social cognition as arising solely from events in the brain, the IBH argues that social cognition requires, in addition, causal relations between the brain and the social environment. We discuss, in turn, the foundational claims for the IBH in its strongest form; classical views of cognition that can be raised against the IBH; a defence of the IBH in the light of these arguments; and a response to this. Our goal is to initiate a dialogue between cognitive neuroscience and enactive views of social cognition. We conclude by suggesting some new directions and emphases that social neuroscience might take. PMID:27069056

Incorporating modern neuroscience findings to improve brain-computer interfaces: tracking auditory attention.

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Wronkiewicz, Mark; Larson, Eric; Lee, Adrian Kc

2016-10-01

Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology allows users to generate actions based solely on their brain signals. However, current non-invasive BCIs generally classify brain activity recorded from surface electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes, which can hinder the application of findings from modern neuroscience research. In this study, we use source imaging-a neuroimaging technique that projects EEG signals onto the surface of the brain-in a BCI classification framework. This allowed us to incorporate prior research from functional neuroimaging to target activity from a cortical region involved in auditory attention. Classifiers trained to detect attention switches performed better with source imaging projections than with EEG sensor signals. Within source imaging, including subject-specific anatomical MRI information (instead of using a generic head model) further improved classification performance. This source-based strategy also reduced accuracy variability across three dimensionality reduction techniques-a major design choice in most BCIs. Our work shows that source imaging provides clear quantitative and qualitative advantages to BCIs and highlights the value of incorporating modern neuroscience knowledge and methods into BCI systems.

An Affective Neuroscience Framework for the Molecular Study of Internet Addiction

OpenAIRE

Montag, Christian; Sindermann, Cornelia; Becker, Benjamin; Panksepp, Jaak

2016-01-01

Internet addiction represents an emerging global health issue. Increasing efforts have been made to characterize risk factors for the development of Internet addiction and consequences of excessive Internet use. During the last years, classic research approaches from psychology considering personality variables as vulnerability factor, especially in conjunction with neuroscience approaches such as brain imaging, have led to coherent theoretical conceptualizations of Internet addiction. Althou...

Linking neuroscience and psychoanalysis from a developmental perspective: why and how?

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Ouss-Ryngaert, Lisa; Golse, Bernard

2010-12-01

This paper aims to develop the rational to support why and how we should link neuroscience and psychoanalysis. Many of these points are derived from child development and child psychiatry. Neuroscience investigates developmental questions in a different way than psychoanalysis, while psychoanalysis itself has shifted towards new developmental paradigms. The rapprochement between neuroscience and psychoanalysis allows a new understanding of some concepts, including embodiment of mind, consciousness and attachment. The "double reading" paradigm allows a better understanding of symptomatic configurations. Linking neuroscience and psychoanalysis may improve treatments and result in new experimental neuroscientific paradigms involving changing the research object, changing the state of the research object, and investigating the structural changes in the brain following psychotherapy. The last aim is to create an epistemology of the articulation between the theoretical frameworks through phenomenology, "complementarism" and neuropsychoanalysis. We argue that it is necessary for clinicians to be aware of the advancements in each field. This is not only an epistemological question; we assume that new findings in neuroscience will change the way psychoanalysts think and approach treatment of their patients. We hope the present research will contribute to change the way that neuroscientists think and will provide new options to their set of experimental paradigms. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The MVP Model as an Organizing Framework for Neuroscience Findings Related to Learning

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Zakrajsek, Todd M.

2017-01-01

This chapter describes the ways in which the MVP model relates to recent research on neuroscience and learning, and demonstrates how those relationships may be used to better understand physiological impacts on motivation, and to facilitate improved learning.

A Model for Bridging the Gap between Neuroscience and Education

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Tommerdahl, Jodi

2010-01-01

As the brain sciences make advances in our understanding of how the human brain functions, many educators are looking to findings from the neurosciences to inform classroom teaching methodologies. This paper takes the view that the neurosciences are an excellent source of knowledge regarding learning processes, but also provides a warning…

Mining the Mind Research Network: A Novel Framework for Exploring Large Scale, Heterogeneous Translational Neuroscience Research Data Sources

Science.gov (United States)

Bockholt, Henry J.; Scully, Mark; Courtney, William; Rachakonda, Srinivas; Scott, Adam; Caprihan, Arvind; Fries, Jill; Kalyanam, Ravi; Segall, Judith M.; de la Garza, Raul; Lane, Susan; Calhoun, Vince D.

2009-01-01

A neuroinformatics (NI) system is critical to brain imaging research in order to shorten the time between study conception and results. Such a NI system is required to scale well when large numbers of subjects are studied. Further, when multiple sites participate in research projects organizational issues become increasingly difficult. Optimized NI applications mitigate these problems. Additionally, NI software enables coordination across multiple studies, leveraging advantages potentially leading to exponential research discoveries. The web-based, Mind Research Network (MRN), database system has been designed and improved through our experience with 200 research studies and 250 researchers from seven different institutions. The MRN tools permit the collection, management, reporting and efficient use of large scale, heterogeneous data sources, e.g., multiple institutions, multiple principal investigators, multiple research programs and studies, and multimodal acquisitions. We have collected and analyzed data sets on thousands of research participants and have set up a framework to automatically analyze the data, thereby making efficient, practical data mining of this vast resource possible. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for capturing and analyzing heterogeneous neuroscience research data sources that has been fully optimized for end-users to perform novel data mining. PMID:20461147

Mining the mind research network: a novel framework for exploring large scale, heterogeneous translational neuroscience research data sources.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry Jeremy Bockholt

2010-04-01

Full Text Available A neuroinformatics (NI system is critical to brain imaging research in order to shorten the time between study conception and results. Such a NI system is required to scale well when large numbers of subjects are studied. Further, when multiple sites participate in research projects organizational issues become increasingly difficult. Optimized NI applications mitigate these problems. Additionally, NI software enables coordination across multiple studies, leveraging advantages potentially leading to exponential research discoveries. The web-based, Mind Research Network (MRN, database system has been designed and improved through our experience with 200 research studies and 250 researchers from 7 different institutions. The MRN tools permit the collection, management, reporting and efficient use of large scale, heterogeneous data sources, e.g., multiple institutions, multiple principal investigators, multiple research programs and studies, and multimodal acquisitions. We have collected and analyzed data sets on thousands of research participants and have set up a framework to automatically analyze the data, thereby making efficient, practical data mining of this vast resource possible. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for capturing and analyzing heterogeneous neuroscience research data sources that has been fully optimized for end-users to perform novel data mining.

The journal of undergraduate neuroscience education: history, challenges, and future developments.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunbar, Gary L; Lom, Barbara; Grisham, William; Ramirez, Julio J

2009-01-01

The 'JUNE and You' sessions presented at the July 2008 Undergraduate Neuroscience Education workshop, sponsored jointly by Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) and Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), featured background information about the history and mission of the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education (JUNE), followed by an informative discussion about the challenges facing JUNE, including new ideas for future developments. This article will highlight some of the information and ideas generated and shared at this conference. Critical discussion points included the need to keep members of FUN actively engaged in submitting and reviewing articles for JUNE. Ways in which authors, reviewers, and interested faculty members could best help in promoting the mission and vision of JUNE were discussed. Concerns about recent hackings into the JUNE website were also raised, and possible solutions and measures that can be taken to minimize this in the future were discussed. In addition, ideas for expanding the role of JUNE to provide a forum to evaluate new and emerging website information that is pertinent to undergraduate neuroscience education was discussed. Ideas for future developments of JUNE included revolving postings of articles as they are accepted, providing links to several related websites, and allowing updates for articles that have been previously published in JUNE. Finally, ideas for maintaining and expanding JUNE's stature as the resource for undergraduate neuroscience education included ensuring that JUNE is listed on important search vehicles, such as PubMed.

What does the interactive brain hypothesis mean for social neuroscience? A dialogue.

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De Jaegher, Hanne; Di Paolo, Ezequiel; Adolphs, Ralph

2016-05-05

A recent framework inspired by phenomenological philosophy, dynamical systems theory, embodied cognition and robotics has proposed the interactive brain hypothesis (IBH). Whereas mainstream social neuroscience views social cognition as arising solely from events in the brain, the IBH argues that social cognition requires, in addition, causal relations between the brain and the social environment. We discuss, in turn, the foundational claims for the IBH in its strongest form; classical views of cognition that can be raised against the IBH; a defence of the IBH in the light of these arguments; and a response to this. Our goal is to initiate a dialogue between cognitive neuroscience and enactive views of social cognition. We conclude by suggesting some new directions and emphases that social neuroscience might take. © 2016 The Author(s).

Building Bridges between Neuroscience, Cognition and Education with Predictive Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Stringer, Steve; Tommerdahl, Jodi

2015-01-01

As the field of Mind, Brain, and Education seeks new ways to credibly bridge the gap between neuroscience, the cognitive sciences, and education, various connections are being developed and tested. This article presents a framework and offers examples of one approach, predictive modeling within a virtual educational system that can include…

Neuroscience in the Public Sphere

OpenAIRE

O'Connor, Cliodhna; Rees, Geraint; Joffe, Helene

2012-01-01

The media are increasingly fascinated by neuroscience. Here, we consider how neuroscientific discoveries are thematically represented in the popular press and the implications this has for society. In communicating research, neuroscientists should be sensitive to the social consequences neuroscientific information may have once it enters the public sphere.

Toward a Theoretical Framework for Information Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amanda Spink

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Information Science is beginning to develop a theoretical framework for the modeling of users’ interactions with information retrieval (IR technologies within the more holistic context of human information behavior (Spink, 1998b. This paper addresses the following questions: (1 What is the nature of Information Science? and (2 What theoretical framework and model is most appropriate for Information Science? This paper proposes a theoretical framework for Information Science based on an explication of the processes of human information coordinating behavior and information feedback that facilitate the relationship between human information behavior and human interaction with information retrieval (IR technologies (Web, digital libraries, etc..

Neuroscience and "real world" practice: music as a therapeutic resource for children in zones of conflict.

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Osborne, Nigel

2012-04-01

Recent developments in music neuroscience are considered a source for reflection on, and evaluation and development of, musical therapeutic practice in the field, in particular, in relation to traumatized children and postconflict societies. Music neuroscience research is related to practice within a broad biopsychosocial framework. Here, examples are detailed of work from North Uganda, Palestine, and South Thailand. © 2012 New York Academy of Sciences.

Reflections on 50 Years of Neuroscience Nursing: Publication Trends in Neurotrauma.

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McNett, Molly; Keiser, Megan; Douglas, Heather; McNair, Norma D

2018-04-01

In 2018, the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses will celebrate its 50th anniversary as the premier member organization for neuroscience nurses. In recent decades, one of the highest rated member benefits has been the ability for members to join special focus groups (SFGs). The SFGs were initiated to allow an avenue for information sharing and communication for neuroscience nurses in a variety of subspecialties. In this anniversary edition, the neurotrauma SFG presents a review of trends in the publication of articles in the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing related to neurotrauma. Findings from this article illustrate how these publications have impacted the nursing care of patients who have sustained traumatic injuries of the central and peripheral nervous system and the integral role of neuroscience nurses throughout the decades.

Economic framework for information system evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, D.W.; Roderer, N.K.

1979-01-01

In the evaluation of complex information systems, it is useful to work within a generalized economic framework. This framework is based on consideration of four evaluation levels, including those associated with the overall system, system functions, products and services, and activities. Measures of cost and output can be defined at each level, with output measures related to volume of activity, performance, effectiveness, and benefit. The description of this framework includes definitions of the terminology used. Examples of the application of the framework to specific information system evaluations are also given. 4 figures

Translating Neuroscience, Psychology and Education: An Abstracted Conceptual Framework for the Learning Sciences

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Donoghue, Gregory M.; Horvath, Jared C.

2016-01-01

Educators strive to understand and apply knowledge gained through scientific endeavours. Yet, within the various sciences of learning, particularly within educational neuroscience, there have been instances of seemingly contradictory or incompatible research findings and theories. We argue that this situation arises through confusion between…

What is important in transdisciplinary pain neuroscience education? A qualitative study.

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Wijma, Amarins J; Speksnijder, Caroline M; Crom-Ottens, Astrid F; Knulst-Verlaan, J M Corine; Keizer, Doeke; Nijs, Jo; van Wilgen, C Paul

2017-05-19

Neuroscience Education. Repetitions of Pain Neuroscience Education, in different forms (verbal and written information, examples, drawings, etc.) help patients to understand the theory of neurophysiology. Pain Neuroscience Education induces insight into the patient's complaints, improved coping with complaints, improved self-control, and induces in some cases peace of mind. Healthcare professionals providing Pain Neuroscience Education should be aware of the possible confronting nature of the contributing factors.

Neuroscience research on aging and implications for counseling psychology.

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Wright, Stephen L; Díaz, Fernando

2014-10-01

The advances in neuroscience have led to an increase in scientific understanding of the aging process, and counseling psychologists can benefit from familiarity with the research on the neuroscience of aging. In this article, we have focused on the cognitive neuroscience of aging, and we describe the progression of healthy aging to Alzheimer's disease, given its high prevalence rate among older adults (Alzheimer's Association, 2013). Common techniques used to study the cognitive neuroscience of aging are explained in regards to measuring age-related changes in the brain and the role of biomarkers in identifying cognitive decline related to Alzheimer's disease. Using this information and in collaboration with cognitive neuroscientists, it is our hope that counseling psychologists may further pursue research areas on aging as well as design appropriate interventions for older individuals who may be experiencing cognitive impairment. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

An evaluation of post-registration neuroscience focused education and neuroscience nurses' perceived educational needs.

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Braine, Mary E; Cook, Neal

2015-11-01

People with complex neurological conditions require co-ordinated care provided by nurses educated in meeting service needs, understanding the pathophysiological processes of disease and the preparation to care for those with complex needs. However, evidence suggests that neuroscience specific education provision is largely unregulated and set outside of a cohesive professional development context. Furthermore, it largely seems to only address the induction phase into working within neurosciences. To evaluate the nature of post-registration neuroscience focused education across Europe and neuroscience nurses' perceived educational needs. Post qualifying nurses working in the field of neurosciences were invited to complete a self-reported 29-item on-line questionnaire that contained closed and open-ended questions exploring professional background, clinical and educational experience, educational opportunities available to them and their perspectives on their educational needs. 154 participants from fourteen countries across Europe completed the survey. 75% (n=110) of respondents had undertaken neuroscience focused education with the most accessible education opportunities found to be conferences 77% (n=96) and study days 69% (n=86). Overall, 52.6% of courses were multidisciplinary in nature, and 47.4% were exclusively nursing. Most identified that their courses were funded by their employer (57%, n=63) or partly funded by their employer. Results illustrate a significant variance across Europe, highlighting the need for more effective communication between neuroscience nurses across Europe. Implications for future education provision, recruitment/retention, and funding are discussed, resulting in recommendations for the future of neuroscience nursing. This study, the largest of its kind to survey neuroscience nurses, illustrates the absence of a cohesive career development pathway for neuroscience nurses in Europe. Nurses need quality assured specialist education to

Behaviorism and Neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Richard F.

1994-01-01

The influence of behaviorism's methods and theories on theory and research in the neurosciences is examined, partly in light of John B. Watson's 1913 essay. An attempt is made to reconcile classical behaviorism and modern cognitive psychology and neuroscience. (SLD)

Seven challenges for neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Markram, Henry

2013-01-01

Although twenty-first century neuroscience is a major scientific enterprise, advances in basic research have not yet translated into benefits for society. In this paper, I outline seven fundamental challenges that need to be overcome. First, neuroscience has to become "big science" - we need big teams with the resources and competences to tackle the big problems. Second, we need to create interlinked sets of data providing a complete picture of single areas of the brain at their different levels of organization with "rungs" linking the descriptions for humans and other species. Such "data ladders" will help us to meet the third challenge - the development of efficient predictive tools, enabling us to drastically increase the information we can extract from expensive experiments. The fourth challenge goes one step further: we have to develop novel hardware and software sufficiently powerful to simulate the brain. In the future, supercomputer-based brain simulation will enable us to make in silico manipulations and recordings, which are currently completely impossible in the lab. The fifth and sixth challenges are translational. On the one hand we need to develop new ways of classifying and simulating brain disease, leading to better diagnosis and more effective drug discovery. On the other, we have to exploit our knowledge to build new brain-inspired technologies, with potentially huge benefits for industry and for society. This leads to the seventh challenge. Neuroscience can indeed deliver huge benefits but we have to be aware of widespread social concern about our work. We need to recognize the fears that exist, lay them to rest, and actively build public support for neuroscience research. We have to set goals for ourselves that the public can recognize and share. And then we have to deliver on our promises. Only in this way, will we receive the support and funding we need.

Mind the fish: zebrafish as a model in cognitive social neuroscience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui F Oliveira

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Understanding how the brain implements social behavior on one hand, and how social processes feedback on the brain to promote fine-tuning of behavioural output according to changes in the social environment is a major challenge in contemporary neuroscience. A critical step to take this challenge successfully is finding the appropriate level of analysis when relating social to biological phenomena. Given the enormous complexity of both the neural networks of the brain and social systems, the use of a cognitive level of analysis (in an information processing perspective is proposed here as an explanatory interface between brain and behavior. A conceptual framework for a cognitive approach to comparative social neuroscience is proposed, consisting of the following steps to be taken across different species with varying social systems: (1 identification of the functional building blocks of social skills; (2 identification of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the previously identified social skills; and (3 mapping these information processing mechanisms onto the brain. Teleost fish are presented here as a group of choice to develop this approach, given the diversity of social systems present in closely related species that allows for planned phylogenetic comparisons, and the availability of neurogenetic tools that allows the visualization and manipulation of selected neural circuits in model species such as the zebrafish. Finally, the state-of-the art of zebrafish social cognition and of the tools available to map social cognitive abilities to neural circuits in zebrafish are reviewed.

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M. L.; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2016-07-01

The term 'synergy' - from the Greek synergia - means 'working together'. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project ;The Hand Embodied; (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies.

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M.L.; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2017-01-01

The term ‘synergy’ – from the Greek synergia – means ‘working together’. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project “The Hand Embodied” (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies. PMID:26923030

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands.

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M L; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2016-07-01

The term 'synergy' - from the Greek synergia - means 'working together'. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project "The Hand Embodied" (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neuroscience and education: myths and messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard-Jones, Paul A

2014-12-01

For several decades, myths about the brain - neuromyths - have persisted in schools and colleges, often being used to justify ineffective approaches to teaching. Many of these myths are biased distortions of scientific fact. Cultural conditions, such as differences in terminology and language, have contributed to a 'gap' between neuroscience and education that has shielded these distortions from scrutiny. In recent years, scientific communications across this gap have increased, although the messages are often distorted by the same conditions and biases as those responsible for neuromyths. In the future, the establishment of a new field of inquiry that is dedicated to bridging neuroscience and education may help to inform and to improve these communications.

Computer information systems framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shahabuddin, S.

1989-01-01

Management information systems (MIS) is a commonly used term in computer profession. The new information technology has caused management to expect more from computer. The process of supplying information follows a well defined procedure. MIS should be capable for providing usable information to the various areas and levels of organization. MIS is different from data processing. MIS and business hierarchy provides a good framework for many organization which are using computers. (A.B.)

Computational neuroscience a first course

CERN Document Server

Mallot, Hanspeter A

2013-01-01

Computational Neuroscience - A First Course provides an essential introduction to computational neuroscience and  equips readers with a fundamental understanding of modeling the nervous system at the membrane, cellular, and network level. The book, which grew out of a lecture series held regularly for more than ten years to graduate students in neuroscience with backgrounds in biology, psychology and medicine, takes its readers on a journey through three fundamental domains of computational neuroscience: membrane biophysics, systems theory and artificial neural networks. The required mathematical concepts are kept as intuitive and simple as possible throughout the book, making it fully accessible to readers who are less familiar with mathematics. Overall, Computational Neuroscience - A First Course represents an essential reference guide for all neuroscientists who use computational methods in their daily work, as well as for any theoretical scientist approaching the field of computational neuroscience.

Neuroscience in the public sphere.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Cliodhna; Rees, Geraint; Joffe, Helene

2012-04-26

The media are increasingly fascinated by neuroscience. Here, we consider how neuroscientific discoveries are thematically represented in the popular press and the implications this has for society. In communicating research, neuroscientists should be sensitive to the social consequences neuroscientific information may have once it enters the public sphere. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What Can Neuroscience Bring to Education?

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Ferrari, Michel

2011-01-01

Educational neuroscience promises to incorporate emerging insights from neuroscience into education, and is an exiting renovation of cognitive science in education. But unlike cognitive neuroscience--which aims to explain how the mind is embodied--educational neuroscience necessarily incorporates values that reflect the kind of citizen and the…

Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches to Understanding Behavior Change in Alcohol Use Disorder Treatments.

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Naqvi, Nasir H; Morgenstern, Jon

2015-01-01

Researchers have begun to apply cognitive neuroscience concepts and methods to study behavior change mechanisms in alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatments. This review begins with an examination of the current state of treatment mechanisms research using clinical and social psychological approaches. It then summarizes what is currently understood about the pathophysiology of addiction from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. Finally, it reviews recent efforts to use cognitive neuroscience approaches to understand the neural mechanisms of behavior change in AUD, including studies that use neural functioning to predict relapse and abstinence; studies examining neural mechanisms that operate in current evidence-based behavioral interventions for AUD; as well as research on novel behavioral interventions that are being derived from our emerging understanding of the neural and cognitive mechanisms of behavior change in AUD. The article highlights how the regulation of subcortical regions involved in alcohol incentive motivation by prefrontal cortical regions involved in cognitive control may be a core mechanism that plays a role in these varied forms of behavior change in AUD. We also lay out a multilevel framework for integrating cognitive neuroscience approaches with more traditional methods for examining AUD treatment mechanisms.

Towards a synergy framework across neuroscience and robotics: Lessons learned and open questions. Reply to comments on: "Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands"

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jorntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M. L.; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Schaeffer, Alin Abu; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2016-07-01

We would like to thank all commentators for their insightful commentaries. Thanks to their diverse and complementary expertise in neuroscience and robotics, the commentators have provided us with the opportunity to further discuss state-of-the-art and gaps in the integration of neuroscience and robotics reviewed in our article. We organized our reply in two sections that capture the main points of all commentaries [1-9]: (1) Advantages and limitations of the synergy approach in neuroscience and robotics, and (2) Learning and role of sensory feedback in biological and robotics synergies.

An Attachment Theoretical Framework for Understanding Personality Disorders: Developmental, Neuroscience, and Psychotherapeutic Considerations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth N. Levy

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper we propose that John Bowlby's attachment theory provides a theoretically coherent, empirically based, and clinically useful model for understanding personality pathology. This theoretical framework brings parsimony and breadth to the conceptualization of the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of personality disorders (PDs. Attachment theory can explain both the intrapersonal and interpersonal difficulties common in those with PDs and is consistent with findings from studies across multiple domains of knowledge, including evolutionary biology, ethology/comparative psychology, developmental psychology, experimental social-personality psychology, and neuroscience.PDs are characterized by significant interpersonal challenges. Recently, these challenges have been hypothesized to stem from underlying maladaptive attachment schemas. Our goal is to outline and elaborate on attachment theory as a foundation for the etiology and pathology of PDs and to highlight the implications of this theory for treatment. We begin with a brief review of attachment, describing its conceptualization and assessment in both children and adults in order to examine PD development. This theoretical foundation is supported by a body of empirical research, from which we present findings from neurobiological and developmental literatures linking attachment and PDs. We then examine the role of attachment in the psychotherapy process and in treatment outcome. Further, we outline research reporting changes in attachment patterns as a result of treatment. Finally, we summarize the implications of attachment theory for understanding PDs and present possible directions for future research.

From Cognitive to Educational Neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Dündar, Sefa; Ayvaz, Ülkü

2016-01-01

In recent years, several theoretical discussions as to the relationship between neuroscience and education have been held. Researchers have started to have cooperation over neuroscience and the interdisciplinary researches in which education is included. It was found that there were interactions between cognitive neuroscience and educational…

Three requirements for justifying an educational neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Hruby, George G

2012-03-01

Over the past quarter century, efforts to bridge between research in the neurosciences and research, theory, and practice in education have grown from a mere hope to noteworthy scholarly sophistication. Many dedicated educational researchers have developed the secondary expertise in the necessary neurosciences and related fields to generate both empirical research and theoretical syntheses of noteworthy promise. Nonetheless, thoughtful and critical scholars in education have expressed concern about both the intellectual coherence and ethical dangers of this new area. It is still an open question whether educational neuroscience is for some time yet to remain only a formative study area for adventurous scholars or is already a fully fledged field of educational scholarship. In this paper, I suggest that to be a worthy field of educational research, educational neuroscience will need to address three issues: intellectual coherence, mutually informing and respected scholarly expertise, and an ethical commitment to the moral implications and obligations shared within educational research generally. I shall set forth some examples of lapses in this regard, focusing primarily on work on reading development, as that is my area of expertise, and make recommendations for due diligence. Arguments. First, intellectual coherence requires both precision in definition of technical terms (so that diverse scholars and professionals may communicate findings and insights consistently across fields), and precision in the logical warrants by which educational implications are drawn from empirical data from the neurosciences. Both needs are facilitated by careful attention to categorical boundary and avoidance of category error. Second, educational neuroscientists require focused and broad expertise in both the neurosciences and educational scholarship on teaching and learning in classrooms (and/or ancillary fields). If history is our guide, neuroscience implications for practice will

Contemporary neuroscience in the media.

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Racine, Eric; Waldman, Sarah; Rosenberg, Jarett; Illes, Judy

2010-08-01

Technological innovations in neuroscience have opened new windows to the understanding of brain function and the neuronal underpinnings of brain activity in neuropsychiatric disorders and social behavior. Public interest and support for neuroscience research through initiatives like the Decade of the Brain project and increasingly diverse brain-related initiatives have created new interfaces between neuroscience and society. Against this backdrop of dynamic innovation, we set out to examine how different features of neuroscience are depicted in print media. We used the 'guided news' function of the LexisNexis Academic database with keyword searches to find news articles published between 1995 and 2004 in major U.S. and U.K. English-language news sources. We performed searches on headlines, lead paragraphs, and body terms to maximize search yields. All articles were coded for overall tone of coverage, details on reported studies, presence of ethical, legal, and social discussion as well as the emerging interpretations of neuroscience - in the form of neuro-essentialism, neuro-realism, and neuro-policy. We found that print media coverage of the use of neurotechnology for diagnosis or therapy in neuropsychiatric disorders was generally optimistic. We also found that, even within articles that were identified as research reports, many did not provide details about research studies. We also gained additional insights into the previously identified phenomena of neuro-essentialism, neuro-realism, and neuro-policy showing some profound impacts of neuroscience on personal identity and policy-making. Our results highlight the implications of transfer of neuroscience knowledge to society given the substantial and authoritative weight ascribed to neuroscience knowledge in defining who we are. We also discuss the impact of these findings on neuroscience and on the respective contributions of the social sciences and the biological sciences in contemporary psychiatry and mental

How neuroscience is taught to North American dental students: results of the Basic Science Survey Series.

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Douglas J; Clarkson, Mackenzie J; Hutchins, Bob; Lambert, H Wayne

2014-03-01

The purpose of this study was to determine how North American dental students are taught neuroscience during their preclinical dental education. This survey represents one part of a larger research project, the Basic Science Survey Series for Dentistry, which covers all of the biomedical science coursework required of preclinical students in North American dental schools. Members of the Section on Anatomical Sciences of the American Dental Education Association assembled, distributed, and analyzed the neuroscience survey, which had a 98.5 percent response from course directors of the sixty-seven North American dental schools. The eighteen-item instrument collected demographic data on the course directors, information on the content in each course, and information on how neuroscience content is presented. Findings indicate that 1) most neuroscience instruction is conducted by non-dental school faculty members; 2) large content variability exists between programs; and 3) an increase in didactic instruction, integrated curricula, and use of computer-aided instruction is occurring. It is anticipated that the information derived from the survey will help guide neuroscience curricula in dental schools and aid in identifying appropriate content.

An Algebra-Based Introductory Computational Neuroscience Course with Lab.

Science.gov (United States)

Fink, Christian G

2017-01-01

A course in computational neuroscience has been developed at Ohio Wesleyan University which requires no previous experience with calculus or computer programming, and which exposes students to theoretical models of neural information processing and techniques for analyzing neural data. The exploration of theoretical models of neural processes is conducted in the classroom portion of the course, while data analysis techniques are covered in lab. Students learn to program in MATLAB and are offered the opportunity to conclude the course with a final project in which they explore a topic of their choice within computational neuroscience. Results from a questionnaire administered at the beginning and end of the course indicate significant gains in student facility with core concepts in computational neuroscience, as well as with analysis techniques applied to neural data.

XML for data representation and model specification in neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Crook, Sharon M; Howell, Fred W

2007-01-01

EXtensible Markup Language (XML) technology provides an ideal representation for the complex structure of models and neuroscience data, as it is an open file format and provides a language-independent method for storing arbitrarily complex structured information. XML is composed of text and tags that explicitly describe the structure and semantics of the content of the document. In this chapter, we describe some of the common uses of XML in neuroscience, with case studies in representing neuroscience data and defining model descriptions based on examples from NeuroML. The specific methods that we discuss include (1) reading and writing XML from applications, (2) exporting XML from databases, (3) using XML standards to represent neuronal morphology data, (4) using XML to represent experimental metadata, and (5) creating new XML specifications for models.

Cognitive neuroscience robotics B analytic approaches to human understanding

CERN Document Server

Ishiguro, Hiroshi; Asada, Minoru; Osaka, Mariko; Fujikado, Takashi

2016-01-01

Cognitive Neuroscience Robotics is the first introductory book on this new interdisciplinary area. This book consists of two volumes, the first of which, Synthetic Approaches to Human Understanding, advances human understanding from a robotics or engineering point of view. The second, Analytic Approaches to Human Understanding, addresses related subjects in cognitive science and neuroscience. These two volumes are intended to complement each other in order to more comprehensively investigate human cognitive functions, to develop human-friendly information and robot technology (IRT) systems, and to understand what kind of beings we humans are. Volume B describes to what extent cognitive science and neuroscience have revealed the underlying mechanism of human cognition, and investigates how development of neural engineering and advances in other disciplines could lead to deep understanding of human cognition.

Using Neuroscience to Help Understand Fear and Anxiety: A Two-System Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

LeDoux, Joseph E; Pine, Daniel S

2016-11-01

Tremendous progress has been made in basic neuroscience in recent decades. One area that has been especially successful is research on how the brain detects and responds to threats. Such studies have demonstrated comparable patterns of brain-behavior relationships underlying threat processing across a range of mammalian species, including humans. This would seem to be an ideal body of information for advancing our understanding of disorders in which altered threat processing is a key factor, namely, fear and anxiety disorders. But research on threat processing has not led to significant improvements in clinical practice. The authors propose that in order to take advantage of this progress for clinical gain, a conceptual reframing is needed. Key to this conceptual change is recognition of a distinction between circuits underlying two classes of responses elicited by threats: 1) behavioral responses and accompanying physiological changes in the brain and body and 2) conscious feeling states reflected in self-reports of fear and anxiety. This distinction leads to a "two systems" view of fear and anxiety. The authors argue that failure to recognize and consistently emphasize this distinction has impeded progress in understanding fear and anxiety disorders and hindered attempts to develop more effective pharmaceutical and psychological treatments. The two-system view suggests a new way forward.

Iranians' contribution to world literature on neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashrafi, Farzad; Mohammadhassanzadeh, Hafez; Shokraneh, Farhad; Valinejadi, Ali; Johari, Karim; Saemi, Nazanin; Zali, Alireza; Mohaghegh, Niloofar; Ashayeri, Hassan

2012-12-01

The purpose of this study is to analyse Iranian scientific publications in the neuroscience subfields by librarians and neuroscientists, using Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) via Web of Science data over the period, 2002-2008. Data were retrieved from the SCIE. Data were collected from the 'subject area' of the database and classified by neuroscience experts into 14 subfields. To identify the citation patterns, we applied the 'impact factor' and the 'number of publication'. Data were also analysed using HISTCITE, Excel 2007 and SPSS. Seven hundred and thirty-four papers have been published by Iranian between 2002 and 2008. Findings showed a growing trend of neuroscience papers in the last 3 years with most papers (264) classified in the neuropharmacology subfield. There were fewer papers in neurohistory, psychopharmacology and artificial intelligence. International contributions of authors were mostly in the neurology subfield, and 'Collaboration Coefficient' for the neuroscience subfields in Iran was 0.686 which is acceptable. Most international collaboration between Iranians and developed countries was from USA. Eighty-seven percent of the published papers were in journals with the impact factor between 0 and 4; 25% of papers were published by the researchers affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Progress of neuroscience in Iran is mostly seen in the neuropharmacology and the neurology subfields. Other subfields should also be considered as a research priority by health policymakers. As this study was carried out by the collaboration of librarians and neuroscientists, it has been proved valuable for both librarians and policymakers. This study may be encouraging for librarians from other developing countries. © 2012 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2012 Health Libraries Group.

Advancing Ethical Neuroscience Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Borah, B Rashmi; Strand, Nicolle K; Chillag, Kata L

2016-12-01

As neuroscience research advances, researchers, clinicians, and other stakeholders will face a host of ethical challenges. The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues (Bioethics Commission) has published two reports that provide recommendations on how to advance research endeavors ethically. The commission addressed, among other issues, how to prioritize different types of neuroscience research and how to include research participants who have impaired consent capacity. The Bioethics Commission's recommendations provide a foundation for ethical guidelines as neuroscience research advances and progresses. © 2016 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Neuropsychiatry and neuroscience education of psychiatry trainees: attitudes and barriers.

Science.gov (United States)

Benjamin, Sheldon; Travis, Michael J; Cooper, Joseph J; Dickey, Chandlee C; Reardon, Claudia L

2014-04-01

The American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT) Task Force on Neuropsychiatry and Neuroscience Education of Psychiatry Residents was established in 2011 with the charge to seek information about what the field of psychiatry considers the core topics in neuropsychiatry and neuroscience to which psychiatry residents should be exposed; whether there are any "competencies" in this area on which the field agrees; whether psychiatry departments have the internal capacity to teach these topics if they are desirable; and what the reception would be for "portable curricula" in neuroscience. The task force reviewed the literature and developed a survey instrument to be administered nationwide to all psychiatry residency program directors. The AADPRT Executive Committee assisted with the survey review, and their feedback was incorporated into the final instrument. In 2011-2012, 226 adult and child and adolescent psychiatry residency program directors responded to the survey, representing over half of all US adult and child psychiatry training directors. About three quarters indicated that faculty resources were available in their departments but 39% felt the lack of neuropsychiatry faculty and 36% felt the absence of neuroscience faculty to be significant barriers. Respectively, 64 and 60% felt that neuropsychiatry and psychiatric neuroscience knowledge were very important or critically important to the provision of excellent care. Ninety-two percent were interested in access to portable neuroscience curricula. There is widespread agreement among training directors on the importance of neuropsychiatry and neuroscience knowledge to general psychiatrists but barriers to training exist, including some programs that lack faculty resources and a dearth of portable curricula in these areas.

Neuroscience research in Africa: Current status

OpenAIRE

Abd-Allah, Foad; Kissani, Najib; William, Anthony; Oraby, Mohammed Ibrahim; Moustafa, Ramez Reda; Shaker, Ehab; El-Tamawy, Mohamed Soliman; Shakir, Raad

2015-01-01

There are limited data on the contribution of the African continent to neuroscience research and publications. This review aims to provide a clear view on the state of neuroscience research among African countries, and to compare neuroscience research within the 52 African countries. A literature review search was conducted for all published articles by African authors in both local and international journals using Medline and other primary databases. Neuroscience represents 9.1% of the total...

The Cognitive Atlas: Towards a knowledge foundation for cognitive neuroscience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Russell A Poldrack

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Cognitive neuroscience aims to map mental processes onto brain function, which begs the question of what ``mental processes'' exist and how they relate to the tasks that are used to manipulate and measure them. This topic has been addressed informally in prior work, but we propose that cumulative progress in cognitive neuroscience requires a more systematic approach to representing the mental entities that are being mapped to brain function and the tasks used to manipulate and measure mental processes. We describe a new open collaborative project that aims to provide a knowledge base for cognitive neuroscience, called the Cognitive Atlas (accessible online at http://www.cognitiveatlas.org, and outline how this project has the potential to drive novel discoveries about both mind and brain.

Optimising, generalising and integrating educational practice using neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Colvin, Robert

2016-07-01

Practical collaboration at the intersection of education and neuroscience research is difficult because the combined discipline encompasses both the activity of microscopic neurons and the complex social interactions of teachers and students in a classroom. Taking a pragmatic view, this paper discusses three education objectives to which neuroscience can be effectively applied: optimising, generalising and integrating instructional techniques. These objectives are characterised by: (1) being of practical importance; (2) building on existing education and cognitive research; and (3) being infeasible to address based on behavioural experiments alone. The focus of the neuroscientific aspect of collaborative research should be on the activity of the brain before, during and after learning a task, as opposed to performance of a task. The objectives are informed by literature that highlights possible pitfalls with educational neuroscience research, and are described with respect to the static and dynamic aspects of brain physiology that can be measured by current technology.

Explain the Brain: Websites to Help Scientists Teach Neuroscience to the General Public

Science.gov (United States)

Chudler, Eric H.; Bergsman, Kristen Clapper

2014-01-01

The field of neuroscience has experienced enormous growth over the past few decades. Educators look to neuroscience to become better teachers; lawyers and judges explore the literature to gain insight into court cases; and marketers consider the use of brain scans to glean information about consumer preferences. With this increased interest in…

The principles and practices of educational neuroscience: Comment on Bowers (2016).

Science.gov (United States)

Howard-Jones, Paul A; Varma, Sashank; Ansari, Daniel; Butterworth, Brian; De Smedt, Bert; Goswami, Usha; Laurillard, Diana; Thomas, Michael S C

2016-10-01

In his recent critique of Educational Neuroscience, Bowers argues that neuroscience has no role to play in informing education, which he equates with classroom teaching. Neuroscience, he suggests, adds nothing to what we can learn from psychology. In this commentary, we argue that Bowers' assertions misrepresent the nature and aims of the work in this new field. We suggest that, by contrast, psychological and neural levels of explanation complement rather than compete with each other. Bowers' analysis also fails to include a role for educational expertise-a guiding principle of our new field. On this basis, we conclude that his critique is potentially misleading. We set out the well-documented goals of research in Educational Neuroscience, and show how, in collaboration with educators, significant progress has already been achieved, with the prospect of even greater progress in the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Theory and method at the intersection of anthropology and cultural neuroscience

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Brown, Ryan A.

2010-01-01

Anthropologists have become increasingly interested in embodiment—that is, the ways that socio-cultural factors influence the form, behavior and subjective experience of human bodies. At the same time, social cognitive neuroscience has begun to reveal the mechanisms of embodiment by investigating the neural underpinnings and consequences of social experience. Despite this overlap, the two fields have barely engaged one another. We suggest three interconnected domains of inquiry in which the intersection of neuroscience and anthropology can productively inform our understanding of the relationship between human brains and their socio-cultural contexts. These are: the social construction of emotion, cultural psychiatry, and the embodiment of ritual. We build on both current research findings in cultural neuroscience and ethnographic data on cultural differences in thought and behavior, to generate novel, ecologically informed hypotheses for future study. In addition, we lay out a specific suggestion for operationalizing insights from anthropology in the context of cultural neuroscience research. Specifically, we advocate the development of field studies that use portable measurement technologies to connect individual patterns of biological response with socio-cultural processes. We illustrate the potential of such an approach with data from a study of psychophysiology and religious devotion in Northeastern Brazil. PMID:19965815

Neurotree: a collaborative, graphical database of the academic genealogy of neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

David, Stephen V; Hayden, Benjamin Y

2012-01-01

Neurotree is an online database that documents the lineage of academic mentorship in neuroscience. Modeled on the tree format typically used to describe biological genealogies, the Neurotree web site provides a concise summary of the intellectual history of neuroscience and relationships between individuals in the current neuroscience community. The contents of the database are entirely crowd-sourced: any internet user can add information about researchers and the connections between them. As of July 2012, Neurotree has collected information from 10,000 users about 35,000 researchers and 50,000 mentor relationships, and continues to grow. The present report serves to highlight the utility of Neurotree as a resource for academic research and to summarize some basic analysis of its data. The tree structure of the database permits a variety of graphical analyses. We find that the connectivity and graphical distance between researchers entered into Neurotree early has stabilized and thus appears to be mostly complete. The connectivity of more recent entries continues to mature. A ranking of researcher fecundity based on their mentorship reveals a sustained period of influential researchers from 1850-1950, with the most influential individuals active at the later end of that period. Finally, a clustering analysis reveals that some subfields of neuroscience are reflected in tightly interconnected mentor-trainee groups.

Principles of Curriculum Design and Construction Based on the Concepts of Educational Neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Watagodakumbura, Chandana

2017-01-01

With the emergence of a wealth of research-based information in the field of educational neuroscience, educators are now able to make more evidence-based decisions in the important area of curriculum design and construction. By viewing from the perspective of educational neuroscience, we can give a more meaningful and lasting purpose of leading to…

Population Neuroscience: Dementia Epidemiology Serving Precision Medicine and Population Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganguli, Mary; Albanese, Emiliano; Seshadri, Sudha; Bennett, David A; Lyketsos, Constantine; Kukull, Walter A; Skoog, Ingmar; Hendrie, Hugh C

2018-01-01

Over recent decades, epidemiology has made significant contributions to our understanding of dementia, translating scientific discoveries into population health. Here, we propose reframing dementia epidemiology as "population neuroscience," blending techniques and models from contemporary neuroscience with those of epidemiology and biostatistics. On the basis of emerging evidence and newer paradigms and methods, population neuroscience will minimize the bias typical of traditional clinical research, identify the relatively homogenous subgroups that comprise the general population, and investigate broader and denser phenotypes of dementia and cognitive impairment. Long-term follow-up of sufficiently large study cohorts will allow the identification of cohort effects and critical windows of exposure. Molecular epidemiology and omics will allow us to unravel the key distinctions within and among subgroups and better understand individuals' risk profiles. Interventional epidemiology will allow us to identify the different subgroups that respond to different treatment/prevention strategies. These strategies will inform precision medicine. In addition, insights into interactions between disease biology, personal and environmental factors, and social determinants of health will allow us to measure and track disease in communities and improve population health. By placing neuroscience within a real-world context, population neuroscience can fulfill its potential to serve both precision medicine and population health.

Where Evolutionary Psychology Meets Cognitive Neuroscience: A Précis to Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Austen L. Krill

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Cognitive neuroscience, the study of brain-behavior relationships, has long attempted to map the brain. The discipline is flourishing, with an increasing number of functional neuroimaging studies appearing in the scientific literature daily. Unlike biology and even psychology, the cognitive neurosciences have only recently begun to apply evolutionary meta-theory and methodological guidance. Approaching cognitive neuroscience from an evolutionary perspective allows scientists to apply biologically based theoretical guidance to their investigations and can be conducted in both humans and nonhuman animals. In fact, several investigations of this sort are underway in laboratories around the world. This paper and two new volumes (Platek, Keenan, and Shackelford [Eds.], 2007; Platek and Shackelford [Eds.], under contract represent the first formal attempts to document the burgeoning field of evolutionary cognitive neuroscience. Here, we briefly review the current state of the science of evolutionary cognitive neuroscience, the methods available to the evolutionary cognitive neuroscientist, and what we foresee as the future directions of the discipline.

A competency-based longitudinal core curriculum in medical neuroscience.

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Merlin, Lisa R; Horak, Holli A; Milligan, Tracey A; Kraakevik, Jeff A; Ali, Imran I

2014-07-29

Current medical educational theory encourages the development of competency-based curricula. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's 6 core competencies for resident education (medical knowledge, patient care, professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills, practice-based learning, and systems-based practice) have been embraced by medical schools as the building blocks necessary for becoming a competent licensed physician. Many medical schools are therefore changing their educational approach to an integrated model in which students demonstrate incremental acquisition and mastery of all competencies as they progress through medical school. Challenges to medical schools include integration of preclinical and clinical studies as well as development of learning objectives and assessment measures for each competency. The Undergraduate Education Subcommittee (UES) of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) assembled a group of neuroscience educators to outline a longitudinal competency-based curriculum in medical neuroscience encompassing both preclinical and clinical coursework. In development of this curriculum, the committee reviewed United States Medical Licensing Examination content outlines, Liaison Committee on Medical Education requirements, prior AAN-mandated core curricula for basic neuroscience and clinical neurology, and survey responses from educators in US medical schools. The newly recommended curriculum provides an outline of learning objectives for each of the 6 competencies, listing each learning objective in active terms. Documentation of experiences is emphasized, and assessment measures are suggested to demonstrate adequate achievement in each competency. These guidelines, widely vetted and approved by the UES membership, aspire to be both useful as a stand-alone curriculum and also provide a framework for neuroscience educators who wish to develop a more detailed focus in certain areas of study. © 2014 American Academy

Beyond Bayes: On the Need for a Unified and Jaynesian Definition of Probability and Information within Neuroscience

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Christopher D. Fiorillo

2012-04-01

Full Text Available It has been proposed that the general function of the brain is inference, which corresponds quantitatively to the minimization of uncertainty (or the maximization of information. However, there has been a lack of clarity about exactly what this means. Efforts to quantify information have been in agreement that it depends on probabilities (through Shannon entropy, but there has long been a dispute about the definition of probabilities themselves. The “frequentist” view is that probabilities are (or can be essentially equivalent to frequencies, and that they are therefore properties of a physical system, independent of any observer of the system. E.T. Jaynes developed the alternate “Bayesian” definition, in which probabilities are always conditional on a state of knowledge through the rules of logic, as expressed in the maximum entropy principle. In doing so, Jaynes and others provided the objective means for deriving probabilities, as well as a unified account of information and logic (knowledge and reason. However, neuroscience literature virtually never specifies any definition of probability, nor does it acknowledge any dispute concerning the definition. Although there has recently been tremendous interest in Bayesian approaches to the brain, even in the Bayesian literature it is common to find probabilities that are purported to come directly and unconditionally from frequencies. As a result, scientists have mistakenly attributed their own information to the neural systems they study. Here I argue that the adoption of a strictly Jaynesian approach will prevent such errors and will provide us with the philosophical and mathematical framework that is needed to understand the general function of the brain. Accordingly, our challenge becomes the identification of the biophysical basis of Jaynesian information and logic. I begin to address this issue by suggesting how we might identify a probability distribution over states of one physical

Inter-disciplinarity in sport sciences: The neuroscience example.

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Fargier, Patrick; Collet, Christian; Moran, Aidan; Massarelli, Raphaël

2017-02-01

Sport science is a relatively recent domain of research born from the interactions of different disciplines related to sport. According to the European College of sport science ( http://sport-science.org ): "scientific excellence in sport science is based on disciplinary competence embedded in the understanding that its essence lies in its multi- and interdisciplinary character". In this respect, the scientific domain of neuroscience has been developed within such a framework. Influenced by the apparent homogeneity of this scientific domain, the present paper reviews three important research topics in sport from a neuroscientific perspective. These topics concern the relationship between mind and motor action, the effects of cognition on motor performance, and the study of certain mental states (such as the "flow" effect, see below) and motor control issues to understand, for example, the neural substrates of the vertical squat jump. Based on the few extensive examples shown in this review, we argue that by adopting an interdisciplinary paradigm, sport science can emulate neuroscience in becoming a mono-discipline.

Reflections on 50 Years of Neuroscience Nursing: The Growth of Stroke Nursing.

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Jackson, Nancy; Haxton, Elaine; Morrison, Kathy; Markey, Erin; Andreoli, Linda J; Maloney, Theresa; Omelchenko, Nataliya; Aroose, Amanda; Stevens, Lynn B

2018-05-10

Over the past 50 years, the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing (JNN) has grown from a neurosurgical focus to the broader neuroscience focus alongside the professional nursing organization that it supports. Stroke care in JNN focused on the surgical treatment and nursing care for cranial treatment of conditions such as cerebral aneurysm, carotid disease, arteriovenous malformation, and artery bypass procedures. As medical science has grown and new medications and treatment modalities have been successfully trialed, JNN has brought to its readership this information about recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, endovascular trials, and new assessment tools such as the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale. JNN is on the forefront of publishing nursing research in the areas of stroke caregiver needs and community education for rapid treatment of stroke and stroke risk reduction. The journal has been timely and informative in keeping neuroscience nurses on the forefront of the changing world of stroke nursing.

Invertebrate neuroscience and CephsInAction at the Mediterranean Society for Neuroscience Meeting Cagliari 2015.

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Holden-Dye, Lindy; Fiorito, Graziano; Ponte, Giovanna

2015-12-01

Invertebrate neuroscience, and in particular cephalopod research, is well represented in the Mediterranean region. Therefore, the recent meeting of the Mediterranean Society for Neuroscience in Santa Margherita di Pula, Sardinia (12-15 June 2015) provided an excellent opportunity for invertebrate contributions. Furthermore, the Chair of an EU COST Action for cephalopod research (FA1301; www.cephsinaction.org ), Giovanna Ponte, together with Graziano Fiorito from the Stazione Zoologica, Naples, aligned a meeting of research groups working in the field of cephalopod neurophysiology from across Europe to coincide with the neuroscience meeting. This provided an exciting forum for exchange of ideas. Here we provide brief highlights of both events and an explanation of the activities of the COST Action for the broader invertebrate neuroscience community.

The neurosciences research program at MIT and the beginning of the modern field of neuroscience.

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Adelman, George

2010-01-15

The interdisciplinary field, "neuroscience," began at MIT in 1962 with the founding of the Neurosciences Research Program (NRP) by Francis O. Schmitt and a group of US and international scientists - physical, biological, medical, and behavioral - interested in understanding the brain basis of behavior and mind. They organized and held specialist meetings of basic topics in neuroscience, and the journal and book publications over the next 20 years, based on these meetings, helped establish the new field.

Conceptual Framework for Developing a Diabetes Information Network.

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Riazi, Hossein; Langarizadeh, Mostafa; Larijani, Bagher; Shahmoradi, Leila

2016-06-01

To provide a conceptual framework for managing diabetic patient care, and creating an information network for clinical research. A wide range of information technology (IT) based interventions such as distance learning, diabetes registries, personal or electronic health record systems, clinical information systems, and clinical decision support systems have so far been used in supporting diabetic care. Previous studies demonstrated that IT could improve diabetes care at its different aspects. There is however no comprehensive conceptual framework that defines how different IT applications can support diverse aspects of this care. Therefore, a conceptual framework that combines different IT solutions into a wide information network for improving care processes and for research purposes is widely lacking. In this study we describe the theoretical underpin of a big project aiming at building a wide diabetic information network namely DIANET. A literature review and a survey of national programs and existing regulations for diabetes management was conducted in order to define different aspects of diabetic care that should be supported by IT solutions. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in this study. In addition to the results of a previous systematic literature review, two brainstorming and three expert panel sessions were conducted to identify requirements of a comprehensive information technology solution. Based on these inputs, the requirements for creating a diabetes information network were identified and used to create a questionnaire based on 9-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was finalized after removing some items based on calculated content validity ratio and content validity index coefficients. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was also calculated (αTotal= 0.98, Pconceptual framework. The questionnaires were returned by 10 clinicians. Each requirement item was labeled as essential, semi-essential, or non

Ethical issues in neuroscience.

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Fuchs, Thomas

2006-11-01

The study gives an overview of ethical questions raised by the progress of neuroscience in identifying and intervening in neural correlates of the mind. Ethical problems resulting from brain research have induced the emergence of a new discipline termed neuroethics. Critical questions concern issues, such as prediction of disease, psychopharmacological enhancement of attention, memory or mood, and technologies such as psychosurgery, deep-brain stimulation or brain implants. Such techniques are capable of affecting the individual's sense of privacy, autonomy and identity. Moreover, reductionist interpretations of neuroscientific results challenge notions of free will, responsibility, personhood and the self which are essential for western culture and society. They may also gradually change psychiatric concepts of mental health and illness. These tendencies call for thorough, philosophically informed analyses of research findings and critical evaluation of their underlying conceptions of humans. Advances in neuroscience raise ethical, social and legal issues in relation to the human person and the brain. Potential benefits of applying neuroimaging, psychopharmacology and neurotechnology to mentally ill and healthy persons have to be carefully weighed against their potential harm. Questions concerning underlying concepts of humans should be actively dealt with by interdisciplinary and public debate.

Critical Neuroscience – or Critical Science? A Perspective on the Perceived Normative Significance of Neuroscience

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Stephan eSchleim

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Members of the Critical Neuroscience initiative raised the question whether the perceived normative significance of neuroscience is justified by the discipline’s actual possibilities. In this paper I show how brain research was assigned the ultimate political, social, and moral authority by some leading researchers who suggested that neuroscientists should change their research priorities, promising solutions to social challenges in order to increase research funds. Discussing the two examples of cognitive enhancement and the neuroscience of (immoral behavior I argue that there is indeed a gap between promises and expectations on the one hand and knowledge and applications on the other. However it would be premature to generalize this to the neurosciences at large, whose knowledge-producing, innovative, and economic potentials have just recently been confirmed by political and scientific decision-makers with the financial support for the Human Brain Project and the BRAIN Initiative. Finally, I discuss two explanations for the analyzed communication patterns and argue why Critical Neuroscience is necessary, but not sufficient. A more general Critical Science movement is required to improve the scientific incentive system.

Mechanisms, determination and the metaphysics of neuroscience.

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Soom, Patrice

2012-09-01

In this paper, I evaluate recently defended mechanistic accounts of the unity of neuroscience from a metaphysical point of view. Considering the mechanistic framework in general (Sections 2 and 3), I argue that explanations of this kind are essentially reductive (Section 4). The reductive character of mechanistic explanations provides a sufficiency criterion, according to which the mechanism underlying a certain phenomenon is sufficient for the latter. Thus, the concept of supervenience can be used in order to describe the relation between mechanisms and phenomena (Section 5). Against this background, I show that the mechanistic framework is subject to the causal exclusion problem and faces the classical metaphysical options when it comes to the relations obtaining between different levels of mechanisms (Section 6). Finally, an attempt to improve the metaphysics of mechanisms is made (Section 7) and further difficulties are pointed out (Section 8). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Critical neuroscience-or critical science? A perspective on the perceived normative significance of neuroscience

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Schleim, Stephan

2014-01-01

Members of the Critical Neuroscience initiative raised the question whether the perceived normative significance of neuroscience is justified by the discipline's actual possibilities. In this paper I show how brain research was assigned the ultimate political, social, and moral authority by some

[Neuroscience and collective memory: memory schemas linking brain, societies and cultures].

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Legrand, Nicolas; Gagnepain, Pierre; Peschanski, Denis; Eustache, Francis

2015-01-01

During the last two decades, the effect of intersubjective relationships on cognition has been an emerging topic in cognitive neurosciences leading through a so-called "social turn" to the formation of new domains integrating society and cultures to this research area. Such inquiry has been recently extended to collective memory studies. Collective memory refers to shared representations that are constitutive of the identity of a group and distributed among all its members connected by a common history. After briefly describing those evolutions in the study of human brain and behaviors, we review recent researches that have brought together cognitive psychology, neuroscience and social sciences into collective memory studies. Using the reemerging concept of memory schema, we propose a theoretical framework allowing to account for collective memories formation with a specific focus on the encoding process of historical events. We suggest that (1) if the concept of schema has been mainly used to describe rather passive framework of knowledge, such structure may also be implied in more active fashions in the understanding of significant collective events. And, (2) if some schema researches have restricted themselves to the individual level of inquiry, we describe a strong coherence between memory and cultural frameworks. Integrating the neural basis and properties of memory schema to collective memory studies may pave the way toward a better understanding of the reciprocal interaction between individual memories and cultural resources such as media or education. © Société de Biologie, 2016.

Informing Educational Decisions in the Early Years: Can Evidence for Improving Pedagogy for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder Be Found from Neuroscience?

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Peters, Brenda; Forlin, Chris

2011-01-01

It is possible that many benefits may be found for all concerned in education and child development in understanding how knowledge of the brain and its development can inform early years practice. This article, written by Brenda Peters and Chris Forlin, both from the Hong Kong Institute of Education, reviews literature based on neuroscience to…

Mindfulness and Coping Are Inversely Related to Psychiatric Symptoms in Patients and Informal Caregivers in the Neuroscience ICU: Implications for Clinical Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaffer, Kelly M; Riklin, Eric; Jacobs, Jamie M; Rosand, Jonathan; Vranceanu, Ana-Maria

2016-11-01

To assess the correlation of psychosocial resiliency factors (mindfulness and coping) with symptoms of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression in patients recently admitted to the neuroscience ICU and their primary informal caregivers. A descriptive, cross-sectional correlational study. Neuroscience ICU in a major medical center. A total of 78 dyads of patients (total n = 81) and their primary caregivers (total n = 92) from June to December 2015. Study enrollment occurred within the first 2 weeks of patient admission to the neuroscience ICU. None. Dyads completed self-report measures of mindfulness (Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised), coping (Measure of Coping Status-A), posttraumatic stress (Posttraumatic Checklist-Specific Stressor), anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-A), and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-D). Rates of clinically significant posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms were high and comparable between patient and caregiver samples. Own psychological resilience factors and psychiatric symptoms were strongly correlated for both patients and caregivers. Depressive symptoms were interdependent between patients and their caregivers, and one's own mindfulness was independently related to one's partner's depressive symptoms. Rates of clinically significant psychiatric symptoms were high, equally prevalent in patients and caregivers, and interdependent between patients and their caregivers. For both patients and caregivers, psychological resiliency factors were associated with both self and partner psychiatric symptoms. Findings suggest that attending to the psychiatric health of both patients and caregivers in the neuroscience ICU is a priority and that patients and their caregivers must be considered together in a system to fully address either individual's psychiatric symptoms.

Undergraduate Neuroscience Education: Blueprints for the 21(st) Century.

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Wiertelak, Eric P; Ramirez, Julio J

2008-01-01

Paralleling the explosive growth of neuroscientific knowledge over the last two decades, numerous institutions from liberal arts colleges to research universities have either implemented or begun exploring the possibility of implementing undergraduate programs in neuroscience. In 1995, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) partnered with Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) to offer a workshop exploring how undergraduate neuroscience education should proceed. Four blueprints were created to provide direction to the burgeoning interest in developing programs in undergraduate neuroscience education: 1) Neuroscience nested in psychology; 2) Neuroscience nested in biology; 3) Neuroscience as a minor; and 4) Neuroscience as a major. In 2005, FUN again partnered with PKAL to revisit the blueprints in order to align the blueprints with modern pedagogical philosophy and technology. The original four blueprints were modified and updated. One particularly exciting outgrowth of the 2005 workshop was the introduction of a fifth curricular blueprint that strongly emphasizes the integration of the humanities and social sciences into neuroscience: Neuroscience Studies. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience, an education in neuroscience will prepare the next generation of students to think critically, synthetically, and creatively as they confront the problems facing humanity in the 21(st) century.

Cognitive Neuroscience and the "Mind-Body problem"

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Grega Repovš

2004-08-01

Full Text Available In recent years we have witnessed an upsurge of interest in the study of the human mind and how it relates to the material body, the brain. Cognitive neuroscience is a multidisciplinary science that tries to explain how the mind arises from the structure and workings of the brain. Can we equate the study of mind-body relationship with cognitive neuroscience? Are there aspects of mind-body relationship that are not covered by cognitive neuroscience? Is cognitive neuroscience able to explain human behaviour and experience? These are the questions that are addressed in this "Beginner's Guide to Cognitive neuroscience and it's relation to the Body-Mind question".

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands

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Santello, M.; Bianchi, M.; Gabiccini, M.; Ricciardi, E.; Salvietti, G.; Prattichizzo, D.; Ernst, M.; Moscatelli, A.; Jörntell, H.; Kappers, A.M.L.; Kyriakopoulos, K.; Albu-Schäffer, A.; Castellini, C.; Bicchi, A.

The term ‘synergy’ – from the Greek synergia – means ‘working together’. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural

Integrating cognitive (neuroscience using mechanisms

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Marcin Miłkowski

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an account of theoretical integration in cognitive (neuroscience from the mechanistic perspective is defended. It is argued that mechanistic patterns of integration can be better understood in terms of constraints on representations of mechanisms, not just on the space of possible mechanisms, as previous accounts of integration had it. This way, integration can be analyzed in more detail with the help of constraintsatisfaction account of coherence between scientific represen-tations. In particular, the account has resources to talk of idealizations and research heuristics employed by researchers to combine separate results and theoretical frameworks. The account is subsequently applied to an example of successful integration in the research on hippocampus and memory, and to a failure of integration in the research on mirror neurons as purportedly explanatory of sexual orientation.

A process framework for information security management

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Knut Haufe

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Securing sensitive organizational data has become increasingly vital to organizations. An Information Security Management System (ISMS is a systematic approach for establishing, implementing, operating, monitoring, reviewing, maintaining and improving an organization's information security. Key elements of the operation of an ISMS are ISMS processes. However, and in spite of its importance, an ISMS process framework with a description of ISMS processes and their interaction as well as the interaction with other management processes is not available in the literature. Cost benefit analysis of information security investments regarding single measures protecting information and ISMS processes are not in the focus of current research, mostly focused on economics. This article aims to fill this research gap by proposing such an ISMS process framework as the main contribution. Based on a set of agreed upon ISMS processes in existing standards like ISO 27000 series, COBIT and ITIL. Within the framework, identified processes are described and their interaction and interfaces are specified. This framework helps to focus on the operation of the ISMS, instead of focusing on measures and controls. By this, as a main finding, the systemic character of the ISMS consisting of processes and the perception of relevant roles of the ISMS is strengthened.

LanguageNet: A Novel Framework for Processing Unstructured Text Information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Qureshi, Pir Abdul Rasool; Memon, Nasrullah; Wiil, Uffe Kock

2011-01-01

In this paper we present LanguageNet—a novel framework for processing unstructured text information from human generated content. The state of the art information processing frameworks have some shortcomings: modeled in generalized form, trained on fixed (limited) data sets, and leaving...... the specialization necessary for information consolidation to the end users. The proposed framework is the first major attempt to address these shortcomings. LanguageNet provides extended support of graphical methods contributing added value to the capabilities of information processing. We discuss the benefits...... of the framework and compare it with the available state of the art. We also describe how the framework improves the information gathering process and contribute towards building systems with better performance in the domain of Open Source Intelligence....

Value-based choice: An integrative, neuroscience-informed model of health goals.

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Berkman, Elliot T

2018-01-01

Traditional models of health behaviour focus on the roles of cognitive, personality and social-cognitive constructs (e.g. executive function, grit, self-efficacy), and give less attention to the process by which these constructs interact in the moment that a health-relevant choice is made. Health psychology needs a process-focused account of how various factors are integrated to produce the decisions that determine health behaviour. I present an integrative value-based choice model of health behaviour, which characterises the mechanism by which a variety of factors come together to determine behaviour. This model imports knowledge from research on behavioural economics and neuroscience about how choices are made to the study of health behaviour, and uses that knowledge to generate novel predictions about how to change health behaviour. I describe anomalies in value-based choice that can be exploited for health promotion, and review neuroimaging evidence about the involvement of midline dopamine structures in tracking and integrating value-related information during choice. I highlight how this knowledge can bring insights to health psychology using illustrative case of healthy eating. Value-based choice is a viable model for health behaviour and opens new avenues for mechanism-focused intervention.

Behavioral neuroscience and the media.

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Blakeslee, Sandra; DiChristina, Mariette; Raeburn, Paul; Lambert, Kelly

2012-12-05

To provide assurance that accurate summaries of behavioral neuroscience findings are presented in mainstream news sources, it is important for scientists to cooperate with science journalists and, on occasion, write informative articles for lay audiences or contribute scientific knowledge in other relevant venues. Accordingly, three influential science journalists were invited to a special Presidential Symposium at the 2011 IBNS annual meeting to discuss (1) the importance of public dissemination of scientific knowledge, (2) insightful recommendations for effective science writing for mainstream audiences and (3) the potential impact of science blogs on the communication of science information. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neuroscience in Nazi Europe Part III

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Zeidman, Lawrence A; Kondziella, Daniel

2012-01-01

In Part I, neuroscience collaborators with the Nazis were discussed, and in Part II, neuroscience resistors were discussed. In Part III, we discuss the tragedy regarding european neuroscientists who became victims of the Nazi onslaught on “non-Aryan” doctors. Some of these unfortunate...... of neuroscience, we pay homage and do not allow humanity to forget, lest this dark period in history ever repeat itself....

Contributions from cognitive neuroscience to understanding functional mechanisms of visual search.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Humphreys, G.W.; Hodsoll, J.; Olivers, C.N.L.; Yoon, E.Y.

2006-01-01

We argue that cognitive neuroscience can contribute not only information about the neural localization of processes underlying visual search, but also information about the functional nature of these processes. First we present an overview of recent work on whether search for form - colour

PACS/information systems interoperability using Enterprise Communication Framework.

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alSafadi, Y; Lord, W P; Mankovich, N J

1998-06-01

Interoperability among healthcare applications goes beyond connectivity to allow components to exchange structured information and work together in a predictable, coordinated fashion. To facilitate building an interoperability infrastructure, an Enterprise Communication Framework (ECF) was developed by the members of the Andover Working Group for Healthcare Interoperability (AWG-OHI). The ECF consists of four models: 1) Use Case Model, 2) Domain Information Model (DIM), 3) Interaction Model, and 4) Message Model. To realize this framework, a software component called the Enterprise Communicator (EC) is used. In this paper, we will demonstrate the use of the framework in interoperating a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) with a radiology information system (RIS).

[Social neuroscience and psychiatry].

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Hidehiko

2013-01-01

The topics of emotion, decision-making, and consciousness have been traditionally dealt with in the humanities and social sciences. With the dissemination of noninvasive human neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI and the advancement of cognitive science, neuroimaging studies focusing on emotions, social cognition, and decision-making have become established. I overviewed the history of social neurosciences. The emerging field of social brain research or social neuroscience will greatly contribute to clinical psychiatry. In the first part. I introduced our early fMRI studies on social emotions such as guilt, embarrassment, pride, and envy. Dysfunction of social emotions can be observed in various forms of psychiatric disorder, and the findings should contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of psychiatric conditions. In the second part, I introduced our recent interdisciplinary neuroscience approach combining molecular neuroimaging techniques(positron emission tomography: PET), cognitive sciences, and economics to understand the neural as well as molecular basis of altered decision-making in neuropsychiatric disorders. An interdisciplinary approach combing molecular imaging techniques and cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychiatry will provide new perspectives for understanding the neurobiology of impaired decision-making in neuropsychiatric disorders and drug development.

Mathematical and theoretical neuroscience cell, network and data analysis

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Nieus, Thierry

2017-01-01

This volume gathers contributions from theoretical, experimental and computational researchers who are working on various topics in theoretical/computational/mathematical neuroscience. The focus is on mathematical modeling, analytical and numerical topics, and statistical analysis in neuroscience with applications. The following subjects are considered: mathematical modelling in Neuroscience, analytical  and numerical topics;  statistical analysis in Neuroscience; Neural Networks; Theoretical Neuroscience. The book is addressed to researchers involved in mathematical models applied to neuroscience.

Neuroscience is Bad

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Presskorn-Thygesen, Thomas

The title is telling: I will argue first that ‘traditional’ cognitive neuroscience is conceptually flawed and secondly – as an open question – inquire whether theories of brain plasticity are scientifically more sound and more apt to enter into collaboration with the social sciences. The ascripti......The title is telling: I will argue first that ‘traditional’ cognitive neuroscience is conceptually flawed and secondly – as an open question – inquire whether theories of brain plasticity are scientifically more sound and more apt to enter into collaboration with the social sciences...

Can Neuroscience Construct a Literate Gendered Culture?

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Whitehead, David

2011-01-01

The construction of boys as a gendered culture is not usually associated with neuroscience. Exceptions are publications and presentations by consultants on boys' education who adopt a "brain-based" perspective. From a neuroscience perspective, my analysis indicates the selective use of primary neuroscience research to construct and perpetuate…

A surety engineering framework to reduce cognitive systems risks.

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Caudell, Thomas P. (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM); Peercy, David Eugene; Caldera, Eva O. (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM); Shaneyfelt, Wendy L.

2008-12-01

Cognitive science research investigates the advancement of human cognition and neuroscience capabilities. Addressing risks associated with these advancements can counter potential program failures, legal and ethical issues, constraints to scientific research, and product vulnerabilities. Survey results, focus group discussions, cognitive science experts, and surety researchers concur technical risks exist that could impact cognitive science research in areas such as medicine, privacy, human enhancement, law and policy, military applications, and national security (SAND2006-6895). This SAND report documents a surety engineering framework and a process for identifying cognitive system technical, ethical, legal and societal risks and applying appropriate surety methods to reduce such risks. The framework consists of several models: Specification, Design, Evaluation, Risk, and Maturity. Two detailed case studies are included to illustrate the use of the process and framework. Several Appendices provide detailed information on existing cognitive system architectures; ethical, legal, and societal risk research; surety methods and technologies; and educing information research with a case study vignette. The process and framework provide a model for how cognitive systems research and full-scale product development can apply surety engineering to reduce perceived and actual risks.

Cognitive Neuroscience Meets Mathematics Education

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De Smedt, Bert; Ansari, Daniel; Grabner, Roland H.; Hannula, Minna M.; Schneider, Michael; Verschaffel, Lieven

2010-01-01

While there has been much theoretical debate concerning the relationship between neuroscience and education, researchers have started to collaborate across both disciplines, giving rise to the interdisciplinary research field of neuroscience and education. The present contribution tries to reflect on the challenges of this new field of empirical…

Best Practices: The Neuroscience Program at Central Michigan University

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Dunbar, Gary L.

2015-01-01

The original design of our program at Central Michigan University (CMU) and its evolving curriculum were directly influenced by Faculty for Undergraduate (FUN) workshops at Davidson College, Oberlin College, Trinity College, and Macalester College. The course content, laboratory exercises, and pedagogy used were informed by excellent articles in the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education (JUNE) and presentations at these FUN workshops and meetings over the years. Like the program at Baldwin-Wallace College, which was a previous winner of the Undergraduate Neuroscience Program of the Year Award, as selected by the Committee on Neuroscience Departments and Programs (CNDP) of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN, our program stresses the importance of inquiry-based, hands-on research experience for our undergraduates and utilizes a peer-mentoring system. A distinct advantage that is employed at CMU is the use of graduate student mentors, which allows us to expand our peer-mentorship to distinct research teams that are focused on a specific research project. Developing our program was not easy. The present manuscript reviews the long and arduous journey (including ways in which we navigated some difficult internal political issues) we made to build a strong program. Hopefully, this description may prove helpful for other evolving programs, in terms of avoiding certain pitfalls and overcoming obstacles, as well as selecting practices that have proven to be successful at our institution. PMID:26240523

Neuroscience Investigations: An Overview of Studies Conducted

Science.gov (United States)

Reschke, Millard F.

1999-01-01

The neural processes that mediate human spatial orientation and adaptive changes occurring in response to the sensory rearrangement encountered during orbital flight are primarily studied through second and third order responses. In the Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project (EDOMP) neuroscience investigations, the following were measured: (1) eye movements during acquisition of either static or moving visual targets, (2) postural and locomotor responses provoked by unexpected movement of the support surface, changes in the interaction of visual, proprioceptive, and vestibular information, changes in the major postural muscles via descending pathways, or changes in locomotor pathways, and (3) verbal reports of perceived self-orientation and self-motion which enhance and complement conclusions drawn from the analysis of oculomotor, postural, and locomotor responses. In spaceflight operations, spatial orientation can be defined as situational awareness, where crew member perception of attitude, position, or motion of the spacecraft or other objects in three-dimensional space, including orientation of one's own body, is congruent with actual physical events. Perception of spatial orientation is determined by integrating information from several sensory modalities. This involves higher levels of processing within the central nervous system that control eye movements, locomotion, and stable posture. Spaceflight operational problems occur when responses to the incorrectly perceived spatial orientation are compensatory in nature. Neuroscience investigations were conducted in conjunction with U. S. Space Shuttle flights to evaluate possible changes in the ability of an astronaut to land the Shuttle or effectively perform an emergency post-landing egress following microgravity adaptation during space flights of variable length. While the results of various sensory motor and spatial orientation tests could have an impact on future space flights, our knowledge of

The practical and principled problems with educational neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowers, Jeffrey S

2016-10-01

The core claim of educational neuroscience is that neuroscience can improve teaching in the classroom. Many strong claims are made about the successes and the promise of this new discipline. By contrast, I show that there are no current examples of neuroscience motivating new and effective teaching methods, and argue that neuroscience is unlikely to improve teaching in the future. The reasons are twofold. First, in practice, it is easier to characterize the cognitive capacities of children on the basis of behavioral measures than on the basis of brain measures. As a consequence, neuroscience rarely offers insights into instruction above and beyond psychology. Second, in principle, the theoretical motivations underpinning educational neuroscience are misguided, and this makes it difficult to design or assess new teaching methods on the basis of neuroscience. Regarding the design of instruction, it is widely assumed that remedial instruction should target the underlying deficits associated with learning disorders, and neuroscience is used to characterize the deficit. However, the most effective forms of instruction may often rely on developing compensatory (nonimpaired) skills. Neuroscience cannot determine whether instruction should target impaired or nonimpaired skills. More importantly, regarding the assessment of instruction, the only relevant issue is whether the child learns, as reflected in behavior. Evidence that the brain changed in response to instruction is irrelevant. At the same time, an important goal for neuroscience is to characterize how the brain changes in response to learning, and this includes learning in the classroom. Neuroscientists cannot help educators, but educators can help neuroscientists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Neuroscience and humanistic psychiatry: a residency curriculum.

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Griffith, James L

2014-04-01

Psychiatry residencies with a commitment to humanism commonly prioritize training in psychotherapy, cultural psychiatry, mental health policy, promotion of human rights, and similar areas reliant upon dialogue and collaborative therapeutic relationships. The advent of neuroscience as a defining paradigm for psychiatry has challenged residencies with a humanistic focus due to common perceptions that it would entail constriction of psychiatric practice to diagnostic and psychopharmacology roles. The author describes a neuroscience curriculum that has taught psychopharmacology effectively, while also advancing effectiveness of language-based and relationship-based therapeutics. In 2000, the George Washington University psychiatry residency initiated a neuroscience curriculum consisting of (1) a foundational postgraduate year 2 seminar teaching cognitive and social neuroscience and its integration into clinical psychopharmacology, (2) advanced seminars that utilized a neuroscience perspective in teaching specific psychotherapeutic skill sets, and (3) case-based teaching in outpatient clinical supervisions that incorporated a neuroscience perspective into traditional psychotherapy supervisions. Curricular assessment was conducted by (1) RRC reaccreditation site visit feedback, (2) examining career trajectories of residency graduates, (3) comparing PRITE exam Somatic Treatments subscale scores for 2010-2012 residents with pre-implementation residents, and (4) postresidency survey assessment by 2010-2012 graduates. The 2011 RRC site visit report recommended a "notable practice" citation for "innovative neurosciences curriculum." Three of twenty 2010-2012 graduates entered neuroscience research fellowships, as compared to none before the new curriculum. PRITE Somatic Treatments subscale scores improved from the 23rd percentile to the 62nd percentile in pre- to post-implementation of curriculum (p neuroscience curriculum for a residency committed to humanistic psychiatry

Building a functional neurocognitive theory of the multiple intelligences anatomical framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlo eCerruti

2013-12-01

Full Text Available A key goal of educational neuroscience is to conduct constrained experimental research that is theory-driven and yet also clearly related to educators’ complex set of questions and concerns. However, the fields of education, cognitive psychology and neuroscience use different levels of description to characterize human ability. An important advance in research in educational neuroscience would be the identification of a cognitive and neurocognitive framework at a level of description relatively intuitive to educators. I argue that the theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983, a conception of the mind that motivated a past generation of teachers, may provide such an opportunity. I criticize MI for doing little to clarify for teachers a core misunderstanding, specifically that MI was only an anatomical map of the mind but not a functional theory that detailed how the mind actually processes information. In an attempt to build a functional MI theory, I integrate into MI basic principles of cognitive and neural functioning, namely interregional neural facilitation and inhibition. In so doing I hope to forge a path towards constrained experimental research that bears upon teachers’ concerns about teaching and learning.

A development framework for semantically interoperable health information systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, Diego M; Blobel, Bernd G M E

2009-02-01

Semantic interoperability is a basic challenge to be met for new generations of distributed, communicating and co-operating health information systems (HIS) enabling shared care and e-Health. Analysis, design, implementation and maintenance of such systems and intrinsic architectures have to follow a unified development methodology. The Generic Component Model (GCM) is used as a framework for modeling any system to evaluate and harmonize state of the art architecture development approaches and standards for health information systems as well as to derive a coherent architecture development framework for sustainable, semantically interoperable HIS and their components. The proposed methodology is based on the Rational Unified Process (RUP), taking advantage of its flexibility to be configured for integrating other architectural approaches such as Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Model-Driven Architecture (MDA), ISO 10746, and HL7 Development Framework (HDF). Existing architectural approaches have been analyzed, compared and finally harmonized towards an architecture development framework for advanced health information systems. Starting with the requirements for semantic interoperability derived from paradigm changes for health information systems, and supported in formal software process engineering methods, an appropriate development framework for semantically interoperable HIS has been provided. The usability of the framework has been exemplified in a public health scenario.

A framework for automatic information quality ranking of diabetes websites.

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Belen Sağlam, Rahime; Taskaya Temizel, Tugba

2015-01-01

Objective: When searching for particular medical information on the internet the challenge lies in distinguishing the websites that are relevant to the topic, and contain accurate information. In this article, we propose a framework that automatically identifies and ranks diabetes websites according to their relevance and information quality based on the website content. Design: The proposed framework ranks diabetes websites according to their content quality, relevance and evidence based medicine. The framework combines information retrieval techniques with a lexical resource based on Sentiwordnet making it possible to work with biased and untrusted websites while, at the same time, ensuring the content relevance. Measurement: The evaluation measurements used were Pearson-correlation, true positives, false positives and accuracy. We tested the framework with a benchmark data set consisting of 55 websites with varying degrees of information quality problems. Results: The proposed framework gives good results that are comparable with the non-automated information quality measuring approaches in the literature. The correlation between the results of the proposed automated framework and ground-truth is 0.68 on an average with p < 0.001 which is greater than the other proposed automated methods in the literature (r score in average is 0.33).

A Security Audit Framework to Manage Information System Security

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Teresa; Santos, Henrique

The widespread adoption of information and communication technology have promoted an increase dependency of organizations in the performance of their Information Systems. As a result, adequate security procedures to properly manage information security must be established by the organizations, in order to protect their valued or critical resources from accidental or intentional attacks, and ensure their normal activity. A conceptual security framework to manage and audit Information System Security is proposed and discussed. The proposed framework intends to assist organizations firstly to understand what they precisely need to protect assets and what are their weaknesses (vulnerabilities), enabling to perform an adequate security management. Secondly, enabling a security audit framework to support the organization to assess the efficiency of the controls and policy adopted to prevent or mitigate attacks, threats and vulnerabilities, promoted by the advances of new technologies and new Internet-enabled services, that the organizations are subject of. The presented framework is based on a conceptual model approach, which contains the semantic description of the concepts defined in information security domain, based on the ISO/IEC_JCT1 standards.

The (Bio)Politicization of Neuroscience in Australian Early Years Policies: Fostering Brain-Resources "as" Human Capital

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Millei, Zsuzsa; Joronen, Mikko

2016-01-01

At the present, human capital theory (HCT) and neuroscience reasoning are dominant frameworks in early childhood education and care (ECEC) worldwide. Popular since the 1960s, HCT has provided an economic understanding of human beings and offered strategies to manage the population with the promise of bringing improvements to nations. Neuroscience…

Culture in social neuroscience: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Rule, Nicholas O; Freeman, Jonathan B; Ambady, Nalini

2013-01-01

The aim of this review is to highlight an emerging field: the neuroscience of culture. This new field links cross-cultural psychology with cognitive neuroscience across fundamental domains of cognitive and social psychology. We present a summary of studies on emotion, perspective-taking, memory, object perception, attention, language, and the self, showing cultural differences in behavior as well as in neural activation. Although it is still nascent, the broad impact of merging the study of culture with cognitive neuroscience holds mutual distributed benefits for multiple related fields. Thus, cultural neuroscience may be uniquely poised to provide insights and breakthroughs for longstanding questions and problems in the study of behavior and thought, and its capacity for integration across multiple levels of analysis is especially high. These findings attest to the plasticity of the brain and its adaptation to cultural contexts.

Implementation of an Integrated Neuroscience Unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Breslin, Rory P; Franker, Lauren; Sterchi, Suzanne; Sani, Sepehr

2016-02-01

Many challenges exist in today's health care delivery system, and much focus and research are invested into ways to improve care with cost-effective measures. Specialty-specific dedicated care units are one solution for inpatient hospital care because they improve outcomes and decrease mortality. The neuroscience population encompasses a wide variety of diagnoses of spinal to cranial issues with a wide spectrum of needs varying from one patient to the next. Neuroscience care must be patient-specific during the course of frequent acuity changes, and one way to achieve this is through a neuroscience-focused unit. Few resources are available on how to implement this type of unit. Advanced practice nurses are committed to providing high-quality, safe, and cost-effective care and are instrumental in the success of instituting a unit dedicated to the care of neuroscience patients.

Constructivist developmental theory is needed in developmental neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Arsalidou, Marie; Pascual-Leone, Juan

2016-12-01

Neuroscience techniques provide an open window previously unavailable to the origin of thoughts and actions in children. Developmental cognitive neuroscience is booming, and knowledge from human brain mapping is finding its way into education and pediatric practice. Promises of application in developmental cognitive neuroscience rests however on better theory-guided data interpretation. Massive amounts of neuroimaging data from children are being processed, yet published studies often do not frame their work within developmental models—in detriment, we believe, to progress in this field. Here we describe some core challenges in interpreting the data from developmental cognitive neuroscience, and advocate the use of constructivist developmental theories of human cognition with a neuroscience interpretation.

An information technology framework for strengthening telehealthcare service delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Li-Chin; Chen, Chi-Wen; Weng, Yung-Ching; Shang, Rung-Ji; Yu, Hui-Chu; Chung, Yufang; Lai, Feipei

2012-10-01

Telehealthcare has been used to provide healthcare service, and information technology infrastructure appears to be essential while providing telehealthcare service. Insufficiencies have been identified, such as lack of integration, need of accommodation of diverse biometric sensors, and accessing diverse networks as different houses have varying facilities, which challenge the promotion of telehealthcare. This study designs an information technology framework to strengthen telehealthcare delivery. The proposed framework consists of a system architecture design and a network transmission design. The aim of the framework is to integrate data from existing information systems, to adopt medical informatics standards, to integrate diverse biometric sensors, and to provide different data transmission networks to support a patient's house network despite the facilities. The proposed framework has been evaluated with a case study of two telehealthcare programs, with and without the adoption of the framework. The proposed framework facilitates the functionality of the program and enables steady patient enrollments. The overall patient participations are increased, and the patient outcomes appear positive. The attitudes toward the service and self-improvement also are positive. The findings of this study add up to the construction of a telehealthcare system. Implementing the proposed framework further assists the functionality of the service and enhances the availability of the service and patient acceptances.

Cognitive neuroscience robotics A synthetic approaches to human understanding

CERN Document Server

Ishiguro, Hiroshi; Asada, Minoru; Osaka, Mariko; Fujikado, Takashi

2016-01-01

Cognitive Neuroscience Robotics is the first introductory book on this new interdisciplinary area. This book consists of two volumes, the first of which, Synthetic Approaches to Human Understanding, advances human understanding from a robotics or engineering point of view. The second, Analytic Approaches to Human Understanding, addresses related subjects in cognitive science and neuroscience. These two volumes are intended to complement each other in order to more comprehensively investigate human cognitive functions, to develop human-friendly information and robot technology (IRT) systems, and to understand what kind of beings we humans are. Volume A describes how human cognitive functions can be replicated in artificial systems such as robots, and investigates how artificial systems could acquire intelligent behaviors through interaction with others and their environment.

Information Needs in a Community of Reading Specialists: What Information Needs Say about Contextual Frameworks

Science.gov (United States)

Normore, Lorraine

2011-01-01

Introduction: The perceived information needs of teachers who specialize in reading instruction for at-risk first graders were studied and related to frameworks for the role of social context in information needs, seeking and use. The frameworks considered were: disciplinarity, role theory in work settings, small worlds and information grounds and…

Working Memory From the Psychological and Neurosciences Perspectives: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen Jia Chai

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Since the concept of working memory was introduced over 50 years ago, different schools of thought have offered different definitions for working memory based on the various cognitive domains that it encompasses. The general consensus regarding working memory supports the idea that working memory is extensively involved in goal-directed behaviors in which information must be retained and manipulated to ensure successful task execution. Before the emergence of other competing models, the concept of working memory was described by the multicomponent working memory model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch. In the present article, the authors provide an overview of several working memory-relevant studies in order to harmonize the findings of working memory from the neurosciences and psychological standpoints, especially after citing evidence from past studies of healthy, aging, diseased, and/or lesioned brains. In particular, the theoretical framework behind working memory, in which the related domains that are considered to play a part in different frameworks (such as memory’s capacity limit and temporary storage are presented and discussed. From the neuroscience perspective, it has been established that working memory activates the fronto-parietal brain regions, including the prefrontal, cingulate, and parietal cortices. Recent studies have subsequently implicated the roles of subcortical regions (such as the midbrain and cerebellum in working memory. Aging also appears to have modulatory effects on working memory; age interactions with emotion, caffeine and hormones appear to affect working memory performances at the neurobiological level. Moreover, working memory deficits are apparent in older individuals, who are susceptible to cognitive deterioration. Another younger population with working memory impairment consists of those with mental, developmental, and/or neurological disorders such as major depressive disorder and others. A less coherent

Working Memory From the Psychological and Neurosciences Perspectives: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Chai, Wen Jia; Abd Hamid, Aini Ismafairus; Abdullah, Jafri Malin

2018-01-01

Since the concept of working memory was introduced over 50 years ago, different schools of thought have offered different definitions for working memory based on the various cognitive domains that it encompasses. The general consensus regarding working memory supports the idea that working memory is extensively involved in goal-directed behaviors in which information must be retained and manipulated to ensure successful task execution. Before the emergence of other competing models, the concept of working memory was described by the multicomponent working memory model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch. In the present article, the authors provide an overview of several working memory-relevant studies in order to harmonize the findings of working memory from the neurosciences and psychological standpoints, especially after citing evidence from past studies of healthy, aging, diseased, and/or lesioned brains. In particular, the theoretical framework behind working memory, in which the related domains that are considered to play a part in different frameworks (such as memory’s capacity limit and temporary storage) are presented and discussed. From the neuroscience perspective, it has been established that working memory activates the fronto-parietal brain regions, including the prefrontal, cingulate, and parietal cortices. Recent studies have subsequently implicated the roles of subcortical regions (such as the midbrain and cerebellum) in working memory. Aging also appears to have modulatory effects on working memory; age interactions with emotion, caffeine and hormones appear to affect working memory performances at the neurobiological level. Moreover, working memory deficits are apparent in older individuals, who are susceptible to cognitive deterioration. Another younger population with working memory impairment consists of those with mental, developmental, and/or neurological disorders such as major depressive disorder and others. A less coherent and organized

Working Memory From the Psychological and Neurosciences Perspectives: A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Chai, Wen Jia; Abd Hamid, Aini Ismafairus; Abdullah, Jafri Malin

2018-01-01

Since the concept of working memory was introduced over 50 years ago, different schools of thought have offered different definitions for working memory based on the various cognitive domains that it encompasses. The general consensus regarding working memory supports the idea that working memory is extensively involved in goal-directed behaviors in which information must be retained and manipulated to ensure successful task execution. Before the emergence of other competing models, the concept of working memory was described by the multicomponent working memory model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch. In the present article, the authors provide an overview of several working memory-relevant studies in order to harmonize the findings of working memory from the neurosciences and psychological standpoints, especially after citing evidence from past studies of healthy, aging, diseased, and/or lesioned brains. In particular, the theoretical framework behind working memory, in which the related domains that are considered to play a part in different frameworks (such as memory's capacity limit and temporary storage) are presented and discussed. From the neuroscience perspective, it has been established that working memory activates the fronto-parietal brain regions, including the prefrontal, cingulate, and parietal cortices. Recent studies have subsequently implicated the roles of subcortical regions (such as the midbrain and cerebellum) in working memory. Aging also appears to have modulatory effects on working memory; age interactions with emotion, caffeine and hormones appear to affect working memory performances at the neurobiological level. Moreover, working memory deficits are apparent in older individuals, who are susceptible to cognitive deterioration. Another younger population with working memory impairment consists of those with mental, developmental, and/or neurological disorders such as major depressive disorder and others. A less coherent and organized neural

Applying the neuroscience of creativity to creativity training

Science.gov (United States)

Onarheim, Balder; Friis-Olivarius, Morten

2013-01-01

This article investigates how neuroscience in general, and neuroscience of creativity in particular, can be used in teaching “applied creativity” and the usefulness of this approach to creativity training. The article is based on empirical data and our experiences from the Applied NeuroCreativity (ANC) program, taught at business schools in Denmark and Canada. In line with previous studies of successful creativity training programs the ANC participants are first introduced to cognitive concepts of creativity, before applying these concepts to a relevant real world creative problem. The novelty in the ANC program is that the conceptualization of creativity is built on neuroscience, and a crucial aspect of the course is giving the students a thorough understanding of the neuroscience of creativity. Previous studies have reported that the conceptualization of creativity used in such training is of major importance for the success of the training, and we believe that the neuroscience of creativity offers a novel conceptualization for creativity training. Here we present pre/post-training tests showing that ANC students gained more fluency in divergent thinking (a traditional measure of trait creativity) than those in highly similar courses without the neuroscience component, suggesting that principles from neuroscience can contribute effectively to creativity training and produce measurable results on creativity tests. The evidence presented indicates that the inclusion of neuroscience principles in a creativity course can in 8 weeks increase divergent thinking skills with an individual relative average of 28.5%. PMID:24137120

Neuroethics: the institutionalization of ethics in neuroscience

OpenAIRE

Hamdan, Amer Cavalheiro

2017-01-01

Abstract Recent advances in neuroscience have led to numerous ethical questions. Neuroethics is the study of ethical, legal and social advancements in neuroscience which, despite being a recently developed discipline, has a long historical tradition. The concern with ethical issues in neuroscience is extremely old and dates back to the philosophical and scientific traditions that originally sought to understand the relationship between the brain and behavior. More recently, the field of neuro...

Media reporting of neuroscience depends on timing, topic and newspaper type.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nienke M van Atteveldt

Full Text Available The rapid developments in neuroscientific techniques raise high expectations among the general public and therefore warrant close monitoring of the translation to the media and daily-life applications. The need of empirical research into neuroscience communication is emphasized by its susceptibility to evoke misconceptions and polarized beliefs. As the mass media are the main sources of information about (neuro-science for a majority of the general public, the objective of the current research is to quantify how critically and accurately newspapers report on neuroscience as a function of the timing of publication (within or outside of periods of heightened media attention to neuroscience, termed "news waves", the topic of the research (e.g. development, health, law and the newspaper type (quality, popular, free newspapers. The results show that articles published during neuroscience news waves were less neutral and more optimistic, but not different in accuracy. Furthermore, the overall tone and accuracy of articles depended on the topic; for example, articles on development often had an optimistic tone whereas articles on law were often skeptical or balanced, and articles on health care had highest accuracy. Average accuracy was rather low, but articles in quality newspapers were relatively more accurate than in popular and free newspapers. Our results provide specific recommendations for researchers and science communicators, to improve the translation of neuroscience findings through the media: 1 Caution is warranted during periods of heightened attention (news waves, as reporting tends to be more optimistic; 2 Caution is also warranted not to follow topic-related biases in optimism (e.g., development or skepticism (e.g., law; 3 Researchers should keep in mind that overall accuracy of reporting is low, and especially articles in popular and free newspapers provide a minimal amount of details. This indicates that researchers themselves may

Media Reporting of Neuroscience Depends on Timing, Topic and Newspaper Type

Science.gov (United States)

van Atteveldt, Nienke M.; van Aalderen-Smeets, Sandra I.; Jacobi, Carina; Ruigrok, Nel

2014-01-01

The rapid developments in neuroscientific techniques raise high expectations among the general public and therefore warrant close monitoring of the translation to the media and daily-life applications. The need of empirical research into neuroscience communication is emphasized by its susceptibility to evoke misconceptions and polarized beliefs. As the mass media are the main sources of information about (neuro-)science for a majority of the general public, the objective of the current research is to quantify how critically and accurately newspapers report on neuroscience as a function of the timing of publication (within or outside of periods of heightened media attention to neuroscience, termed “news waves”), the topic of the research (e.g. development, health, law) and the newspaper type (quality, popular, free newspapers). The results show that articles published during neuroscience news waves were less neutral and more optimistic, but not different in accuracy. Furthermore, the overall tone and accuracy of articles depended on the topic; for example, articles on development often had an optimistic tone whereas articles on law were often skeptical or balanced, and articles on health care had highest accuracy. Average accuracy was rather low, but articles in quality newspapers were relatively more accurate than in popular and free newspapers. Our results provide specific recommendations for researchers and science communicators, to improve the translation of neuroscience findings through the media: 1) Caution is warranted during periods of heightened attention (news waves), as reporting tends to be more optimistic; 2) Caution is also warranted not to follow topic-related biases in optimism (e.g., development) or skepticism (e.g., law); 3) Researchers should keep in mind that overall accuracy of reporting is low, and especially articles in popular and free newspapers provide a minimal amount of details. This indicates that researchers themselves may need to

The brain seduction: the public perception of neuroscience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donato Ramani

2009-10-01

Full Text Available The increasing number of magazine covers dedicated to brain studies and the success of magazines and scientific journals entirely dedicated to brain and mind indicate a strong interest on these themes. This interest is clearly surpassing the boundaries of scientific and medical researches and applications and underlines an engagement of the general public, too. This phenomenon appears to be enhanced by the increasing number of basic researches focusing on non-health-related fMRI studies, investigating aspects of personality as emotions, will, personal values and beliefs, self-identity and behaviour. The broad coverage by the media raises some central questions related to the complexity of researches, the intrinsic limits of these technologies, the results’ interpretative boundaries, factors which are crucial to properly understand the studies’ value. In case of an incomplete communication, if those fundamental interpretative elements are not well understood, we could register a misinterpretation in the public perception of the studies that opens new compelling questions. As already observed in the past debates on science and technologies applications, in this case, too, we assist to a communicative problem that set against scientific community on one side and media, on the other. Focusing our attention, in particular, on the debate on fMRI, taken as a good model, in the present letter we will investigate the most interesting aspects of the current discussion on neuroscience and neuroscience public perception. This analysis was performed as one of the bid - brains in dialogue - activities (www.neuromedia.eu. bid is a three year project supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Program and coordinated by Sissa, the International School for Advanced Studies of Trieste, aimed at fostering dialogue between science and society on the new challenges coming from neuroscience.

The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Elsea, Jennifer K

2006-01-01

Recent incidents involving leaks of classified information have heightened interest in the legal framework that governs security classification, access to classified information, and penalties for improper disclosure...

The philosophical "mind-body problem" and its relevance for the relationship between psychiatry and the neurosciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Oudenhove, Lukas; Cuypers, Stefaan E

2010-01-01

Parallel to psychiatry, "philosophy of mind" investigates the relationship between mind (mental domain) and body/brain (physical domain). Unlike older forms of philosophy of mind, contemporary analytical philosophy is not exclusively based on introspection and conceptual analysis, but also draws upon the empirical methods and findings of the sciences. This article outlines the conceptual framework of the "mind-body problem" as formulated in contemporary analytical philosophy and argues that this philosophical debate has potentially far-reaching implications for psychiatry as a clinical-scientific discipline, especially for its own autonomy and its relationship to neurology/neuroscience. This point is illustrated by a conceptual analysis of the five principles formulated in Kandel's 1998 article "A New Intellectual Framework for Psychiatry." Kandel's position in the philosophical mind-body debate is ambiguous, ranging from reductive physicalism (psychophysical identity theory) to non-reductive physicalism (in which the mental "supervenes" on the physical) to epiphenomenalist dualism or even emergent dualism. We illustrate how these diverging interpretations result in radically different views on the identity of psychiatry and its relationship with the rapidly expanding domain of neurology/neuroscience.

Imaging Mass Spectrometry in Neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Imaging mass spectrometry is an emerging technique of great potential for investigating the chemical architecture in biological matrices. Although the potential for studying neurobiological systems is evident, the relevance of the technique for application in neuroscience is still in its infancy. In the present Review, a principal overview of the different approaches, including matrix assisted laser desorption ionization and secondary ion mass spectrometry, is provided with particular focus on their strengths and limitations for studying different neurochemical species in situ and in vitro. The potential of the various approaches is discussed based on both fundamental and biomedical neuroscience research. This Review aims to serve as a general guide to familiarize the neuroscience community and other biomedical researchers with the technique, highlighting its great potential and suitability for comprehensive and specific chemical imaging. PMID:23530951

Life science-based neuroscience education at large Western Public Universities.

Science.gov (United States)

Coskun, Volkan; Carpenter, Ellen M

2016-12-01

The last 40 years have seen a remarkable increase in the teaching of neuroscience at the undergraduate level. From its origins as a component of anatomy or physiology departments to its current status as an independent interdisciplinary field, neuroscience has become the chosen field of study for many undergraduate students, particularly for those interested in medical school or graduate school in neuroscience or related fields. We examined how life science-based neuroscience education is offered at large public universities in the Western United States. By examining publicly available materials posted online, we found that neuroscience education may be offered as an independent program, or as a component of biological or physiological sciences at many institutions. Neuroscience programs offer a course of study involving a core series of courses and a collection of topical electives. Many programs provide the opportunity for independent research, or for laboratory-based training in neuroscience. Features of neuroscience programs at Western universities closely matched those seen at the top 25 public universities, as identified by U.S. News & World Report. While neuroscience programs were identified in many Western states, there were several states in which public universities appeared not to provide opportunities to major in neuroscience. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[Social impact of recent advances in neuroscience].

Science.gov (United States)

Mima, Tatsuya

2009-01-01

Recent advances in neuroscience opened up new technical possibilities, such as enabling possible human mindreading, neuroenhancement, and application of brain-machine-interface into everyday life, as well as the advent of new powerful psychotropic drugs. In addition to the conventional problems in bioethics, such as obtaining informed consent, neuroscience technology has generated new array of ethical questions. The social impact of advanced brain science or neuroscience and its technological applications is a major topic in bioethics, which is frequently termed as "Neuroethics." Here, we summarize the ethical, legal, and social issues of cutting-edge brain science by analyzing a classic science fiction novel entitled "Flowers for Algernon" authored by Daniel Keyes (1966). Three aspects of social problems faced by brain science are apparent: biomedical risk assessment, issues related to human subjectivity and identity, and socio-cultural value of brain science technology. To understand this last aspect, enhancement-achievement and/or enhancement-treatment dichotomy can prove useful. In addition, we introduced the first national poll results in Japan (n=2,500) on the social impact of brain science. Although half the respondents believed that the advancement of brain science can aid individuals in the future, 56% of respondents suggested the necessity for guidelines or regulation policies mediating brain science. Technological application of brain science in treatment is generally accepted; however, not just for the personal purpose or enhancement of the normal function. In this regard, it is important to hold further discussions including the general public.

Neuroscience and leadership : awareness, relevance and applications of neuroscience principles within leadership development in Germany

OpenAIRE

Dürrbeck, Klaus

2016-01-01

This bachelor’s thesis aimed to elaborate the current importance-level of neuroscience within leadership development as well as its future potential. Thereby awareness of leaders and human resource executives, general relevance for organisational success, and current applications of neuroscience principles within development programmes were identified. Additionally, existent and emergent triggers and forces that impede leadership or organisational success were investigated, in order to examin...

Information Resources Management Framework for Virtual Enterprise

OpenAIRE

Mao, Lingxiang

2015-01-01

Virtual enterprise is a new form of organization in recent years which adapt to the IT environment. Information resources management implemented in the virtual enterprise is determined by the form of business organization and information exchange mechanisms. According to the present characteristics of virtual enterprise management, it puts forward the strategies and measures of information resources management framework for virtual enterprise.

Challenges and opportunities in social neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Cacioppo, John T.; Decety, Jean

2010-01-01

Social species are so characterized because they form organizations that extend beyond the individual. The goal of social neuroscience is to investigate the biological mechanisms that underlie these social structures, processes, and behavior and the influences between social and neural structures and processes. Such an endeavor is challenging because it necessitates the integration of multiple levels. Mapping across systems and levels (from genome to social groups and cultures) requires interdisciplinary expertise, comparative studies, innovative methods, and integrative conceptual analysis. Examples of how social neuroscience is contributing to our understanding of the functions of the brain and nervous system are described, and societal implications of social neuroscience are considered. PMID:21251011

Neuroscience-related research in Ghana: a systematic evaluation of direction and capacity.

Science.gov (United States)

Quansah, Emmanuel; Karikari, Thomas K

2016-02-01

Neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases account for considerable healthcare, economic and social burdens in Ghana. In order to effectively address these burdens, appropriately-trained scientists who conduct high-impact neuroscience research will be needed. Additionally, research directions should be aligned with national research priorities. However, to provide information about current neuroscience research productivity and direction, the existing capacity and focus need to be identified. This would allow opportunities for collaborative research and training to be properly explored and developmental interventions to be better targeted. In this study, we sought to evaluate the existing capacity and direction of neuroscience-related research in Ghana. To do this, we examined publications reporting research investigations authored by scientists affiliated with Ghanaian institutions in specific areas of neuroscience over the last two decades (1995-2015). 127 articles that met our inclusion criteria were systematically evaluated in terms of research foci, annual publication trends and author affiliations. The most actively-researched areas identified include neurocognitive impairments in non-nervous system disorders, depression and suicide, epilepsy and seizures, neurological impact of substance misuse, and neurological disorders. These studies were mostly hospital and community-based surveys. About 60% of these articles were published in the last seven years, suggesting a recent increase in research productivity. However, data on experimental and clinical research outcomes were particularly lacking. We suggest that future investigations should focus on the following specific areas where information was lacking: large-scale disease epidemiology, effectiveness of diagnostic platforms and therapeutic treatments, and the genetic, genomic and molecular bases of diseases.

Reflections on Neuroscience in Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Coch, Donna

2018-01-01

The majority of teacher preparation programs do not address neuroscience in their curricula. This is curious, as learning occurs in the brain in context and teachers fundamentally foster and facilitate learning. On the one hand, merging neuroscience knowledge into teacher training programs is fraught with challenges, such as reconciling how…

Applying the neuroscience of creativity to creativity training

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Onarheim, Balder; Friis-Olivarius, Morten

2013-01-01

This article investigates how neuroscience in general, and neuroscience of creativity in particular, can be used in teaching "applied creativity" and the usefulness of this approach to creativity training. The article is based on empirical data and our experiences from the Applied Neuro...... in the ANC program is that the conceptualization of creativity is built on neuroscience, and a crucial aspect of the course is giving the students a thorough understanding of the neuroscience of creativity. Previous studies have reported that the conceptualization of creativity used in such training...... is of major importance for the success of the training, and we believe that the neuroscience of creativity offers a novel conceptualization for creativity training. Here we present pre/post-training tests showing that ANC students gained more fluency in divergent thinking (a traditional measure of trait...

Applications of neuroscience in criminal law: legal and methodological issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Meixner, John B

2015-01-01

The use of neuroscience in criminal law applications is an increasingly discussed topic among legal and psychological scholars. Over the past 5 years, several prominent federal criminal cases have referenced neuroscience studies and made admissibility determinations regarding neuroscience evidence. Despite this growth, the field is exceptionally young, and no one knows for sure how significant of a contribution neuroscience will make to criminal law. This article focuses on three major subfields: (1) neuroscience-based credibility assessment, which seeks to detect lies or knowledge associated with a crime; (2) application of neuroscience to aid in assessments of brain capacity for culpability, especially among adolescents; and (3) neuroscience-based prediction of future recidivism. The article briefly reviews these fields as applied to criminal law and makes recommendations for future research, calling for the increased use of individual-level data and increased realism in laboratory studies.

A Survey and Analysis of Frameworks and Framework Issues for Information Fusion Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Llinas, James

This paper was stimulated by the proposed project for the Santander Bank-sponsored "Chairs of Excellence" program in Spain, of which the author is a recipient. That project involves research on characterizing a robust, problem-domain-agnostic framework in which Information Fusion (IF) processes of all description, to include artificial intelligence processes and techniques could be developed. The paper describes the IF process and its requirements, a literature survey on IF frameworks, and a new proposed framework that will be implemented and evaluated at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Colmenarejo Campus.

[Neurosciences and philosophy of mind].

Science.gov (United States)

Saal, Aarón

2005-01-01

In this paper we argue that the interaction between neurosciences and philosophy of the mind is on the way to understand consciousness, and to solve the mind-body or mind-brain problem. Naturalism is the view that mental processes are just brain processes and that consciousness is a natural phenomenon. It is possible to construct a theory about its nature by blending insights from neuroscience, philosophy of the mind, phenomenology, psychology and evolutionary biology.

Applying the neuroscience of creativity to creativity training

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balder eOnarheim

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This article investigates how neuroscience in general, and neuroscience of creativity in particular, can be used in teaching 'applied creativity' and the usefulness of this approach to creativity training. The article is based on empirical data and our experiences from the Applied NeuroCreativity (ANC program, taught at business schools in Denmark and Canada. In line with previous studies of successful creativity training programs the ANC participants are first introduced to cognitive concepts of creativity, before applying these concepts to a relevant real world creative problem. The novelty in the ANC program is that the conceptualization of creativity is built on neuroscience, and a crucial aspect of the course is giving the students a thorough understanding of the neuroscience of creativity. Previous studies have reported that the conceptualization of creativity used in such training is of major importance for the success of the training, and we believe that the neuroscience of creativity offers a novel conceptualization for creativity training. Here we present two sets of empirical data, suggesting that principles from neuroscience can contribute effectively to creativity training and produce measurable results on creativity tests: 1 an experiment demonstrating how an ANC lecture on the neurobiology of creativity significantly decreased the number of fixations in a creative task, 2 pre/post-training tests showing that ANC students gained more fluency in divergent thinking (a traditional measure of trait creativity than those in highly similar courses without the neuroscience component. The evidence presented indicates that the inclusion of neuroscience principles in a creativity course can in 8 weeks increase divergent thinking skills with an individual relative average of 28.5%.

Neuroscience and Special Education. inForum

Science.gov (United States)

Muller, Eve

2011-01-01

The purpose of this document is to provide a brief overview of how links are being developed between the rapidly expanding field of neuroscience and the practice of special education. The first part of the document introduces definitions and terminology, provides an overview of how findings from neuroscience are being applied to the field of…

[Neuroethics as the neuroscience of ethics].

Science.gov (United States)

Álvarez-Díaz, Jorge Alberto

2013-10-16

The neurosciences have developed at a stunningly fast rate. Key points accounting for this progression include the introduction of functional neuroimaging techniques and the boost resulting from the Decade of the Brain project. This expansion has also allowed new disciplines such as neuroethics to appear. Those who have worked on neuroethics can be divided into three groups (neuroreductionists, neurosceptics and neurocritics), and each group has its own standpoint as regards what neuroethics is, with several scopes and limitations in their proposals. Neuroethics is a discipline that, prior to the year 2002, was understood only as an ethics of neuroscience (a branch of bioethics). As of that date, however, it is also understood as a neuroscience of ethics (a new discipline). Neuroreductionism proposes that all ethical life has a basis in the brain that determines ethical actions; neuroscepticism holds that neuroscience cannot be considered a normative function; and neurocriticism considers that the neuroscientific advances cannot be ignored and must be taken into account in some way in order to draw up ethical theories.

A Plea for Cross-species Social Neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Keysers, Christian; Gazzola, Valeria

2017-01-01

Over the past two decades, the question of how our brain makes us sensitive to the state of conspecifics and how that affects our behaviour has undergone a profound change. Twenty years ago what would now be called social neuroscience was focused on the visual processing of facial expressions and body movements in temporal lobe structures of primates (Puce and Perrett 2003). With the discovery of mirror neurons, this changed rapidly towards the modern field of social neuroscience, in which high-level vision is but one of many focuses of interest. In this essay, we will argue that for the further progress of the field, the integration of animal neuroscience and human neuroscience is paramount. We will do so, by focusing on the field of embodied social cognition. We will first show how the combination of animal and human neuroscience was critical in how the discovery of mirror neurons placed the motor system on the map of social cognition. We will then argue why an integrated cross-species approach will be pivotal to our understanding of the neural basis of emotional empathy and its link to prosocial behaviour.

A physiological perspective on the neuroscience of eating.

Science.gov (United States)

Geary, Nori

2014-09-01

I present the thesis that 'being physiological,' i.e., analyzing eating under conditions that do not perturb, or minimally perturb, the organism's endogenous processes, should be a central goal of the neuroscience of eating. I describe my understanding of 'being physiological' based on [i] the central neural-network heuristic of CNS function that traces back to Cajal and Sherrington, [ii] research on one of the simpler problems in the neuroscience of eating, identification of endocrine signals that control eating. In this context I consider natural meals, physiological doses and ranges, and antagonist studies. Several examples involve CCK. Next I describe my view of the cutting edge in the molecular neuroscience of eating as it has evolved from the discovery of leptin signaling through the application of optogenetic and pharmacogenetic methods. Finally I describe some novel approaches that may advance the neuroscience of eating in the foreseeable future. I conclude that [i] the neuroscience of eating may soon be able to discern 'physiological' function in the operation of CNS networks mediating eating, [ii] the neuroscience of eating should capitalize on methods developed in other areas of neuroscience, e.g., improved methods to record and manipulate CNS function in behaving animals, identification of canonical regional circuits, use of population electrophysiology, etc., and [iii] subjective aspects of eating are crucial aspects of eating science, but remain beyond mechanistic understanding. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

NeuroTalk: Improving the Communication of Neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Moser, Mary Anne; McCormick, Jennifer B.; Racine, Eric; Blakeslee, Sandra; Caplan, Arthur; Hayden, Erika Check; Ingram, Jay; Lohwater, Tiffany; McKnight, Peter; Nicholson, Christie; Phillips, Anthony; Sauvé, Kevin D.; Snell, Elaine; Weiss, Sam

2010-01-01

There is increasing pressure for neuroscientists to communicate their research and the societal implications of their findings to the public. Communicating science is challenging and the transformation of communication by digital and interactive media makes the challenge even greater. To successfully facilitate dialogue with the public in this new media landscape we suggest three courses of action for the neuroscience community: a cultural shift that explicitly recognizes and rewards public outreach, the identification and development of neuroscience communication experts, and ongoing empirical research on public communication of neuroscience. PMID:19953102

Model-based cognitive neuroscience: a conceptual introduction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Forstmann, B.U.; Wagenmakers, E.-J.; Forstmann, B.U.; Wagenmakers, E.-J.

2015-01-01

This tutorial chapter shows how the separate fields of mathematical psychology and cognitive neuroscience can interact to their mutual benefit. Historically, the field of mathematical psychology is mostly concerned with formal theories of behavior, whereas cognitive neuroscience is mostly concerned

Leveraging Neuroscience to Inform Adolescent Health: The Need for an Innovative Transdisciplinary Developmental Science of Adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Suleiman, Ahna Ballonoff; Dahl, Ronald E

2017-03-01

In this article, we consider how to leverage some of the rapid advances in developmental neuroscience in ways that can improve adolescent health. We provide a brief overview of several key areas of scientific progress relevant to these issues. We then focus on two examples of important health problems that increase sharply during adolescence: sleep problems and affective disorders. These examples illustrate how an integrative, developmental science approach provides new insights into treatment and intervention. They also highlight a cornerstone principle: how a deeper understanding of potentially modifiable factors-at key developmental inflection points along the trajectory toward clinical disorders-is beginning to inform, and may eventually transform, a broad range of innovative early intervention strategies to improve adolescent health. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Vehicular Information Space Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Prinz, Vivian; Schlichter, Johann; Schweiger, Benno

Vehicular networks are distributed, self-organizing and highly mobile ad hoc networks. They allow for providing drivers with up-to-the-minute information about their environment. Therefore, they are expected to be a decisive future enabler for enhancing driving comfort and safety. This article introduces the Vehicular Information Space framework (VIS). Vehicles running the VIS form a kind of distributed database. It enables them to provide information like existing hazards, parking spaces or traffic densities in a location aware and fully distributed manner. In addition, vehicles can retrieve, modify and delete these information items. The underlying algorithm is based on features derived from existing structured Peer-to-Peer algorithms and extended to suit the specific characteristics of highly mobile ad hoc networks. We present, implement and simulate the VIS using a motorway and an urban traffic environment. Simulation studies on VIS message occurrence show that the VIS implies reasonable traffic overhead. Also, overall VIS message traffic is independent from the number of information items provided.

Urban air quality management and information systems in Europe: legal framework and information access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karatzas, K.; Moussiopoulos, N.

2000-01-01

The European Union (EU) legislative framework related to air quality, together with national legislation and relevant declarations of the United Nations (UN), requires an integrated approach concerning air quality management (AQM), and accessibility of related information for the citizens. In the present paper, the main requirements of this legislative framework are discussed and main air quality management and information system characteristics are drawn. The use of information technologies is recommended for the construction of such systems. The World Wide Web (WWW) is considered a suitable platform for system development and integration and at the same time as a medium for communication and information dissemination. (author)

Urban air quality management and information systems in Europe: legal framework and information access

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karatzas, K.; Moussiopoulos, N. [Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). Department of Mechanical Engineering, Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering

2000-06-01

The European Union (EU) legislative framework related to air quality, together with national legislation and relevant declarations of the United Nations (UN), requires an integrated approach concerning air quality management (AQM), and accessibility of related information for the citizens. In the present paper, the main requirements of this legislative framework are discussed and main air quality management and information system characteristics are drawn. The use of information technologies is recommended for the construction of such systems. The World Wide Web (WWW) is considered a suitable platform for system development and integration and at the same time as a medium for communication and information dissemination. (author)

Neuroscience-Inspired Artificial Intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassabis, Demis; Kumaran, Dharshan; Summerfield, Christopher; Botvinick, Matthew

2017-07-19

The fields of neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI) have a long and intertwined history. In more recent times, however, communication and collaboration between the two fields has become less commonplace. In this article, we argue that better understanding biological brains could play a vital role in building intelligent machines. We survey historical interactions between the AI and neuroscience fields and emphasize current advances in AI that have been inspired by the study of neural computation in humans and other animals. We conclude by highlighting shared themes that may be key for advancing future research in both fields. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Educational Neuroscience: Its position, aims and expectations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Meulen, A.N.; Krabbendam, L.; de Ruyter, D.J.

2015-01-01

An important issue in the discussion on educational neuroscience is the transfer of thought and findings between neuroscience and education. In addition to factual confusions in this transfer in the form of neuromyths, logical confusions, or neuro-misconceptions, can be identified. We consider these

Autobiographical Memory and Consumer Information Processing - What can Cognitive Neuroscience tell us?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jeanne

  Recent findings in cognitive neuroscience have contributed to new knowledge in areas concerned with human behavior especially decision making and choice; within consumer research focus has primarily been directed at judgment and choice of brands and products. Research in consumer behavior has...... demonstrated that consumers use prior experiences when forming judgment and making choices and that emotions are important components in this. However the complete nature of autobiographical memories is not unfolded and further research is called for. The purpose of the present paper is to explore...

Framework of Information Science in Japan − Introduction: Comparison with United States −

OpenAIRE

加藤, 淳一; KATO, Junichi

2008-01-01

This report concisely explains the history of information science in the United States. The purpose of this report is to reconfirm the field framework of information science. The framework of information science of Japan is different from the information science that Machlup and Mansfield define, because it is a framework similar to informatics for Japan.

Neuroscience Fiction as Eidolá: Social Reflection and Neuroethical Obligations in Depictions of Neuroscience in Film.

Science.gov (United States)

Wurzman, Rachel; Yaden, David; Giordano, James

2017-04-01

Neuroscience and neurotechnology are increasingly being employed to assess and alter cognition, emotions, and behaviors, and the knowledge and implications of neuroscience have the potential to radically affect, if not redefine, notions of what constitutes humanity, the human condition, and the "self." Such capability renders neuroscience a compelling theme that is becoming ubiquitous in literary and cinematic fiction. Such neuro-SciFi (or "NeuroS/F") may be seen as eidolá: a created likeness that can either accurately-or superficially, in a limited way-represent that which it depicts. Such eidolá assume discursive properties implicitly, as emotionally salient references for responding to cultural events and technological objects reminiscent of fictional portrayal; and explicitly, through characters and plots that consider the influence of neurotechnological advances from various perspectives. We argue that in this way, neuroS/F eidolá serve as allegorical discourse on sociopolitical or cultural phenomena, have power to restructure technological constructs, and thereby alter the trajectory of technological development. This fosters neuroethical responsibility for monitoring neuroS/F eidolá and the sociocultural context from which-and into which-the ideas of eidolá are projected. We propose three approaches to this: evaluating reciprocal effects of imaginary depictions on real-world neurotechnological development; tracking changing sociocultural expectations of neuroscience and its uses; and analyzing the actual process of social interpretation of neuroscience to reveal shifts in heuristics, ideas, and attitudes. Neuroethicists are further obliged to engage with other discourse actors about neuroS/F interpretations to ensure that meanings assigned to neuroscientific advances are well communicated and more fully appreciated.

The cognitive neuroscience of working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Esposito, Mark; Postle, Bradley R

2015-01-03

For more than 50 years, psychologists and neuroscientists have recognized the importance of a working memory to coordinate processing when multiple goals are active and to guide behavior with information that is not present in the immediate environment. In recent years, psychological theory and cognitive neuroscience data have converged on the idea that information is encoded into working memory by allocating attention to internal representations, whether semantic long-term memory (e.g., letters, digits, words), sensory, or motoric. Thus, information-based multivariate analyses of human functional MRI data typically find evidence for the temporary representation of stimuli in regions that also process this information in nonworking memory contexts. The prefrontal cortex (PFC), on the other hand, exerts control over behavior by biasing the salience of mnemonic representations and adjudicating among competing, context-dependent rules. The "control of the controller" emerges from a complex interplay between PFC and striatal circuits and ascending dopaminergic neuromodulatory signals.

THE COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE OF WORKING MEMORY

Science.gov (United States)

D’Esposito, Mark; Postle, Bradley R.

2015-01-01

For over 50 years, psychologists and neuroscientists have recognized the importance of a “working memory” to coordinate processing when multiple goals are active, and to guide behavior with information that is not present in the immediate environment. In recent years, psychological theory and cognitive neuroscience data have converged on the idea that information is encoded into working memory via the allocation of attention to internal representations – be they semantic long-term memory (e.g., letters, digits, words), sensory, or motoric. Thus, information-based multivariate analyses of human functional MRI data typically find evidence for the temporary representation of stimuli in regions that also process this information in nonworking-memory contexts. The prefrontal cortex, on the other hand, exerts control over behavior by biasing the salience of mnemonic representations, and adjudicating among competing, context-dependent rules. The “control of the controller” emerges from a complex interplay between PFC and striatal circuits, and ascending dopaminergic neuromodulatory signals. PMID:25251486

Notes on the Recent History of Neuroscience in Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vivienne A. Russell

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Neuroscience began with neuroanatomy and neurosurgery in Egypt more than 5000 years ago. Knowledge grew over time and specialized neurosurgery centers were established in north Africa in the eleventh century. However, it was not until the twentieth century that neuroscience research became established in sub-Saharan Africa. In most African countries, clinical research focused on understanding the rationale and improving treatment of epilepsy, infections, nutritional neuropathies, stroke and tumors. Significant advances were made. In the twenty-first century, African knowledge expanded to include all branches of neuroscience, contributing to genetic, biochemical and inflammatory determinants of brain disorders. A major focus of basic neuroscience research has been, and is, investigation of plant extracts, drugs and stress in animal models, providing insight and identifying potential novel therapies. A significant event in the history of African neuroscience was the founding of the Society of Neuroscientists of Africa (SONA in 1993. The International Brain Research Organization (IBRO supported SONA conferences, as well as workshops and neuroscience training schools in Africa. Thanks to their investment, as well as that of funding agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH, International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN, World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS, World Federation of Neurology (WFN and the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE, neuroscience research is well-established in Africa today. However, in order to continue to develop, African neuroscience needs continued international support and African neuroscientists need to engage in policy and decision-making to persuade governments to fund studies that address the unique regional needs in Africa.

Dynamical principles in neuroscience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rabinovich, Mikhail I.; Varona, Pablo; Selverston, Allen I.; Abarbanel, Henry D. I.

2006-01-01

Dynamical modeling of neural systems and brain functions has a history of success over the last half century. This includes, for example, the explanation and prediction of some features of neural rhythmic behaviors. Many interesting dynamical models of learning and memory based on physiological experiments have been suggested over the last two decades. Dynamical models even of consciousness now exist. Usually these models and results are based on traditional approaches and paradigms of nonlinear dynamics including dynamical chaos. Neural systems are, however, an unusual subject for nonlinear dynamics for several reasons: (i) Even the simplest neural network, with only a few neurons and synaptic connections, has an enormous number of variables and control parameters. These make neural systems adaptive and flexible, and are critical to their biological function. (ii) In contrast to traditional physical systems described by well-known basic principles, first principles governing the dynamics of neural systems are unknown. (iii) Many different neural systems exhibit similar dynamics despite having different architectures and different levels of complexity. (iv) The network architecture and connection strengths are usually not known in detail and therefore the dynamical analysis must, in some sense, be probabilistic. (v) Since nervous systems are able to organize behavior based on sensory inputs, the dynamical modeling of these systems has to explain the transformation of temporal information into combinatorial or combinatorial-temporal codes, and vice versa, for memory and recognition. In this review these problems are discussed in the context of addressing the stimulating questions: What can neuroscience learn from nonlinear dynamics, and what can nonlinear dynamics learn from neuroscience?

Dynamical principles in neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Rabinovich, Mikhail I.; Varona, Pablo; Selverston, Allen I.; Abarbanel, Henry D. I.

2006-10-01

Dynamical modeling of neural systems and brain functions has a history of success over the last half century. This includes, for example, the explanation and prediction of some features of neural rhythmic behaviors. Many interesting dynamical models of learning and memory based on physiological experiments have been suggested over the last two decades. Dynamical models even of consciousness now exist. Usually these models and results are based on traditional approaches and paradigms of nonlinear dynamics including dynamical chaos. Neural systems are, however, an unusual subject for nonlinear dynamics for several reasons: (i) Even the simplest neural network, with only a few neurons and synaptic connections, has an enormous number of variables and control parameters. These make neural systems adaptive and flexible, and are critical to their biological function. (ii) In contrast to traditional physical systems described by well-known basic principles, first principles governing the dynamics of neural systems are unknown. (iii) Many different neural systems exhibit similar dynamics despite having different architectures and different levels of complexity. (iv) The network architecture and connection strengths are usually not known in detail and therefore the dynamical analysis must, in some sense, be probabilistic. (v) Since nervous systems are able to organize behavior based on sensory inputs, the dynamical modeling of these systems has to explain the transformation of temporal information into combinatorial or combinatorial-temporal codes, and vice versa, for memory and recognition. In this review these problems are discussed in the context of addressing the stimulating questions: What can neuroscience learn from nonlinear dynamics, and what can nonlinear dynamics learn from neuroscience?

Assessing Information Security Strategies, Tactics, Logic and Framework

CERN Document Server

Vladimirov, Andrew; Michajlowski, Andriej

2010-01-01

This book deals with the philosophy, strategy and tactics of soliciting, managing and conducting information security audits of all flavours. It will give readers the founding principles around information security assessments and why they are important, whilst providing a fluid framework for developing an astute 'information security mind' capable of rapid adaptation to evolving technologies, markets, regulations, and laws.

Promoting a Dialogue between Neuroscience and Education

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, David A.

2011-01-01

There have been a number of calls for a 'dialogue' between neuroscience and education. However, 'dialogue' implies an equal conversation between partners. The outcome of collaboration between neuroscientists and educators not normally expected to be so balanced. Educationists are expected to learn from neuroscience how to conduct research with…

Three Requirements for Justifying an Educational Neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Hruby, George G.

2012-01-01

Background: Over the past quarter century, efforts to bridge between research in the neurosciences and research, theory, and practice in education have grown from a mere hope to noteworthy scholarly sophistication. Many dedicated educational researchers have developed the secondary expertise in the necessary neurosciences and related fields to…

Public Access to Government Electronic Information. Policy Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science, 1992

1992-01-01

This policy framework provides guidelines for federal agencies on public access to government electronic information. Highlights include reasons for disseminating information; defining user groups; which technology to use; pricing flexibility; security and privacy issues; and the private sector and state and local government roles. (LRW)

Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Haloperidol.

Science.gov (United States)

Tyler, Marshall W; Zaldivar-Diez, Josefa; Haggarty, Stephen J

2017-03-15

The discovery of haloperidol catalyzed a breakthrough in our understanding of the biochemical basis of schizophrenia, improved the treatment of psychosis, and facilitated deinstitutionalization. In doing so, it solidified the role for chemical neuroscience as a means to elucidate the molecular underpinnings of complex neuropsychiatric disorders. In this Review, we will cover aspects of haloperidol's synthesis, manufacturing, metabolism, pharmacology, approved and off-label indications, and adverse effects. We will also convey the fascinating history of this classic molecule and the influence that it has had on the evolution of neuropsychopharmacology and neuroscience.

Educational Neuroscience: Its Position, Aims and Expectations

Science.gov (United States)

van der Meulen, Anna; Krabbendam, Lydia; de Ruyter, Doret

2015-01-01

An important issue in the discussion on educational neuroscience is the transfer of thought and findings between neuroscience and education. In addition to factual confusions in this transfer in the form of neuromyths, logical confusions, or neuro-misconceptions, can be identified. We consider these transfer difficulties in light of the way…

Applied Neuroscience Laboratory Complex

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Located at WPAFB, Ohio, the Applied Neuroscience lab researches and develops technologies to optimize Airmen individual and team performance across all AF domains....

Understanding Interdependency Through Complex Information Sharing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Rosas

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The interactions between three or more random variables are often nontrivial, poorly understood and, yet, are paramount for future advances in fields such as network information theory, neuroscience and genetics. In this work, we analyze these interactions as different modes of information sharing. Towards this end, and in contrast to most of the literature that focuses on analyzing the mutual information, we introduce an axiomatic framework for decomposing the joint entropy that characterizes the various ways in which random variables can share information. Our framework distinguishes between interdependencies where the information is shared redundantly and synergistic interdependencies where the sharing structure exists in the whole, but not between the parts. The key contribution of our approach is to focus on symmetric properties of this sharing, which do not depend on a specific point of view for differentiating roles between its components. We show that our axioms determine unique formulas for all of the terms of the proposed decomposition for systems of three variables in several cases of interest. Moreover, we show how these results can be applied to several network information theory problems, providing a more intuitive understanding of their fundamental limits.

Neuroscience and Ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, S Matthew

2017-03-01

A number of people believe that results from neuroscience have the potential to settle seemingly intractable debates concerning the nature, practice, and reliability of moral judgments. In particular, Joshua Greene has argued that evidence from neuroscience can be used to advance the long-standing debate between consequentialism and deontology. This paper first argues that charitably interpreted, Greene's neuroscientific evidence can contribute to substantive ethical discussions by being part of an epistemic debunking argument. It then argues that taken as an epistemic debunking argument, Greene's argument falls short in undermining deontological judgments. Lastly, it proposes that accepting Greene's methodology at face value, neuroimaging results may in fact call into question the reliability of consequentialist judgments. The upshot is that Greene's empirical results do not undermine deontology and that Greene's project points toward a way by which empirical evidence such as neuroscientific evidence can play a role in normative debates.

Intentional Excellence in the Baldwin Wallace University Neuroscience Program

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Jacqueline K.; Peppers, Kieth; Mickley, G. Andrew

2015-01-01

The Society for Neuroscience recognized Baldwin Wallace University’s (BWU) undergraduate Neuroscience program as their Program of the Year for 2012. This award acknowledged the “accomplishments of a neuroscience department or program for excellence in educating neuroscientists and providing innovative models to which other programs can aspire.” The Neuroscience program grew out of students interested in studying the biological basis of behavior. BWU’s neuroscience major is research-intensive, and all students are required to produce an empirically-based senior thesis. This requirement challenges program resources, and the demand for faculty attention is high. Thus, we developed an intentional 3-step peer mentoring system that encourages our students to collaborate with and learn from, not only faculty, but each other. Peer mentoring occurs in the curriculum, faculty research labs, and as students complete their senior theses. As the program has grown with over 80 current majors, we have developed a new Neuroscience Methods course to train students on the safety, ethics, and practice of research in the neuroscience laboratory space. Students in this course leave with the skills and knowledge to assist senior level students with their theses and to begin the process of developing their own projects in the laboratory. Further, our students indicate that their “peer mentorship was excellent,” “helped them gain confidence,” and “allowed them to be more successful in their research.” PMID:26240522

Women in neuroscience (WIN): the first twenty years.

Science.gov (United States)

Haak, Laurel L

2002-03-01

Women in Neuroscience (WIN) is an international organization whose major goal is to promote the professional advancement of women neuroscientists. To this end, WIN facilitates contacts and communication among women working in neuroscience, and organizes appropriate activities at the annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting. WIN was created in 1980, when despite major changes and advances in 'equal opportunities', women were still not achieving a proportionate level of success in the subdiscipline of neurosciences. In 1980, women made up 40 to 50% of entering classes in medical schools or graduate programs, but often comprised only 5 to 15% of leadership in respective organizations. Although there had been women elected to serve as SfN presidents, council, and committee members, women were under-represented in other positions of the Society, such as symposium and session chairs. There was an even lesser degree of representation in leadership positions at universities and medical schools in terms of full professorships, chairs, and program directors, as well as on editorial boards, advisory boards, and councils. Over the years, WIN has worked with success toward increasing the participation of women in neuroscience.

Når neuroscience bliver til neuromyter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ejersbo, Lisser Rye

2016-01-01

Det kan være svært at skelne mellem sandt og usandt, når forskningselementer fra neuroscience bliver inddraget som argumenter for bestemte metoder indenfor undervisning. Således er det med Jo Boalers nye bog Mathematical Mindset (2016). Boalers ideer bliver brugt meget i Danmark, fordi hendes...... matematikdidaktikske pointer er både interessante og inspirerende, men hendes inddragen af begreber fra neuroscience holder desværre ikke vand....

Interactive social neuroscience to study autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Rolison, Max J; Naples, Adam J; McPartland, James C

2015-03-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate difficulty with social interactions and relationships, but the neural mechanisms underlying these difficulties remain largely unknown. While social difficulties in ASD are most apparent in the context of interactions with other people, most neuroscience research investigating ASD have provided limited insight into the complex dynamics of these interactions. The development of novel, innovative "interactive social neuroscience" methods to study the brain in contexts with two interacting humans is a necessary advance for ASD research. Studies applying an interactive neuroscience approach to study two brains engaging with one another have revealed significant differences in neural processes during interaction compared to observation in brain regions that are implicated in the neuropathology of ASD. Interactive social neuroscience methods are crucial in clarifying the mechanisms underlying the social and communication deficits that characterize ASD.

The contributions of cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging to understanding mechanisms of behavior change in addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgenstern, Jon; Naqvi, Nasir H; Debellis, Robert; Breiter, Hans C

2013-06-01

In the last decade, there has been an upsurge of interest in understanding the mechanisms of behavior change (MOBC) and effective behavioral interventions as a strategy to improve addiction-treatment efficacy. However, there remains considerable uncertainty about how treatment research should proceed to address the MOBC issue. In this article, we argue that limitations in the underlying models of addiction that inform behavioral treatment pose an obstacle to elucidating MOBC. We consider how advances in the cognitive neuroscience of addiction offer an alternative conceptual and methodological approach to studying the psychological processes that characterize addiction, and how such advances could inform treatment process research. In addition, we review neuroimaging studies that have tested aspects of neurocognitive theories as a strategy to inform addiction therapies and discuss future directions for transdisciplinary collaborations across cognitive neuroscience and MOBC research. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Implications of Attachment Theory and Neuroscience for the Psychotherapeutic Treatment of Obesity and Overeating.

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Weiss, Fran

2018-05-07

This article examines psychological sequelae underlying dysregulated eating in the overweight and obese patient and proposes a psychotherapy approach informed by classical and modern attachment theory, developmental trauma, and neuroscience to address these structural deficits.

Information space a framework for learning in organizations, institutions and culture

CERN Document Server

Boisot, Max H

2016-01-01

In this book the author lays the foundations for a new political economy of information. The information space, or I-Space is the conceptual framework in which organizations, institutions and cultures are being transformed by new information and communication technologies. In the penultimate chapter, the I-Space's usefulness as an explanatory framework is illustrated with an application: a case study of China's modernization. Information Space proposes a radical shift in the way that we approach the emerging information age and the implications it holds for societies, organizations and individuals.

Transcranial Electric Stimulation for Precision Medicine: A Spatiomechanistic Framework

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Yavari, Fatemeh; Nitsche, Michael A.; Ekhtiari, Hamed

2017-01-01

During recent years, non-invasive brain stimulation, including transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) in general, and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in particular, have created new hopes for treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases. Despite promising primary results in some brain disorders, a more widespread application of tES is hindered by the unsolved question of determining optimum stimulation protocols to receive meaningful therapeutic effects. tES has a large parameter space including various montages and stimulation parameters. Moreover, inter- and intra-individual differences in responding to stimulation protocols have to be taken into account. These factors contribute to the complexity of selecting potentially effective protocols for each disorder, different clusters of each disorder, and even each single patient. Expanding knowledge in different dimensions of basic and clinical neuroscience could help researchers and clinicians to select potentially effective protocols based on tES modulatory mechanisms for future clinical studies. In this article, we propose a heuristic spatiomechanistic framework which contains nine levels to address tES effects on brain functions. Three levels refer to the spatial resolution (local, small-scale networks and large-scale networks) and three levels of tES modulatory effects based on its mechanisms of action (neurochemical, neuroelectrical and oscillatory modulations). At the group level, this framework could be helpful to enable an informed and systematic exploration of various possible protocols for targeting a brain disorder or its neuroscience-based clusters. Considering recent advances in exploration of neurodiversity at the individual level with different brain mapping technologies, the proposed framework might also be used in combination with personal data to design individualized protocols for tES in the context of precision medicine in the future. PMID:28450832

The promise of educational neuroscience: Comment on Bowers (2016).

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Gabrieli, John D E

2016-10-01

Bowers (2016) argues that there are practical and principled problems with how educational neuroscience may contribute to education, including lack of direct influences on teaching in the classroom. Some of the arguments made are convincing, including the critique of unsubstantiated claims about the impact of educational neuroscience and the reminder that the primary outcomes of education are behavioral, such as skill in reading or mathematics. Bowers' analysis falls short in 3 major respects. First, educational neuroscience is a basic science that has made unique contributions to basic education research; it is not part of applied classroom instruction. Second, educational neuroscience contributes to ideas about education practices and policies beyond classroom curriculum that are important for helping vulnerable students. Third, educational neuroscience studies using neuroimaging have not only revealed for the first time the brain basis of neurodevelopmental differences that have profound influences on educational outcomes, but have also identified individual brain differences that predict which students learn more or learn less from various curricula. In several cases, the brain measures significantly improved or vastly outperformed conventional behavioral measures in predicting what works for individual children. These findings indicate that educational neuroscience, at a minimum, has provided novel insights into the possibilities of individualized education for students, rather than the current practice of learning through failure that a curriculum did not support a student. In the best approach to improving education, educational neuroscience ought to contribute to basic research addressing the needs of students and teachers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Brain activity and cognition: a connection from thermodynamics and information theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Collell, Guillem; Fauquet, Jordi

2015-01-01

The connection between brain and mind is an important scientific and philosophical question that we are still far from completely understanding. A crucial point to our work is noticing that thermodynamics provides a convenient framework to model brain activity, whereas cognition can be modeled in information-theoretical terms. In fact, several models have been proposed so far from both approaches. A second critical remark is the existence of deep theoretical connections between thermodynamics and information theory. In fact, some well-known authors claim that the laws of thermodynamics are nothing but principles in information theory. Unlike in physics or chemistry, a formalization of the relationship between information and energy is currently lacking in neuroscience. In this paper we propose a framework to connect physical brain and cognitive models by means of the theoretical connections between information theory and thermodynamics. Ultimately, this article aims at providing further insight on the formal relationship between cognition and neural activity.

Brain activity and cognition: a connection from thermodynamics and information theory

Science.gov (United States)

Collell, Guillem; Fauquet, Jordi

2015-01-01

The connection between brain and mind is an important scientific and philosophical question that we are still far from completely understanding. A crucial point to our work is noticing that thermodynamics provides a convenient framework to model brain activity, whereas cognition can be modeled in information-theoretical terms. In fact, several models have been proposed so far from both approaches. A second critical remark is the existence of deep theoretical connections between thermodynamics and information theory. In fact, some well-known authors claim that the laws of thermodynamics are nothing but principles in information theory. Unlike in physics or chemistry, a formalization of the relationship between information and energy is currently lacking in neuroscience. In this paper we propose a framework to connect physical brain and cognitive models by means of the theoretical connections between information theory and thermodynamics. Ultimately, this article aims at providing further insight on the formal relationship between cognition and neural activity. PMID:26136709

And the Winner Is: Inviting Hollywood into the Neuroscience Classroom

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Wiertelak, Eric P.

2002-01-01

Both short excerpts from, and full-length presentation of feature films have been used with success in undergraduate instruction. Studies of such use of films has revealed that incorporation of film viewing within courses can promote both content mastery and the development of critical thinking skills. This article discusses and provides examples of successful use of two methods that may be used to incorporate a variety of full-length feature films into neuroscience instruction. One, the “neuro-cinema” pairs the presentation of a film featuring extensive neuroscience content with primary literature reading assignments, group discussion and writing exercises. The second, a neuroscience film series, features group discussion of movies of perhaps more limited relevance to neuroscience. An additional goal of this article is provide the reader with initial resources for the selection of potential film titles for use in neuroscience education. Three extensive tables are included to provide a wide range of title suggestions appropriate for use in activities such as the neuro-cinema, the neuroscience film series, or for more limited use as short “clips” in classroom instruction. PMID:23493171

Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Methylphenidate.

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Wenthur, Cody J

2016-08-17

As the first drug to see widespread use for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), methylphenidate was the forerunner and catalyst to the modern era of rapidly increasing diagnosis, treatment, and medication development for this condition. During its often controversial history, it has variously elucidated the importance of dopamine signaling in memory and attention, provoked concerns about pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement, driven innovation in controlled-release technologies and enantiospecific therapeutics, and stimulated debate about the impact of pharmaceutical sales techniques on the practice of medicine. In this Review, we will illustrate the history and importance of methylphenidate to ADHD treatment and neuroscience in general, as well as provide key information about its synthesis, structure-activity relationship, pharmacological activity, metabolism, manufacturing, FDA-approved indications, and adverse effects.

Collaborative Metaliteracy: Putting the New Information Literacy Framework into (Digital) Practice

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Gersch, Beate; Lampner, Wendy; Turner, Dudley

2016-01-01

This article describes a course-integrated collaborative project between a subject librarian, a communication professor, and an instructional designer that illustrates how the TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) framework, developed by Mishra and Koehler (2006), and the new ACRL Framework for Information Literacy (Framework)…

Advances in Neuroscience and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

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Dando, Malcolm

2011-01-01

This paper investigates the potential threat to the prohibition of the hostile misuse of the life sciences embodied in the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention from the rapid advances in the field of neuroscience. The paper describes how the implications of advances in science and technology are considered at the Five Year Review Conferences of the Convention and how State Parties have developed their appreciations since the First Review Conference in 1980. The ongoing advances in neurosciences are then assessed and their implications for the Convention examined. It is concluded that State Parties should consider a much more regular and systematic review system for such relevant advances in science and technology when they meet at the Seventh Review Conference in late 2011, and that neuroscientists should be much more informed and engaged in these processes of protecting their work from malign misuse. PMID:21350673

Neuroscience and the fallacies of functionalism.

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Reddy, William M

2010-01-01

Smail's "On Deep History and the Brain" is rightly critical of the functionalist fallacies that have plagued evolutionary theory, sociobiology, and evolutionary psychology. However, his attempt to improve on these efforts relies on functional explanations that themselves oversimplify the lessons of neuroscience. In addition, like explanations in evolutionary psychology, they are highly speculative and cannot be confirmed or disproved by evidence. Neuroscience research is too diverse to yield a single picture of brain functioning. Some recent developments in neuroscience research, however, do suggest that cognitive processing provides a kind of “operating system” that can support a great diversity of cultural material. These developments include evidence of “top-down” processing in motor control, in visual processing, in speech recognition, and in “emotion regulation.” The constraints that such a system may place on cultural learning and transmission are worth investigating. At the same time, historians are well advised to remain wary of the pitfalls of functionalism.

Collaborative Knowledge Framework for Mediation Information System Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenxin Mu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With the worldwide interenterprise collaboration and interoperability background, automatic collaborative business process deduction is crucial and imperative researching subject. A methodology of deducing collaborative process is designed by collecting collaborative knowledge. Due to the complexity of deduction methodology, a collaborative knowledge framework is defined to organize abstract and concrete collaborative information. The collaborative knowledge framework contains three dimensions: elements, levels, and life cycle. To better define the framework, the relations in each dimension are explained in detail. They are (i relations among elements, which organize the gathering orders and methods of different collaborative elements, (ii relations among life cycle, which present modeling processes and agility management, and (iii relations among levels, which define relationships among different levels of collaborative processes: strategy, operation, and support. This paper aims to explain the collaborative knowledge framework and the relations inside.

Performance measurement integrated information framework in e-Manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Teran, Hilaida; Hernandez, Juan Carlos; Vizán, Antonio; Ríos, José

2014-11-01

The implementation of Internet technologies has led to e-Manufacturing technologies becoming more widely used and to the development of tools for compiling, transforming and synchronising manufacturing data through the Web. In this context, a potential area for development is the extension of virtual manufacturing to performance measurement (PM) processes, a critical area for decision making and implementing improvement actions in manufacturing. This paper proposes a PM information framework to integrate decision support systems in e-Manufacturing. Specifically, the proposed framework offers a homogeneous PM information exchange model that can be applied through decision support in e-Manufacturing environment. Its application improves the necessary interoperability in decision-making data processing tasks. It comprises three sub-systems: a data model, a PM information platform and PM-Web services architecture. A practical example of data exchange for measurement processes in the area of equipment maintenance is shown to demonstrate the utility of the model.

A proposed benefits evaluation framework for health information systems in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Francis; Hagens, Simon; Muttitt, Sarah

2007-01-01

This article describes a benefits evaluation framework for the health information systems currently being implemented across Canada through Canada Health Infoway with its jurisdictional partners and investment programs. This framework is based on the information systems success model by DeLone and McLean, the empirical analysis by van der Meijden on the use of this model in the health setting and our own review of evaluation studies and systematic review articles in health information systems. The current framework includes three dimensions of quality (system, information and service), two dimensions of system usage (use and user satisfaction) and three dimensions of net benefits (quality, access and productivity). Measures have been developed and work is under way to establish detailed evaluation plans and instruments for the individual investment programs to launch a series of benefits evaluation field studies across jurisdictions later this year.

Neuroscience curriculum changes and outcomes: medical university of South Carolina, 2006 to 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Holden, Kenton R; Cooper, S Lewis; Wong, Jeffrey G

2012-07-01

To develop future neurologists and translational neuroscientists, we created a neurosciences pathway throughout our medical school curriculum that included early exposure to clinical neurosciences decision-making and added variety to the choices of later clinical neurosciences experiences. Our curricular innovation had 3 parts: (1) integrating basic neurosciences content into an explicit clinical context in a College of Medicine (COM) first year of medical school; (2) expanding pathophysiological principles related to neurosciences in COM second year of medical school; and (3) creating a variety of 3-week clinical neurosciences selectives in COM third year of medical school and 4-week electives/externships for interested learners in COM fourth year of medical school. These new changes were evaluated (1) by comparing national standardized examinations including Neurology Subject examination scores for students choosing clinical neurosciences selectives; (2) by student satisfaction Graduate Questionnaires; and (3) by the total number of our graduates matching in US neurosciences disciplines. Students taking neuroscience selectives demonstrated a nonsignificant trend toward higher Step 2 Clinical Knowledge scores. The students' Neurology Subject examination scores were comparable with those scores reported nationally for other US COM third year of medical school students on 4-week rotations. Student-reported satisfaction in clinical neurology teaching improved from 43.9% (before) to 81.8% (after). The percentage of students matching into clinical neuroscience disciplines rose from 2% (before) to 6% (after). Our neurosciences curricular innovation increased graduating student satisfaction scores, had a mild positive impact on Step 2 Clinical Knowledge scores, and increased the number of students choosing careers in the clinical neurosciences. This model may be a consideration for other medical schools who wish to integrate neurosciences teaching throughout their

Children's Language Production: How Cognitive Neuroscience and Industrial Engineering Can Inform Public Education Policy and Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Leisman, Gerry

2012-01-01

Little of 150 years of research in Cognitive Neurosciences, Human Factors, and the mathematics of Production Management have found their way into educational policy and certainly not into the classroom or in the production of educational materials in any meaningful or practical fashion. Whilst more mundane concepts of timing, sequencing, spatial…

An ontology-based collaborative service framework for agricultural information

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In recent years, China has developed modern agriculture energetically. An effective information framework is an important way to provide farms with agricultural information services and improve farmer's production technology and their income. The mountain areas in central China are dominated by agri...

Towards an Understanding of Neuroscience for Science Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, Mary

2011-01-01

Advances in neuroscience have brought new insights to the development of cognitive functions. These data are of considerable interest to educators concerned with how students learn. This review documents some of the recent findings in neuroscience, which is richer in describing cognitive functions than affective aspects of learning. A brief…

Can Cognitive Neuroscience Ground a Science of Learning?

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Kelly, Anthony E.

2011-01-01

In this article, I review recent findings in cognitive neuroscience in learning, particularly in the learning of mathematics and of reading. I argue that while cognitive neuroscience is in its infancy as a field, theories of learning will need to incorporate and account for this growing body of empirical data.

Psychiatry chief resident opinions toward basic and clinical neuroscience training and practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Jeffrey I; Handa, Kamna; Mahajan, Aman; Deotale, Pravesh

2014-04-01

The authors queried attendees to a chief resident conference on whether program education and training in neuroscience or in translating neuroscience research into practice is sufficient and what changes are needed. The authors developed and administered a 26-item voluntary questionnaire to each attendee at the Chief Residents' Leadership Conference at the American Psychiatric Association 2013 annual meeting in San Francisco, CA. Out of 94 attendees, 55 completed and returned questionnaires (58.5%). A majority of respondents stated that their program provided adequate training in neuroscience (61.8%); opportunities for neuroscience research existed for them (78.2%), but that their program did not prepare them for translating future neuroscience research findings into clinical practice (78.9%) or educate them on the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (83.3%). A majority of respondents stated that the ACGME should require a specific neuroscience curriculum (79.6%). Chief residents believe that curricular and cultural change is needed in psychiatry residency neuroscience education.

Basic Neuroscience Research with Nonhuman Primates: A Small but Indispensable Component of Biomedical Research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelfsema, P.R.; Treue, S.

2014-01-01

Research with nonhuman primates represents a small component of neuroscience with far-reaching relevance that is irreplaceable for essential insights into cognitive functions, brain disease, and therapy. Transparency and widespread information about this research and its importance is central to

Basic neuroscience research with nonhuman primates: a small but indispensable component of biomedical research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelfsema, Pieter R.; Treue, Stefan

2014-01-01

Research with nonhuman primates represents a small component of neuroscience with far-reaching relevance that is irreplaceable for essential insights into cognitive functions, brain disease, and therapy. Transparency and widespread information about this research and its importance is central to

Basic neuroscience research with nonhuman primates : a small but indispensable component of biomedical research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelfsema, Pieter R; Treue, Stefan

2014-01-01

Research with nonhuman primates represents a small component of neuroscience with far-reaching relevance that is irreplaceable for essential insights into cognitive functions, brain disease, and therapy. Transparency and widespread information about this research and its importance is central to

Information Literacy Threshold Concepts and the Association of College and Research Libraries' Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gayle Schaub

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The 2014 release of the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education had a significant impact on information literacy scholarship and practice in the United States. The revision process of the previous Competency Standards and the purpose and implementation of the new Framework are still widely discussed as librarians work out what the Framework means to individual institutions and to information literacy as a whole. Organized around six threshold concepts in information literacy as identified in recent research, the Framework reflects developments in the information landscape as threshold concepts have become influential. The authors, who began their research in threshold concepts at the same time as the use and discussion of information literacy threshold concepts increased in the United States, discuss how their work fits into a larger, national conversation on conceptual information literacy instruction and the creation of a high-profile document.   Die Verabschiedung des Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education der Association of College and Research Libraries 2014 hatte beachtliche Auswirkungen auf Theorie und Praxis der Vermittlung von Informationskompetenz in den USA. Der Überarbeitungsprozess der früheren Standards Informationskompetenz sowie Zielrichtung und Umsetzung des neuen Framework werden nach wie vor breit diskutiert, da Bibliothekar/inn/e/n nun konkretisieren, was das Framework für ihre jeweilige Einrichtung und für Informationskompetenz insgesamt bedeutet. Indem es um sechs threshold concepts gruppiert ist, die die aktuelle Forschung zu Informationskompetenz identifiziert hat, bezieht das Framework gezielt Entwicklungen der Informationslandschaft auf diese richtungsweisenden threshold concepts. Die Autorinnen, die ihre Untersuchungen zu threshold concepts just zu der Zeit begannen, zu der der Einsatz von und die Diskussion um threshold concepts in

Information and knowledge: an evolutionary framework for information science

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Marcia J. Bates

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Many definitions of information, knowledge, and data have been suggested throughout the history of information science. In this article, the objective is to provide definitions that are usable for the physical, biological, and social meanings of the terms, covering the various senses important to our field. Argument. Information 1 is defined as the pattern of organization of matter and energy. Information 2 is defined as some pattern of organization of matter and energy that has been given meaning by a living being. Knowledge is defined as information given meaning and integrated with other contents of understanding. Elaboration. The approach is rooted in an evolutionary framework; that is, modes of information perception, processing, transmission, and storage are seen to have developed as a part of the general evolution of members of the animal kingdom. Brains are expensive for animals to support; consequently, efficient storage, including, particularly, storage at emergent levels-for example, storing the concept of chair, rather than specific memories of all chairs ever seen, is powerful and effective for animals. Conclusion. Thus, rather than being reductionist, the approach taken demonstrates the fundamentally emergent nature of most of what higher animals and human beings, in particular, experience as information.

A framework to evaluate information quality in Public Administration websites

OpenAIRE

Geraci, Filippo; Martinelli, Maurizio; Pellegrini, Marco; Serrecchia, Michela

2013-01-01

The paper presents a framework aimed at assessing the capacity of Public Administration bodies (PA) to offer a good quality of information and service on their web portals. Our framework is based on the extraction of ".it? domain names registered by Italian public institutions and the subsequent analysis of their relative websites. The analysis foresees an automatic gathering of the web pages of PA portals by means of web crawling and an assessment of the quality of their online information s...

Philosophy, Neuroscience and Education

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, John

2015-01-01

This short note takes two quotations from Snooks' recent editorial on neuroeducation and teases out some further details on the philosophy of neuroscience and neurophilosophy along with consideration of the implications of both for philosophy of education.

Evaluation of the performance of the YAP-(S)PET scanner and its application in neuroscience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belcari, Nicola; Guerra, Alberto Del; Bartoli, Antonietta; Bianchi, Daniele; Lazzarotti, Marco; Sensi, Luca; Menichetti, Luca; Lecchi, Michela; Erba, Paola A.; Mariani, Giuliano; Corsini, Giovanni U.; Sgado, Paola

2007-01-01

This paper presents the performance evaluation of the small animal scanner YAP-(S)PET, both in PET and SPECT modalities following preliminary NEMA standards for small animal PET. Data are taken with a new version of the scanner that is installed at the IFC-CNR in Pisa (Italy) within the framework of the Center of Excellence AmbiSEN of the University of Pisa. This paper also reports some preliminary SPECT applications in neuroscience using 123 I-FP-CIT (DaTSCAN)

Large-scale brain networks in affective and social neuroscience: Towards an integrative functional architecture of the brain

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Lisa Feldman; Satpute, Ajay

2013-01-01

Understanding how a human brain creates a human mind ultimately depends on mapping psychological categories and concepts to physical measurements of neural response. Although it has long been assumed that emotional, social, and cognitive phenomena are realized in the operations of separate brain regions or brain networks, we demonstrate that it is possible to understand the body of neuroimaging evidence using a framework that relies on domain general, distributed structure-function mappings. We review current research in affective and social neuroscience and argue that the emerging science of large-scale intrinsic brain networks provides a coherent framework for a domain-general functional architecture of the human brain. PMID:23352202

A Strategic Approach to Curriculum Design for Information Literacy in Teacher Education--Implementing an Information Literacy Conceptual Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Klebansky, Anna; Fraser, Sharon P.

2013-01-01

This paper details a conceptual framework that situates curriculum design for information literacy and lifelong learning, through a cohesive developmental information literacy based model for learning, at the core of teacher education courses at UTAS. The implementation of the framework facilitates curriculum design that systematically,…

Criminal Responsibility, Free Will, and Neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgson, David

This chapter identifies retributive and consequentialist purposes of the criminal law, and it outlines arguments that retribution should be abandoned, in cluding arguments, based on philosophy and neuroscience, that free will and re sponsibility are illusions. The author suggests that there are good reasons to retain retribution, and identifies ways in which this might be supported, including com patibilist and libertarian views of free will. The author gives reasons for preferring libertarian views, and concludes by considering the role that neuroscience may be expected to play in the future development of the law.

A security framework for nationwide health information exchange based on telehealth strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaidan, B B; Haiqi, Ahmed; Zaidan, A A; Abdulnabi, Mohamed; Kiah, M L Mat; Muzamel, Hussaen

2015-05-01

This study focuses on the situation of health information exchange (HIE) in the context of a nationwide network. It aims to create a security framework that can be implemented to ensure the safe transmission of health information across the boundaries of care providers in Malaysia and other countries. First, a critique of the major elements of nationwide health information networks is presented from the perspective of security, along with such topics as the importance of HIE, issues, and main approaches. Second, a systematic evaluation is conducted on the security solutions that can be utilized in the proposed nationwide network. Finally, a secure framework for health information transmission is proposed within a central cloud-based model, which is compatible with the Malaysian telehealth strategy. The outcome of this analysis indicates that a complete security framework for a global structure of HIE is yet to be defined and implemented. Our proposed framework represents such an endeavor and suggests specific techniques to achieve this goal.

Information Source Selection and Management Framework in Wireless Sensor Network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tobgay, Sonam; Olsen, Rasmus Løvenstein; Prasad, Ramjee

2013-01-01

information source selection and management framework and presents an algorithm which selects the information source based on the information mismatch probability [1]. The sampling rate for every access is decided as per the maximum allowable power consumption limit. Index Terms-wireless sensor network...

First Thoughts on Implementing the Framework for Information Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobson, Trudi E.; Gibson, Craig

2015-01-01

Following the action of the ACRL Board in February 2015 in accepting the "Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education" as one of the "constellation of documents" that promote and guide information literacy instruction and program development, discussion in the library community continues about steps in implementing…

[Elements for a history of neuroscience].

Science.gov (United States)

Ortega, Francisco

2009-01-01

The spectacular progress ofthe neurosciences, as well as the intense process of popularization by the media of images and information that associate cerebral activity with practically every aspect of life, have produced a growing perception of the brain as the site and agent of all the properties and actions that define us as human beings. Today's socio-cultural context has seen increased interest in 'neuroascese' that is, discourses and practices aimed at maximizing brain performance. Tracing elements of the history of'brain ascese' back to historical moments of the nineteenth century in which neuroascetic practices were commonplace, the article examines their continued use today, taking into account the social, cultural, and historical contexts in which they originated.

The Aristotelian conception of habit and its contribution to human neuroscience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier eBernacer

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The notion of habit used in neuroscience is an inheritance from a particular theoretical origin, whose main source is William James. Thus, habits have been characterized as rigid, automatic, unconscious, and opposed to goal-directed actions. This analysis leaves unexplained several aspects of human behavior and cognition where habits are of great importance. We intend to demonstrate the utility that another philosophical conception of habit, the Aristotelian, may have for neuroscientific research. We first summarize the current notion of habit in neuroscience, its philosophical inspiration and the problems that arise from it, mostly centered on the sharp distinction between goal-directed actions and habitual behavior. We then introduce the Aristotelian view and we compare it with that of William James. For Aristotle, a habit is an acquired disposition to perform certain types of action. If this disposition involves an enhanced cognitive control of actions, it can be considered a habit-as-learning. The current view of habit in neuroscience, which lacks cognitive control and we term habit-as-routine, is also covered by the Aristotelian conception. He classifies habits into three categories: 1 theoretical, or the retention of learning understood as knowing that x is so; 2 behavioral, through which the agent achieves a rational control of emotion-permeated behavior (knowing how to behave; and 3 technical or learned skills (knowing how to make or to do. Finally, we propose new areas of research where this novel conception of habit could serve as a framework concept, from the cognitive enrichment of actions to the role of habits in pathological conditions. In all, this contribution may shed light on the understanding of habits as an important feature of human action. Habits, viewed as cognitively controlled behaviors that in turn improve cognitive control of behavior, are a crucial resource for enhancing human learning and behavioral plasticity.

Center for Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine (CNRM) was established as a collaborative intramural federal program involving the U.S. Department of Defense...

Information-preserving structures: A general framework for quantum zero-error information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blume-Kohout, Robin; Ng, Hui Khoon; Poulin, David; Viola, Lorenza

2010-01-01

Quantum systems carry information. Quantum theory supports at least two distinct kinds of information (classical and quantum), and a variety of different ways to encode and preserve information in physical systems. A system's ability to carry information is constrained and defined by the noise in its dynamics. This paper introduces an operational framework, using information-preserving structures, to classify all the kinds of information that can be perfectly (i.e., with zero error) preserved by quantum dynamics. We prove that every perfectly preserved code has the same structure as a matrix algebra, and that preserved information can always be corrected. We also classify distinct operational criteria for preservation (e.g., 'noiseless','unitarily correctible', etc.) and introduce two natural criteria for measurement-stabilized and unconditionally preserved codes. Finally, for several of these operational criteria, we present efficient (polynomial in the state-space dimension) algorithms to find all of a channel's information-preserving structures.

Music therapy with disorders of consciousness and neuroscience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

O'Kelly, Julian; Magee, Wendy L.

2013-01-01

, there is little evidence to support music therapy in rehabilitation programmes. In contrast, advances in neuroscience have improved our understanding of both brain damage and brain/music interactions. There is increasing support for the role of musical activity in promoting neuroplasticity and functional...... improvements for people with neuro-disabilities, although music therapy specific studies are lacking. Collaborations between the fields of neuroscience and music therapy may yield fruitful progress for both disciplines as well as for patient populations. By outlining the key findings and the remaining...... questions offered by the neuroscience literature, this paper sets out the future challenges to address for clinicians and researchers in developing evidence-based approaches to their work....

A neuroscience perspective on sexual risk behavior in adolescence and emerging adulthood

Science.gov (United States)

VICTOR, ELIZABETH C.; HARIRI, AHMAD R.

2016-01-01

Late adolescence and emerging adulthood (specifically ages 15–24) represent a period of heightened sexual risk taking resulting in the greatest annual rates of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies in the US population. Ongoing efforts to prevent such negative consequences are likely to benefit from a deepening of our understanding of biological mechanisms through which sexual risk taking emerges and biases decision making during this critical window. Here we present a neuroscience framework from which a mechanistic examination of sexual risk taking can be advanced. Specifically, we adapt the neurodevelopmental triadic model, which outlines how motivated behavior is governed by three systems: approach, avoidance, and regulation, to sexual decision making and subsequent risk behavior. We further propose a testable hypothesis of the triadic model, wherein relatively decreased threat-related amygdala reactivity and increased reward-related ventral striatum reactivity leads to sexual risk taking, which is particularly exaggerated during adolescence and young adulthood when there is an overexpression of dopaminergic neurons coupled with immature top-down prefrontal cortex regulation. We conclude by discussing how future research based on our adapted triadic model can inform ongoing efforts to improve intervention and prevention efforts. PMID:26611719

Written pain neuroscience education in fibromyalgia: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

van Ittersum, Miriam W; van Wilgen, C Paul; van der Schans, Cees P; Lambrecht, Luc; Groothoff, Johan W; Nijs, Jo

2014-11-01

Mounting evidence supports the use of face-to-face pain neuroscience education for the treatment of chronic pain patients. This study aimed at examining whether written education about pain neuroscience improves illness perceptions, catastrophizing, and health status in patients with fibromyalgia. A double-blind, multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial with 6-month follow-up was conducted. Patients with FM (n = 114) that consented to participate were randomly allocated to receive either written pain neuroscience education or written relaxation training. Written pain neuroscience education comprised of a booklet with pain neuroscience education plus a telephone call to clarify any difficulties; the relaxation group received a booklet with relaxation education and a telephone call. The revised illness perception questionnaire, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, and fibromyalgia impact questionnaire were used as outcome measures. Both patients and assessors were blinded. Repeated-measures analyses with last observation carried forward principle were performed. Cohen's d effect sizes (ES) were calculated for all within-group changes and between-group differences. The results reveal that written pain neuroscience education does not change the impact of FM on daily life, catastrophizing, or perceived symptoms of patients with FM. Compared with written relaxation training, written pain neuroscience education improved beliefs in a chronic timeline of FM (P = 0.03; ES = 0.50), but it does not impact upon other domains of illness perceptions. Compared with written relaxation training, written pain neuroscience education slightly improved illness perceptions of patients with FM, but it did not impart clinically meaningful effects on pain, catastrophizing, or the impact of FM on daily life. Face-to-face sessions of pain neuroscience education are required to change inappropriate cognitions and perceived health in patients with FM. © 2013 World Institute of Pain.

Behavior analysis and neuroscience: Complementary disciplines.

Science.gov (United States)

Donahoe, John W

2017-05-01

Behavior analysis and neuroscience are disciplines in their own right but are united in that both are subfields of a common overarching field-biology. What most fundamentally unites these disciplines is a shared commitment to selectionism, the Darwinian mode of explanation. In selectionism, the order and complexity observed in nature are seen as the cumulative products of selection processes acting over time on a population of variants-favoring some and disfavoring others-with the affected variants contributing to the population on which future selections operate. In the case of behavior analysis, the central selection process is selection by reinforcement; in neuroscience it is natural selection. The two selection processes are inter-related in that selection by reinforcement is itself the product of natural selection. The present paper illustrates the complementary nature of behavior analysis and neuroscience through considering their joint contributions to three central problem areas: reinforcement-including conditioned reinforcement, stimulus control-including equivalence classes, and memory-including reminding and remembering. © 2017 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

SIDECACHE: Information access, management and dissemination framework for web services.

Science.gov (United States)

Doderer, Mark S; Burkhardt, Cory; Robbins, Kay A

2011-06-14

Many bioinformatics algorithms and data sets are deployed using web services so that the results can be explored via the Internet and easily integrated into other tools and services. These services often include data from other sites that is accessed either dynamically or through file downloads. Developers of these services face several problems because of the dynamic nature of the information from the upstream services. Many publicly available repositories of bioinformatics data frequently update their information. When such an update occurs, the developers of the downstream service may also need to update. For file downloads, this process is typically performed manually followed by web service restart. Requests for information obtained by dynamic access of upstream sources is sometimes subject to rate restrictions. SideCache provides a framework for deploying web services that integrate information extracted from other databases and from web sources that are periodically updated. This situation occurs frequently in biotechnology where new information is being continuously generated and the latest information is important. SideCache provides several types of services including proxy access and rate control, local caching, and automatic web service updating. We have used the SideCache framework to automate the deployment and updating of a number of bioinformatics web services and tools that extract information from remote primary sources such as NCBI, NCIBI, and Ensembl. The SideCache framework also has been used to share research results through the use of a SideCache derived web service.

Undergraduate Neuroscience Majors: A Missed Opportunity for Psychiatry Workforce Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldenberg, Matthew N; Krystal, John H

2017-04-01

This study sought to determine whether and to what extent medical students with an undergraduate college major in neuroscience, relative to other college majors, pursue psychiatry relative to other brain-based specialties (neurology and neurosurgery) and internal medicine. The authors analyzed data from AAMC matriculation and graduation surveys for all students who graduated from US medical schools in 2013 and 2014 (n = 29,714). Students who majored in neuroscience, psychology, and biology were compared to all other students in terms of their specialty choice at both time points. For each major, the authors determined rates of specialty choice of psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery, and, for comparison, internal medicine. This study employed Chi-square statistic to compare odds of various specialty choices among different majors. Among medical students with an undergraduate neuroscience major (3.5% of all medical students), only 2.3% preferred psychiatry at matriculation, compared to 21.5% who chose neurology, 13.1% neurosurgery, and 11% internal medicine. By graduation, psychiatry specialty choice increased to 5.1% among neuroscience majors while choice of neurology and neurosurgery declined. Psychology majors (OR = 3.16, 95% CI 2.60-4.47) but not neuroscience majors (OR 1.28, 0.92-1.77) were more likely than their peers to choose psychiatry. Psychiatry struggles to attract neuroscience majors to the specialty. This missed opportunity is an obstacle to developing the neuroscience literacy of the workforce and jeopardizes the neuroscientific future of our field. Several potential strategies to address the recruitment challenges exist.

Integrated Cognitive-neuroscience Architectures for Understanding Sensemaking (ICArUS): Transition to the Intelligence Community

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

Case Study P U Pc Pt Ft Pa 1 Clinical vs. Actuarial Geospatial Profiling Strategies X X 2 Route Security in Baghdad X X X X 3 International...Information Sciences , 176, 1570-1589. Burns, K., & Bonaceto, C. (2014). Integrated Cognitive-neuroscience Architectures for Understanding Sensemaking

What is a representative brain? Neuroscience meets population science.

Science.gov (United States)

Falk, Emily B; Hyde, Luke W; Mitchell, Colter; Faul, Jessica; Gonzalez, Richard; Heitzeg, Mary M; Keating, Daniel P; Langa, Kenneth M; Martz, Meghan E; Maslowsky, Julie; Morrison, Frederick J; Noll, Douglas C; Patrick, Megan E; Pfeffer, Fabian T; Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia A; Thomason, Moriah E; Davis-Kean, Pamela; Monk, Christopher S; Schulenberg, John

2013-10-29

The last decades of neuroscience research have produced immense progress in the methods available to understand brain structure and function. Social, cognitive, clinical, affective, economic, communication, and developmental neurosciences have begun to map the relationships between neuro-psychological processes and behavioral outcomes, yielding a new understanding of human behavior and promising interventions. However, a limitation of this fast moving research is that most findings are based on small samples of convenience. Furthermore, our understanding of individual differences may be distorted by unrepresentative samples, undermining findings regarding brain-behavior mechanisms. These limitations are issues that social demographers, epidemiologists, and other population scientists have tackled, with solutions that can be applied to neuroscience. By contrast, nearly all social science disciplines, including social demography, sociology, political science, economics, communication science, and psychology, make assumptions about processes that involve the brain, but have incorporated neural measures to differing, and often limited, degrees; many still treat the brain as a black box. In this article, we describe and promote a perspective--population neuroscience--that leverages interdisciplinary expertise to (i) emphasize the importance of sampling to more clearly define the relevant populations and sampling strategies needed when using neuroscience methods to address such questions; and (ii) deepen understanding of mechanisms within population science by providing insight regarding underlying neural mechanisms. Doing so will increase our confidence in the generalizability of the findings. We provide examples to illustrate the population neuroscience approach for specific types of research questions and discuss the potential for theoretical and applied advances from this approach across areas.

Reflections on Empathy in Medical Education: What Can We Learn from Social Neurosciences?

Science.gov (United States)

Preusche, Ingrid; Lamm, Claus

2016-01-01

The role of empathy in human social interaction has been examined in several research fields, including medical education (ME) and social neuroscience (SN). SN yields insights into empathy based on neurobiological processes, and such information may also be relevant to ME. In this reflection article, the authors first critically review current…

Neuroscience discipline science plan

Science.gov (United States)

1991-01-01

Over the past two decades, NASA's efforts in the neurosciences have developed into a program of research directed at understanding the acute changes that occur in the neurovestibular and sensorimotor systems during short-duration space missions. However, the proposed extended-duration flights of up to 28 days on the Shuttle orbiter and 6 months on Space Station Freedom, a lunar outpost, and Mars missions of perhaps 1-3 years in space, make it imperative that NASA's Life Sciences Division begin to concentrate research in the neurosciences on the chronic effects of exposure to microgravity on the nervous system. Major areas of research will be directed at understanding (1) central processing, (2) motor systems, (3) cognitive/spatial orientation, and (4) sensory receptors. The purpose of the Discipline Science Plan is to provide a conceptual strategy for NASA's Life Sciences Division research and development activities in the comprehensive area of neurosciences. It covers the significant research areas critical to NASA's programmatic requirements for the Extended-Duration Orbiter, Space Station Freedom, and exploration mission science activities. These science activities include ground-based and flight; basic, applied, and operational; and animal and human research and development. This document summarizes the current status of the program, outlines available knowledge, establishes goals and objectives, identifies science priorities, and defines critical questions in the subdiscipline areas of nervous system function. It contains a general plan that will be used by NASA Headquarters Program Offices and the field centers to review and plan basic, applied, and operational intramural and extramural research and development activities in this area.

Inference in the age of big data: Future perspectives on neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Bzdok, Danilo; Yeo, B T Thomas

2017-07-15

Neuroscience is undergoing faster changes than ever before. Over 100 years our field qualitatively described and invasively manipulated single or few organisms to gain anatomical, physiological, and pharmacological insights. In the last 10 years neuroscience spawned quantitative datasets of unprecedented breadth (e.g., microanatomy, synaptic connections, and optogenetic brain-behavior assays) and size (e.g., cognition, brain imaging, and genetics). While growing data availability and information granularity have been amply discussed, we direct attention to a less explored question: How will the unprecedented data richness shape data analysis practices? Statistical reasoning is becoming more important to distill neurobiological knowledge from healthy and pathological brain measurements. We argue that large-scale data analysis will use more statistical models that are non-parametric, generative, and mixing frequentist and Bayesian aspects, while supplementing classical hypothesis testing with out-of-sample predictions. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bridging media psychology and cognitive neuroscience: Challenges and opportunities.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weber, R.; Eden, A.L.; Huskey, R; Mangus, J.M; Falk, E

2015-01-01

Media neuroscience has emerged as a new area of study at the intersection of media psychology and cognitive neuroscience. In previous work, we have addressed this trend from a methodological perspective. In this paper, we outline the progression of scholarship in systematic investigations of mass

Security implications and governance of cognitive neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Kosal, Margaret E; Huang, Jonathan Y

2015-01-01

In recent years, significant efforts have been made toward elucidating the potential of the human brain. Spanning fields as disparate as psychology, biomedicine, computer science, mathematics, electrical engineering, and chemistry, research venturing into the growing domains of cognitive neuroscience and brain research has become fundamentally interdisciplinary. Among the most interesting and consequential applications to international security are the military and defense community's interests in the potential of cognitive neuroscience findings and technologies. In the United States, multiple governmental agencies are actively pursuing such endeavors, including the Department of Defense, which has invested over $3 billion in the last decade to conduct research on defense-related innovations. This study explores governance and security issues surrounding cognitive neuroscience research with regard to potential security-related applications and reports scientists' views on the role of researchers in these areas through a survey of over 200 active cognitive neuroscientists.

Teaching for Transfer: Reconciling the Framework with Disciplinary Information Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Kuglitsch, Rebecca Z.

2015-01-01

This article explores the tension between information literacy as a generalizable skill and as a skill within the disciplines. The new ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education addresses many challenges facing the previous ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, but the tension between disciplinary…

Civil Law and Neuroscience

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Kogel, C.H.; Schrama, W.M.; Smit, M.

2014-01-01

The relationship between the brain and human behaviour is receiving increasing attention in legal practice. Much has already been published about the role of neuroscience in criminal law, but surprisingly little is known about its role in civil law. In this contribution, the relevance of

Neuroscience: viable applications in education?

Science.gov (United States)

Devonshire, Ian M; Dommett, Eleanor J

2010-08-01

As a relatively young science, neuroscience is still finding its feet in potential collaborations with other disciplines. One such discipline is education, with the field of neuroeducation being on the horizon since the 1960s. However, although its achievements are now growing, the partnership has not been as successful as first hopes suggested it should be. Here the authors discuss the theoretical barriers and potential solutions to this, which have been suggested previously, with particular focus on levels of research in neuroscience and their applicability to education. Moreover, they propose that these theoretical barriers are driven and maintained by practical barriers surrounding common language and research literacy. They propose that by overcoming these practical barriers through appropriate training and shared experience, neuroeducation can reach its full potential.

Integrative Convergence in Neuroscience: Trajectories, Problems, and the Need for a Progressive Neurobioethics

Science.gov (United States)

Giordano, J.

The advanced integrative scientific convergence (AISC) model represents a viable approach to neuroscience. Beyond simple multi-disciplinarity, the AISC model unifies constituent scientific and technological fields to foster innovation, invention and new ways of addressing seemingly intractable questions. In this way, AISC can yield novel methods and foster new trajectories of knowledge and discovery, and yield new epistemologies. As stand-alone disciplines, each and all of the constituent fields generate practical and ethical issues, and their convergence may establish a unique set of both potential benefits and problems. To effectively attend to these contingencies requires pragmatic assessment of the actual capabilities and limits of neurofocal AISC, and an openness to what new knowledge and scientific/technological achievements may be produced, and how such outcomes can affect humanity, the human condition, society and the global environment. It is proposed that a progressive neurobioethics may be needed to establish both a meta-ethical framework upon which to structure ethical decisions, and a system and method of ethics that is inclusive, convergent and innovative, and in thus aligned with and meaningful to use of an AISC model in neuroscience.

Advancing Neuroscience Research in Africa: Invertebrate Species to the Rescue.

Science.gov (United States)

Balogun, Wasiu Gbolahan; Cobham, Ansa Emmanuel; Amin, Abdulbasit; Seeni, Azman

2018-03-15

Neuroscience research and training in many African countries are difficult due to funding and infrastructure deficit. This has resulted in few neuroscientists within Africa. However, invertebrates such as Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans could provide the perfect answer to these difficulties. These organisms are cheap, easy to handle and offer a comparable advantage over vertebrates in neuroscience research modeling because they have a simple nervous system and exhibit well-defined behaviors. Studies using invertebrates have helped to understand neurosciences and the complexes associated with it. If Africa wants to catch up with the rest of the world in neuroscience research, it needs to employ this innovative cost-effective approach in its research. To improve invertebrate neuroscience within the Africa continent, the authors advocated the establishment of invertebrate research centers either at regional or national level across Africa. Finally, there is also a need to provide public funding to consolidate the gains that have been made by not-for-profit international organizations over the years. Copyright © 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Framework for Understanding Post-Merger Information Systems Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alaranta, Maria; Kautz, Karlheinz

2012-01-01

This paper develops a theoretical framework for the integration of information systems (IS) after a merger or an acquisition. The framework integrates three perspectives: a structuralist, an individualist, and an interactive process perspective to analyze and understand such integrations....... The framework is applied to a longitudinal case study of a manufacturing company that grew through an acquisition. The management decided to integrate the production control IS via tailoring a new system that blends together features of existing IS. The application of the framework in the case study confirms...... several known impediments to IS integrations. It also identifies a number of new inhibitors, as well as known and new facilitators that can bring post-merger IS integration to a success. Our findings provide relevant insights to researching and managing post-merger IS integrations. They emphasize...

Challenges of microtome‐based serial block‐face scanning electron microscopy in neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

WANNER, A. A.; KIRSCHMANN, M. A.

2015-01-01

Summary Serial block‐face scanning electron microscopy (SBEM) is becoming increasingly popular for a wide range of applications in many disciplines from biology to material sciences. This review focuses on applications for circuit reconstruction in neuroscience, which is one of the major driving forces advancing SBEM. Neuronal circuit reconstruction poses exceptional challenges to volume EM in terms of resolution, field of view, acquisition time and sample preparation. Mapping the connections between neurons in the brain is crucial for understanding information flow and information processing in the brain. However, information on the connectivity between hundreds or even thousands of neurons densely packed in neuronal microcircuits is still largely missing. Volume EM techniques such as serial section TEM, automated tape‐collecting ultramicrotome, focused ion‐beam scanning electron microscopy and SBEM (microtome serial block‐face scanning electron microscopy) are the techniques that provide sufficient resolution to resolve ultrastructural details such as synapses and provides sufficient field of view for dense reconstruction of neuronal circuits. While volume EM techniques are advancing, they are generating large data sets on the terabyte scale that require new image processing workflows and analysis tools. In this review, we present the recent advances in SBEM for circuit reconstruction in neuroscience and an overview of existing image processing and analysis pipelines. PMID:25907464

An information theory framework for dynamic functional domain connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Vergara, Victor M; Miller, Robyn; Calhoun, Vince

2017-06-01

Dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) analyzes time evolution of coherent activity in the brain. In this technique dynamic changes are considered for the whole brain. This paper proposes an information theory framework to measure information flowing among subsets of functional networks call functional domains. Our method aims at estimating bits of information contained and shared among domains. The succession of dynamic functional states is estimated at the domain level. Information quantity is based on the probabilities of observing each dynamic state. Mutual information measurement is then obtained from probabilities across domains. Thus, we named this value the cross domain mutual information (CDMI). Strong CDMIs were observed in relation to the subcortical domain. Domains related to sensorial input, motor control and cerebellum form another CDMI cluster. Information flow among other domains was seldom found. Other methods of dynamic connectivity focus on whole brain dFNC matrices. In the current framework, information theory is applied to states estimated from pairs of multi-network functional domains. In this context, we apply information theory to measure information flow across functional domains. Identified CDMI clusters point to known information pathways in the basal ganglia and also among areas of sensorial input, patterns found in static functional connectivity. In contrast, CDMI across brain areas of higher level cognitive processing follow a different pattern that indicates scarce information sharing. These findings show that employing information theory to formally measured information flow through brain domains reveals additional features of functional connectivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Psychology and Neuroscience of Curiosity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kidd, Celeste; Hayden, Benjamin Y

2015-11-04

Curiosity is a basic element of our cognition, but its biological function, mechanisms, and neural underpinning remain poorly understood. It is nonetheless a motivator for learning, influential in decision-making, and crucial for healthy development. One factor limiting our understanding of it is the lack of a widely agreed upon delineation of what is and is not curiosity. Another factor is the dearth of standardized laboratory tasks that manipulate curiosity in the lab. Despite these barriers, recent years have seen a major growth of interest in both the neuroscience and psychology of curiosity. In this Perspective, we advocate for the importance of the field, provide a selective overview of its current state, and describe tasks that are used to study curiosity and information-seeking. We propose that, rather than worry about defining curiosity, it is more helpful to consider the motivations for information-seeking behavior and to study it in its ethological context. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Building sustainable neuroscience capacity in Africa: the role of non-profit organisations.

Science.gov (United States)

Karikari, Thomas K; Cobham, Ansa E; Ndams, Iliya S

2016-02-01

While advances in neuroscience are helping to improve many aspects of human life, inequalities exist in this field between Africa and more scientifically-advanced continents. Many African countries lack the infrastructure and appropriately-trained scientists for neuroscience education and research. Addressing these challenges would require the development of innovative approaches to help improve scientific competence for neuroscience across the continent. In recent years, science-based non-profit organisations (NPOs) have been supporting the African neuroscience community to build state-of-the-art scientific capacity for sustainable education and research. Some of these contributions have included: the establishment of training courses and workshops to introduce African scientists to powerful-yet-cost-effective experimental model systems; research infrastructural support and assistance to establish research institutes. Other contributions have come in the form of the promotion of scientific networking, public engagement and advocacy for improved neuroscience funding. Here, we discuss the contributions of NPOs to the development of neuroscience in Africa.

Incident Management in Academic Information System using ITIL Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Palilingan, V. R.; Batmetan, J. R.

2018-02-01

Incident management is very important in order to ensure the continuity of a system. Information systems require incident management to ensure information systems can provide maximum service according to the service provided. Many of the problems that arise in academic information systems come from incidents that are not properly handled. The objective of this study aims to find the appropriate way of incident management. The incident can be managed so it will not be a big problem. This research uses the ITIL framework to solve incident problems. The technique used in this study is a technique adopted and developed from the service operations section of the ITIL framework. The results of this research found that 84.5% of incidents appearing in academic information systems can be handled quickly and appropriately. 15.5% incidents can be escalated so as to not cause any new problems. The model of incident management applied to make academic information system can run quickly in providing academic service in a good and efficient. The incident management model implemented in this research is able to manage resources appropriately so as to quickly and easily manage incidents.

Implications of Affective and Social Neuroscience for Educational Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Immordino-Yang, Mary Helen

2011-01-01

The past decade has seen major advances in cognitive, affective and social neuroscience that have the potential to revolutionize educational theories about learning. The importance of emotion and social learning has long been recognized in education, but due to technological limitations in neuroscience research techniques, treatment of these…

Linking Neuroscience and Psychoanalysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Habicht, Manuela H.

This review discusses the relationship between neuroscience and psychoanalysis and introduces a new scientific method called neuro-psychoanalysis, a combination of the two phenomena. A significant difference between the two is that psychoanalysis has not evolved scientifically since it has not developed objective methods for testing ideas that it…

Visual thinking and neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, C U M

2008-01-01

After a consideration of visual thinking in science the role of such thinking in neuroscience is discussed. Three instances are examined - cortical column, retina, impulse - and it is argued that visual thinking is employed, though in different ways, in each. It lies at the core of neurobiological thought.

Cognitive neuroscience of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Stern, Emily R; Taylor, Stephan F

2014-09-01

Cognitive neuroscience investigates neural responses to cognitive and emotional probes, an approach that has yielded critical insights into the neurobiological mechanisms of psychiatric disorders. This article reviews some of the major findings from neuroimaging studies using a cognitive neuroscience approach to investigate obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It evaluates the consistency of results and interprets findings within the context of OCD symptoms, and proposes a model of OCD involving inflexibility of internally focused cognition. Although further research is needed, this body of work probing cognitive-emotional processes in OCD has already shed considerable light on the underlying mechanisms of the disorder. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

New techniques in systems neuroscience

CERN Document Server

2015-01-01

This volume is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the recent explosion of experimental tools in neuroscience that now make it possible to manipulate, record, and understand neuronal activity within the intact brain, and which are helping us to learn how the many neurons that comprise a network act together to control behavior. Leaders in the field discuss the latest developments in optogenetics, functional imaging, circuit mapping, and the application of these tools to complex biological problems. New Techniques in Systems Neuroscience Explores cutting-edge methodological developments and their biological motivations Covers state-of-the-art advances in optogenetics, imaging, circuit mapping, and the molecular characterization of individual neurons Describes key examples of how these methods have been applied in different model organisms Is appropriate for experts and those just entering the field alike.

An integrated healthcare enterprise information portal and healthcare information system framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, S L; Lai, Feipei; Cheng, P H; Chen, J L; Lee, H H; Tsai, W N; Weng, Y C; Hsieh, S H; Hsu, K P; Ko, L F; Yang, T H; Chen, C H

2006-01-01

The paper presents an integrated, distributed Healthcare Enterprise Information Portal (HEIP) and Hospital Information Systems (HIS) framework over wireless/wired infrastructure at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). A single sign-on solution for the hospital customer relationship management (CRM) in HEIP has been established. The outcomes of the newly developed Outpatient Information Systems (OIS) in HIS are discussed. The future HEIP blueprints with CRM oriented features: e-Learning, Remote Consultation and Diagnosis (RCD), as well as on-Line Vaccination Services are addressed. Finally, the integrated HEIP and HIS architectures based on the middleware technologies are proposed along with the feasible approaches. The preliminary performance of multi-media, time-based data exchanges over the wireless HEIP side is collected to evaluate the efficiency of the architecture.

Exploring an informed decision-making framework using in-home sensors: older adults’ perceptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jane Chung

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Background Sensor technologies are designed to assist independent living of older adults. However, it is often difficult for older adults to make an informed decision about adopting sensor technologies.Objective To explore Bruce’s framework of informed decision making (IDM for in-home use of sensor technologies in community-dwelling elders.Method The IDM framework guided development of a semi-structured interview. A theory-driven coding approach was used for analysis.Results Participants supported most of the elements of the framework, but not all aspects of each element were addressed. Perceived usefulness of technologies was identified as an area for framework extension.Conclusion This paper provides useful information for health care professionals to consider how to enhance IDM of older adults regarding the use of sensor technologies. The results also illuminate elements of the IDM framework that may be critical to facilitating independent living for older adults.

An Integrated Neuroscience and Engineering Approach to Classifying Human Brain-States

Science.gov (United States)

2015-12-22

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0037 An Integrated Neuroscience and Engineering Approach to Classifying Human Brain-States Adrian Lee UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON...to 14-09-2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE An Integrated Neuroscience and Engineering Approach to Classifying Human Brain- States 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b...specific cognitive states remains elusive, owing perhaps to limited crosstalk between the fields of neuroscience and engineering. Here, we report a

A Framework for Adaptive Information Security Systems : A Holistic Investigation

OpenAIRE

Mwakalinga, Jeffy

2011-01-01

This research proposes a framework for adaptive information security systems that considers both the technical and social aspects of information systems security. Initial development of information systems security focused on computer technology and communication protocols. Researchers and designers did not consider culture, traditions, ethics, and other social issues of the people using the systems when designing and developing information security systems. They also seemed to ignore environ...

The law and neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Gazzaniga, Michael S

2008-11-06

Some of the implications for law of recent discoveries in neuroscience are considered in a new program established by the MacArthur Foundation. A group of neuroscientists, lawyers, philosophers, and jurists are examining issues in criminal law and, in particular, problems in responsibility and prediction and problems in legal decision making.

The Neuroscience of Improvisation

Science.gov (United States)

Landau, Andrew T.; Limb, Charles J.

2017-01-01

Current research in the neuroscience of musical creativity reveals promising implications for the value of learning to improvise. This article outlines the neuroscientific literature on musical improvisation and relates these findings to the benefits of musical creativity. We begin by describing the neural substrates of flow with respect to the…

Neuroanatomy and Global Neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

DeFelipe, Javier

2017-07-05

Our brains are like a dense forest-a complex, seemingly impenetrable terrain of interacting cells mediating cognition and behavior. However, we should view the challenge of understanding the brain with optimism, provided that we choose appropriate strategies for the development of global neuroscience. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global mental health and neuroscience: potential synergies.

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Dan J; He, Yanling; Phillips, Anthony; Sahakian, Barbara J; Williams, John; Patel, Vikram

2015-02-01

Global mental health has emerged as an important specialty. It has drawn attention to the burden of mental illness and to the relative gap in mental health research and services around the world. Global mental health has raised the question of whether this gap is a developmental issue, a health issue, a human rights issue, or a combination of these issues-and it has raised awareness of the need to develop new approaches for building capacity, mobilising resources, and closing the research and treatment gap. Translational neuroscience has also advanced. It comprises an important conceptual approach to understanding the neurocircuitry and molecular basis of mental disorders, to rethinking how best to undertake research on the aetiology, assessment, and treatment of these disorders, with the ultimate aim to develop entirely new approaches to prevention and intervention. Some apparent contrasts exist between these fields; global mental health emphasises knowledge translation, moving away from the bedside to a focus on health systems, whereas translational neuroscience emphasises molecular neuroscience, focusing on transitions between the bench and bedside. Meanwhile, important opportunities exist for synergy between the two paradigms, to ensure that present opportunities in mental health research and services are maximised. Here, we review the approaches of global mental health and clinical neuroscience to diagnosis, pathogenesis, and intervention, and make recommendations for facilitating an integration of these two perspectives. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Power-up: A Reanalysis of 'Power Failure' in Neuroscience Using Mixture Modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Nord, Camilla L; Valton, Vincent; Wood, John; Roiser, Jonathan P

2017-08-23

Recently, evidence for endemically low statistical power has cast neuroscience findings into doubt. If low statistical power plagues neuroscience, then this reduces confidence in the reported effects. However, if statistical power is not uniformly low, then such blanket mistrust might not be warranted. Here, we provide a different perspective on this issue, analyzing data from an influential study reporting a median power of 21% across 49 meta-analyses (Button et al., 2013). We demonstrate, using Gaussian mixture modeling, that the sample of 730 studies included in that analysis comprises several subcomponents so the use of a single summary statistic is insufficient to characterize the nature of the distribution. We find that statistical power is extremely low for studies included in meta-analyses that reported a null result and that it varies substantially across subfields of neuroscience, with particularly low power in candidate gene association studies. Therefore, whereas power in neuroscience remains a critical issue, the notion that studies are systematically underpowered is not the full story: low power is far from a universal problem. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Recently, researchers across the biomedical and psychological sciences have become concerned with the reliability of results. One marker for reliability is statistical power: the probability of finding a statistically significant result given that the effect exists. Previous evidence suggests that statistical power is low across the field of neuroscience. Our results present a more comprehensive picture of statistical power in neuroscience: on average, studies are indeed underpowered-some very seriously so-but many studies show acceptable or even exemplary statistical power. We show that this heterogeneity in statistical power is common across most subfields in neuroscience. This new, more nuanced picture of statistical power in neuroscience could affect not only scientific understanding, but potentially

The Neuropsychoanalytic Approach: Using Neuroscience as the Basic Science of Psychoanalysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Brian; Flores Mosri, Daniela

2016-01-01

Neuroscience was the basic science behind Freud's psychoanalytic theory and technique. He worked as a neurologist for 20 years before being aware that a new approach to understand complex diseases, namely the hysterias, was needed. Solms coined the term neuropsychoanalysis to affirm that neuroscience still belongs in psychoanalysis. The neuropsychoanalytic field has continued Freud's original ideas as stated in 1895. Developments in psychoanalysis that have been created or revised by the neuropsychoanalysis movement include pain/relatedness/opioids, drive, structural model, dreams, cathexis, and dynamic unconscious. Neuroscience has contributed to the development of new psychoanalytic theory, such as Bazan's (2011) description of anxiety driven by unconscious intentions or "phantoms." Results of adopting the "dual aspect monism" approach of idiographic psychoanalytic clinical observation combined with nomothetic investigation of related human phenomena include clarification and revision of theory, restoration of the scientific base of psychoanalysis, and improvement of clinical treatments. By imbricating psychoanalytic thinking with neuroscience, psychoanalysts are also positioned to make contributions to neuroscience research. Freud's original Project for a Scientific Psychology/Psychology for Neurologists can be carried forward in a way that moves psychoanalysis into the twenty-first century as a core contemporary science (Kandel, 1999). Neuroscience as the basic science of psychoanalysis both improves the field, and enhances its scientific and cultural status.

Speech perception under adverse conditions: Insights from behavioral, computational and neuroscience research

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Sara eGuediche

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Adult speech perception reflects the long-term regularities of the native language, but it is also flexible such that it accommodates and adapts to adverse listening conditions and short-term deviations from native-language norms. The purpose of this review article is to examine how the broader neuroscience literature can inform and advance research efforts in understanding the neural basis of flexibility and adaptive plasticity in speech perception. In particular, we consider several domains of neuroscience research that offer insight into how perception can be adaptively tuned to short-term deviations while also maintaining without affecting the long-term learned regularities for mapping sensory input. We review several literatures to highlight the potential role of learning algorithms that rely on prediction error signals and discuss specific neural structures that are likely to contribute to such learning. Already, a few studies have alluded to a potential role of these mechanisms in adaptive plasticity in speech perception. Better understanding the application and limitations of these algorithms for the challenges of flexible speech perception under adverse conditions promises to inform theoretical models of speech.

Brain Matters: A Journey with Neuroscience and Religious Education

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Blevins, Dean G.

2011-01-01

Neuroscience continues to enjoy a renaissance of study and a range of responses, both in explorations of religious experience and in educational practice. Neuroscience, as an interdisciplinary field, attained a new ascendancy at the end of the 20th century, known as the decade of the brain. New insights continue to influence education and public…

Fuzzy logic: A "simple" solution for complexities in neurosciences?

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Godil, Saniya Siraj; Shamim, Muhammad Shahzad; Enam, Syed Ather; Qidwai, Uvais

2011-02-26

Fuzzy logic is a multi-valued logic which is similar to human thinking and interpretation. It has the potential of combining human heuristics into computer-assisted decision making, which is applicable to individual patients as it takes into account all the factors and complexities of individuals. Fuzzy logic has been applied in all disciplines of medicine in some form and recently its applicability in neurosciences has also gained momentum. This review focuses on the use of this concept in various branches of neurosciences including basic neuroscience, neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry and psychology. The applicability of fuzzy logic is not limited to research related to neuroanatomy, imaging nerve fibers and understanding neurophysiology, but it is also a sensitive and specific tool for interpretation of EEGs, EMGs and MRIs and an effective controller device in intensive care units. It has been used for risk stratification of stroke, diagnosis of different psychiatric illnesses and even planning neurosurgical procedures. In the future, fuzzy logic has the potential of becoming the basis of all clinical decision making and our understanding of neurosciences.

Brain literate: making neuroscience accessible to a wider audience of undergraduates.

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Salomon, Danielle; Martin-Harris, Laurel; Mullen, Brian; Odegaard, Brian; Zvinyatskovskiy, Aleksey; Chandler, Scott H

2015-01-01

The ability to critically evaluate neuroscientific findings is a skill that is rapidly becoming important in non-science professions. As neuroscience research is increasingly being used in law, business, education, and politics, it becomes imperative to educate future leaders in all areas of society about the brain. Undergraduate general education courses are an ideal way to expose students to issues of critical importance, but non-science students may avoid taking a neuroscience course because of the perception that neuroscience is more challenging than other science courses. A recently developed general education cluster course at UCLA aims to make neuroscience more palatable to undergraduates by pairing neuroscientific concepts with philosophy and history, and by building a learning community that supports the development of core academic skills and intellectual growth over the course of a year. This study examined the extent to which the course was successful in delivering neuroscience education to a broader undergraduate community. The results indicate that a majority of students in the course mastered the basics of the discipline regardless of their major. Furthermore, 77% of the non-life science majors (approximately two-thirds of students in the course) indicated that they would not have taken an undergraduate neuroscience course if this one was not offered. The findings also demonstrate that the course helped students develop core academic skills and improved their ability to think critically about current events in neuroscience. Faculty reported that teaching the course was highly rewarding and did not require an inordinate amount of time.

History of neurosciences at the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

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Idris, Badrisyah; Sayuti, Sani; Abdullah, Jafri Malin

2007-02-01

Universiti Sains Malaysia is the only institution in Malaysia which incorporates all fields of the neurosciences under one roof. The integration of basic and clinical neurosciences has made it possible for this institution to become an excellent academic and research centre. This article describes the history, academic contributions and scientific progress of neurosciences at Universiti Sains Malaysia.

A toolbox for the fast information analysis of multiple-site LFP, EEG and spike train recordings.

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Magri, Cesare; Whittingstall, Kevin; Singh, Vanessa; Logothetis, Nikos K; Panzeri, Stefano

2009-07-16

Information theory is an increasingly popular framework for studying how the brain encodes sensory information. Despite its widespread use for the analysis of spike trains of single neurons and of small neural populations, its application to the analysis of other types of neurophysiological signals (EEGs, LFPs, BOLD) has remained relatively limited so far. This is due to the limited-sampling bias which affects calculation of information, to the complexity of the techniques to eliminate the bias, and to the lack of publicly available fast routines for the information analysis of multi-dimensional responses. Here we introduce a new C- and Matlab-based information theoretic toolbox, specifically developed for neuroscience data. This toolbox implements a novel computationally-optimized algorithm for estimating many of the main information theoretic quantities and bias correction techniques used in neuroscience applications. We illustrate and test the toolbox in several ways. First, we verify that these algorithms provide accurate and unbiased estimates of the information carried by analog brain signals (i.e. LFPs, EEGs, or BOLD) even when using limited amounts of experimental data. This test is important since existing algorithms were so far tested primarily on spike trains. Second, we apply the toolbox to the analysis of EEGs recorded from a subject watching natural movies, and we characterize the electrodes locations, frequencies and signal features carrying the most visual information. Third, we explain how the toolbox can be used to break down the information carried by different features of the neural signal into distinct components reflecting different ways in which correlations between parts of the neural signal contribute to coding. We illustrate this breakdown by analyzing LFPs recorded from primary visual cortex during presentation of naturalistic movies. The new toolbox presented here implements fast and data-robust computations of the most relevant

A toolbox for the fast information analysis of multiple-site LFP, EEG and spike train recordings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Logothetis Nikos K

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Information theory is an increasingly popular framework for studying how the brain encodes sensory information. Despite its widespread use for the analysis of spike trains of single neurons and of small neural populations, its application to the analysis of other types of neurophysiological signals (EEGs, LFPs, BOLD has remained relatively limited so far. This is due to the limited-sampling bias which affects calculation of information, to the complexity of the techniques to eliminate the bias, and to the lack of publicly available fast routines for the information analysis of multi-dimensional responses. Results Here we introduce a new C- and Matlab-based information theoretic toolbox, specifically developed for neuroscience data. This toolbox implements a novel computationally-optimized algorithm for estimating many of the main information theoretic quantities and bias correction techniques used in neuroscience applications. We illustrate and test the toolbox in several ways. First, we verify that these algorithms provide accurate and unbiased estimates of the information carried by analog brain signals (i.e. LFPs, EEGs, or BOLD even when using limited amounts of experimental data. This test is important since existing algorithms were so far tested primarily on spike trains. Second, we apply the toolbox to the analysis of EEGs recorded from a subject watching natural movies, and we characterize the electrodes locations, frequencies and signal features carrying the most visual information. Third, we explain how the toolbox can be used to break down the information carried by different features of the neural signal into distinct components reflecting different ways in which correlations between parts of the neural signal contribute to coding. We illustrate this breakdown by analyzing LFPs recorded from primary visual cortex during presentation of naturalistic movies. Conclusion The new toolbox presented here implements fast

A Volunteered Geographic Information Framework to Enable Bottom-Up Disaster Management Platforms

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Mohammad Ebrahim Poorazizi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Recent disasters, such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, have drawn attention to the potential role of citizens as active information producers. By using location-aware devices such as smartphones to collect geographic information in the form of geo-tagged text, photos, or videos, and sharing this information through online social media, such as Twitter, citizens create Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI. To effectively use this information for disaster management, we developed a VGI framework for the discovery of VGI. This framework consists of four components: (i a VGI brokering module to provide a standard service interface to retrieve VGI from multiple resources based on spatial, temporal, and semantic parameters; (ii a VGI quality control component, which employs semantic filtering and cross-referencing techniques to evaluate VGI; (iii a VGI publisher module, which uses a service-based delivery mechanism to disseminate VGI, and (iv a VGI discovery component to locate, browse, and query metadata about available VGI datasets. In a case study we employed a FOSS (Free and Open Source Software strategy, open standards/specifications, and free/open data to show the utility of the framework. We demonstrate that the framework can facilitate data discovery for disaster management. The addition of quality metrics and a single aggregated source of relevant crisis VGI will allow users to make informed policy choices that could save lives, meet basic humanitarian needs earlier, and perhaps limit environmental and economic damage.

[Cognitive neuroscience of aging. Contributions and challenges].

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Díaz, Fernando; Pereiro, Arturo X

The cognitive neuroscience of aging is a young discipline that has emerged as a result of the combination of: A) the theoretical and explanatory frameworks proposed by the cognitive psychology perspective throughout the second half of the twentieth century; B) the designs and methodological procedures arising from experimental psychology and the need to test the hypotheses proposed from the cognitive psychology perspective; C) the contributions of the computer sciences to the explanation of brain functions; and D) the development and use of neuroimaging techniques that have enabled the recording of brain activity in humans while tasks that test some cognitive process or function are performed. An analysis on the impact of research conducted from this perspective over the last 3decades has been carried out, including its shortcomings, as well as the potential directions and usefulness that will advantageously continue to drive this discipline in its description and explanation of the process es of cerebral and cognitive aging. Copyright © 2017 SEGG. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

A Framework for BIM-Enabled Life-Cycle Information Management of Construction Project

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Xun Xu

2014-08-01

Full Text Available BIM has been widely used in project management, but on the whole the applications have been scattered and the BIM models have not been deployed throughout the whole project life-cycle. Each participant builds their own BIM, so there is a major problem in how to integrate these dynamic and fragmented data together. In order to solve this problem, this paper focuses on BIM-based life-cycle information management and builds a framework for BIM-enabled life-cycle information management. To organize the life-cycle information well, the information components and information flow during the project life-cycle are defined. Then, the application of BIM in life-cycle information management is analysed. This framework will provide a unified platform for information management and ensure data integrity.

Framework for a comprehensive bridge management and information system.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-01

"The purpose of this research project was to provide a framework for the development of a Bridge : Management Information System (BMIS). Researchers developed a synthesis of current BMIS development : activities and identified sources of data availab...

Applying Neuroscience to Enhance Tactical Leader Cognitive Performance in Combat

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-16

highlights works inspired by neuroscience discoveries in the last twenty years. Neuroscience Literature and Research In his 1994 book, Descartes ’ Error...http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/ facts.html (accessed 9 October 2011). Damasio, Antonio. 1994. Descartes ’ error: Emotion, reason, and the human

Using personality neuroscience to study personality disorder.

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Abram, Samantha V; DeYoung, Colin G

2017-01-01

Personality neuroscience integrates techniques from personality psychology and neuroscience to elucidate the neural basis of individual differences in cognition, emotion, motivation, and behavior. This endeavor is pertinent not only to our understanding of healthy personality variation, but also to the aberrant trait manifestations present in personality disorders and severe psychopathology. In the current review, we focus on the advances and limitations of neuroimaging methods with respect to personality neuroscience. We discuss the value of personality theory as a means to link specific neural mechanisms with various traits (e.g., the neural basis of the "Big Five"). Given the overlap between dimensional models of normal personality and psychopathology, we also describe how researchers can reconceptualize psychopathological disorders along key dimensions, and, in turn, formulate specific neural hypotheses, extended from personality theory. Examples from the borderline personality disorder literature are used to illustrate this approach. We provide recommendations for utilizing neuroimaging methods to capture the neural mechanisms that underlie continuous traits across the spectrum from healthy to maladaptive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Neuroscience, power and culture: an introduction.

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Vrecko, Scott

2010-01-01

In line with their vast expansion over the last few decades, the brain sciences -- including neurobiology, psychopharmacology, biological psychiatry, and brain imaging -- are becoming increasingly prominent in a variety of cultural formations, from self-help guides and the arts to advertising and public health programmes. This article, which introduces the special issue of "History of the Human Science" on "Neuroscience, Power and Culture," considers the ways that social and historical research can, through empirical investigations grounded in the observation of what is actually happening and has already happened in the sciences of mind and brain, complement speculative discussions of the possible social implications of neuroscience that now appear regularly in the media and in philosophical bioethics. It suggests that the neurosciences are best understood in terms of their lineage within the "psy"-disciplines, and that, accordingly, our analyses of them will be strengthened by drawing on existing literatures on the history and politics of psychology -- particularly those that analyze formations of knowledge, power and subjectivity associated with the discipline and its practical applications. Additionally, it argues against taking today's neuroscientific facts and brain-targetting technologies as starting points for analysis, and for greater recognition of the ways that these are shaped by historical, cultural and political-economic forces.

Information-Quality based LV-Grid-Monitoring Framework and its Application to Power-Quality Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Findrik, Mislav; Kristensen, Thomas le Fevre; Hinterhofer, Thomas

2015-01-01

The integration of unpredictable renewable energy sources into the low voltage (LV) power grid results in new challenges when it comes to ensuring power quality in the electrical grid. Addressing this problem requires control of not only the secondary substation but also control of flexible assets...... inside the LV grid. In this paper we investigate how the flexibility information of such assets can be accessed by the controller using heterogeneous off-the-shelf communication networks. To achieve this we develop an adaptive monitoring framework, through which the controller can subscribe to the assets......' flexibility information through an API. We define an information quality metric making the monitoring framework able to adapt information access strategies to ensure the information is made available to the controller with the highest possible information quality. To evaluate the monitoring framework...

The Neuropsychoanalytic Approach: Using Neuroscience as the Basic Science of Psychoanalysis

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Brian; Flores Mosri, Daniela

2016-01-01

Neuroscience was the basic science behind Freud's psychoanalytic theory and technique. He worked as a neurologist for 20 years before being aware that a new approach to understand complex diseases, namely the hysterias, was needed. Solms coined the term neuropsychoanalysis to affirm that neuroscience still belongs in psychoanalysis. The neuropsychoanalytic field has continued Freud's original ideas as stated in 1895. Developments in psychoanalysis that have been created or revised by the neuropsychoanalysis movement include pain/relatedness/opioids, drive, structural model, dreams, cathexis, and dynamic unconscious. Neuroscience has contributed to the development of new psychoanalytic theory, such as Bazan's (2011) description of anxiety driven by unconscious intentions or “phantoms.” Results of adopting the “dual aspect monism” approach of idiographic psychoanalytic clinical observation combined with nomothetic investigation of related human phenomena include clarification and revision of theory, restoration of the scientific base of psychoanalysis, and improvement of clinical treatments. By imbricating psychoanalytic thinking with neuroscience, psychoanalysts are also positioned to make contributions to neuroscience research. Freud's original Project for a Scientific Psychology/Psychology for Neurologists can be carried forward in a way that moves psychoanalysis into the twenty-first century as a core contemporary science (Kandel, 1999). Neuroscience as the basic science of psychoanalysis both improves the field, and enhances its scientific and cultural status. PMID:27790160

Conceptual privacy framework for health information on wearable device.

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Seyedmostafa Safavi

Full Text Available Wearable health tech provides doctors with the ability to remotely supervise their patients' wellness. It also makes it much easier to authorize someone else to take appropriate actions to ensure the person's wellness than ever before. Information Technology may soon change the way medicine is practiced, improving the performance, while reducing the price of healthcare. We analyzed the secrecy demands of wearable devices, including Smartphone, smart watch and their computing techniques, that can soon change the way healthcare is provided. However, before this is adopted in practice, all devices must be equipped with sufficient privacy capabilities related to healthcare service. In this paper, we formulated a new improved conceptual framework for wearable healthcare systems. This framework consists of ten principles and nine checklists, capable of providing complete privacy protection package to wearable device owners. We constructed this framework based on the analysis of existing mobile technology, the results of which are combined with the existing security standards. The approach also incorporates the market share percentage level of every app and its respective OS. This framework is evaluated based on the stringent CIA and HIPAA principles for information security. This evaluation is followed by testing the capability to revoke rights of subjects to access objects and ability to determine the set of available permissions for a particular subject for all models Finally, as the last step, we examine the complexity of the required initial setup.

No Brain Left Behind: Consequences of Neuroscience Discourse for Education

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Busso, Daniel S.; Pollack, Courtney

2015-01-01

Educational neuroscience represents a concerted interdisciplinary effort to bring the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience and education to bear on classroom practice. This article draws attention to the current and potential implications of importing biological ideas, language and imagery into education. By analysing examples of brain-based…

Characterising Information Systems in Australia: A Theoretical Framework

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Gail Ridley

2006-11-01

Full Text Available The study reported in this volume aims to investigate the state of the Information Systems academic discipline in Australia from a historical and current perspective, collecting evidence across a range of dimensions. To maximise the strategic potential of the study, the results need to be capable of integration, so that the relationships within and across the dimensions and geographical units are understood. A meaningful theoretical framework will help relate the results of the different dimensions of the study to characterise the discipline in the region, and assist in empowering the Australian IS research community. This paper reviewed literature on the development of disciplines, before deriving a theoretical framework for the broader study reported in this volume. The framework considered the current and past state of IS in Australian universities from the perspective of the development of a discipline. The components of the framework were derived and validated through a thematic analysis of both the IS and non-IS literature. This paper also presents brief vignettes of the development of two other related disciplines. The framework developed in this paper, which has been partly guided by Whitley’s Theory of Scientific Change, has been used to analyse data collated from the Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory. The degree of variation in Australian IS as an indication of its “professionalisation”, the nature of its body of knowledge and its mechanisms of control, will be used to frame the analysis. Research reported in several of the papers that follow in this volume has drawn upon the theoretical framework presented below.

Applying the Framework for Information Literacy to the Developmental Education Classroom

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Garcia, Larissa

2014-01-01

Translating the new Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education (ACRL November 2014) into learning outcomes, instructional content, and assessments might appear to be an overwhelming task; however, in many cases the revision exemplifies how many librarians have been teaching information literacy in the digital information landscape.…

Framework for a new dialogue between psychoanalysis and neurosciences: is the combined neuro-psychoanalytic approach the missing link?

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Vaslamatzis Grigoris

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Freud's legacy deriving from his work The project for a scientific psychology (1895 could give a new impetus to the dialogue between psychoanalysis and neurosciences. A rapproachment phase is warrented. Based on the work of psychoanalysts who are themselves neuroscientists (such as Mauro Mancia, Martha Koukkou and Harold Shevrin or have a long term dialogue with neuroscientists (Arnold Modell, three points of epistemological congruence are described: 1. dualism is no longer a satisfactory solution 2. cautions for the centrality of interpretation (hermeneutics 3. the self-criticism of neuroscientists

Framework for a new dialogue between psychoanalysis and neurosciences: is the combined neuro-psychoanalytic approach the missing link?

Science.gov (United States)

Vaslamatzis, Grigoris

2007-01-01

Freud's legacy deriving from his work The project for a scientific psychology (1895) could give a new impetus to the dialogue between psychoanalysis and neurosciences. A rapproachment phase is warrented. Based on the work of psychoanalysts who are themselves neuroscientists (such as Mauro Mancia, Martha Koukkou and Harold Shevrin) or have a long term dialogue with neuroscientists (Arnold Modell), three points of epistemological congruence are described: 1. dualism is no longer a satisfactory solution 2. cautions for the centrality of interpretation (hermeneutics) 3. the self-criticism of neuroscientists PMID:17976245

An analysis of the abstracts presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Neuroscience from 2001 to 2006.

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John M Lin

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Annual meeting abstracts published by scientific societies often contain rich arrays of information that can be computationally mined and distilled to elucidate the state and dynamics of the subject field. We extracted and processed abstract data from the Society for Neuroscience (SFN annual meeting abstracts during the period 2001-2006 in order to gain an objective view of contemporary neuroscience. An important first step in the process was the application of data cleaning and disambiguation methods to construct a unified database, since the data were too noisy to be of full utility in the raw form initially available. Using natural language processing, text mining, and other data analysis techniques, we then examined the demographics and structure of the scientific collaboration network, the dynamics of the field over time, major research trends, and the structure of the sources of research funding. Some interesting findings include a high geographical concentration of neuroscience research in the north eastern United States, a surprisingly large transient population (66% of the authors appear in only one out of the six studied years, the central role played by the study of neurodegenerative disorders in the neuroscience community, and an apparent growth of behavioral/systems neuroscience with a corresponding shrinkage of cellular/molecular neuroscience over the six year period. The results from this work will prove useful for scientists, policy makers, and funding agencies seeking to gain a complete and unbiased picture of the community structure and body of knowledge encapsulated by a specific scientific domain.

Hybrid modelling framework by using mathematics-based and information-based methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghaboussi, J; Kim, J; Elnashai, A

2010-01-01

Mathematics-based computational mechanics involves idealization in going from the observed behaviour of a system into mathematical equations representing the underlying mechanics of that behaviour. Idealization may lead mathematical models that exclude certain aspects of the complex behaviour that may be significant. An alternative approach is data-centric modelling that constitutes a fundamental shift from mathematical equations to data that contain the required information about the underlying mechanics. However, purely data-centric methods often fail for infrequent events and large state changes. In this article, a new hybrid modelling framework is proposed to improve accuracy in simulation of real-world systems. In the hybrid framework, a mathematical model is complemented by information-based components. The role of informational components is to model aspects which the mathematical model leaves out. The missing aspects are extracted and identified through Autoprogressive Algorithms. The proposed hybrid modelling framework has a wide range of potential applications for natural and engineered systems. The potential of the hybrid methodology is illustrated through modelling highly pinched hysteretic behaviour of beam-to-column connections in steel frames.

The Common Body of Knowledge: A Framework to Promote Relevant Information Security Research

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Kenneth J. Knapp

2007-03-01

Full Text Available This study proposes using an established common body of knowledge (CBK as one means of organizing information security literature.  Consistent with calls for more relevant information systems (IS research, this industry-developed framework can motivate future research towards topics that are important to the security practitioner.  In this review, forty-eight articles from ten IS journals from 1995 to 2004 are selected and cross-referenced to the ten domains of the information security CBK.  Further, we distinguish articles as empirical research, frameworks, or tutorials.  Generally, this study identified a need for additional empirical research in every CBK domain including topics related to legal aspects of information security.  Specifically, this study identified a need for additional IS security research relating to applications development, physical security, operations security, and business continuity.  The CBK framework is inherently practitioner oriented and using it will promote relevancy by steering IS research towards topics important to practitioners.  This is important considering the frequent calls by prominent information systems scholars for more relevant research.  Few research frameworks have emerged from the literature that specifically classify the diversity of security threats and range of problems that businesses today face.  With the recent surge of interest in security, the need for a comprehensive framework that also promotes relevant research can be of great value.

Methodological Problems on the Way to Integrative Human Neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotchoubey, Boris; Tretter, Felix; Braun, Hans A; Buchheim, Thomas; Draguhn, Andreas; Fuchs, Thomas; Hasler, Felix; Hastedt, Heiner; Hinterberger, Thilo; Northoff, Georg; Rentschler, Ingo; Schleim, Stephan; Sellmaier, Stephan; Tebartz Van Elst, Ludger; Tschacher, Wolfgang

2016-01-01

Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary effort to understand the structures and functions of the brain and brain-mind relations. This effort results in an increasing amount of data, generated by sophisticated technologies. However, these data enhance our descriptive knowledge , rather than improve our understanding of brain functions. This is caused by methodological gaps both within and between subdisciplines constituting neuroscience, and the atomistic approach that limits the study of macro- and mesoscopic issues. Whole-brain measurement technologies do not resolve these issues, but rather aggravate them by the complexity problem. The present article is devoted to methodological and epistemic problems that obstruct the development of human neuroscience. We neither discuss ontological questions (e.g., the nature of the mind) nor review data, except when it is necessary to demonstrate a methodological issue. As regards intradisciplinary methodological problems, we concentrate on those within neurobiology (e.g., the gap between electrical and chemical approaches to neurophysiological processes) and psychology (missing theoretical concepts). As regards interdisciplinary problems, we suggest that core disciplines of neuroscience can be integrated using systemic concepts that also entail human-environment relations. We emphasize the necessity of a meta-discussion that should entail a closer cooperation with philosophy as a discipline of systematic reflection. The atomistic reduction should be complemented by the explicit consideration of the embodiedness of the brain and the embeddedness of humans. The discussion is aimed at the development of an explicit methodology of integrative human neuroscience , which will not only link different fields and levels, but also help in understanding clinical phenomena.

Methodological Problems on the Way to Integrative Human Neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Kotchoubey, Boris; Tretter, Felix; Braun, Hans A.; Buchheim, Thomas; Draguhn, Andreas; Fuchs, Thomas; Hasler, Felix; Hastedt, Heiner; Hinterberger, Thilo; Northoff, Georg; Rentschler, Ingo; Schleim, Stephan; Sellmaier, Stephan; Tebartz Van Elst, Ludger; Tschacher, Wolfgang

2016-01-01

Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary effort to understand the structures and functions of the brain and brain-mind relations. This effort results in an increasing amount of data, generated by sophisticated technologies. However, these data enhance our descriptive knowledge, rather than improve our understanding of brain functions. This is caused by methodological gaps both within and between subdisciplines constituting neuroscience, and the atomistic approach that limits the study of macro- and mesoscopic issues. Whole-brain measurement technologies do not resolve these issues, but rather aggravate them by the complexity problem. The present article is devoted to methodological and epistemic problems that obstruct the development of human neuroscience. We neither discuss ontological questions (e.g., the nature of the mind) nor review data, except when it is necessary to demonstrate a methodological issue. As regards intradisciplinary methodological problems, we concentrate on those within neurobiology (e.g., the gap between electrical and chemical approaches to neurophysiological processes) and psychology (missing theoretical concepts). As regards interdisciplinary problems, we suggest that core disciplines of neuroscience can be integrated using systemic concepts that also entail human-environment relations. We emphasize the necessity of a meta-discussion that should entail a closer cooperation with philosophy as a discipline of systematic reflection. The atomistic reduction should be complemented by the explicit consideration of the embodiedness of the brain and the embeddedness of humans. The discussion is aimed at the development of an explicit methodology of integrative human neuroscience, which will not only link different fields and levels, but also help in understanding clinical phenomena. PMID:27965548

Experimental Methods in Psychology and Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

OpenAIRE

Habekost, Thomas; Nielsen, Julie Hassing

2014-01-01

Laboratory experiments have always been important in psychology and are as commonly used today as ever due to the dominating position of cognitive research in international psychology. This trend has been further strengthened by recent developments in cognitive neuroscience, where experimental studies are central. Recently, experimental studies within the fi eld of affective neuroscience have also received attention. Notwithstanding, experimental methods remain controversial also in psychology...

Jack Nicholson: A Reel and Real-Life Contribution to Neurosciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Tripathi, Manjul; Purkayastha, Moushumi; Rai, Ashutosh; Mukherjee, Kanchan K

2017-05-01

Though primarily considered entertainment, cinema is a mirror of society. The portrayal of neurosciences is common in cinema, but none could do it better than Jack Nicholson. We give a brief overview of his contribution to neurosciences by analyzing his acting skills. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ComTrustO: Composite Trust-Based Ontology Framework for Information and Decision Fusion

Science.gov (United States)

2015-07-06

11] presents a methodological approach for ontology management allowing development of extensible ontologies and the mapping from ontologies to...ComTrustO: Composite Trust-based Ontology Framework for Information and Decision Fusion Alessandro Oltramari Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh... ontology -based framework for information fusion, as a support system for human decision makers. In particular, we build upon the concept of composite

Virtual Reality for Enhanced Ecological Validity and Experimental Control in the Clinical, Affective and Social Neurosciences

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Parsons, Thomas D.

2015-01-01

An essential tension can be found between researchers interested in ecological validity and those concerned with maintaining experimental control. Research in the human neurosciences often involves the use of simple and static stimuli lacking many of the potentially important aspects of real world activities and interactions. While this research is valuable, there is a growing interest in the human neurosciences to use cues about target states in the real world via multimodal scenarios that involve visual, semantic, and prosodic information. These scenarios should include dynamic stimuli presented concurrently or serially in a manner that allows researchers to assess the integrative processes carried out by perceivers over time. Furthermore, there is growing interest in contextually embedded stimuli that can constrain participant interpretations of cues about a target’s internal states. Virtual reality environments proffer assessment paradigms that combine the experimental control of laboratory measures with emotionally engaging background narratives to enhance affective experience and social interactions. The present review highlights the potential of virtual reality environments for enhanced ecological validity in the clinical, affective, and social neurosciences. PMID:26696869

Quantum physics in neuroscience and psychology: A neurophysicalmodel of the mind/brain interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schwartz, Jeffrey M.; Stapp, Henry P.; Beauregard, Mario

2004-09-21

Neuropsychological research on the neural basis of behavior generally posits that brain mechanisms will ultimately suffice to explain all psychologically described phenomena. This assumption stems from the idea that the brain is made up entirely of material particles and fields, and that all causal mechanisms relevant to neuroscience can therefore be formulated solely in terms of properties of these elements. Thus terms having intrinsic mentalistic and/or experiential content (e.g., ''feeling,'' ''knowing,'' and ''effort'') are not included as primary causal factors. This theoretical restriction is motivated primarily by ideas about the natural world that have been known to be fundamentally incorrect for more than three quarters of a century. Contemporary basic physical theory differs profoundly from classical physics on the important matter of how the consciousness of human agents enters into the structure of empirical phenomena. The new principles contradict the older idea that local mechanical processes alone can account for the structure of all observed empirical data. Contemporary physical theory brings directly and irreducibly into the overall causal structure certain psychologically described choices made by human agents about how they will act. This key development in basic physical theory is applicable to neuroscience, and it provides neuroscientists and psychologists with an alternative conceptual framework for describing neural processes. Indeed, due to certain structural features of ion channels critical to synaptic function, contemporary physical theory must in principle be used when analyzing human brain dynamics. The new framework, unlike its classical-physics-based predecessor is erected directly upon, and is compatible with, the prevailing principles of physics, and is able to represent more adequately than classical concepts the neuroplastic mechanisms relevant to the growing number of

Understanding and accounting for relational context is critical for social neuroscience.

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Clark-Polner, Elizabeth; Clark, Margaret S

2014-01-01

Scientists have increasingly turned to the brain and to neuroscience more generally to further an understanding of social and emotional judgments and behavior. Yet, many neuroscientists (certainly not all) do not consider the role of relational context. Moreover, most have not examined the impact of relational context in a manner that takes advantage of conceptual and empirical advances in relationship science. Here we emphasize that: (1) all social behavior takes place, by definition, within the context of a relationship (even if that relationship is a new one with a stranger), and (2) relational context shapes not only social thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, but also some seemingly non-social thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in profound ways. We define relational context and suggest that accounting for it in the design and interpretation of neuroscience research is essential to the development of a coherent, generalizable neuroscience of social behavior. We make our case in two ways: (a) we describe some existing neuroscience research in three substantive areas (perceiving and reacting to others' emotions, providing help, and receiving help) that already has documented the powerful impact of relational context. (b) We describe some other neuroscience research from these same areas that has not taken relational context into account. Then, using findings from social and personality psychology, we make a case that different results almost certainly would have been found had the research been conducted in a different relational context. We neither attempt to review all evidence that relational context shapes neuroscience findings nor to put forward a theoretical analysis of all the ways relational context ought to shape neuroscience findings. Our goal is simply to urge greater and more systematic consideration of relational context in neuroscientific research.

Neuroscience Club in SKKK3 and SMSTMFP: The Brain Apprentice Project.

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Mohd Ibrahim, Seri Dewi; Muda, Mazinah

2015-01-01

Sekolah Menengah Sains Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra (SMSTMFP) and Sekolah Kebangsaan Kubang Kerian (3) (SKKK3) were selected by the Department of Neurosciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), in 2011 to be a 'school-based Neuroscience Club' via the 'Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP) - Community' project. This community project was known as "The Brain Apprentice Project". The objectives of this project were to promote science and the neurosciences beyond conventional classroom teachings whilst guiding creativity and innovation as well as to assist in the delivery of neuroscience knowledge through graduate interns as part of the cultivation of neuroscience as a fruitful future career option. All of the planned club activities moulded the students to be knowledgeable individuals with admirable leadership skills, which will help the schools produce more scientists, technocrats and professionals who can fulfil the requirements of our religion, race and nation in the future. Some of the activities carried out over the years include the "My Brain Invention Competition", "Mini Brain Bee Contest", "Recycled Melody" and "Brain Dissection". These activities educated the students well and improved their confidence levels in their communication and soft skills. The participation of the students in international-level competition, such as the "International Brain Bee", was one of the ways future professionals were created for the nation. The implementation of Neuroscience Club as one of the organisations in the school's cocurriculum was an appropriate step in transferring science and neuroscience knowledge and skills from a higher education institution, namely USM, to both of the schools, SMSTMFP and SKKK3. The club members showed great interest in all of the club's activities and their performance on the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) or Primary School Achievement Test and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or Malaysian Certificate of Education examinations improved

The influence of Dr. Hsiang-Tung Chang on neuroscience in Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

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Jiang, Chun

2012-10-25

As one of the founders of Chinese neuroscience, Dr. Hsiang-Tung Chang's return to China has a profound impact on neuroscience in China. As many people expected, this action also may have influenced the development of neuroscience in other Eastern countries. Therefore, Dr. Chang's move may have changed the history of neuroscience in a greater area than China.

The modern search for the Holy Grail: is neuroscience a solution?

Science.gov (United States)

Naor, Navot; Ben-Ze'ev, Aaron; Okon-Singer, Hadas

2014-01-01

Neuroscience has become prevalent in recent years; nevertheless, its value in the examination of psychological and philosophical phenomena is still a matter of debate. The examples reviewed here suggest that neuroscientific tools can be significant in the investigation of such complex phenomena. In this article, we argue that it is important to study concepts that do not have a clear characterization and emphasize the role of neuroscience in this quest for knowledge. The data reviewed here suggest that neuroscience may (1) enrich our knowledge; (2) outline the nature of an explanation; and (3) lead to substantial empirical and theoretical discoveries. To that end, we review work on hedonia and eudaimonia in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy. These studies demonstrate the importance of neuroscientific tools in the investigation of phenomena that are difficult to define using other methods. PMID:24926246

Neuroscience and the Soul: Competing Explanations for the Human Experience

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Preston, Jesse Lee; Ritter, Ryan S.; Hepler, Justin

2013-01-01

The development of fMRI techniques has generated a boom of neuroscience research across the psychological sciences, and revealed neural correlates for many psychological phenomena seen as central to the human experience (e.g., morality, agency). Meanwhile, the rise of neuroscience has reignited old debates over mind-body dualism and the soul.…

Flexible patient information search and retrieval framework: pilot implementation

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Erdal, Selnur; Catalyurek, Umit V.; Saltz, Joel; Kamal, Jyoti; Gurcan, Metin N.

2007-03-01

Medical centers collect and store significant amount of valuable data pertaining to patients' visit in the form of medical free-text. In addition, standardized diagnosis codes (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification: ICD9-CM) related to those dictated reports are usually available. In this work, we have created a framework where image searches could be initiated through a combination of free-text reports as well as ICD9 codes. This framework enables more comprehensive search on existing large sets of patient data in a systematic way. The free text search is enriched by computer-aided inclusion of additional search terms enhanced by a thesaurus. This combination of enriched search allows users to access to a larger set of relevant results from a patient-centric PACS in a simpler way. Therefore, such framework is of particular use in tasks such as gathering images for desired patient populations, building disease models, and so on. As the motivating application of our framework, we implemented a search engine. This search engine processed two years of patient data from the OSU Medical Center's Information Warehouse and identified lung nodule location information using a combination of UMLS Meta-Thesaurus enhanced text report searches along with ICD9 code searches on patients that have been discharged. Five different queries with various ICD9 codes involving lung cancer were carried out on 172552 cases. Each search was completed under a minute on average per ICD9 code and the inclusion of UMLS thesaurus increased the number of relevant cases by 45% on average.

On long-only information-based portfolio diversification framework

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Raphael A.; Takada, Hellinton H.

2014-12-01

Using the concepts from information theory, it is possible to improve the traditional frameworks for long-only asset allocation. In modern portfolio theory, the investor has two basic procedures: the choice of a portfolio that maximizes its risk-adjusted excess return or the mixed allocation between the maximum Sharpe portfolio and the risk-free asset. In the literature, the first procedure was already addressed using information theory. One contribution of this paper is the consideration of the second procedure in the information theory context. The performance of these approaches was compared with three traditional asset allocation methodologies: the Markowitz's mean-variance, the resampled mean-variance and the equally weighted portfolio. Using simulated and real data, the information theory-based methodologies were verified to be more robust when dealing with the estimation errors.

Defining Information Quality Into Health Websites: A Conceptual Framework of Health Website Information Quality for Educated Young Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Donghua; LeRouge, Cynthia; Smith, K Jody; De Leo, Gianluca

2017-10-06

Today's health care environment encourages health care consumers to take an active role in managing their health. As digital natives, young educated adults do much of their health information management through the Internet and consider it a valid source of health advice. However, the quality of information on health websites is highly variable and dynamic. Little is known about the understandings and perceptions that young educated adults have garnered on the quality of information on health websites used for health care-related purposes. To fill this gap, the aim of this study was to develop a conceptual framework of health website information quality with quality dimensions (ie, criteria) and associated quality drivers (ie, attributes) specified in the context of young educated adults' use of health websites for health care-related purposes. This aim was achieved by (1) identifying information quality dimensions of health websites from the perspective of young educated adults; (2) identifying the importance ratings of these quality dimensions; and (3) constructing a framework of health website information quality with quality dimensions and associated drivers specified in the context of young educated adults' use of health websites for health care-related purposes. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. Methods included semistructured group interviews and an individual quality assessment exercise grounded in visiting various websites and responding to Likert scale questions regarding the importance ratings of information quality dimensions and open-ended questions with specifying website quality drivers. Study participants included junior and senior undergraduate and graduate students in business, allied health, and public health majors. Qualitative, open-coding procedures were used to develop the conceptual framework reflecting the participants' means of assessing information quality on health websites. Five dimensions of information

Information processing, computation, and cognition.

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Piccinini, Gualtiero; Scarantino, Andrea

2011-01-01

Computation and information processing are among the most fundamental notions in cognitive science. They are also among the most imprecisely discussed. Many cognitive scientists take it for granted that cognition involves computation, information processing, or both - although others disagree vehemently. Yet different cognitive scientists use 'computation' and 'information processing' to mean different things, sometimes without realizing that they do. In addition, computation and information processing are surrounded by several myths; first and foremost, that they are the same thing. In this paper, we address this unsatisfactory state of affairs by presenting a general and theory-neutral account of computation and information processing. We also apply our framework by analyzing the relations between computation and information processing on one hand and classicism, connectionism, and computational neuroscience on the other. We defend the relevance to cognitive science of both computation, at least in a generic sense, and information processing, in three important senses of the term. Our account advances several foundational debates in cognitive science by untangling some of their conceptual knots in a theory-neutral way. By leveling the playing field, we pave the way for the future resolution of the debates' empirical aspects.

Cognitive theory and brain fact: Insights for the future of cognitive neuroscience. Comment on “Toward a computational framework for cognitive biology: Unifying approaches from cognitive neuroscience and comparative cognition” by W. Tecumseh Fitch

Science.gov (United States)

Bowling, Daniel

2014-09-01

A central challenge in neuroscience is to understand the relationship between the mechanistic operation of the nervous system and the psychological phenomena we experience everyday (e.g., perception, memory, attention, emotion, and consciousness). Supported by revolutionary advances in technology, knowledge of neural mechanisms has grown dramatically over recent decades, but with few exceptions our understanding of how these mechanisms relate to psychological phenomena remains poor.

Virtual shelves in a digital library: a framework for access to networked information sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick, T B; Springer, G K; Mitchell, J A; Sievert, M E

1995-01-01

Develop a framework for collections-based access to networked information sources that addresses the problem of location-dependent access to information sources. This framework uses a metaphor of a virtual shelf. A virtual shelf is a general-purpose server that is dedicated to a particular information subject class. The identifier of one of these servers identifies its subject class. Location-independent call numbers are assigned to information sources. Call numbers are based on standard vocabulary codes. The call numbers are first mapped to the location-independent identifiers of virtual shelves. When access to an information resource is required, a location directory provides a second mapping of these location-independent server identifiers to actual network locations. The framework has been implemented in two different systems. One system is based on the Open System Foundation/Distributed Computing Environment and the other is based on the World Wide Web. This framework applies in new ways traditional methods of library classification and cataloging. It is compatible with two traditional styles of selecting information searching and browsing. Traditional methods may be combined with new paradigms of information searching that will be able to take advantage of the special properties of digital information. Cooperation between the library-informational science community and the informatics community can provide a means for a continuing application of the knowledge and techniques of library science to the new problems of networked information sources.

Fuzzy logic: A “simple” solution for complexities in neurosciences?

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Godil, Saniya Siraj; Shamim, Muhammad Shahzad; Enam, Syed Ather; Qidwai, Uvais

2011-01-01

Background: Fuzzy logic is a multi-valued logic which is similar to human thinking and interpretation. It has the potential of combining human heuristics into computer-assisted decision making, which is applicable to individual patients as it takes into account all the factors and complexities of individuals. Fuzzy logic has been applied in all disciplines of medicine in some form and recently its applicability in neurosciences has also gained momentum. Methods: This review focuses on the use of this concept in various branches of neurosciences including basic neuroscience, neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry and psychology. Results: The applicability of fuzzy logic is not limited to research related to neuroanatomy, imaging nerve fibers and understanding neurophysiology, but it is also a sensitive and specific tool for interpretation of EEGs, EMGs and MRIs and an effective controller device in intensive care units. It has been used for risk stratification of stroke, diagnosis of different psychiatric illnesses and even planning neurosurgical procedures. Conclusions: In the future, fuzzy logic has the potential of becoming the basis of all clinical decision making and our understanding of neurosciences. PMID:21541006

Critical ethnography: An under-used research methodology in neuroscience nursing.

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Ross, Cheryl; Rogers, Cath; Duff, Diane

2016-01-01

Critical ethnography is a qualitative research method that endeavours to explore and understand dominant discourses that are seen as being the 'right' way to think, see, talk about or enact a particular 'action' or situation in society and recommend ways to re-dress social power inequities. In health care, vulnerable populations, including many individuals who have experienced neurological illnesses or injuries that leave them susceptible to the influence of others, would be suitable groups for study using critical ethnography methodology. Critical ethnography has also been used to study workplace culture. While ethnography has been effectively used to underpin other phenomena of interest to neuroscience nurses, only one example of the use of critical ethnography exists in the published literature related to neuroscience nursing. In our "Research Corner" in this issue of the Canadian Journal of Neuroscience Nursing (CJNN) our guest editors, Dr. Cheryl Ross and Dr. Cath Rogers will briefly highlight the origins of qualitative research, ethnography, and critical ethnography and describe how they are used and, as the third author, I will discuss the relevance of critical ethnography findings for neuroscience nurses.

Towards a Lifecycle Information Framework and Technology in Manufacturing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedberg, Thomas; Feeney, Allison Barnard; Helu, Moneer; Camelio, Jaime A

2017-06-01

Industry has been chasing the dream of integrating and linking data across the product lifecycle and enterprises for decades. However, industry has been challenged by the fact that the context in which data is used varies based on the function / role in the product lifecycle that is interacting with the data. Holistically, the data across the product lifecycle must be considered an unstructured data-set because multiple data repositories and domain-specific schema exist in each phase of the lifecycle. This paper explores a concept called the Lifecycle Information Framework and Technology (LIFT). LIFT is a conceptual framework for lifecycle information management and the integration of emerging and existing technologies, which together form the basis of a research agenda for dynamic information modeling in support of digital-data curation and reuse in manufacturing. This paper provides a discussion of the existing technologies and activities that the LIFT concept leverages. Also, the paper describes the motivation for applying such work to the domain of manufacturing. Then, the LIFT concept is discussed in detail, while underlying technologies are further examined and a use case is detailed. Lastly, potential impacts are explored.

Neurogenethics: An emerging discipline at the intersection of ethics, neuroscience, and genomics

OpenAIRE

Canli, Turhan

2015-01-01

The analysis of ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) associated with genetics (?genethics?) has focused on traditional concerns in bioethics, such as privacy and informed consent. The analysis of ELSI associated with neuroscience (?neuroethics?) has focused on concerns related to personhood, such as free will or cognitive enhancement. With neurogenomics coming of age, this is an appropriate time to attend to the set of novel concerns that arises when we consider the confluence of th...

Neuroscience within companies: some case studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Emanuela Salati

2017-04-01

Full Text Available It is possible to understand many crucial processes within organizations such as change planning and management, training, decision making and leadership thanks to organisational neuroscience. For example, poorly managed change can result in alarm messages within our brains. Managers must be aware of how their words, emotions and conduct have a significant impact on team mood and results. Another fast-growing area of research is neuromarketing, thanks to company investments. This article presents a success story: a company that, faced with the need to change its selling proposition, uses neurometric techniques to analyse possible resistance of the sales force and then acted accordingly. Even training can significantly improve company efficiency thanks to neuroscience. This article also discusses some experiments carried out by the Training Department of a large public transport company.

Reducing barriers to ethics in neuroscience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Judy Illes

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Ethics is a growing interest for neuroscientists, but rather than signifying a commitment to the protection of human subjects, care of animals, and public understanding to which the professional community is engaged in a fundamental way, interest has been consumed by administrative overhead and the mission creep of institutional ethics reviews. Faculty, trainees, and staff (N=605 whose work involves brain imaging and brain stimulation completed an online survey about ethics in their research. Using factor analysis and linear regression, we found significant effects for invasiveness of imaging technique, professional position, gender, and local presence of bioethics centers. We propose strategies for improving communication between the neuroscience community and ethics review boards, collaborations between neuroscientists and biomedical ethicists, and ethics training in graduate neuroscience programs to revitalize mutual goals and interests.

Can the Differences between Education and Neuroscience Be Overcome by Mind, Brain, and Education?

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Samuels, Boba M.

2009-01-01

The new field of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE)--sometimes called educational neuroscience--is posited as a mediator between neuroscience and education. Several foundational concerns, however, can be raised about this emerging field. The differences between neuroscience and education are many, including differences in their histories,…

Neuroscience in the residency curriculum: the psychoanalytic psychotherapy perspective.

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Watson, Brendon O; Michels, Robert

2014-04-01

Educators of future psychiatrists tend to teach an array of approaches to the mind and brain, including among them the neurobiologic perspective and the psychoanalytic perspective. These may be considered at opposite ends of many spectra, including the fact that psychoanalysis takes a large-scale and treatment-oriented perspective and has helped countless patients over the years, while neuroscience has tended to be reductionistic, focused on understanding, and has helped very few people. A tension, therefore, exists for the educator in teaching neuroscience: is it wise to spend valuable time and energy teaching this interesting but, thus far, impractical field to future practitioners? Here, we argue that neuroscience is re-orienting itself towards more psychoanalytically relevant questions and is likely, in future years, to give new insights into the nature of basic drives and social relations. We additionally argue for balance on the part of providers in both acknowledging biologic underpinnings for clinical phenomena and yet continuing to take a stance oriented towards appropriate change. Given the burgeoning new focus within neuroscience on topics directly relating to the human internal experience and the novel challenges in both understanding those advances and appropriately using them, we encourage educators to continue to give future psychiatrists the educational foundation they need to follow neuroscientific discoveries into the future.

Integrating Neuroscience Knowledge and Neuropsychiatric Skills Into Psychiatry: The Way Forward.

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Schildkrout, Barbara; Benjamin, Sheldon; Lauterbach, Margo D

2016-05-01

Increasing the integration of neuroscience knowledge and neuropsychiatric skills into general psychiatric practice would facilitate expanded approaches to diagnosis, formulation, and treatment while positioning practitioners to utilize findings from emerging brain research. There is growing consensus that the field of psychiatry would benefit from more familiarity with neuroscience and neuropsychiatry. Yet there remain numerous factors impeding the integration of these domains of knowledge into general psychiatry.The authors make recommendations to move the field forward, focusing on the need for advocacy by psychiatry and medical organizations and changes in psychiatry education at all levels. For individual psychiatrists, the recommendations target obstacles to attaining expanded neuroscience and neuropsychiatry education and barriers stemming from widely held, often unspoken beliefs. For the system of psychiatric care, recommendations address the conceptual and physical separation of psychiatry from medicine, overemphasis on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and on psychopharmacology, and different systems in medicine and psychiatry for handling reimbursement and patient records. For psychiatry residency training, recommendations focus on expanding neuroscience/neuropsychiatry faculty and integrating neuroscience education throughout the curriculum.Psychiatry traditionally concerns itself with helping individuals construct meaningful life narratives. Brain function is one of the fundamental determinants of individuality. It is now possible for psychiatrists to integrate knowledge of neuroscience into understanding the whole person by asking, What person has this brain? How does this brain make this person unique? How does this brain make this disorder unique? What treatment will help this disorder in this person with this brain?

A Neuroscience Perspective on Learning

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Sloan, Dendy; Norrgran, Cynthia

2016-01-01

We briefly discuss memory types and three modern principles of neuroscience: 1) Protein growth at the synapse, 2) the three-brain theory, and 3) the interplay of the hippocampus, the neocortex, and the prefrontal cortex. To illustrate the potential of this perspective, four applications of these principles are provided.

Quantum and Information Thermodynamics: A Unifying Framework Based on Repeated Interactions

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Strasberg, Philipp; Schaller, Gernot; Brandes, Tobias; Esposito, Massimiliano

2017-04-01

We expand the standard thermodynamic framework of a system coupled to a thermal reservoir by considering a stream of independently prepared units repeatedly put into contact with the system. These units can be in any nonequilibrium state and interact with the system with an arbitrary strength and duration. We show that this stream constitutes an effective resource of nonequilibrium free energy, and we identify the conditions under which it behaves as a heat, work, or information reservoir. We also show that this setup provides a natural framework to analyze information erasure ("Landauer's principle") and feedback-controlled systems ("Maxwell's demon"). In the limit of a short system-unit interaction time, we further demonstrate that this setup can be used to provide a thermodynamically sound interpretation to many effective master equations. We discuss how nonautonomously driven systems, micromasers, lasing without inversion and the electronic Maxwell demon can be thermodynamically analyzed within our framework. While the present framework accounts for quantum features (e.g., squeezing, entanglement, coherence), we also show that quantum resources do not offer any advantage compared to classical ones in terms of the maximum extractable work.

Neuroscience Knowledge Among Athletic Training Professional Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douglas M. Seavey

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The Journal of Sports Medicine & Allied Health Sciences, 2016;2(1 ISSN: 2376-9289 Seavey, Beatty, Lenhoff, & Krause. Neuroscience Knowledge Among Athletic Training Professional Programs Neuroscience Knowledge Among Athletic Training Professional Programs Douglas M. Seavey, AT, Christopher T. Beatty, Tyler L. Lenhoff, & Bentley A. Krause, PhD, AT Ohio University, College of Health Sciences & Professions, Division of Athletic Training. ____________________________________________________________________ Context: Athletic trainers (ATs, more than any other healthcare professional, has expertise in areas of on-field assessment and management of sport related concussion and spinal cord injury. A search of the key words “brain” (n=>100 or “spinal cord/spine” (n=~50 were identified in National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Statements on Concussion and Spinal Cord Injury. However, a significant gap exists in the basic science knowledge of neuroscience and neuroanatomy. Objective: The goal of this study is to identify the basic science coursework in professional and post-professional athletic training curricula. Design and Setting: This is a descriptive, curricula analysis of CAATE Professional and Post-Professional Athletic Training Programs using web-based search and review. Participants: Curricula for accredited Professional (n=336 and Post-Professional (n=15 Athletic Training Programs were reviewed and analyzed to characteristics basic science content. Interventions: This web-based program review of CAATE standard course content and elective options occurred. Main Outcome Measures: Course titles, numbers and descriptions were accessed at CAATE.net and offerings of anatomy, gross anatomy, neuroanatomy and neuroscience, human physiology, exercise physiology, psychology, chemistry and physics content were quantified. Main outcome measures include frequencies and distributions of courses in each subject area. Results: We reviewed 309

Informing the NCA: EPA's Climate Change Impact and Risk Analysis Framework

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Sarofim, M. C.; Martinich, J.; Kolian, M.; Crimmins, A. R.

2017-12-01

The Climate Change Impact and Risk Analysis (CIRA) framework is designed to quantify the physical impacts and economic damages in the United States under future climate change scenarios. To date, the framework has been applied to 25 sectors, using scenarios and projections developed for the Fourth National Climate Assessment. The strength of this framework has been in the use of consistent climatic, socioeconomic, and technological assumptions and inputs across the impact sectors to maximize the ease of cross-sector comparison. The results of the underlying CIRA sectoral analyses are informing the sustained assessment process by helping to address key gaps related to economic valuation and risk. Advancing capacity and scientific literature in this area has created opportunity to consider future applications and strengthening of the framework. This presentation will describe the CIRA framework, present results for various sectors such as heat mortality, air & water quality, winter recreation, and sea level rise, and introduce potential enhancements that can improve the utility of the framework for decision analysis.

The Social Brain Meets the Reactive Genome: Neuroscience, Epigenetics and the New Social Biology

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Maurizio eMeloni

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The rise of molecular epigenetics over the last few years promises to bring the discourse about the sociality and susceptibility to environmental influences of the brain to an entirely new level. Epigenetics deals with molecular mechanisms such as gene expression, which may embed in the organism memories of social experiences and environmental exposures. These changes in gene expression may be transmitted across generations without changes in the DNA sequence. Epigenetics is the most advanced example of the new postgenomic and context-dependent view of the gene that is making its way into contemporary biology. In my article I will use the current emergence of epigenetics and its link with neuroscience research as an example of the new, and in a way unprecedented, sociality of contemporary biology. After a review of the most important developments of epigenetic research, and some of its links with neuroscience, in the second part I reflect on the novel challenges that epigenetics presents for the social sciences for a re-conceptualization of the link between the biological and the social in a postgenomic age. Although epigenetics remains a contested, hyped, and often uncritical terrain, I claim that especially when conceptualized in broader non-genecentric frameworks, it has a genuine potential to reformulate the ossified biology/society debate.

The social brain meets the reactive genome: neuroscience, epigenetics and the new social biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Meloni, Maurizio

2014-01-01

The rise of molecular epigenetics over the last few years promises to bring the discourse about the sociality and susceptibility to environmental influences of the brain to an entirely new level. Epigenetics deals with molecular mechanisms such as gene expression, which may embed in the organism "memories" of social experiences and environmental exposures. These changes in gene expression may be transmitted across generations without changes in the DNA sequence. Epigenetics is the most advanced example of the new postgenomic and context-dependent view of the gene that is making its way into contemporary biology. In my article I will use the current emergence of epigenetics and its link with neuroscience research as an example of the new, and in a way unprecedented, sociality of contemporary biology. After a review of the most important developments of epigenetic research, and some of its links with neuroscience, in the second part I reflect on the novel challenges that epigenetics presents for the social sciences for a re-conceptualization of the link between the biological and the social in a postgenomic age. Although epigenetics remains a contested, hyped, and often uncritical terrain, I claim that especially when conceptualized in broader non-genecentric frameworks, it has a genuine potential to reformulate the ossified biology/society debate.

An Information Management Framework for the Support of E-Government in Zimbabwe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehluli Masuku

2017-02-01

Full Text Available It has come as a fact that the use of Information and Communication Technologies has come to stay in this world. It aids the implementation of the emerging and irresistible e-government concept that seems to be the in-thing the world over. Zimbabwe has also joined the world by ascertaining its commitment to e-government as witnessed by its promulgation of various e-government services. However, despite the government of Zimbabwe having committed itself to e-government, it is of concern to note that up to this day, the country is operating without a clear information management policy or strategy that will guide and direct all the information management practitioners in the country. This comes as a great weakness in this day and age when the government of Zimbabwe has declared its intentions to subscribe to the e-government concept both in principle and in practice. Although the country has managed to survive without a clearly defined information policy in the pre e-government era, chances of it rolling out an effective and sustainable e-government policy on the same foundation are very slim, given the importance of well managed information as a pillar of sound e-government. The paper employed document analysis as its methodology in which Zimbabwe National Information and Communication Policy (ICT Policy Framework of 2005 and the Ministry of Information Communication Technology’s (MICT Strategic Plan (2010-2014 were reviewed and assessed the extent to which they sufficed to serve as information management frameworks that can support e-governance in Zimbabwe. The study revealed that there are ICT policies that are meant to serve as ICT strategies for the country but none of them has been put to test and such policies are very piecemeal at best as far as their coverage of information management is concerned. The first policy of such nature was the Zimbabwe National Information and Communication Policy (ICT Policy Framework of 2005 that was

Tuning pathological brain oscillations with neurofeedback: A systems neuroscience framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomas eRos

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Neurofeedback is emerging as a promising technique that enables self-regulation of ongoing brain oscillations. However, despite a rise in empirical evidence attesting to its clinical benefits, a solid theoretical basis is still lacking on the manner in which neurofeedback is able to achieve these outcomes. The present work attempts to bring together various concepts from neurobiology, engineering, and dynamical systems so as to propose a contemporary theoretical framework for the mechanistic effects of neurofeedback. The objective is to provide a firmly neurophysiological account of neurofeedback, which goes beyond traditional behaviorist interpretations that attempt to explain psychological processes solely from a descriptive standpoint whilst treating the brain as a ‘black box’. To this end, we interlink evidence from experimental findings that encompass a broad range of intrinsic brain phenomena: starting from ‘bottom-up’ mechanisms of neural synchronization, followed by ‘top-down’ regulation of internal brain states, moving to dynamical systems plus control-theoretic principles, and concluding with activity-dependent as well as homeostatic forms of brain plasticity. In support of our framework, we examine the effects of neurofeedback in several brain disorders, including attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD. The central thesis put forward is that neurofeedback tunes brain oscillations toward a homeostatic set-point which maintains optimal network flexibility and stability (i.e. self-organized criticality.

On the Neuroscience of Self-Regulation in Children with Disruptive Behavior Problems: Implications for Education

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Woltering, Steven; Shi, Qinxin

2016-01-01

Self-regulation is increasingly recognized as a key predictor of academic and social competence. A multidisciplinary understanding of this ability is timely and can strengthen theory and practice. The present review aims to inform educators on what cognitive neuroscience can teach us about self-regulation. To do so, we will focus on a decade-long…

The ACRL framework for information literacy in higher education: implications for health sciences librarianship.

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Knapp, Maureen; Brower, Stewart

2014-01-01

The Association of College and Research Libraries is developing a new framework of information literacy concepts that will revise and replace the previously adopted standards. This framework consists of six threshold concepts that are more flexible than the original standards, and that work to identify both the function and the feelings behind information literacy education practices. This column outlines the new tentative framework with an eye toward its implications for health sciences libraries, and suggests ways the medical library community might work with this new document.

A study on decision-making framework for developing risk-informed technical specifications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Beom Seock

2002-02-01

The utility and the nuclear research institutes in Korea have conduct research for improving inefficient requirements in technical specifications using the results of probability risk assessments and information associated with risk. However, the guidance for reviewing the improved technical specifications has not been developed. Thus, the objective of this study is to develop a decision-making framework for investigating and reviewing the documents associated with the changes of technical specifications. This work has been done for helping the regulation agency to review the improved technical specifications as well as to make decisions whether the remedy is accepted or not. The contents of this study include: 1. Surveys on Technical Specification regulations in foreign countries as well as those in Korea 2. Surveys on the state- of- the- art methodology for Risk Informed Technical Specifications and their uses in Korea 3. Development of a decision-making framework in both the licensee and the regulation agency position 4. Development and applications of a decision-making framework using Influence Diagrams. The decision-making framework for RITS using Influence Diagrams are developed and applied to an example problem in this study. This work might contribute to developing the risk informed regulation guidance for improving the quality of the current technical specifications

Advanced data analysis in neuroscience integrating statistical and computational models

CERN Document Server

Durstewitz, Daniel

2017-01-01

This book is intended for use in advanced graduate courses in statistics / machine learning, as well as for all experimental neuroscientists seeking to understand statistical methods at a deeper level, and theoretical neuroscientists with a limited background in statistics. It reviews almost all areas of applied statistics, from basic statistical estimation and test theory, linear and nonlinear approaches for regression and classification, to model selection and methods for dimensionality reduction, density estimation and unsupervised clustering.  Its focus, however, is linear and nonlinear time series analysis from a dynamical systems perspective, based on which it aims to convey an understanding also of the dynamical mechanisms that could have generated observed time series. Further, it integrates computational modeling of behavioral and neural dynamics with statistical estimation and hypothesis testing. This way computational models in neuroscience are not only explanat ory frameworks, but become powerfu...

Big behavioral data: psychology, ethology and the foundations of neuroscience.

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Gomez-Marin, Alex; Paton, Joseph J; Kampff, Adam R; Costa, Rui M; Mainen, Zachary F

2014-11-01

Behavior is a unifying organismal process where genes, neural function, anatomy and environment converge and interrelate. Here we review the current state and discuss the future effect of accelerating advances in technology for behavioral studies, focusing on rodents as an example. We frame our perspective in three dimensions: the degree of experimental constraint, dimensionality of data and level of description. We argue that 'big behavioral data' presents challenges proportionate to its promise and describe how these challenges might be met through opportunities afforded by the two rival conceptual legacies of twentieth century behavioral science, ethology and psychology. We conclude that, although 'more is not necessarily better', copious, quantitative and open behavioral data has the potential to transform and unify these two disciplines and to solidify the foundations of others, including neuroscience, but only if the development of new theoretical frameworks and improved experimental designs matches the technological progress.

Towards an evaluation framework for Laboratory Information Systems.

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Yusof, Maryati M; Arifin, Azila

Laboratory testing and reporting are error-prone and redundant due to repeated, unnecessary requests and delayed or missed reactions to laboratory reports. Occurring errors may negatively affect the patient treatment process and clinical decision making. Evaluation on laboratory testing and Laboratory Information System (LIS) may explain the root cause to improve the testing process and enhance LIS in supporting the process. This paper discusses a new evaluation framework for LIS that encompasses the laboratory testing cycle and the socio-technical part of LIS. Literature review on discourses, dimensions and evaluation methods of laboratory testing and LIS. A critical appraisal of the Total Testing Process (TTP) and the human, organization, technology-fit factors (HOT-fit) evaluation frameworks was undertaken in order to identify error incident, its contributing factors and preventive action pertinent to laboratory testing process and LIS. A new evaluation framework for LIS using a comprehensive and socio-technical approach is outlined. Positive relationship between laboratory and clinical staff resulted in a smooth laboratory testing process, reduced errors and increased process efficiency whilst effective use of LIS streamlined the testing processes. The TTP-LIS framework could serve as an assessment as well as a problem-solving tool for the laboratory testing process and system. Copyright © 2016 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The emperor's new wardrobe: Rebalancing diversity of animal models in neuroscience research.

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Yartsev, Michael M

2017-10-27

The neuroscience field is steaming ahead, fueled by a revolution in cutting-edge technologies. Concurrently, another revolution has been underway-the diversity of species utilized for neuroscience research is sharply declining, as the field converges on a few selected model organisms. Here, from the perspective of a young scientist, I naively ask: Is the great diversity of questions in neuroscience best studied in only a handful of animal models? I review some of the limitations the field is facing following this convergence and how these can be rectified by increasing the diversity of appropriate model species. I propose that at this exciting time of revolution in genetics and device technologies, neuroscience might be ready to diversify again, if provided the appropriate support. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Canis familiaris As a Model for Non-Invasive Comparative Neuroscience.

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Bunford, Nóra; Andics, Attila; Kis, Anna; Miklósi, Ádám; Gácsi, Márta

2017-07-01

There is an ongoing need to improve animal models for investigating human behavior and its biological underpinnings. The domestic dog (Canis familiaris) is a promising model in cognitive neuroscience. However, before it can contribute to advances in this field in a comparative, reliable, and valid manner, several methodological issues warrant attention. We review recent non-invasive canine neuroscience studies, primarily focusing on (i) variability among dogs and between dogs and humans in cranial characteristics, and (ii) generalizability across dog and dog-human studies. We argue not for methodological uniformity but for functional comparability between methods, experimental designs, and neural responses. We conclude that the dog may become an innovative and unique model in comparative neuroscience, complementing more traditional models. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dreaming of mathematical neuroscience for half a century.

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Amari, Shun-ichi

2013-01-01

Theoreticians have been enchanted by the secrets of the brain for many years: how and why does it work so well? There has been a long history of searching for its mechanisms. Theoretical or even mathematical scientists have proposed various models of neural networks which has led to the birth of a new field of research. We can think of the 'pre-historic' period of Rashevski and Wiener, and then the period of perceptrons which is the beginning of learning machines, neurodynamics approaches, and further connectionist approaches. Now is currently the period of computational neuroscience. I have been working in this field for nearly half a century, and have experienced its repeated rise and fall. Now having reached very old age, I would like to state my own endeavors on establishing mathematical neuroscience for half a century, from a personal, even biased, point of view. It would be my pleasure if my experiences could encourage young researchers to participate in mathematical neuroscience. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unformed minds: juveniles, neuroscience, and the law.

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Harman, Oren

2013-09-01

Recently, the question of adolescent culpability has been brought before the Supreme Court of the United States for reconsideration. Neuroscience, adolescent advocates claim, is teaching us that young people cannot be found fully responsible for their actions. The reason: their brains are not fully formed. Here I consider the history of the use of scientific evidence in the courtroom, a number of adolescent murder cases, and the data now emerging from neuroscience, and argue that when it comes to brains, judges, just like the rest of us, are unnecessarily impressed. Ultimately, how we determine culpability should rest on normative and ethical considerations rather than on scientific ones. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental Methods in Psychology and Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Habekost, Thomas; Nielsen, Julie Hassing

2014-01-01

studies are central. Recently, experimental studies within the field of affective neuroscience have also received attention. Notwithstanding, experimental methods remain controversial also in psychology, and one should carefully weigh their advantages against their drawbacks.......Laboratory experiments have always been important in psychology and are as commonly used today as ever due to the dominating position of cognitive research in international psychology. This trend has been further strengthened by recent developments in cognitive neuroscience, where experimental...

Some Thoughts on the Relationship of Developmental Science and Population Neuroscience

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Paus, Tomáš

2012-01-01

This essay describes briefly population neuroscience, the merging of genetics and epidemiology with neuroscience, and its goals with regard to (1) gaining new knowledge about "processes" leading to a particular "state" of brain structure and function, and (2) using this knowledge to predict the risk (and resilience) of an…

Neuroscience, Education and Mental Health

Science.gov (United States)

Arboccó de los Heros, Manuel

2016-01-01

The following article presents a series of investigations, reflections, and quotes about neuroscience, education, and psychology. Each area is specialized in some matters but at some point they share territory and mutually benefit one another, and help us to increasingly understand the complex world of learning, the brain, and human behavior. We…

Brain Matters: Neuroscience and Creativity

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Blevins, Dean G.

2012-01-01

This article introduces a relationship between neuroscience and creativity for the sake of religious education. Citing creativity as a process that involves both originality and value, the writing articulates Howard Gardner's interplay between the talent of the person, the internal demands of a discipline, and the quality judgment of the field.…

Some revolutions in neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, Charles

2013-01-01

In the long history of the study of the nervous system, there have been a number of major developments that involved radical and permanent changes in fundamental beliefs and assumptions about the nervous system and in tactics and strategies for studying it. These may be termed Revolutions in Neuroscience. This essay considers eight of these, ranging from the 6th century BCE to the end of the 20th century.

A developmental social neuroscience model for understanding loneliness in adolescence.

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Wong, Nichol M L; Yeung, Patcy P S; Lee, Tatia M C

2018-02-01

Loneliness is prevalent in adolescents. Although it can be a normative experience, children and adolescents who experience loneliness are often at risk for anxiety, depression, and suicide. Research efforts have been made to identify the neurobiological basis of such distressful feelings in our social brain. In adolescents, the social brain is still undergoing significant development, which may contribute to their increased and differential sensitivity to the social environment. Many behavioral studies have shown the significance of attachment security and social skills in adolescents' interactions with the social world. In this review, we propose a developmental social neuroscience model that extends from the social neuroscience model of loneliness. In particular, we argue that the social brain and social skills are both important for the development of adolescents' perceived loneliness and that adolescents' familial attachment sets the baseline for neurobiological development. By reviewing the related behavioral and neuroimaging literature, we propose a developmental social neuroscience model to explain the heightened perception of loneliness in adolescents using social skills and attachment style as neurobiological moderators. We encourage future researchers to investigate adolescents' perceived social connectedness from the developmental neuroscience perspective.

Understanding and taking relational context into account is critical for social neuroscience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth eClark-Polner

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Scientists have increasingly turned to the brain and to neuroscience more generally to further an understanding of social and emotional judgments and behavior. Yet, many neuroscientists (certainly not all do not consider the role of relational context. Moreover, most have not examined the impact of relational context in a manner that takes advantage of conceptual and empirical advances in relationship science. Here we emphasize that: (1 all social behavior takes place, by definition, within the context of a relationship (even if that relationship is a new one with a stranger, and (2 relational context shapes not only social thoughts, feelings and behaviors, but also some seemingly non-social thoughts, feelings and behaviors in profound ways. We define relational context and suggest that accounting for it in the design and interpretation of neuroscience research is essential to the development of a coherent, generalizable neuroscience of social behavior. We make our case in two ways: a We describe some existing neuroscience research in three substantive areas (perceiving and reacting to others’ emotions, providing help and receiving help that already has documented the powerful impact of relational context. b We describe some other neuroscience research from these same areas that has not taken relational context into account. Then, using findings from social and personality psychology, we make a case that different results almost certainly would have been found had the research been conducted in a different relational context. We neither attempt to review all evidence that relational context shapes neuroscience findings nor to put forward a theoretical analysis of all the ways relational context ought to shape neuroscience findings. Our goal is simply to urge greater and more systematic consideration of relational context in neuroscientific research.

Integrating Neuroscience Knowledge into Social Work Education: A Case-Based Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Egan, Marcia; Neely-Barnes, Susan L.; Combs-Orme, Terri

2011-01-01

New knowledge from the rapidly growing field of neuroscience has important implications for our understanding of human behavior in the social environment, yet little of this knowledge has made its way into social work education. This article presents a model for integrating neuroscience into instruction on human development, the bio psychosocial…

The role of neuroscience within psychology: A call for inclusiveness over exclusiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Seth J; Lilienfeld, Scott O; Meca, Alan; Sauvigné, Katheryn C

2016-01-01

In the present article, we appraise the increasingly prominent role of neuroscience within psychology and offer cautions and recommendations regarding the future of psychology as a field. We contend that the conflict between eliminative reductionism (the belief that the neural level of analysis will eventually render the psychological level of analysis superfluous) and emergent properties (the assumption that higher-order mental functions are not directly reducible to neural processes) is critical if we are to identify the optimal role for neuroscience within psychology. We argue for an interdisciplinary future for psychology in which the considerable strengths of neuroscience complement and extend the strengths of other subfields of psychology. For this goal to be achieved, a balance must be struck between an increasing focus on neuroscience and the continued importance of other areas of psychology. We discuss the implications of the growing prominence of neuroscience for the broader profession of psychology, especially with respect to funding agency priorities, hiring practices in psychology departments, methodological rigor, and the training of future generations of students. We conclude with recommendations for advancing psychology as both a social science and a natural science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Mental illness from the perspective of theoretical neuroscience.

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Thagard, Paul

2008-01-01

Theoretical neuroscience, which characterizes neural mechanisms using mathematical and computational models, is highly relevant to central problems in the philosophy of psychiatry. These models can help to solve the explanation problem of causally connecting neural processes with the behaviors and experiences found in mental illnesses. Such explanations will also be useful for generating better classifications and treatments of psychiatric disorders. The result should help to eliminate concerns that mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia are not objectively real. A philosophical approach to mental illness based on neuroscience need not neglect the inherently social and historical nature of mental phenomena.

Contemplative Neuroscience as an Approach to Volitional Consciousness

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Evan

This chapter presents a methodological approach to volitional consciousness for cognitive neuroscience based on studying the voluntary self-generation and self-regulation of mental states in meditation. Called contemplative neuroscience, this approach views attention, awareness, and emotion regulation as flexible and trainable skills, and works with experimental participants who have undergone training in contemplative practices designed to hone these skills. Drawing from research on the dynamical neural correlates of contemplative mental states and theories of large-scale neural coordination dynamics, I argue for the importance of global system causation in brain activity and present an "interventionist" approach to intentional causation.

New perspectives on forced migration in the history of twentieth-century neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Stahnisch, Frank W; Russell, Gül

2016-01-01

This special issue of the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, comprised of six articles and one commentary, reflects on the multifold dimensions of intellectual migration in the neurosciences and illustrates them by relevant case studies, biographies, and surveys from twentieth-century history of science and medicine perspectives. The special issue as a whole strives to emphasize the impact of forced migration in the neurosciences and psychiatry from an interdisciplinary perspective by, first, describing the general research topic, second, by showing how new models can be applied to the historiography and social studies of twentieth-century neuroscience, and, third, by providing a deeper understanding of the impact of European émigré researchers on emerging allied fields, such as neurogenetics, biological psychiatry, psychosomatics, and public mental health, etc. as resulting from this process at large.

Does Neuroscience Matter for Education?

Science.gov (United States)

Schrag, Francis

2011-01-01

In this review essay, Francis Schrag focuses on two recent anthologies dealing completely or in part with the role of neuroscience in learning and education: The "Jossey-Bass Reader on the Brain and Learning", edited by Jossey-Bass Publishers, and "New Philosophies of Learning", edited by Ruth Cigman and Andrew Davis. Schrag argues that…

Recent advances in basic neurosciences and brain disease: from synapses to behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salter Michael W

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Understanding basic neuronal mechanisms hold the hope for future treatment of brain disease. The 1st international conference on synapse, memory, drug addiction and pain was held in beautiful downtown Toronto, Canada on August 21–23, 2006. Unlike other traditional conferences, this new meeting focused on three major aims: (1 to promote new and cutting edge research in neuroscience; (2 to encourage international information exchange and scientific collaborations; and (3 to provide a platform for active scientists to discuss new findings. Up to 64 investigators presented their recent discoveries, from basic synaptic mechanisms to genes related to human brain disease. This meeting was in part sponsored by Molecular Pain, together with University of Toronto (Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology as well as Center for the Study of Pain. Our goal for this meeting is to promote future active scientific collaborations and improve human health through fundamental basic neuroscience researches. The second international meeting on Neurons and Brain Disease will be held in Toronto (August 29–31, 2007.

Environmental Information System Baden-Wuerttemberg. RK UIS 2015 framework concept 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weissenbach, Kurt

2016-01-01

The Baden-Wuerttemberg Environmental Information System (UIS BW), which was set up over 30 years ago, has developed into a strategic national policy instrument for precautionary environmental and climate protection. Its importance will continue to increase as digitalisation progresses. The associated framework concept (RK UIS) has been regularly updated since 1989. The RK UIS 2015 is a fundamental revision of the last framework concept from the year 2006. The legal, technical, technical and organizational requirements that have since been amended have been incorporated and reflected in their impact on the overall conceptual framework. The RK UIS 2015 documents recommendations and development goals for adapting the UIS BW to the changed targets and general conditions. The renewed conceptual framework forms the basis for the further development of the individual UIS components. [de

A framework of risk-informed seismic safety evaluation of nuclear power plants in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kondo, S.; Sakagami, M.; Hirano, M.; Shiba, M.

2001-01-01

A framework of risk-informed seismic design and safety evaluation of nuclear power plants is under consideration in Japan so as to utilize the progress in the seismic probabilistic safety assessment methodology. Issues resolved to introduce this framework are discussed after the concept, evaluation process and characteristics of the framework are described. (author)

An Informed Framework for Training Classifiers from Social Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dong Seon Cheng

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Extracting information from social media has become a major focus of companies and researchers in recent years. Aside from the study of the social aspects, it has also been found feasible to exploit the collaborative strength of crowds to help solve classical machine learning problems like object recognition. In this work, we focus on the generally underappreciated problem of building effective datasets for training classifiers by automatically assembling data from social media. We detail some of the challenges of this approach and outline a framework that uses expanded search queries to retrieve more qualified data. In particular, we concentrate on collaboratively tagged media on the social platform Flickr, and on the problem of image classification to evaluate our approach. Finally, we describe a novel entropy-based method to incorporate an information-theoretic principle to guide our framework. Experimental validation against well-known public datasets shows the viability of this approach and marks an improvement over the state of the art in terms of simplicity and performance.

Pyff - a pythonic framework for feedback applications and stimulus presentation in neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Venthur, Bastian; Scholler, Simon; Williamson, John; Dähne, Sven; Treder, Matthias S; Kramarek, Maria T; Müller, Klaus-Robert; Blankertz, Benjamin

2010-01-01

This paper introduces Pyff, the Pythonic feedback framework for feedback applications and stimulus presentation. Pyff provides a platform-independent framework that allows users to develop and run neuroscientific experiments in the programming language Python. Existing solutions have mostly been implemented in C++, which makes for a rather tedious programming task for non-computer-scientists, or in Matlab, which is not well suited for more advanced visual or auditory applications. Pyff was designed to make experimental paradigms (i.e., feedback and stimulus applications) easily programmable. It includes base classes for various types of common feedbacks and stimuli as well as useful libraries for external hardware such as eyetrackers. Pyff is also equipped with a steadily growing set of ready-to-use feedbacks and stimuli. It can be used as a standalone application, for instance providing stimulus presentation in psychophysics experiments, or within a closed loop such as in biofeedback or brain-computer interfacing experiments. Pyff communicates with other systems via a standardized communication protocol and is therefore suitable to be used with any system that may be adapted to send its data in the specified format. Having such a general, open-source framework will help foster a fruitful exchange of experimental paradigms between research groups. In particular, it will decrease the need of reprogramming standard paradigms, ease the reproducibility of published results, and naturally entail some standardization of stimulus presentation.

Foundationalism and neuroscience: silence and language

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Keestra, M.; Cowley, S.J.

2009-01-01

Neuroscience offers more than new empirical evidence about the details of cognitive functions such as language, perception and action. Since it also shows many functions to be highly distributed, interconnected and dependent on mechanisms at different levels of processing, it challenges concepts

Special issue on Computational Neuroscience - PREFACE

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ditlevsen, Susanne; Lansky, Petr

2014-01-01

This Special Issue of Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering contains ten selected papers presented at the Neural Coding 2012 workshop. Neuroscience is traditionally very close to mathematics which stems from the famous theoretical work of McCulloch--Pitts and Hodgkin--Huxley in the middle...

Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology (SNP)

OpenAIRE

Mouras , Harold

2011-01-01

It is an exciting challenge for us to launch a new interdisciplinary journal, Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology. We believe the journal will appeal to a wide audience across several scientific specialties. In recent decades, considerable technical and theoretical advances have shed new light on psychological and neural processes. For example, in the area of neuroimaging techniques, it is now possible to explore the role of the brain in a wide variety of behaviours and paradigms (mo...

Psychological constructionism and cultural neuroscience.

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Hechtman, Lisa A; Pornpattananangkul, Narun; Chiao, Joan Y

2012-06-01

Lindquist et al. argue that emotional categories do not map onto distinct regions within the brain, but rather, arise from basic psychological processes, including conceptualization, executive attention, and core affect. Here, we use examples from cultural neuroscience to argue that psychological constructionism, not locationism, captures the essential role of emotion in the social and cultural brain.

Brain-(Not) Based Education: Dangers of Misunderstanding and Misapplication of Neuroscience Research

Science.gov (United States)

Alferink, Larry A.; Farmer-Dougan, Valeri

2010-01-01

Oversimplification or inappropriate interpretation of complex neuroscience research is widespread among curricula claiming that brain-based approaches are effective for improved learning and retention. We examine recent curricula claiming to be based on neuroscience research, discuss the implications of such misinterpretation for special…

The Skills Framework for the Information Age: Engaging Stakeholders in Curriculum Design

Science.gov (United States)

von Konsky, Brian R.; Miller, Charlynn; Jones, Asheley

2016-01-01

This paper reports on a research project, examining the role of the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) curriculum design and management. A goal was to investigate how SFIA informs a top-down approach to curriculum design, beginning with a set of skills that define a particular career…

The dialog between psychoanalysis and neuroscience: what does philosophy of mind say?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elie Cheniaux

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To briefly review how the main monist and dualist currents of philosophy of mind approach the mind-body problem and to describe their association with arguments for and against a closer dialog between psychoanalysis and neuroscience.Methods: The literature was reviewed for studies in the fields of psychology, psychoanalysis, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind.Results: Some currents are incompatible with a closer dialog between psychoanalysis and neurosciences: interactionism and psychophysical parallelism, because they do not account for current knowledge about the brain; epiphenomenalism, which claims that the mind is a mere byproduct of the brain; and analytical behaviorism, eliminative materialism, reductive materialism and functionalism, because they ignore subjective experiences. In contrast, emergentism claims that mental states are dependent on brain states, but have properties that go beyond the field of neurobiology.Conclusions: Only emergentism is compatible with a closer dialog between psychoanalysis and neuroscience.

Integrating Brain Science into Health Studies: An Interdisciplinary Course in Contemplative Neuroscience and Yoga

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfe, Uta; Moran, Amy

2017-01-01

As neuroscience knowledge grows in its scope of societal applications so does the need to educate a wider audience on how to critically evaluate its research findings. Efforts at finding teaching approaches that are interdisciplinary, accessible and highly applicable to student experience are thus ongoing. The article describes an interdisciplinary undergraduate health course that combines the academic study of contemplative neuroscience with contemplative practice, specifically yoga. The class aims to reach a diverse mix of students by teaching applicable, health-relevant neuroscience material while directly connecting it to first-hand experience. Outcomes indicate success on these goals: The course attracted a wide range of students, including nearly 50% non-science majors. On a pre/post test, students showed large increases in their knowledge of neuroscience. Students’ ratings of the course overall, of increases in positive feelings about its field, and of their progress on specific course objectives were highly positive. Finally, students in their written work applied neuroscience course content to their personal and professional lives. Such results indicate that this approach could serve as a model for the interdisciplinary, accessible and applied integration of relevant neuroscience material into the undergraduate health curriculum. PMID:29371845

Neuroscience applied to nuclear energy teaching

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barabás, Roberta de C.; Sabundjian, Gaianê, E-mail: robertabarabas@usp.br, E-mail: gdjian@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2017-07-01

Science and technology play a key role in helping countries increase the quality of life of their inhabitants. The development of peaceful nuclear applications offers important contribution for several fields. However, nuclear accidents are reported as factors that lead to the formation of prejudiced beliefs and attitudes against nuclear technology. The media also influence on what people believe about it. Holding prejudice against nuclear technology will lead to misconceptions and interfere with authorities' decision on the development of new technology. There are evidences in the literature that implicit prejudices might be avoidable, reduced and even reversed. Interest in prejudice and stereotyping is currently shared by emerging disciplines such as neuroscience. The field of educational neuroscience has developed several types of implicit association tests aiming to assess implicit prejudices that individuals are consciously unaware. As far as prejudices are reported in the nuclear energy education scenario implicit measurement techniques can be an effective tool to identify and measure prejudices against nuclear technology. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a valuable tool used worldwide as a measurement technique to assess implicit attitude toward discriminatory behaviors. This study aims to demonstrate the design and development of a neuroscience-based methodology, which will include a future administration of the IAT to school teachers to assess their implicit associations regarding nuclear energy. The procedure will contribute for understanding implicit prejudices interfering with teaching practices. Teaching a balanced view about the applications of the nuclear technology will contribute for the acceptance of nuclear technology. (author)

Neuroscience applied to nuclear energy teaching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barabás, Roberta de C.; Sabundjian, Gaianê

2017-01-01

Science and technology play a key role in helping countries increase the quality of life of their inhabitants. The development of peaceful nuclear applications offers important contribution for several fields. However, nuclear accidents are reported as factors that lead to the formation of prejudiced beliefs and attitudes against nuclear technology. The media also influence on what people believe about it. Holding prejudice against nuclear technology will lead to misconceptions and interfere with authorities' decision on the development of new technology. There are evidences in the literature that implicit prejudices might be avoidable, reduced and even reversed. Interest in prejudice and stereotyping is currently shared by emerging disciplines such as neuroscience. The field of educational neuroscience has developed several types of implicit association tests aiming to assess implicit prejudices that individuals are consciously unaware. As far as prejudices are reported in the nuclear energy education scenario implicit measurement techniques can be an effective tool to identify and measure prejudices against nuclear technology. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a valuable tool used worldwide as a measurement technique to assess implicit attitude toward discriminatory behaviors. This study aims to demonstrate the design and development of a neuroscience-based methodology, which will include a future administration of the IAT to school teachers to assess their implicit associations regarding nuclear energy. The procedure will contribute for understanding implicit prejudices interfering with teaching practices. Teaching a balanced view about the applications of the nuclear technology will contribute for the acceptance of nuclear technology. (author)

Cluster imaging of multi-brain networks (CIMBN: a general framework for hyperscanning and modeling a group of interacting brains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lian eDuan

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Studying the neural basis of human social interactions is a key topic in the field of social neuroscience. Brain imaging studies in this field usually focus on the neural correlates of the social interactions between two participants. However, as the participant number further increases, even by a small amount, great difficulties raise. One challenge is how to concurrently scan all the interacting brains with high ecological validity, especially for a large number of participants. The other challenge is how to effectively model the complex group interaction behaviors emerging from the intricate neural information exchange among a group of socially organized people. Confronting these challenges, we propose a new approach called Cluster Imaging of Multi-brain Networks (CIMBN. CIMBN consists of two parts. The first part is a cluster imaging technique with high ecological validity based on multiple functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS systems. Using this technique, we can easily extend the simultaneous imaging capacity of social neuroscience studies up to dozens of participants. The second part of CIMBN is a multi-brain network (MBN modeling method based on graph theory. By taking each brain as a network node and the relationship between any two brains as a network edge, one can construct a network model for a group of interacting brains. The emergent group social behaviors can then be studied using the network’s properties, such as its topological structure and information exchange efficiency. Although there is still much work to do, as a general framework for hyperscanning and modeling a group of interacting brains, CIMBN can provide new insights into the neural correlates of group social interactions, and advance social neuroscience and social psychology.

Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology

Science.gov (United States)

Amigó, José M.

2017-01-01

The application of mathematics, natural sciences and engineering to medicine is gaining momentum as the mutual benefits of this collaboration become increasingly obvious. This theme issue is intended to highlight the trend in the case of mathematics. Specifically, the scope of this theme issue is to give a general view of the current research in the application of mathematical methods to medicine, as well as to show how mathematics can help in such important aspects as understanding, prediction, treatment and data processing. To this end, three representative specialties have been selected: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology. Concerning the topics, the 12 research papers and one review included in this issue cover biofluids, cardiac and virus dynamics, computational neuroscience, functional magnetic resonance imaging data processing, neural networks, optimization of treatment strategies, time-series analysis and tumour growth. In conclusion, this theme issue contains a collection of fine contributions at the intersection of mathematics and medicine, not as an exercise in applied mathematics but as a multidisciplinary research effort that interests both communities and our society in general. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology’. PMID:28507240

Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Amigó, José M; Small, Michael

2017-06-28

The application of mathematics, natural sciences and engineering to medicine is gaining momentum as the mutual benefits of this collaboration become increasingly obvious. This theme issue is intended to highlight the trend in the case of mathematics. Specifically, the scope of this theme issue is to give a general view of the current research in the application of mathematical methods to medicine, as well as to show how mathematics can help in such important aspects as understanding, prediction, treatment and data processing. To this end, three representative specialties have been selected: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology. Concerning the topics, the 12 research papers and one review included in this issue cover biofluids, cardiac and virus dynamics, computational neuroscience, functional magnetic resonance imaging data processing, neural networks, optimization of treatment strategies, time-series analysis and tumour growth. In conclusion, this theme issue contains a collection of fine contributions at the intersection of mathematics and medicine, not as an exercise in applied mathematics but as a multidisciplinary research effort that interests both communities and our society in general.This article is part of the themed issue 'Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Information flow dynamics in the brain

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Rabinovich, Mikhail I.; Afraimovich, Valentin S.; Bick, Christian; Varona, Pablo

2012-03-01

Timing and dynamics of information in the brain is a hot field in modern neuroscience. The analysis of the temporal evolution of brain information is crucially important for the understanding of higher cognitive mechanisms in normal and pathological states. From the perspective of information dynamics, in this review we discuss working memory capacity, language dynamics, goal-dependent behavior programming and other functions of brain activity. In contrast with the classical description of information theory, which is mostly algebraic, brain flow information dynamics deals with problems such as the stability/instability of information flows, their quality, the timing of sequential processing, the top-down cognitive control of perceptual information, and information creation. In this framework, different types of information flow instabilities correspond to different cognitive disorders. On the other hand, the robustness of cognitive activity is related to the control of the information flow stability. We discuss these problems using both experimental and theoretical approaches, and we argue that brain activity is better understood considering information flows in the phase space of the corresponding dynamical model. In particular, we show how theory helps to understand intriguing experimental results in this matter, and how recent knowledge inspires new theoretical formalisms that can be tested with modern experimental techniques.

A Heuristic Design Information Sharing Framework for Hard Discrete Optimization Problems

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jacobson, Sheldon H

2007-01-01

.... This framework has been used to gain new insights into neighborhood structure designs that allow different neighborhood functions to share information when using the same heuristic applied to the same problem...

Conceptions and Misconceptions about Neuroscience in Preschool Teachers: A Study from Argentina

Science.gov (United States)

Hermida, M. J.; Segretin, M. S.; Soni García, A.; Lipina, S. J.

2016-01-01

Background: Teachers' conceptions and misconceptions about neuroscience are crucial in establishing a proper dialogue between neuroscience and education. In recent years, studies in different countries have examined primary and secondary school teachers' conceptions. However, although preschool education has proved its importance to later academic…

Infusing Neuroscience into Teacher Professional Development

Science.gov (United States)

Dubinsky, Janet M.; Roehrig, Gillian; Varma, Sashank

2013-01-01

Bruer advocated connecting neuroscience and education indirectly through the intermediate discipline of psychology. We argue for a parallel route: The neurobiology of learning, and in particular the core concept of "plasticity," have the potential to directly transform teacher preparation and professional development, and ultimately to…

Scandinavian neuroscience during the Nazi era

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kondziella, Daniel; Hansen, Klaus; Zeidman, Lawrence A

2013-01-01

Although Scandinavian neuroscience has a proud history, its status during the Nazi era has been overlooked. In fact, prominent neuroscientists in German-occupied Denmark and Norway, as well as in neutral Sweden, were directly affected. Mogens Fog, Poul Thygesen (Denmark) and Haakon Sæthre (Norway...

76 FR 11243 - Solicitation of Input From Stakeholders To Inform the National Framework for Electronics Stewardship

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

... Stakeholders To Inform the National Framework for Electronics Stewardship AGENCY: Environmental Protection... inform the national framework for electronics stewardship that is being developed by the Interagency Task Force on Electronics Stewardship. On November 15, 2010, President Obama signed a presidential...

From computer to brain foundations of computational neuroscience

CERN Document Server

Lytton, William W

2002-01-01

Biology undergraduates, medical students and life-science graduate students often have limited mathematical skills. Similarly, physics, math and engineering students have little patience for the detailed facts that make up much of biological knowledge. Teaching computational neuroscience as an integrated discipline requires that both groups be brought forward onto common ground. This book does this by making ancillary material available in an appendix and providing basic explanations without becoming bogged down in unnecessary details. The book will be suitable for undergraduates and beginning graduate students taking a computational neuroscience course and also to anyone with an interest in the uses of the computer in modeling the nervous system.

The allocation of attention to learning of goal-directed actions: A cognitive neuroscience framework focusing on the basal ganglia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liz eFranz

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The present paper builds on the idea that attention is largely in service of our actions. A framework and model which captures the allocation of attention for learning of goal-directed actions is proposed and developed. This framework highlights an evolutionary model based on the notion that rudimentary brain functions have become embedded into increasingly higher levels of networks which all contribute to adaptive learning. Background literature is presented alongside key evidence based on experimental studies in the so-called ‘split-brain’ (surgically divided cerebral hemispheres with a key focus on bimanual actions. The proposed multilevel cognitive-neural system of attention is built upon key processes of a highly-adaptive basal-ganglia-thalamic-cortical system. Although overlap with other existing findings and models is acknowledged where appropriate, the proposed framework is an original synthesis of cognitive experimental findings with supporting evidence of a neural system and a carefully formulated model of attention. It is the hope that this new synthesis will be informative in fields of cognition and other fields of brain sciences and will lead to new avenues for experimentation across domains.

Computational neuroscience for advancing artificial intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando P. Ponce

2011-07-01

Full Text Available resumen del libro de Alonso, E. y Mondragón, E. (2011. Hershey, NY: Medical Information Science Reference. La neurociencia como disciplinapersigue el entendimiento del cerebro y su relación con el funcionamiento de la mente a través del análisis de la comprensión de la interacción de diversos procesos físicos, químicos y biológicos (Bassett & Gazzaniga, 2011. Por otra parte, numerosas disciplinasprogresivamente han realizado significativas contribuciones en esta empresa tales como la matemática, la psicología o la filosofía, entre otras. Producto de este esfuerzo, es que junto con la neurociencia tradicional han aparecido disciplinas complementarias como la neurociencia cognitiva, la neuropsicología o la neurocienciacomputacional (Bengio, 2007; Dayan & Abbott, 2005. En el contexto de la neurociencia computacional como disciplina complementaria a laneurociencia tradicional. Alonso y Mondragón (2011 editan el libroComputacional Neuroscience for Advancing Artificial Intelligence: Models, Methods and Applications.

The neuroscience of social decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Rilling, James K; Sanfey, Alan G

2011-01-01

Given that we live in highly complex social environments, many of our most important decisions are made in the context of social interactions. Simple but sophisticated tasks from a branch of experimental economics known as game theory have been used to study social decision-making in the laboratory setting, and a variety of neuroscience methods have been used to probe the underlying neural systems. This approach is informing our knowledge of the neural mechanisms that support decisions about trust, reciprocity, altruism, fairness, revenge, social punishment, social norm conformity, social learning, and competition. Neural systems involved in reward and reinforcement, pain and punishment, mentalizing, delaying gratification, and emotion regulation are commonly recruited for social decisions. This review also highlights the role of the prefrontal cortex in prudent social decision-making, at least when social environments are relatively stable. In addition, recent progress has been made in understanding the neural bases of individual variation in social decision-making.

Utilizing a Value of Information Framework to Improve Ore Collection and Classification Procedures

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Phillips, Julia A

2006-01-01

.... We use a value of information framework (VOI) to consider the economic feasibility of a mine purchasing additional information on extracted ore type to reduce the uncertainty of extracted ore grade quality...

Cognitive neuroscience: the troubled marriage of cognitive science and neuroscience.

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Cooper, Richard P; Shallice, Tim

2010-07-01

We discuss the development of cognitive neuroscience in terms of the tension between the greater sophistication in cognitive concepts and methods of the cognitive sciences and the increasing power of more standard biological approaches to understanding brain structure and function. There have been major technological developments in brain imaging and advances in simulation, but there have also been shifts in emphasis, with topics such as thinking, consciousness, and social cognition becoming fashionable within the brain sciences. The discipline has great promise in terms of applications to mental health and education, provided it does not abandon the cognitive perspective and succumb to reductionism. Copyright © 2010 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Health services research evaluation principles. Broadening a general framework for evaluating health information technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Sockolow, P S; Crawford, P R; Lehmann, H P

2012-01-01

Our forthcoming national experiment in increased health information technology (HIT) adoption funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will require a comprehensive approach to evaluating HIT. The quality of evaluation studies of HIT to date reveals a need for broader evaluation frameworks that limits the generalizability of findings and the depth of lessons learned. Develop an informatics evaluation framework for health information technology (HIT) integrating components of health services research (HSR) evaluation and informatics evaluation to address identified shortcomings in available HIT evaluation frameworks. A systematic literature review updated and expanded the exhaustive review by Ammenwerth and deKeizer (AdK). From retained studies, criteria were elicited and organized into classes within a framework. The resulting Health Information Technology Research-based Evaluation Framework (HITREF) was used to guide clinician satisfaction survey construction, multi-dimensional analysis of data, and interpretation of findings in an evaluation of a vanguard community health care EHR. The updated review identified 128 electronic health record (EHR) evaluation studies and seven evaluation criteria not in AdK: EHR Selection/Development/Training; Patient Privacy Concerns; Unintended Consequences/ Benefits; Functionality; Patient Satisfaction with EHR; Barriers/Facilitators to Adoption; and Patient Satisfaction with Care. HITREF was used productively and was a complete evaluation framework which included all themes that emerged. We can recommend to future EHR evaluators that they consider adding a complete, research-based HIT evaluation framework, such as HITREF, to their evaluation tools suite to monitor HIT challenges as the federal government strives to increase HIT adoption.

[Framework for the strengthening of health information systems in Peru].

Science.gov (United States)

Curioso, Walter H; Espinoza-Portilla, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

In this article we present the essential components and policies that are most relevant regarding the conceptual framework to strengthen the health information systems in Peru. The article also presents the main policies, actions and strategies made in the field of electronic health in Peru that are most significant. The health information systems in Peru play a key role and are expected to achieve an integrated and interoperable information system. This will allow health information to be complete, efficient, of good quality and available in a timely manner to achieve better quality of life for people and allow meaningful modernization of public health in the context of health reform in Peru.

Taking an educational psychology course improves neuroscience literacy but does not reduce belief in neuromyths.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soo-Hyun Im

Full Text Available Educators are increasingly interested in applying neuroscience findings to improve educational practice. However, their understanding of the brain often lags behind their enthusiasm for the brain. We propose that educational psychology can serve as a bridge between basic research in neuroscience and psychology on one hand and educational practice on the other. We evaluated whether taking an educational psychology course is associated with increased neuroscience literacy and reduced belief in neuromyths in a sample of South Korean pre-service teachers. The results showed that taking an educational psychology course was associated with the increased neuroscience literacy, but there was no impact on belief in neuromyths. We consider the implications of these and other findings of the study for redesigning educational psychology courses and textbooks for improving neuroscience literacy.

Taking an educational psychology course improves neuroscience literacy but does not reduce belief in neuromyths

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Joo-Yun; Dubinsky, Janet M.

2018-01-01

Educators are increasingly interested in applying neuroscience findings to improve educational practice. However, their understanding of the brain often lags behind their enthusiasm for the brain. We propose that educational psychology can serve as a bridge between basic research in neuroscience and psychology on one hand and educational practice on the other. We evaluated whether taking an educational psychology course is associated with increased neuroscience literacy and reduced belief in neuromyths in a sample of South Korean pre-service teachers. The results showed that taking an educational psychology course was associated with the increased neuroscience literacy, but there was no impact on belief in neuromyths. We consider the implications of these and other findings of the study for redesigning educational psychology courses and textbooks for improving neuroscience literacy. PMID:29401508

Taking an educational psychology course improves neuroscience literacy but does not reduce belief in neuromyths.

Science.gov (United States)

Im, Soo-Hyun; Cho, Joo-Yun; Dubinsky, Janet M; Varma, Sashank

2018-01-01

Educators are increasingly interested in applying neuroscience findings to improve educational practice. However, their understanding of the brain often lags behind their enthusiasm for the brain. We propose that educational psychology can serve as a bridge between basic research in neuroscience and psychology on one hand and educational practice on the other. We evaluated whether taking an educational psychology course is associated with increased neuroscience literacy and reduced belief in neuromyths in a sample of South Korean pre-service teachers. The results showed that taking an educational psychology course was associated with the increased neuroscience literacy, but there was no impact on belief in neuromyths. We consider the implications of these and other findings of the study for redesigning educational psychology courses and textbooks for improving neuroscience literacy.

Review of Research: Neuroscience and Reading--A Review for Reading Education Researchers

Science.gov (United States)

Hruby, George G.; Goswami, Usha

2011-01-01

In this review, we lay the groundwork for an interdisciplinary conversation between literacy education research and relevant neuroscience research. We review recent neuroscience research on correlates of proposed cognitive subprocesses in text decoding and reading comprehension and analyze some of the methodological and conceptual challenges of…

Behavioural Economics, Neuroscience, and the Unfair Commercial Practises Directive

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trzaskowski, Jan

2011-01-01

This article suggests how and to what extent insights from behavioural economics and neuroscience may be used for the interpretation of the 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. These disciplines provide useful insight in how the average consumer’s decisions are influenced by commercial...... that courts are to make is normative, and that behavioural economics and neuroscience is of a more descriptive nature. Thus these disciplines may not help draw the fine line between the legitimate influence of commercial activities and the illegal distortion of the average consumer’s behaviour. However...

Brainhack: a collaborative workshop for the open neuroscience community.

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron Craddock, R; S Margulies, Daniel; Bellec, Pierre; Nolan Nichols, B; Alcauter, Sarael; A Barrios, Fernando; Burnod, Yves; J Cannistraci, Christopher; Cohen-Adad, Julien; De Leener, Benjamin; Dery, Sebastien; Downar, Jonathan; Dunlop, Katharine; R Franco, Alexandre; Seligman Froehlich, Caroline; J Gerber, Andrew; S Ghosh, Satrajit; J Grabowski, Thomas; Hill, Sean; Sólon Heinsfeld, Anibal; Matthew Hutchison, R; Kundu, Prantik; R Laird, Angela; Liew, Sook-Lei; J Lurie, Daniel; G McLaren, Donald; Meneguzzi, Felipe; Mennes, Maarten; Mesmoudi, Salma; O'Connor, David; H Pasaye, Erick; Peltier, Scott; Poline, Jean-Baptiste; Prasad, Gautam; Fraga Pereira, Ramon; Quirion, Pierre-Olivier; Rokem, Ariel; S Saad, Ziad; Shi, Yonggang; C Strother, Stephen; Toro, Roberto; Q Uddin, Lucina; D Van Horn, John; W Van Meter, John; C Welsh, Robert; Xu, Ting

2016-01-01

Brainhack events offer a novel workshop format with participant-generated content that caters to the rapidly growing open neuroscience community. Including components from hackathons and unconferences, as well as parallel educational sessions, Brainhack fosters novel collaborations around the interests of its attendees. Here we provide an overview of its structure, past events, and example projects. Additionally, we outline current innovations such as regional events and post-conference publications. Through introducing Brainhack to the wider neuroscience community, we hope to provide a unique conference format that promotes the features of collaborative, open science.

Value Assessment Frameworks for HTA Agencies: The Organization of Evidence-Informed Deliberative Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Baltussen, Rob; Jansen, Maarten Paul Maria; Bijlmakers, Leon; Grutters, Janneke; Kluytmans, Anouck; Reuzel, Rob P; Tummers, Marcia; der Wilt, Gert Jan van

2017-02-01

Priority setting in health care has been long recognized as an intrinsically complex and value-laden process. Yet, health technology assessment agencies (HTAs) presently employ value assessment frameworks that are ill fitted to capture the range and diversity of stakeholder values and thereby risk compromising the legitimacy of their recommendations. We propose "evidence-informed deliberative processes" as an alternative framework with the aim to enhance this legitimacy. This framework integrates two increasingly popular and complementary frameworks for priority setting: multicriteria decision analysis and accountability for reasonableness. Evidence-informed deliberative processes are, on one hand, based on early, continued stakeholder deliberation to learn about the importance of relevant social values. On the other hand, they are based on rational decision-making through evidence-informed evaluation of the identified values. The framework has important implications for how HTA agencies should ideally organize their processes. First, HTA agencies should take the responsibility of organizing stakeholder involvement. Second, agencies are advised to integrate their assessment and appraisal phases, allowing for the timely collection of evidence on values that are considered relevant. Third, HTA agencies should subject their decision-making criteria to public scrutiny. Fourth, agencies are advised to use a checklist of potentially relevant criteria and to provide argumentation for how each criterion affected the recommendation. Fifth, HTA agencies must publish their argumentation and install options for appeal. The framework should not be considered a blueprint for HTA agencies but rather an aspirational goal-agencies can take incremental steps toward achieving this goal. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The use of pigs in neuroscience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lind, Nanna Marie; Moustgaard, Anette; Jelsing, Jacob

2007-01-01

The use of pigs in neuroscience research has increased in the past decade, which has seen broader recognition of the potential of pigs as an animal for experimental modeling of human brain disorders. The volume of available background data concerning pig brain anatomy and neurochemistry has...

Between Homo Sociologicus and Homo Biologicus: The Reflexive Self in the Age of Social Neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Pickel, Andreas

2012-10-01

The social sciences rely on assumptions of a unified self for their explanatory logics. Recent work in the new multidisciplinary field of social neuroscience challenges precisely this unproblematic character of the subjective self as basic, well-defined entity. If disciplinary self-insulation is deemed unacceptable, the philosophical challenge arises of systematically bringing together neurological, psychological, sociological, and anthropological dimensions of analysis in one framework such as dynamic systems theory; and of finding bridging concepts such as memory, social cognition, and cultural scripts that can facilitate the cross disciplinary study of the reflexive self. Relying on the systemic philosophy of science developed by Mario Bunge, this paper takes some steps in this direction.

Consumer Neuroscience as a reserach issue, concepts and applications. A paradigmatic approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

César Salazar

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Consumer neuroscience allows a fullest and objective understanding about desires andactions of consumers, turning itself in a fickle tool to the use of the companies and to improve their Marketing strategies. The use of the Neuroscientific methods to the analysis, description and comprehension of human behavior related to consume open a lot of unknown possibilities to discover. Neuromarketing or The consumer Neuroscience as is known too is the study of mental process been part of the consumer behavior and contexts concerning the marketing as well, apply and follow in the environment of the real life of human been. Its supported by the paradigms and the technological development of Neurosciences whose progress has made possible for the seekers to deep in knowledge abouthow the brain work. Physiological operations of mind are a product of a structural and functional ensemble including the brain, as organ, and mind, emotion and cognition, asfunctions. Mind events just can be understood in the middle of the interaction between the organism and his environment. Neuromarketing paradigm it’s still in his infancy and whatfor it’s full of research possibilities. Inside the consumer neuroscience the ethic building doesn’t collapse, the morality isn’t threaten, inside the normal individual Will it’s alwaysWill. The present paper looking for a place to the consumer neuroscience paradigm over the perspective of research open to the Marketing, from the technological advances and hermeneutical vision offer by Neuroscience; it’s propose some of several possibilities ofresearch and practice been explored actually. To give an example its offer one of methods of research as is the Evoked Potentials.

Ethical Issues Associated with the Use of Animal Experimentation in Behavioral Neuroscience Research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ohl, Frauke; Meijboom, Franck

2015-01-01

This chapter briefly explores whether there are distinct characteristics in the field of Behavioral Neuroscience that demand specific ethical reflection. We argue that although the ethical issues in animal-based Behavioral Neuroscience are not necessarily distinct from those in other research

Neuroscience, Education and Metal Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Arboccó de los Heros

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The following article presents a series of investigations, reflections, and quotes about neuroscience, education, and psychology. Each area is specialized in some matters but at some point they share territory and mutually benefit one another, and help us to increasingly understand the complex world of learning, the brain, and human behavior. We hope them to be of interest and a promoter of new thoughts.

[Neuropathology in the neurosciences. A system in transition].

Science.gov (United States)

Seitelberger, F

1993-08-01

Neuropathology (Np) is a full member of the neurosciences. As a basic neuroscience it is directed to the behaviour of nervous tissues under pathogenic conditions. The theoretical and methodical core of Np concerns the morphological features of pathological disorders and processes of the nervous system. The goal of Np data presentation is an objective description of the structural changes; their time course as processes, and if possible their causal constellations. Complementary to this analytical task is that of reconstructing the pathological process and at a higher level the conception of pathomorphological entities, e.g. as syndromes. Clinical Np is an alliance of Np with neurology, psychiatry and neurosurgery for representing the structural basis of diseases and the role of morphology in diagnosis and clinical management. Prerequisite for the proper functioning of Np is an integration with these other specialist fields. The clinical neuropathologist therefore has to be in certain respects also a neurologist. The same is true of the alliances of Np with other neurosciences, which is already reflected in recent neuropathological methodology. Detailed training programs are necessary for clinical Np, covering all aspects of its medical and social implications. Enough options should be offered for horizontal flexibility of curricula, futherance of secondary special training and support of good unconventional approaches by junior scientists.

The future of psychiatry as clinical neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Charles F; Lewis, David A; Detre, Thomas; Schatzberg, Alan F; Kupfer, David J

2009-04-01

Psychiatry includes the assessment, treatment, and prevention of complex brain disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, developmental disorders (e.g., autism), and neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Alzheimer dementia). Its core mission is to prevent and alleviate the distress and impairment caused by these disorders, which account for a substantial part of the global burden of illness-related disability. Psychiatry is grounded in clinical neuroscience. Its core mission, now and in the future, is best served within this context because advances in assessment, treatment, and prevention of brain disorders are likely to originate from studies of etiology and pathophysiology based in clinical and translational neuroscience. To ensure its broad public health relevance in the future, psychiatry must also bridge science and service, ensuring that those who need the benefits of its science are also its beneficiaries. To do so effectively, psychiatry as clinical neuroscience must strengthen its partnerships with the disciplines of public health (including epidemiology), community and behavioral health science, and health economics.The authors present a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis of psychiatry and identify strategies for strengthening its future and increasing its relevance to public health and the rest of medicine. These strategies encompass new approaches to strengthening the relationship between psychiatry and neurology, financing psychiatry's mission, emphasizing early and sustained multidisciplinary training (research and clinical), bolstering the academic infrastructure, and reorganizing and refinancing mental health services both for preventive intervention and cost-effective chronic disease management.

The Future of Psychiatry as Clinical Neuroscience

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Charles F.; Lewis, David A.; Detre, Thomas; Schatzberg, Alan F.; Kupfer, David J.

2009-01-01

Psychiatry includes the assessment, treatment, and prevention of complex brain disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, developmental disorders (e.g., autism), and neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Alzheimer dementia). Its core mission is to prevent and alleviate the distress and impairment caused by these disorders, which account for a substantial part of the global burden of illness-related disability. Psychiatry is grounded in clinical neuroscience. Its core mission, now and in the future, is best served within this context because advances in assessment, treatment, and prevention of brain disorders are likely to originate from studies of etiology and pathophysiology based in clinical and translational neuroscience. To ensure its broad public health relevance in the future, psychiatry must also bridge science and service, ensuring that those who need the benefits of its science are also its beneficiaries. To do so effectively, psychiatry as clinical neuroscience must strengthen its partnerships with the disciplines of public health (including epidemiology), community and behavioral health science, and health economics. The authors present a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis of psychiatry and identify strategies for strengthening its future and increasing its relevance to public health and the rest of medicine. These strategies encompass new approaches to strengthening the relationship between psychiatry and neurology, financing psychiatry’s mission, emphasizing early and sustained multidisciplinary training (research and clinical), bolstering the academic infrastructure, and reorganizing and refinancing mental health services both for preventive intervention and cost-effective chronic disease management. PMID:19318776

A modern neuroscience approach to chronic spinal pain: combining pain neuroscience education with cognition-targeted motor control training.

Science.gov (United States)

Nijs, Jo; Meeus, Mira; Cagnie, Barbara; Roussel, Nathalie A; Dolphens, Mieke; Van Oosterwijck, Jessica; Danneels, Lieven

2014-05-01

Chronic spinal pain (CSP) is a severely disabling disorder, including nontraumatic chronic low back and neck pain, failed back surgery, and chronic whiplash-associated disorders. Much of the current therapy is focused on input mechanisms (treating peripheral elements such as muscles and joints) and output mechanisms (addressing motor control), while there is less attention to processing (central) mechanisms. In addition to the compelling evidence for impaired motor control of spinal muscles in patients with CSP, there is increasing evidence that central mechanisms (ie, hyperexcitability of the central nervous system and brain abnormalities) play a role in CSP. Hence, treatments for CSP should address not only peripheral dysfunctions but also the brain. Therefore, a modern neuroscience approach, comprising therapeutic pain neuroscience education followed by cognition-targeted motor control training, is proposed. This perspective article explains why and how such an approach to CSP can be applied in physical therapist practice.

Effectiveness of interactive, online games in learning neuroscience and students' perception of the games as learning tools. A pre-experimental study.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Marilyn E; Ford, Ruth; Webster, Andrew

2011-01-01

Neurological concepts applicable to a doctorate in occupational therapy are often challenging to comprehend, and students are required to demonstrate critical reasoning skills beyond simply recalling the information. To achieve this, various learning and teaching strategies are used, including the use of technology in the classroom. The availability of technology in academic settings has allowed for diverse and active teaching approaches. This includes videos, web-based instruction, and interactive online games. In this quantitative pre-experimental analysis, the learning and retention of neuroscience concepts by 30 occupational therapy doctoral students, who participated in an interactive online learning experience, were assessed. The results suggest that student use of these tools may enhance their learning of neuroscience. Furthermore, the students felt that the sites were appropriate, beneficial to them, and easy to use. Thus, the use of online, interactive neuroscience games may be effective in reinforcing lecture materials. This needs to be further assessed in a larger sample size.

An integrated organisation-wide data quality management and information governance framework: theoretical underpinnings.

Science.gov (United States)

Liaw, Siaw-Teng; Pearce, Christopher; Liyanage, Harshana; Liaw, Gladys S S; de Lusignan, Simon

2014-01-01

Increasing investment in eHealth aims to improve cost effectiveness and safety of care. Data extraction and aggregation can create new data products to improve professional practice and provide feedback to improve the quality of source data. A previous systematic review concluded that locally relevant clinical indicators and use of clinical record systems could support clinical governance. We aimed to extend and update the review with a theoretical framework. We searched PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, ABI Inform (Proquest) and Business Source Premier (EBSCO) using the terms curation, information ecosystem, data quality management (DQM), data governance, information governance (IG) and data stewardship. We focused on and analysed the scope of DQM and IG processes, theoretical frameworks, and determinants of the processing, quality assurance, presentation and sharing of data across the enterprise. There are good theoretical reasons for integrated governance, but there is variable alignment of DQM, IG and health system objectives across the health enterprise. Ethical constraints exist that require health information ecosystems to process data in ways that are aligned with improving health and system efficiency and ensuring patient safety. Despite an increasingly 'big-data' environment, DQM and IG in health services are still fragmented across the data production cycle. We extend current work on DQM and IG with a theoretical framework for integrated IG across the data cycle. The dimensions of this theory-based framework would require testing with qualitative and quantitative studies to examine the applicability and utility, along with an evaluation of its impact on data quality across the health enterprise.

Critical neuroscience—or critical science? A perspective on the perceived normative significance of neuroscience

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Schleim, Stephan

2014-01-01

Members of the Critical Neuroscience initiative raised the question whether the perceived normative significance of neuroscience is justified by the discipline’s actual possibilities. In this paper I show how brain research was assigned the ultimate political, social, and moral authority by some leading researchers who suggested that neuroscientists should change their research priorities, promising solutions to social challenges in order to increase research funds. Discussing the two examples of cognitive enhancement and the neuroscience of (im)moral behavior I argue that there is indeed a gap between promises and expectations on the one hand and knowledge and applications on the other. However it would be premature to generalize this to the neurosciences at large, whose knowledge-producing, innovative, and economic potentials have just recently been confirmed by political and scientific decision-makers with the financial support for the Human Brain Project and the BRAIN Initiative. Finally, I discuss two explanations for the analyzed communication patterns and argue why Critical Neuroscience is necessary, but not sufficient. A more general Critical Science movement is required to improve the scientific incentive system. PMID:24904376

Embedding a Recovery Orientation into Neuroscience Research: Involving People with a Lived Experience in Research Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Stratford, Anthony; Brophy, Lisa; Castle, David; Harvey, Carol; Robertson, Joanne; Corlett, Philip; Davidson, Larry; Everall, Ian

2016-03-01

This paper highlights the importance and value of involving people with a lived experience of mental ill health and recovery in neuroscience research activity. In this era of recovery oriented service delivery, involving people with the lived experience of mental illness in neuroscience research extends beyond their participation as "subjects". The recovery paradigm reconceptualises people with the lived experience of mental ill health as experts by experience. To support this contribution, local policies and procedures, recovery-oriented training for neuroscience researchers, and dialogue about the practical applications of neuroscience research, are required.

The Brain Health Registry: An internet-based platform for recruitment, assessment, and longitudinal monitoring of participants for neuroscience studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiner, Michael W; Nosheny, Rachel; Camacho, Monica; Truran-Sacrey, Diana; Mackin, R Scott; Flenniken, Derek; Ulbricht, Aaron; Insel, Philip; Finley, Shannon; Fockler, Juliet; Veitch, Dallas

2018-05-08

Recruitment, assessment, and longitudinal monitoring of participants for neuroscience studies and clinical trials limit the development of new treatments. Widespread Internet use allows data capture from participants in an unsupervised setting. The Brain Health Registry, a website and online registry, collects data from participants and their study partners. The Brain Health Registry obtains self and study partner report questionnaires and neuropsychological data, including the Cogstate Brief Battery, Lumos Labs Neurocognitive Performance Test, and MemTrax Memory Test. Participants provide informed consent before participation. Baseline and longitudinal data were obtained from nearly 57,000 and 28,000 participants, respectively. Over 18,800 participants were referred to, and nearly 1800 were enrolled in, clinical Alzheimer's disease and aging studies, including five observational studies and seven intervention trials. Online assessments of participants and study partners provide useful information at relatively low cost for neuroscience studies and clinical trials and may ultimately be used in routine clinical practice. Copyright © 2018 the Alzheimer's Association. All rights reserved.

A Series of Computational Neuroscience Labs Increases Comfort with MATLAB.

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Nichols, David F

2015-01-01

Computational simulations allow for a low-cost, reliable means to demonstrate complex and often times inaccessible concepts to undergraduates. However, students without prior computer programming training may find working with code-based simulations to be intimidating and distracting. A series of computational neuroscience labs involving the Hodgkin-Huxley equations, an Integrate-and-Fire model, and a Hopfield Memory network were used in an undergraduate neuroscience laboratory component of an introductory level course. Using short focused surveys before and after each lab, student comfort levels were shown to increase drastically from a majority of students being uncomfortable or with neutral feelings about working in the MATLAB environment to a vast majority of students being comfortable working in the environment. Though change was reported within each lab, a series of labs was necessary in order to establish a lasting high level of comfort. Comfort working with code is important as a first step in acquiring computational skills that are required to address many questions within neuroscience.

Educational Neuroscience: What Can We Learn?

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Bell, Derek

2014-01-01

There has been a marked increase in interest, research, and publications exploring ways in which educational practices might be influenced by neuroscience. The idea that a greater understanding of how the brain works can improve teaching and learning is very seductive, but what can teachers and other professionals working in education learn from…

Bientot un doctorat commun Geneve-Lausanne en neuroscience

CERN Multimedia

2000-01-01

Interview with Maurice Bourquin and Jean Dominique Vassali, principle and vice principle of Geneva university over plans to combine the neuroscience departments at Geneva with Lausanne University (1 p).

A new research trend in social neuroscience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Tao; Pelowski, Matthew John

2014-01-01

The ability to flexibly modulate our behaviors in social contexts and to successfully interact with other persons is a fundamental, but pivotal, requirement for human survival. Although previous social neuroscience research with single individuals has contributed greatly to our understanding...

A new research trend in social neuroscience: Towards an interactive-brain neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tao; Pelowski, Matthew

2014-09-01

The ability to flexibly modulate our behaviors in social contexts and to successfully interact with other persons is a fundamental, but pivotal, requirement for human survival. Although previous social neuroscience research with single individuals has contributed greatly to our understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying social perception and social emotions, much of the dynamic nature of interactions between persons remains beyond the reach of single-brain studies. This has led to a growing argument for a shift to the simultaneous measurement of the brain activity of two or more individuals in realistic social interactions-an approach termed "hyperscanning." Although this approach offers important promise in unlocking the brain's role in truly social situations, there are multiple procedural and theoretical questions that require review and analysis. In this paper we discuss this research trend from four aspects: hyperscanning apparatus, experimental task, quantification method, and theoretical interpretation. We also give four suggestions for future research: (a) electroencephalography and near-infrared spectroscopy are useful tools by which to explore the interactive brain in more ecological settings; (b) games are an appropriate method to simulate daily life interactions; (c) transfer entropy may be an important method by which to quantify directed exchange of information between brains; and (d) more explanation is needed of the results of interbrain synchronization itself. © 2014 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

The contribution of single case studies to the neuroscience of vision.

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Zihl, Josef; Heywood, Charles A

2016-03-01

Visual neuroscience is concerned with the neurobiological foundations of visual perception, that is, the morphological, physiological, and functional organization of the visual brain and its co-operative partners. One important approach for understanding the functional organization of the visual brain is the study of visual perception from the pathological perspective. The study of patients with focal injury to the visual brain allows conclusions about the representation of visual perceptual functions in the framework of association and dissociation of functions. Selective disorders have been reported for more "elementary" visual capabilities, for example, color and movement vision, but also for visuo-cognitive capacities, such as visual agnosia or the visual field of attention. Because these visual disorders occur rather seldom as selective and specific dysfunctions, single cases have always played, and still play, a significant role in gaining insights into the functional organization of the visual brain. © 2016 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Trends in authorship based on gender and nationality in published neuroscience literature.

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Dubey, Divyanshu; Sawhney, Anshudha; Atluru, Aparna; Amritphale, Amod; Dubey, Archana; Trivedi, Jaya

2016-01-01

To evaluate the disparity in authorship based on gender and nationality of institutional affiliation among journals from developed and developing countries. Original articles from two neuroscience journals, with a 5 year impact factor >15 (Neuron and Nature Neuroscience) and from two neurology journals from a developing country (Neurology India and Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology) were categorized by gender and institutional affiliation of first and senior authors. Articles were further divided by the type of research (basic/translational/clinical), study/target population (adult/pediatrics/both) and field of neurology. Data was collected for the years 2002 and 2012. There are large disparities in authorship by women and from developing countries in high impact factor neuroscience journals. However, there was a non-statistical rise in female first and senior authorship over a 10 year period. Additionally there was a significant increase in first authorship from institutions based in developing countries in the two neuroscience journals examined (P < 0.05). In the two neurology journals based in India there was a significant increase in the number of articles published by international investigators between 2002 and 2012 (P < 0.05). Over the last decade, there has been a non-statistical increase in proportion of female first and senior authors, and a significant increase in authors from developing countries in high impact factor neuroscience journals. However they continue to constitute a minority. The disparity in authorship based on gender also exists in neurology journals based in a developing country (India).

Biochemistry and neuroscience: the twain need to meet.

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Mary B

2017-04-01

Neuroscience has come to mean the study of electrophysiology of neurons and synapses, micro and macro-scale neuroanatomy, and the functional organization of brain areas. The molecular axis of the field, as reflected in textbooks, often includes only descriptions of the structure and function of individual channels and receptor proteins, and the extracellular signals that guide development and repair. Studies of cytosolic 'molecular machines', large assemblies of proteins that orchestrate regulation of neuronal functions, have been neglected. However, a complete understanding of brain function that will enable new strategies for treatment of the most intractable neural disorders will require that in vitro biochemical studies of molecular machines be reintegrated into the field of neuroscience. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optogenetic Approaches to Drug Discovery in Neuroscience and Beyond.

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Zhang, Hongkang; Cohen, Adam E

2017-07-01

Recent advances in optogenetics have opened new routes to drug discovery, particularly in neuroscience. Physiological cellular assays probe functional phenotypes that connect genomic data to patient health. Optogenetic tools, in particular tools for all-optical electrophysiology, now provide a means to probe cellular disease models with unprecedented throughput and information content. These techniques promise to identify functional phenotypes associated with disease states and to identify compounds that improve cellular function regardless of whether the compound acts directly on a target or through a bypass mechanism. This review discusses opportunities and unresolved challenges in applying optogenetic techniques throughout the discovery pipeline - from target identification and validation, to target-based and phenotypic screens, to clinical trials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Neuroscience of Mathematical Cognition and Learning. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 136

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Looi, Chung Yen; Thompson, Jacqueline; Krause, Beatrix; Kadosh, Roi Cohen

2016-01-01

The synergistic potential of cognitive neuroscience and education for efficient learning has attracted considerable interest from the general public, teachers, parents, academics and policymakers alike. This review is aimed at providing 1) an accessible and general overview of the research progress made in cognitive neuroscience research in…

Le débat démocratique en neurosciences : possible et nécessaire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laliberté, Maude

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The neurosciences, a dynamic field of biomedical research, are a paradigmatic example to illustrate the responsibilities of researchers and their interactions with society. This comment highlights the importance of public debate in neurosciences.

Integrating neuroscience in the training of psychiatrists: a patient-centered didactic curriculum based on adult learning principles.

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Ross, David A; Rohrbaugh, Robert

2014-04-01

The authors describe the development and implementation of a new adult psychiatry residency didactic curriculum based on adult learning principles and an integrative, patient-centered approach that includes a progressive 4-year neuroscience curriculum. The authors describe the process of conducting a needs assessment, engaging stakeholders and developing guiding principles for the new curriculum. The curriculum was evaluated using qualitative measures, a resident survey, course evaluations, and a pilot version of a specialized assessment tool. Feedback from the resident survey and from course evaluations was positive, and residents indicated interest in receiving additional training in neuroscience. Residents self-reported not incorporating neuroscience into formulation and treatment planning as often as other perspectives. They also reported that neuroscience was reinforced less by clinical faculty than other perspectives. Performance on the curriculum assessment corroborated that clinical application of neuroscience may benefit from additional reinforcement. Residents responded well to the design and content of the new didactic curriculum. The neuroscience component appears to have achieved its primary objective of enhancing attitudes to the field. Continued work including enhancing the culture of neuroscience at the clinical sites may be required to achieve broader behavioral goals.

Affective psychotherapy in post-traumatic reactions guided by affective neuroscience: memory reconsolidation and play

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Högberg G

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Göran Högberg1,2, Davide Nardo3, Tore Hällström4,5, Marco Pagani6,71Department of Women's and Children's Health, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; 2BUP Huddinge Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm, Sweden; 3Neuroimaging Laboratory, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy; 4Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Section for Psychiatry/Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; 5Department of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Unit for Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; 6Department of Nuclear Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; 7Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, CNR, Rome, ItalyAbstract: This paper reviews the affective neuroscience dealing with the effects of traumatic events. We give an overview of the normal fear reactions, the pathological fear reaction, and the character of emotional episodic memories. We find that both emotions and emotional memories are a tripartite unit of sensory information, autonomic reaction, and motor impulse (the PRM complex. We propose that emotions and movements are part and parcel of the same complex. This is our main finding from the review of affective neuroscience, and from here we focus on psychotherapy with post-trauma reactions. The finding of the process of memory reconsolidation opens up a new treatment approach: affective psychotherapy focused on reconsolidation. The meaning of reconsolidation is that an emotional memory, when retrieved and being active, will rest in a labile form, amenable to change, for a brief period of time, until it reconsolidates in the memory. This leads us to the conclusion that emotions, affects, must be evoked during the treatment session and that positive emotion must come first, because safety must be part of the new memories. In the proposed protocol of affective

Psychoanalysis and the Brain - Why did Freud abandon Neuroscience

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Georg eNorthoff

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, was initially a neuroscientist but abandoned neuroscience completely after he made a last attempt to link both in his writing, ‘Project of a Scientific Psychology’, in 1895. The reasons for his subsequent disregard of the brain remain unclear though. I here argue that one central reason may be that the approach to the brain during his time was simply not appealing to Freud. More specifically, Freud was interested in revealing the psychological predispositions of psychodynamic processes. However, he was not so much focused on the actual psychological functions themselves which though were the prime focus of the neuroscience at his time and also in current Cognitive Neuroscience. Instead, he probably would have been more interested in the brain’s resting state and its constitution of spatiotemporal structures which may be regarded as the neural predisposition of what Freud described as ‘psychological structure‘. Hence, Freud and also current neuropsychoanalysis may want to focus more on neural predispositions, the necessary non-sufficient conditions, rather than the neural correlates, i.e., sufficient, conditions of psychodynamic processes.

Generating Stimuli for Neuroscience Using PsychoPy.

Science.gov (United States)

Peirce, Jonathan W

2008-01-01

PsychoPy is a software library written in Python, using OpenGL to generate very precise visual stimuli on standard personal computers. It is designed to allow the construction of as wide a variety of neuroscience experiments as possible, with the least effort. By writing scripts in standard Python syntax users can generate an enormous variety of visual and auditory stimuli and can interact with a wide range of external hardware (enabling its use in fMRI, EEG, MEG etc.). The structure of scripts is simple and intuitive. As a result, new experiments can be written very quickly, and trying to understand a previously written script is easy, even with minimal code comments. PsychoPy can also generate movies and image sequences to be used in demos or simulated neuroscience experiments. This paper describes the range of tools and stimuli that it provides and the environment in which experiments are conducted.

Empathy Examined From Perspectives of Neuroscience and Artistic Imagination.

Science.gov (United States)

Franklin, Michael A; Grossenbacher, Peter G

2016-01-01

This response to Ian E. Wickramasekera II's article, Mysteries of Hypnosis and the Self Are Revealed by the Psychology and Neuroscience of Empathy, is addressed from a joint perspective on consciousness comprising two related orientations: neuroscience and artistic imagination. We find that the central importance of empathy to empathic involvement theory (Wickramasekera II, 2015) reflects the pivotal nature of empathy in the brain and in the relational exchange implicit in the psychotherapeutic process, particularly when using art in therapy. We offer a preliminary unpacking of the roles related to key psychological processes, such as imagination, that are implicated in clinical uses of verbal and visual empathic resonance.

An integrated organisation-wide data quality management and information governance framework: theoretical underpinnings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siaw-Teng Liaw

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction Increasing investment in eHealth aims to improve cost effectiveness and safety of care. Data extraction and aggregation can create new data products to improve professional practice and provide feedback to improve the quality of source data. A previous systematic review concluded that locally relevant clinical indicators and use of clinical record systems could support clinical governance. We aimed to extend and update the review with a theoretical framework.Methods We searched PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, ABI Inform (Proquest and Business Source Premier (EBSCO using the terms curation, information ecosystem, data quality management (DQM, data governance, information governance (IG and data stewardship. We focused on and analysed the scope of DQM and IG processes, theoretical frameworks, and determinants of the processing, quality assurance, presentation and sharing of data across the enterprise.Findings There are good theoretical reasons for integrated governance, but there is variable alignment of DQM, IG and health system objectives across the health enterprise. Ethical constraints exist that require health information ecosystems to process data in ways that are aligned with improving health and system efficiency and ensuring patient safety. Despite an increasingly ‘big-data’ environment, DQM and IG in health services are still fragmented across the data production cycle. We extend current work on DQM and IG with a theoretical framework for integrated IG across the data cycle.Conclusions The dimensions of this theory-based framework would require testing with qualitative and quantitative studies to examine the applicability and utility, along with an evaluation of its impact on data quality across the health enterprise.

Advances in the Use of Neuroscience Methods in Research on Learning and Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

De Smedt, Bert

2014-01-01

Cognitive neuroscience offers a series of tools and methodologies that allow researchers in the field of learning and instruction to complement and extend the knowledge they have accumulated through decades of behavioral research. The appropriateness of these methods depends on the research question at hand. Cognitive neuroscience methods allow…

Developing a monitoring and evaluation framework to integrate and formalize the informal waste and recycling sector: the case of the Philippine National Framework Plan.

Science.gov (United States)

Serrona, Kevin Roy B; Yu, Jeongsoo; Aguinaldo, Emelita; Florece, Leonardo M

2014-09-01

The Philippines has been making inroads in solid waste management with the enactment and implementation of the Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Waste Management Act of 2000. Said legislation has had tremendous influence in terms of how the national and local government units confront the challenges of waste management in urban and rural areas using the reduce, reuse, recycle and recovery framework or 4Rs. One of the sectors needing assistance is the informal waste sector whose aspiration is legal recognition of their rank and integration of their waste recovery activities in mainstream waste management. To realize this, the Philippine National Solid Waste Management Commission initiated the formulation of the National Framework Plan for the Informal Waste Sector, which stipulates approaches, strategies and methodologies to concretely involve the said sector in different spheres of local waste management, such as collection, recycling and disposal. What needs to be fleshed out is the monitoring and evaluation component in order to gauge qualitative and quantitative achievements vis-a-vis the Framework Plan. In the process of providing an enabling environment for the informal waste sector, progress has to be monitored and verified qualitatively and quantitatively and measured against activities, outputs, objectives and goals. Using the Framework Plan as the reference, this article developed monitoring and evaluation indicators using the logical framework approach in project management. The primary objective is to institutionalize monitoring and evaluation, not just in informal waste sector plans, but in any waste management initiatives to ensure that envisaged goals are achieved. © The Author(s) 2014.

Generalized Information Theory Meets Human Cognition: Introducing a Unified Framework to Model Uncertainty and Information Search.

Science.gov (United States)

Crupi, Vincenzo; Nelson, Jonathan D; Meder, Björn; Cevolani, Gustavo; Tentori, Katya

2018-06-17

Searching for information is critical in many situations. In medicine, for instance, careful choice of a diagnostic test can help narrow down the range of plausible diseases that the patient might have. In a probabilistic framework, test selection is often modeled by assuming that people's goal is to reduce uncertainty about possible states of the world. In cognitive science, psychology, and medical decision making, Shannon entropy is the most prominent and most widely used model to formalize probabilistic uncertainty and the reduction thereof. However, a variety of alternative entropy metrics (Hartley, Quadratic, Tsallis, Rényi, and more) are popular in the social and the natural sciences, computer science, and philosophy of science. Particular entropy measures have been predominant in particular research areas, and it is often an open issue whether these divergences emerge from different theoretical and practical goals or are merely due to historical accident. Cutting across disciplinary boundaries, we show that several entropy and entropy reduction measures arise as special cases in a unified formalism, the Sharma-Mittal framework. Using mathematical results, computer simulations, and analyses of published behavioral data, we discuss four key questions: How do various entropy models relate to each other? What insights can be obtained by considering diverse entropy models within a unified framework? What is the psychological plausibility of different entropy models? What new questions and insights for research on human information acquisition follow? Our work provides several new pathways for theoretical and empirical research, reconciling apparently conflicting approaches and empirical findings within a comprehensive and unified information-theoretic formalism. Copyright © 2018 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Cognitive Neuroscience of Human Counterfactual Reasoning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole eVan Hoeck

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Counterfactual reasoning is a hallmark of human thought, enabling the capacity to shift from perceiving the immediate environment to an alternative, imagined perspective. Mental representations of counterfactual possibilities (e.g., imagined past events or future outcomes not yet at hand provide the basis for learning from past experience, enable planning and prediction, support creativity and insight, and give rise to emotions and social attributions (e.g., regret and blame. Yet remarkably little is known about the psychological and neural foundations of counterfactual reasoning. In this review, we survey recent findings from psychology and neuroscience indicating that counterfactual thought depends on an integrative network of systems for affective processing, mental simulation, and cognitive control. We review evidence to elucidate how these mechanisms are systematically altered through psychiatric illness and neurological disease. We propose that counterfactual thinking depends on the coordination of multiple information processing systems that together enable adaptive behavior and goal-directed decision making and make recommendations for the study of counterfactual inference in health, aging, and disease.

Cognitive Neuroscience and Education: Unravelling the Confusion

Science.gov (United States)

Purdy, Noel; Morrison, Hugh

2009-01-01

This paper critically examines the application of research into cognitive neuroscience to educational contexts. It first considers recent warnings from within the neuroscientific community itself about the limitations of current neuroscientific knowledge and the urgent need to dispel popular "neuromyths" which have become accepted in…

Towards a two-body neuroscience

OpenAIRE

Dumas, Guillaume

2011-01-01

Recent work from our interdisciplinary research group has revealed the emergence of inter-brain synchronization across multiple frequency bands during social interaction.1 Our findings result from the close collaboration between experts who study neural dynamics and developmental psychology. The initial aim of the collaboration was to combine knowledge from these two fields in order to move from a classical one-brain neuroscience towards a novel two-body approach. A new technique called hyper...

The neuroscience of observing consciousness & mirror neurons in therapeutic hypnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossi, Ernest L; Rossi, Kathryn L

2006-04-01

Neuroscience documents the activity of "mirror neurons" in the human brain as a mechanism whereby we experience empathy and recognize the intentions of others by observing their behavior and automatically matching their brain activity. This neural basis of empathy finds support in research on dysfunctions in the mirror systems of humans with autism and fMRI research on normal subjects designed to assess intentionality, emotions, and complex cognition. Such empathy research now appears to be consistent with the historical and research literature on hypnotic induction, rapport, and many of the classical phenomena of suggestion. A preliminary outline of how mirror neurons may function as a rapport zone mediating between observing consciousness, the gene expression/protein synthesis cycle, and brain plasticity in therapeutic hypnosis and psychosomatic medicine is proposed. Brain plasticity is generalized in the theory, research, and practice of utilizing mirror neurons as an explanatory framework in developing and training new skill sets for facilitating an activity-dependent approach to creative problem solving, mind-body healing, and rehabilitation with therapeutic hypnosis.

Free Will and the Brain Disease Model of Addiction: The Not So Seductive Allure of Neuroscience and Its Modest Impact on the Attribution of Free Will to People with an Addiction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Racine

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Free will has been the object of debate in the context of addiction given that addiction could compromise an individual's ability to choose freely between alternative courses of action. Proponents of the brain-disease model of addiction have argued that a neuroscience perspective on addiction reduces the attribution of free will because it relocates the cause of the disorder to the brain rather than to the person, thereby diminishing the blame attributed to the person with an addiction. Others have worried that such displacement of free will attribution would make the person with a drug addiction less responsible. Using the paradigmatic literature on the seductive allure of neuroscience explanations, we tested whether neuroscience information diminishes attributions of free will in the context of addiction and whether respondent characteristics influence these attributions and modulate the effect of neuroscience information. We performed a large-scale, web-based experiment with 2,378 German participants to explore how attributions of free will in the context of addiction to either alcohol or cocaine are affected by: (1 a text with a neurobiological explanation of addiction, (2 a neuroimage showing effects of addiction on the brain, and (3 a combination of a text and a neuroimage, in comparison to a control group that received no information. Belief in free will was measured using the FAD-Plus scale and was, subsequent to factor analysis, separated into two factors: responsibility and volition. The investigated respondent characteristics included gender, age, education, self-reported knowledge of neuroscience, substance-use disorder (SUD, and having a friend with SUD. We found that attributions of volition (in the cocaine-subsample were reduced in the text and neuroimage-treatment compared to the control group. However, respondent characteristics such as education and self-reported knowledge of neuroscience were associated with lower attributions

Free Will and the Brain Disease Model of Addiction: The Not So Seductive Allure of Neuroscience and Its Modest Impact on the Attribution of Free Will to People with an Addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Racine, Eric; Sattler, Sebastian; Escande, Alice

2017-01-01

Free will has been the object of debate in the context of addiction given that addiction could compromise an individual's ability to choose freely between alternative courses of action. Proponents of the brain-disease model of addiction have argued that a neuroscience perspective on addiction reduces the attribution of free will because it relocates the cause of the disorder to the brain rather than to the person, thereby diminishing the blame attributed to the person with an addiction. Others have worried that such displacement of free will attribution would make the person with a drug addiction less responsible. Using the paradigmatic literature on the seductive allure of neuroscience explanations, we tested whether neuroscience information diminishes attributions of free will in the context of addiction and whether respondent characteristics influence these attributions and modulate the effect of neuroscience information. We performed a large-scale, web-based experiment with 2,378 German participants to explore how attributions of free will in the context of addiction to either alcohol or cocaine are affected by: (1) a text with a neurobiological explanation of addiction, (2) a neuroimage showing effects of addiction on the brain, and (3) a combination of a text and a neuroimage, in comparison to a control group that received no information. Belief in free will was measured using the FAD-Plus scale and was, subsequent to factor analysis, separated into two factors: responsibility and volition. The investigated respondent characteristics included gender, age, education, self-reported knowledge of neuroscience, substance-use disorder (SUD), and having a friend with SUD. We found that attributions of volition (in the cocaine-subsample) were reduced in the text and neuroimage-treatment compared to the control group. However, respondent characteristics such as education and self-reported knowledge of neuroscience were associated with lower attributions of

Industrial neuroscience in aviation evaluation of mental states in aviation personnel

CERN Document Server

Borghini, Gianluca; Di Flumeri, Gianluca; Babiloni, Fabio

2017-01-01

This book discusses the emerging field of industrial neuroscience, and reports on the authors’ cutting-edge findings in the evaluation of mental states, including mental workload, cognitive control and training of personnel involved either in the piloting of aircraft and helicopters, or in managing air traffic. It encompasses neuroimaging and cognitive psychology techniques and shows how they have been successfully applied in the evaluation of human performance and human-machine interactions, and to guarantee a proper level of safety in such operational contexts. With an introduction to the most relevant concepts of neuroscience, neurophysiological techniques, simulators and case studies in aviation environments, it is a must-have for both students and scientists in the field of aeronautic and biomedical engineering, as well as for various professionals in the aviation world. This is the first book to intensively apply neurosciences to the evaluation of human factors and mental states in aviation.

Neuroscience in Nazi Europe Part III: victims of the Third Reich.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeidman, Lawrence A; Kondziella, Daniel

2012-11-01

In Part I, neuroscience collaborators with the Nazis were discussed, and in Part II, neuroscience resistors were discussed. In Part III, we discuss the tragedy regarding european neuroscientists who became victims of the Nazi onslaught on “non-Aryan” doctors. Some of these unfortunate neuroscientists survived Nazi concentration camps, but most were murdered. We discuss the circumstances and environment which stripped these neuroscientists of their profession, then of their personal rights and freedom, and then of their lives. We include a background analysis of anti-Semitism and Nazism in their various countries, then discuss in depth seven exemplary neuroscientist Holocaust victims; including Germans Ludwig Pick, Arthur Simons, and Raphael Weichbrodt, Austrians Alexander Spitzer and Viktor Frankl, and Poles Lucja Frey and Wladyslaw Sterling. by recognizing and remembering these victims of neuroscience, we pay homage and do not allow humanity to forget, lest this dark period in history ever repeat itself.

Techniques and Technology to Revise Content Delivery and Model Critical Thinking in the Neuroscience Classroom.

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Illig, Kurt R

2015-01-01

Undergraduate neuroscience courses typically involve highly interdisciplinary material, and it is often necessary to use class time to review how principles of chemistry, math and biology apply to neuroscience. Lecturing and Socratic discussion can work well to deliver information to students, but these techniques can lead students to feel more like spectators than participants in a class, and do not actively engage students in the critical analysis and application of experimental evidence. If one goal of undergraduate neuroscience education is to foster critical thinking skills, then the classroom should be a place where students and instructors can work together to develop them. Students learn how to think critically by directly engaging with course material, and by discussing evidence with their peers, but taking classroom time for these activities requires that an instructor find a way to provide course materials outside of class. Using technology as an on-demand provider of course materials can give instructors the freedom to restructure classroom time, allowing students to work together in small groups and to have discussions that foster critical thinking, and allowing the instructor to model these skills. In this paper, I provide a rationale for reducing the use of traditional lectures in favor of more student-centered activities, I present several methods that can be used to deliver course materials outside of class and discuss their use, and I provide a few examples of how these techniques and technologies can help improve learning outcomes.

From brain to neuro: the brain research association and the making of British neuroscience, 1965-1996.

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Abi-Rached, Joelle M

2012-01-01

This article explores the short history of "neuroscience" as a discipline in its own right as opposed to the much longer past of the brain sciences. It focuses on one historical moment, the formation of the first British "neuroscience" society, the Brain Research Association (BRA), renamed in 1996 to the British Neuroscience Association (BNA). It outlines the new thinking brought about by this new science of brain, mind, and behavior, it sketches the beginnings of the BRA and the institutionalization of neuroscience in the British context, and it further explores the ambiguous relation the association had towards some of the ethical, social, and political implications of this new area of research.

Methods for Specifying Scientific Data Standards and Modeling Relationships with Applications to Neuroscience

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Rübel, Oliver; Dougherty, Max; Prabhat; Denes, Peter; Conant, David; Chang, Edward F.; Bouchard, Kristofer

2016-01-01

Neuroscience continues to experience a tremendous growth in data; in terms of the volume and variety of data, the velocity at which data is acquired, and in turn the veracity of data. These challenges are a serious impediment to sharing of data, analyses, and tools within and across labs. Here, we introduce BRAINformat, a novel data standardization framework for the design and management of scientific data formats. The BRAINformat library defines application-independent design concepts and modules that together create a general framework for standardization of scientific data. We describe the formal specification of scientific data standards, which facilitates sharing and verification of data and formats. We introduce the concept of Managed Objects, enabling semantic components of data formats to be specified as self-contained units, supporting modular and reusable design of data format components and file storage. We also introduce the novel concept of Relationship Attributes for modeling and use of semantic relationships between data objects. Based on these concepts we demonstrate the application of our framework to design and implement a standard format for electrophysiology data and show how data standardization and relationship-modeling facilitate data analysis and sharing. The format uses HDF5, enabling portable, scalable, and self-describing data storage and integration with modern high-performance computing for data-driven discovery. The BRAINformat library is open source, easy-to-use, and provides detailed user and developer documentation and is freely available at: https://bitbucket.org/oruebel/brainformat. PMID:27867355

Using brain-computer interfaces and brain-state dependent stimulation as tools in cognitive neuroscience

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Ole eJensen

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Large efforts are currently being made to develop and improve online analysis of brain activity which can be used e.g. for brain-computer interfacing (BCI. A BCI allows a subject to control a device by willfully changing his/her own brain activity. BCI therefore holds the promise as a tool for aiding the disabled and for augmenting human performance. While technical developments obviously are important, we will here argue that new insight gained from cognitive neuroscience can be used to identify signatures of neural activation which reliably can be modulated by the subject at will. This review will focus mainly on oscillatory activity in the alpha band which is strongly modulated by changes in covert attention. Besides developing BCIs for their traditional purpose, they might also be used as a research tool for cognitive neuroscience. There is currently a strong interest in how brain state fluctuations impact cognition. These state fluctuations are partly reflected by ongoing oscillatory activity. The functional role of the brain state can be investigated by introducing stimuli in real time to subjects depending on the actual state of the brain. This principle of brain-state dependent stimulation may also be used as a practical tool for augmenting human behavior. In conclusion, new approaches based on online analysis of ongoing brain activity are currently in rapid development. These approaches are amongst others informed by new insight gained from EEG/MEG studies in cognitive neuroscience and hold the promise of providing new ways for investigating the brain at work.

The metaphysical lessons of synthetic biology and neuroscience.

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Baertschi, Bernard

2015-01-01

In this paper, I examine some important metaphysical lessons that are often presented as derived from two new scientific disciplines: synthetic biology and neuroscience. I analyse four of them: the nature of life, the existence of a soul (the mind-body problem), personhood, and free will. Many caveats are in order, and each 'advance' or each case should be assessed for itself. I conclude that a main lesson can nevertheless be learned: in conjunction with modern science, neuroscience and synthetic biology allow us to enrich old metaphysical debates, to deepen and even renew them. In particular, it becomes less and less plausible to consider life, mind, person, and agency as non-natural or non-physical entities. Copyright © 2015 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

A Geospatial Information Grid Framework for Geological Survey.

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Wu, Liang; Xue, Lei; Li, Chaoling; Lv, Xia; Chen, Zhanlong; Guo, Mingqiang; Xie, Zhong

2015-01-01

The use of digital information in geological fields is becoming very important. Thus, informatization in geological surveys should not stagnate as a result of the level of data accumulation. The integration and sharing of distributed, multi-source, heterogeneous geological information is an open problem in geological domains. Applications and services use geological spatial data with many features, including being cross-region and cross-domain and requiring real-time updating. As a result of these features, desktop and web-based geographic information systems (GISs) experience difficulties in meeting the demand for geological spatial information. To facilitate the real-time sharing of data and services in distributed environments, a GIS platform that is open, integrative, reconfigurable, reusable and elastic would represent an indispensable tool. The purpose of this paper is to develop a geological cloud-computing platform for integrating and sharing geological information based on a cloud architecture. Thus, the geological cloud-computing platform defines geological ontology semantics; designs a standard geological information framework and a standard resource integration model; builds a peer-to-peer node management mechanism; achieves the description, organization, discovery, computing and integration of the distributed resources; and provides the distributed spatial meta service, the spatial information catalog service, the multi-mode geological data service and the spatial data interoperation service. The geological survey information cloud-computing platform has been implemented, and based on the platform, some geological data services and geological processing services were developed. Furthermore, an iron mine resource forecast and an evaluation service is introduced in this paper.

Generating stimuli for neuroscience using PsychoPy

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Jonathan W Peirce

2009-01-01

Full Text Available PsychoPy is a software library written in Python, using OpenGL to generate very precise visual stimuli on standard personal computers. It is designed to allow the construction of as wide a variety of neuroscience experiments as possible, with the least effort. By writing scripts in standard Python syntax users can generate an enormous variety of visual and auditory stimuli and can interact with a wide range of external hardware (enabling its use in fMRI, EEG, MEG etc.. The structure of scripts is simple and intuitive. As a result, new experiments can be written very quickly, and trying to understand a previously written script is easy, even with minimal code comments. PsychoPy can also generate movies and image sequences to be used in demos or simulated neuroscience experiments. This paper describes the range of tools and stimuli that it provides and the environment in which experiments are conducted.

Psychometrics and the neuroscience of individual differences: Internal consistency limits between-subjects effects.

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Hajcak, Greg; Meyer, Alexandria; Kotov, Roman

2017-08-01

In the clinical neuroscience literature, between-subjects differences in neural activity are presumed to reflect reliable measures-even though the psychometric properties of neural measures are almost never reported. The current article focuses on the critical importance of assessing and reporting internal consistency reliability-the homogeneity of "items" that comprise a neural "score." We demonstrate how variability in the internal consistency of neural measures limits between-subjects (i.e., individual differences) effects. To this end, we utilize error-related brain activity (i.e., the error-related negativity or ERN) in both healthy and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) participants to demonstrate options for psychometric analyses of neural measures; we examine between-groups differences in internal consistency, between-groups effect sizes, and between-groups discriminability (i.e., ROC analyses)-all as a function of increasing items (i.e., number of trials). Overall, internal consistency should be used to inform experimental design and the choice of neural measures in individual differences research. The internal consistency of neural measures is necessary for interpreting results and guiding progress in clinical neuroscience-and should be routinely reported in all individual differences studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

A Developmental Neuroscience Perspective on Affect-Biased Attention

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Morales, Santiago; Fu, Xiaoxue; Pérez-Edgar, Koraly E.

2016-01-01

There is growing interest regarding the impact of affect-biased attention on psychopathology. However, most of the research to date lacks a developmental approach. In the present review, we examine the role affect-biased attention plays in shaping socioemotional trajectories within a developmental neuroscience framework. We propose that affect-biased attention, particularly if stable and entrenched, acts as a developmental tether that helps sustain early socioemotional and behavioral profiles over time, placing some individuals on maladaptive developmental trajectories. Although most of the evidence is found in the anxiety literature, we suggest that these relations may operate across multiple domains of interest, including positive affect, externalizing behaviors, drug use, and eating behaviors. We also review the general mechanisms and neural correlates of affect-biased attention, as well as the current evidence for the co-development of attention and affect. Based on the reviewed literature, we propose a model that may help us better understand the nuances of affect-biased attention across development. The model may serve as a strong foundation for ongoing attempts to identify neurocognitive mechanisms and intervene with individuals at risk. Finally, we discuss open issues for future research that may help bridge existing gaps in the literature. PMID:27606972

Neuroscience and Education: How Best to Filter out the Neurononsense from Our Classrooms?

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Purdy, Noel

2008-01-01

This article considers the extent to which neuroscience is being applied to education, both on a classroom level and also on the level of curricular reform in Northern Ireland. The article reviews recent research in the area of neuroscience and education and examines a number of popular "neuromyths." It urges the educational world to…

Adapting social neuroscience measures for schizophrenia clinical trials, part 3: fathoming external validity.

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Olbert, Charles M; Penn, David L; Kern, Robert S; Lee, Junghee; Horan, William P; Reise, Steven P; Ochsner, Kevin N; Marder, Stephen R; Green, Michael F

2013-11-01

It is unknown whether measures adapted from social neuroscience linked to specific neural systems will demonstrate relationships to external variables. Four paradigms adapted from social neuroscience were administered to 173 clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia to determine their relationships to functionally meaningful variables and to investigate their incremental validity beyond standard measures of social and nonsocial cognition. The 4 paradigms included 2 that assess perception of nonverbal social and action cues (basic biological motion and emotion in biological motion) and 2 that involve higher level inferences about self and others' mental states (self-referential memory and empathic accuracy). Overall, social neuroscience paradigms showed significant relationships to functional capacity but weak relationships to community functioning; the paradigms also showed weak correlations to clinical symptoms. Evidence for incremental validity beyond standard measures of social and nonsocial cognition was mixed with additional predictive power shown for functional capacity but not community functioning. Of the newly adapted paradigms, the empathic accuracy task had the broadest external validity. These results underscore the difficulty of translating developments from neuroscience into clinically useful tasks with functional significance.

Pathological choice: the neuroscience of gambling and gambling addiction.

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Clark, Luke; Averbeck, Bruno; Payer, Doris; Sescousse, Guillaume; Winstanley, Catharine A; Xue, Gui

2013-11-06

Gambling is pertinent to neuroscience research for at least two reasons. First, gambling is a naturalistic and pervasive example of risky decision making, and thus gambling games can provide a paradigm for the investigation of human choice behavior and "irrationality." Second, excessive gambling involvement (i.e., pathological gambling) is currently conceptualized as a behavioral addiction, and research on this condition may provide insights into addictive mechanisms in the absence of exogenous drug effects. This article is a summary of topics covered in a Society for Neuroscience minisymposium, focusing on recent advances in understanding the neural basis of gambling behavior, including translational findings in rodents and nonhuman primates, which have begun to delineate neural circuitry and neurochemistry involved.

Evaluation of the Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM framework: evidence from Uganda

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Aqil Anwer

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Sound policy, resource allocation and day-to-day management decisions in the health sector require timely information from routine health information systems (RHIS. In most low- and middle-income countries, the RHIS is viewed as being inadequate in providing quality data and continuous information that can be used to help improve health system performance. In addition, there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of RHIS strengthening interventions in improving data quality and use. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of the newly developed Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM framework, which consists of a conceptual framework and associated data collection and analysis tools to assess, design, strengthen and evaluate RHIS. The specific objectives of the study are: a to assess the reliability and validity of the PRISM instruments and b to assess the validity of the PRISM conceptual framework. Methods Facility- and worker-level data were collected from 110 health care facilities in twelve districts in Uganda in 2004 and 2007 using records reviews, structured interviews and self-administered questionnaires. The analysis procedures include Cronbach's alpha to assess internal consistency of selected instruments, test-retest analysis to assess the reliability and sensitivity of the instruments, and bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques to assess validity of the PRISM instruments and conceptual framework. Results Cronbach's alpha analysis suggests high reliability (0.7 or greater for the indices measuring a promotion of a culture of information, RHIS tasks self-efficacy and motivation. The study results also suggest that a promotion of a culture of information influences RHIS tasks self-efficacy, RHIS tasks competence and motivation, and that self-efficacy and the presence of RHIS staff have a direct influence on the use of RHIS information, a key aspect of RHIS performance

Trends in authorship based on gender and nationality in published neuroscience literature

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Divyanshu Dubey; Anshudha Sawhney; Aparna Atluru; Amod Amritphale; Archana Dubey; Jaya Trivedi

2016-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the disparity in authorship based on gender and nationality of institutional affiliation among journals from developed and developing countries. Materials and Methods: Original articles from two neuroscience journals, with a 5 year impact factor >15 (Neuron and Nature Neuroscience) and from two neurology journals from a developing country (Neurology India and Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology) were categorized by gender and institutional affiliation of first and...