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The Behavioral and Brain Sciences Apr 2014This article argues that mirror neurons originate in sensorimotor associative learning and therefore a new approach is needed to investigate their functions. Mirror... (Review)
Review
This article argues that mirror neurons originate in sensorimotor associative learning and therefore a new approach is needed to investigate their functions. Mirror neurons were discovered about 20 years ago in the monkey brain, and there is now evidence that they are also present in the human brain. The intriguing feature of many mirror neurons is that they fire not only when the animal is performing an action, such as grasping an object using a power grip, but also when the animal passively observes a similar action performed by another agent. It is widely believed that mirror neurons are a genetic adaptation for action understanding; that they were designed by evolution to fulfill a specific socio-cognitive function. In contrast, we argue that mirror neurons are forged by domain-general processes of associative learning in the course of individual development, and, although they may have psychological functions, they do not necessarily have a specific evolutionary purpose or adaptive function. The evidence supporting this view shows that (1) mirror neurons do not consistently encode action "goals"; (2) the contingency- and context-sensitive nature of associative learning explains the full range of mirror neuron properties; (3) human infants receive enough sensorimotor experience to support associative learning of mirror neurons ("wealth of the stimulus"); and (4) mirror neurons can be changed in radical ways by sensorimotor training. The associative account implies that reliable information about the function of mirror neurons can be obtained only by research based on developmental history, system-level theory, and careful experimentation.
Topics: Animals; Association Learning; Biological Evolution; Brain; Humans; Learning; Mirror Neurons; Social Behavior; Social Perception
PubMed: 24775147
DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X13000903 -
Neuron Oct 2015Extinction serves as the leading theoretical framework and experimental model to describe how learned behaviors diminish through absence of anticipated reinforcement. In... (Review)
Review
Extinction serves as the leading theoretical framework and experimental model to describe how learned behaviors diminish through absence of anticipated reinforcement. In the past decade, extinction has moved beyond the realm of associative learning theory and behavioral experimentation in animals and has become a topic of considerable interest in the neuroscience of learning, memory, and emotion. Here, we review research and theories of extinction, both as a learning process and as a behavioral technique, and consider whether traditional understandings warrant a re-examination. We discuss the neurobiology, cognitive factors, and major computational theories, and revisit the predominant view that extinction results in new learning that interferes with expression of the original memory. Additionally, we reconsider the limitations of extinction as a technique to prevent the relapse of maladaptive behavior and discuss novel approaches, informed by contemporary theoretical advances, that augment traditional extinction methods to target and potentially alter maladaptive memories.
Topics: Association Learning; Brain; Cognition; Extinction, Psychological; Humans; Memory; Psychological Theory; Reinforcement, Psychology
PubMed: 26447572
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.028 -
Journal of Psychopharmacology (Oxford,... Apr 2021This paper introduces a new construct, the 'pivotal mental state', which is defined as a hyper-plastic state aiding rapid and deep learning that can mediate... (Review)
Review
This paper introduces a new construct, the 'pivotal mental state', which is defined as a hyper-plastic state aiding rapid and deep learning that can mediate psychological transformation. We believe this new construct bears relevance to a broad range of psychological and psychiatric phenomena. We argue that pivotal mental states serve an important evolutionary function, that is, to aid psychological transformation when actual or perceived environmental pressures demand this. We cite evidence that chronic stress and neurotic traits are primers for a pivotal mental state, whereas acute stress can be a trigger. Inspired by research with serotonin 2A receptor agonist psychedelics, we highlight how activity at this particular receptor can robustly and reliably induce pivotal mental states, but we argue that the capacity for pivotal mental states is an inherent property of the human brain itself. Moreover, we hypothesize that serotonergic psychedelics hijack a system that has evolved to mediate rapid and deep learning when its need is sensed. We cite a breadth of evidences linking stress via a variety of inducers, with an upregulated serotonin 2A receptor system (e.g. upregulated availability of and/or binding to the receptor) and acute stress with 5-HT release, which we argue can activate this primed system to induce a pivotal mental state. The pivotal mental state model is multi-level, linking a specific molecular gateway (increased serotonin 2A receptor signaling) with the inception of a hyper-plastic brain and mind state, enhanced rate of associative learning and the potential mediation of a psychological transformation.
Topics: Aspirations, Psychological; Association Learning; Hallucinogens; Humans; Mindfulness; Mysticism; Neuronal Plasticity; Psychotic Disorders; Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A; Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Agonists; Signal Transduction; Stress, Physiological; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 33174492
DOI: 10.1177/0269881120959637 -
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Jan 2022Although we can learn new information while asleep, we usually cannot consciously remember the sleep-formed memories - presumably because learning occurred in an...
Although we can learn new information while asleep, we usually cannot consciously remember the sleep-formed memories - presumably because learning occurred in an unconscious state. Here, we ask whether sleep-learning expedites the subsequent awake-learning of the same information. To answer this question, we reanalyzed data (Züst et al., 2019, Curr Biol) from napping participants, who learned new semantic associations between pseudowords and translation-words (guga-ship) while in slow-wave sleep. They retrieved sleep-formed associations unconsciously on an implicit memory test following awakening. Then, participants took five runs of paired-associative learning to probe carry-over effects of sleep-learning on awake-learning. Surprisingly, sleep-learning diminished awake-learning when participants learned semantic associations that were congruent to sleep-learned associations (guga-boat). Yet, learning associations that conflicted with sleep-learned associations (guga-coin) was unimpaired relative to learning new associations (resun-table; baseline). We speculate that the impeded wake-learning originated in a deficient synaptic downscaling and resulting synaptic saturation in neurons that were activated during both sleep-learning and awake-learning.
Topics: Adult; Association Learning; Female; Humans; Learning; Male; Mental Recall; Sleep; Vocabulary; Wakefulness; Young Adult
PubMed: 34863922
DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107569 -
Neuron Nov 2016The relationship between the brain and the environment is flexible, forming the foundation for our ability to learn. Here we review the current state of our... (Review)
Review
The relationship between the brain and the environment is flexible, forming the foundation for our ability to learn. Here we review the current state of our understanding of the modifications in the sensorimotor pathway related to sensorimotor learning. We divide the process into three hierarchical levels with distinct goals: (1) sensory perceptual learning, (2) sensorimotor associative learning, and (3) motor skill learning. Perceptual learning optimizes the representations of important sensory stimuli. Associative learning and the initial phase of motor skill learning are ensured by feedback-based mechanisms that permit trial-and-error learning. The later phase of motor skill learning may primarily involve feedback-independent mechanisms operating under the classic Hebbian rule. With these changes under distinct constraints and mechanisms, sensorimotor learning establishes dedicated circuitry for the reproduction of stereotyped neural activity patterns and behavior.
Topics: Animals; Association Learning; Brain; Humans; Learning; Models, Neurological; Motor Skills; Perception; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 27883902
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.029 -
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review Oct 2018Comparative and cognitive psychologists interpret performance in different ways. Animal researchers invoke a dominant construct of associative learning. Human... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Review
Comparative and cognitive psychologists interpret performance in different ways. Animal researchers invoke a dominant construct of associative learning. Human researchers acknowledge humans' capacity for explicit-declarative cognition. This article offers a way to bridge a divide that defeats productive cross-talk. We show that animals often challenge the associative-learning construct, and that it does not work to try to stretch the associative-learning construct to encompass these performances. This approach thins and impoverishes that important construct. We describe an alternative approach that restrains the construct of associative learning by giving it a clear operational definition. We apply this approach in several comparative domains to show that different task variants change-in concert-the level of awareness, the declarative nature of knowledge, the dimensional breadth of knowledge, and the brain systems that organize learning. These changes reveal dissociable learning processes that a unitary associative construct cannot explain but a neural-systems framework can explain. These changes define the limit of associative learning and the threshold of explicit cognition. The neural-systems framework can broaden empirical horizons in comparative psychology. It can offer animal models of explicit cognition to cognitive researchers and neuroscientists. It can offer simple behavioral paradigms for exploring explicit cognition to developmental researchers. It can enliven the synergy between human and animal research, promising a productive future for both.
Topics: Animal Experimentation; Animals; Association Learning; Awareness; Brain; Cognition; Conditioning, Classical; Discrimination Learning; Humans; Interdisciplinary Communication; Intersectoral Collaboration; Models, Animal; Psychology, Comparative; Species Specificity
PubMed: 28799092
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-017-1353-1 -
Current Biology : CB Jul 2022The activity of dopamine neurons is critical for the ability to learn and update cue-reward associations. New work in rats shows that dopamine transients are also...
The activity of dopamine neurons is critical for the ability to learn and update cue-reward associations. New work in rats shows that dopamine transients are also critical for the formation of backward associations in which the reward precedes the neutral stimulus.
Topics: Animals; Association Learning; Cues; Dopamine; Dopaminergic Neurons; Learning; Rats; Reward
PubMed: 35882194
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.007 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Oct 2012Associative learning plays a variety of roles in the study of animal cognition from a core theoretical component to a null hypothesis against which the contribution of... (Review)
Review
Associative learning plays a variety of roles in the study of animal cognition from a core theoretical component to a null hypothesis against which the contribution of cognitive processes is assessed. Two developments in contemporary associative learning have enhanced its relevance to animal cognition. The first concerns the role of associatively activated representations, whereas the second is the development of hybrid theories in which learning is determined by prediction errors, both directly and indirectly through associability processes. However, it remains unclear whether these developments allow associative theory to capture the psychological rationality of cognition. I argue that embodying associative processes within specific processing architectures provides mechanisms that can mediate psychological rationality and illustrate such embodiment by discussing the relationship between practical reasoning and the associative-cybernetic model of goal-directed action.
Topics: Animals; Association Learning; Behavior, Animal; Cognition; Computational Biology; Conditioning, Psychological; Cybernetics; Habits; Memory; Rationalization; Reinforcement, Psychology
PubMed: 22927572
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0220 -
PloS One 2019Successful communication often involves comprehension of both spoken language and observed actions with and without objects. Even very young infants can learn... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial
Successful communication often involves comprehension of both spoken language and observed actions with and without objects. Even very young infants can learn associations between actions and objects as well as between words and objects. However, in daily life, children are usually confronted with both kinds of input simultaneously. Choosing the critical information to attend to in such situations might help children structure the input, and thereby, allow for successful learning. In the current study, we therefore, investigated the developmental time course of children's and adults' word and action learning when given the opportunity to learn both word-object and action-object associations for the same object. All participants went through a learning phase and a test phase. In the learning phase, they were presented with two novel objects which were associated with a distinct novel name (e.g., "Look, a Tanu") and a distinct novel action (e.g., moving up and down while tilting sideways). In the test phase, participants were presented with both objects on screen in a baseline phase, then either heard one of the two labels or saw one of the two actions in a prime phase, and then saw the two objects again on screen in a recognition phase. Throughout the trial, participants' target looking was recorded to investigate whether participants looked at the target object upon hearing its label or seeing its action, and thus, would show learning of the word-object and action-object associations. Growth curve analyses revealed that 12-month-olds showed modest learning of action-object associations, 36-month-olds learned word-object associations, and adults learned word-object and action-object associations. These results highlight how children attend to the different information types from the two modalities through which communication is addressed to them. Over time, with increased exposure to systematic word-object mappings, children attend less to action-object mappings, with the latter potentially being mediated by word-object learning even in adulthood. Thus, choosing between different kinds of input that may be more relevant in their rich environment encompassing different modalities might help learning at different points in development.
Topics: Adult; Association Learning; Child, Preschool; Comprehension; Female; Humans; Infant; Language Development; Male; Speech Perception; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 31393901
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220317 -
Neuron Jun 2011Reward-guided decision-making and learning depends on distributed neural circuits with many components. Here we focus on recent evidence that suggests four frontal lobe... (Review)
Review
Reward-guided decision-making and learning depends on distributed neural circuits with many components. Here we focus on recent evidence that suggests four frontal lobe regions make distinct contributions to reward-guided learning and decision-making: the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and adjacent medial orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and the anterior lateral prefrontal cortex. We attempt to identify common themes in experiments with human participants and with animal models, which suggest roles that the areas play in learning about reward associations, selecting reward goals, choosing actions to obtain reward, and monitoring the potential value of switching to alternative courses of action.
Topics: Animals; Association Learning; Decision Making; Frontal Lobe; Humans; Neural Pathways; Reward
PubMed: 21689594
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.05.014