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The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Aug 2008The neurobiological processes underlying mental imagery are a matter of debate and controversy among neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists, philosophers, and...
The neurobiological processes underlying mental imagery are a matter of debate and controversy among neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists, philosophers, and biologists. Recent neuroimaging studies demonstrated that the execution of mental imagery activates large frontoparietal and occipitotemporal networks in the human brain. These previous imaging studies, however, neglected the crucial interplay within and across the widely distributed cortical networks of activated brain regions. Here, we combined time-resolved event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging with analyses of interactions between brain regions (functional and effective brain connectivity) to unravel the premotor-parietal dynamics underlying spatial imagery. Participants had to sequentially construct and spatially transform a mental visual object based on either verbal or visual instructions. By concurrently accounting for the full spatiotemporal pattern of brain activity and network connectivity, we functionally segregated an early from a late premotor-parietal imagery network. Moreover, we revealed that the modality-specific information upcoming from sensory brain regions is first sent to the premotor cortex and then to the medial-dorsal parietal cortex, i.e., top-down from the motor to the perceptual pole during spatial imagery. Importantly, we demonstrate that the premotor cortex serves as the central relay station, projecting to parietal cortex at two functionally distinct stages during spatial imagery. Our approach enabled us to disentangle the multicomponential cognitive construct of mental imagery into its different cognitive subelements. We discuss and explicitly assign these mental subprocesses to each of the revealed effective brain connectivity networks and present an integrative neurobiological model of spatial imagery.
Topics: Adult; Cognition; Female; Humans; Imagination; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mental Processes; Motor Cortex; Nerve Net; Parietal Lobe; Reaction Time; Synaptic Transmission
PubMed: 18716200
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2656-08.2008 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Jun 2015Models of working memory (WM) commonly focus on how information is encoded into and retrieved from storage at specific moments. However, in the majority of real-life... (Review)
Review
Models of working memory (WM) commonly focus on how information is encoded into and retrieved from storage at specific moments. However, in the majority of real-life processes, past information is used continuously to process incoming information across multiple timescales. Considering single-unit, electrocorticography, and functional imaging data, we argue that (i) virtually all cortical circuits can accumulate information over time, and (ii) the timescales of accumulation vary hierarchically, from early sensory areas with short processing timescales (10s to 100s of milliseconds) to higher-order areas with long processing timescales (many seconds to minutes). In this hierarchical systems perspective, memory is not restricted to a few localized stores, but is intrinsic to information processing that unfolds throughout the brain on multiple timescales.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Humans; Mental Processes; Models, Neurological; Neurons; Time Factors
PubMed: 25980649
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2015.04.006 -
Developmental Psychology Jan 2009It is proposed that the mind and brain often work at a gross level and only with fine tuning or inhibition act in a more differentiated manner, even when one might think... (Review)
Review
It is proposed that the mind and brain often work at a gross level and only with fine tuning or inhibition act in a more differentiated manner, even when one might think the domains being issued the global command should be distinct. This applies to disparate findings in cognitive science and neuroscience in both children and adults. Thus, it is easier to switch everything, or nothing, than to switch one thing (the rule one is following or which button to press) but not the other. It is easier to issue the same command to both hands than to move only one hand. If one needs to respond to the opposite (or antonym) of a stimulus, one is faster if the correct response is to the side opposite the stimulus. People tend to think of the nervous system as sending out very precise commands only to the relevant recipient, but it appears that often the command goes out more globally and then parts of the system need to be inhibited from acting on the command.
Topics: Brain; Child; Child Development; Humans; Inhibition, Psychological; Mental Processes; Psychological Theory; Psychomotor Performance; Psychophysiology
PubMed: 19209996
DOI: 10.1037/a0014025 -
Neuron Nov 2005Three classes of perceptual phenomena have repeatedly been associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): superior processing of fine detail (local structure), either... (Review)
Review
Three classes of perceptual phenomena have repeatedly been associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): superior processing of fine detail (local structure), either inferior processing of overall/global structure or an ability to ignore disruptive global/contextual information, and impaired motion perception. This review evaluates the quality of the evidence bearing on these three phenomena. We argue that while superior local processing has been robustly demonstrated, conclusions about global processing cannot be definitively drawn from the experiments to date, which have generally not precluded observers using more local cues. Perception of moving stimuli is impaired in ASD, but explanations in terms of magnocellular/dorsal deficits do not appear to be sufficient. We suggest that abnormalities in the superior temporal sulcus (STS) may provide a neural basis for the range of motion-processing deficits observed in ASD, including biological motion perception. Such an explanation may also provide a link between perceptual abnormalities and specific deficits in social cognition associated with autism.
Topics: Autistic Disorder; Humans; Mental Processes; Models, Biological; Photic Stimulation; Visual Fields; Visual Perception
PubMed: 16269366
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2005.10.018 -
Topics in Cognitive Science Oct 2010The study of human intelligence was once dominated by symbolic approaches, but over the last 30 years an alternative approach has arisen. Symbols and processes that... (Review)
Review
The study of human intelligence was once dominated by symbolic approaches, but over the last 30 years an alternative approach has arisen. Symbols and processes that operate on them are often seen today as approximate characterizations of the emergent consequences of sub- or nonsymbolic processes, and a wide range of constructs in cognitive science can be understood as emergents. These include representational constructs (units, structures, rules), architectural constructs (central executive, declarative memory), and developmental processes and outcomes (stages, sensitive periods, neurocognitive modules, developmental disorders). The greatest achievements of human cognition may be largely emergent phenomena. It remains a challenge for the future to learn more about how these greatest achievements arise and to emulate them in artificial systems.
Topics: Cognitive Science; Humans; Mental Processes
PubMed: 25164055
DOI: 10.1111/j.1756-8765.2010.01116.x -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Jun 2019Brains exhibit plasticity, multi-scale integration of information, computation and memory, having evolved by specialization of non-neural cells that already possessed... (Review)
Review
Brains exhibit plasticity, multi-scale integration of information, computation and memory, having evolved by specialization of non-neural cells that already possessed many of the same molecular components and functions. The emerging field of basal cognition provides many examples of decision-making throughout a wide range of non-neural systems. How can biological information processing across scales of size and complexity be quantitatively characterized and exploited in biomedical settings? We use pattern regulation as a context in which to introduce the Cognitive Lens-a strategy using well-established concepts from cognitive and computer science to complement mechanistic investigation in biology. To facilitate the assimilation and application of these approaches across biology, we review tools from various quantitative disciplines, including dynamical systems, information theory and least-action principles. We propose that these tools can be extended beyond neural settings to predict and control systems-level outcomes, and to understand biological patterning as a form of primitive cognition. We hypothesize that a cognitive-level information-processing view of the functions of living systems can complement reductive perspectives, improving efficient top-down control of organism-level outcomes. Exploration of the deep parallels across diverse quantitative paradigms will drive integrative advances in evolutionary biology, regenerative medicine, synthetic bioengineering, cognitive neuroscience and artificial intelligence. This article is part of the theme issue 'Liquid brains, solid brains: How distributed cognitive architectures process information'.
Topics: Animals; Cognition; Humans; Mental Processes; Models, Biological; Morphogenesis; Regeneration; Regenerative Medicine
PubMed: 31006373
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0369 -
Acta Psychologica Sep 2023The goal of industrial/organizational (IO) psychology, is to build and organize trustworthy knowledge about people-related phenomena in the workplace. Unfortunately, as... (Review)
Review
The goal of industrial/organizational (IO) psychology, is to build and organize trustworthy knowledge about people-related phenomena in the workplace. Unfortunately, as with other scientific disciplines, our discipline may be experiencing a "crisis of confidence" stemming from the lack of reproducibility and replicability of many of our field's research findings, which would suggest that much of our research may be untrustworthy. If a scientific discipline's research is deemed untrustworthy, it can have dire consequences, including the withdraw of funding for future research. In this focal article, we review the current state of reproducibility and replicability in IO psychology and related fields. As part of this review, we discuss factors that make it less likely that research findings will be trustworthy, including the prevalence of scientific misconduct, questionable research practices (QRPs), and errors. We then identify some root causes of these issues and provide several potential remedies. In particular, we highlight the need for improved research methods and statistics training as well as a re-alignment of the incentive structure in academia. To accomplish this, we advocate for changes in the reward structure, improvements to the peer review process, and the implementation of open science practices. Overall, addressing the current "crisis of confidence" in IO psychology requires individual researchers, academic institutions, and publishers to embrace system-wide change.
Topics: Humans; Reproducibility of Results; Knowledge; Mental Processes; Research Design; Reward
PubMed: 37625919
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.104005 -
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews.... Sep 2016Primate Cognition is the study of cognitive processes, which represent internal mental processes involved in discriminations, decisions, and behaviors of humans and... (Review)
Review
Primate Cognition is the study of cognitive processes, which represent internal mental processes involved in discriminations, decisions, and behaviors of humans and other primate species. Cognitive control involves executive and regulatory processes that allocate attention, manipulate and evaluate available information (and, when necessary, seek additional information), remember past experiences to plan future behaviors, and deal with distraction and impulsivity when they are threats to goal achievement. Areas of research that relate to cognitive control as it is assessed across species include executive attention, episodic memory, prospective memory, metacognition, and self-control. Executive attention refers to the ability to control what sensory stimuli one attends to and how one regulates responses to those stimuli, especially in cases of conflict. Episodic memory refers to memory for personally experienced, autobiographical events. Prospective memory refers to the formation and implementation of future-intended actions, such as remembering what needs to be done later. Metacognition consists of control and monitoring processes that allow individuals to assess what information they have and what information they still need, and then if necessary to seek information. Self-control is a regulatory process whereby individuals forego more immediate or easier to obtain rewards for more delayed or harder to obtain rewards that are objectively more valuable. The behavioral complexity shown by nonhuman primates when given tests to assess these capacities indicates psychological continuities with human cognitive control capacities. However, more research is needed to clarify the proper interpretation of these behaviors with regard to possible cognitive constructs that may underlie such behaviors. WIREs Cogn Sci 2016, 7:294-316. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1397 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Topics: Animals; Attention; Behavior, Animal; Cognition; Humans; Memory, Episodic; Metacognition; Primates; Self-Control
PubMed: 27284790
DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1397 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Jan 2021The ability to predict the timing of forthcoming events, known as temporal expectation, has a strong impact on human information processing. Although there is growing...
The ability to predict the timing of forthcoming events, known as temporal expectation, has a strong impact on human information processing. Although there is growing consensus that temporal expectations enhance the speed and accuracy of perceptual decisions, it remains unclear whether they affect the decision process itself, or non-decisional (sensory/motor) processes. Here, healthy human participants ( = 21; 18 female) used predictive auditory cues to anticipate the timing of low-contrast visual stimuli they were required to detect. Modeling of the behavioral data using a prominent sequential sampling model indicated that temporal expectations speeded up non-decisional processes but had no effect on decision formation. Electrophysiological recordings confirmed and extended this result: temporal expectations hastened the onset of a neural signature of decision formation but had no effect on its build-up rate. Anticipatory α band power was modulated by temporal expectation and co-varied with intrinsic trial-by-trial variability in behavioral and neural signatures of the onset latency of the decision process. These findings highlight how temporal predictions optimize our interaction with unfolding sensory events. Temporal expectation enhances performance, but the locus of this effect remains debated. Here, we contrasted the two dominant accounts: enhancement through (1) expedited decision onset, or (2) an increase in the quality of sensory evidence. We manipulated expectations about the onset of a dim visual target using a temporal cueing paradigm, and probed the locus of the expectation effect with two complementary approaches: drift diffusion modeling (DDM) of behavior, and estimation of the onset and progression of the decision process from a supramodal accumulation-to-bound signal in simultaneously measured EEG signals. Behavioral modeling and neural data provided strong, converging evidence for an account in which temporal expectations enhance perception by speeding up decision onset, without affecting evidence quality.
Topics: Acoustic Stimulation; Adolescent; Adult; Alpha Rhythm; Anticipation, Psychological; Cues; Decision Making; Diffusion; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Processes; Models, Neurological; Photic Stimulation; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Young Adult
PubMed: 33172980
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1103-20.2020 -
PloS One 2015Two experiments examined the nature of visuo-spatial mental imagery generation and maintenance in 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-year old children and adults (N = 211). The key...
Two experiments examined the nature of visuo-spatial mental imagery generation and maintenance in 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-year old children and adults (N = 211). The key questions were how image generation and maintenance develop (Experiment 1) and how accurately children and adults coordinate mental and visually perceived images (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 indicated that basic image generation and maintenance abilities are present at 4 years of age but the precision with which images are generated and maintained improves particularly between 4 and 8 years. In addition to increased precision, Experiment 2 demonstrated that generated and maintained mental images become increasingly similar to visually perceived objects. Altogether, findings suggest that for simple tasks demanding image generation and maintenance, children attain adult-like precision younger than previously reported. This research also sheds new light on the ability to coordinate mental images with visual images in children and adults.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Analysis of Variance; Child; Child, Preschool; Concept Formation; Female; Humans; Imagination; Male; Mental Processes; Photic Stimulation; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Space Perception; Visual Perception
PubMed: 26562296
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142566