The proper place of subjectivity, meaning, and folk psychology in psychiatry

2020 ◽  
pp. 290-303
Author(s):  
Doug McConnell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Effective Treatment ◽  
Folk Psychology ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Mental Content ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Conceptual Content ◽  
Proper Place ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Discursive Interaction

‘The proper place of subjectivity, meaning, and folk psychology in psychiatry’ argues that Steven Hyman’s vision for psychiatry is excessively bioreductive. Hyman wrongly assumes that conceptual mental content is reducible to brain state descriptions and mistakes the neural vehicle of content for the content itself. Once we see that conceptual content, including the referents of folk psychology, shape brain activity, it becomes clear that content itself (or a lack of it) can be pathological. Therefore, treatment will sometimes be effective, even curative, by addressing that content through discursive interaction with the patient qua person. Diagnosis and effective treatment of mental disorders cannot just focus on neurobiology, as Hyman claims, both processes must also consider conceptual content and the complex interactions between content and the neurobiology instantiating it.

scholarly journals An Analysis of the External Validity of EEG Spectral Power in an Uncontrolled Outdoor Environment during Default and Complex Neurocognitive States

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 330
Author(s):  
Dalton J. Edwards ◽  
Logan T. Trujillo
Keyword(s):  
External Validity ◽  
Spectral Power ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Eeg Spectral Power ◽  
Eeg Power ◽  
Human Participants

Traditionally, quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) studies collect data within controlled laboratory environments that limit the external validity of scientific conclusions. To probe these validity limits, we used a mobile EEG system to record electrophysiological signals from human participants while they were located within a controlled laboratory environment and an uncontrolled outdoor environment exhibiting several moderate background influences. Participants performed two tasks during these recordings, one engaging brain activity related to several complex cognitive functions (number sense, attention, memory, executive function) and the other engaging two default brain states. We computed EEG spectral power over three frequency bands (theta: 4–7 Hz, alpha: 8–13 Hz, low beta: 14–20 Hz) where EEG oscillatory activity is known to correlate with the neurocognitive states engaged by these tasks. Null hypothesis significance testing yielded significant EEG power effects typical of the neurocognitive states engaged by each task, but only a beta-band power difference between the two background recording environments during the default brain state. Bayesian analysis showed that the remaining environment null effects were unlikely to reflect measurement insensitivities. This overall pattern of results supports the external validity of laboratory EEG power findings for complex and default neurocognitive states engaged within moderately uncontrolled environments.

scholarly journals Age-dependent electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns during sevoflurane general anesthesia in infants

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Cornelissen ◽  
Seong-Eun Kim ◽  
Patrick L Purdon ◽  
Emery N Brown ◽  
Charles B Berde
Keyword(s):  
General Anesthesia ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
State Monitoring ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Electroencephalogram Eeg

Electroencephalogram (EEG) approaches may provide important information about developmental changes in brain-state dynamics during general anesthesia. We used multi-electrode EEG, analyzed with multitaper spectral methods and video recording of body movement to characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of brain activity in 36 infants 0–6 months old when awake, and during maintenance of and emergence from sevoflurane general anesthesia. During maintenance: (1) slow-delta oscillations were present in all ages; (2) theta and alpha oscillations emerged around 4 months; (3) unlike adults, all infants lacked frontal alpha predominance and coherence. Alpha power was greatest during maintenance, compared to awake and emergence in infants at 4–6 months. During emergence, theta and alpha power decreased with decreasing sevoflurane concentration in infants at 4–6 months. These EEG dynamic differences are likely due to developmental factors including regional differences in synaptogenesis, glucose metabolism, and myelination across the cortex. We demonstrate the need to apply age-adjusted analytic approaches to develop neurophysiologic-based strategies for pediatric anesthetic state monitoring.

scholarly journals Theoretical Applications of the MODE Model to Law Enforcement Training and Interventions

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 604-611
Author(s):  
Keith L. Zabel ◽  
Kevin L. Zabel ◽  
Michael A. Olson ◽  
Jessica H. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Effective Treatment ◽  
Police Officer ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Implicit Bias ◽  
Racial Prejudice ◽  
Law Enforcement Training ◽  
Media Messages

As discussed in the focal article, numerous research studies have supported the existence of automatic or implicit racial bias (Ruggs et al., 2016). In this commentary, we argue that examining implicit bias through the perspective of the motivation and opportunity as determinants (MODE) model (see Fazio & Olson, 2014, for a review) offers a framework for industrial–organizational (I-O) psychologists to design and implement strategies that reduce the number of violent interactions between police and communities. The MODE model has been applied to areas such as interpersonal relationships (McNulty, Olson, Meltzer, & Shaffer, 2013), effective treatment of mental disorders (Vasey, Harbaugh, Buffington, Jones, & Fazio, 2012), and crafting of media messages (Ewoldsen, Rhodes, & Fazio, 2015), as well as racial prejudice (Olson & Fazio, 2004). Below, we elaborate on how the I-O-related strategies and interventions described in the focal article can be captured by the components of the MODE model and highlight which interventions may be most efficacious in reducing discriminatory police officer behavior.

Functional MRI in Anesthesia and Resting-State Networks

2018 ◽  
pp. 174-207
Author(s):  
Nasim Mortazavi ◽  
Cecile Staquet ◽  
Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse ◽  
Andrea Soddu ◽  
Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resting State ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Resting State Networks ◽  
Anesthetic Agents ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Technological Advances

This chapter reviews current knowledge of the effects of hypnotic anesthetic agents on brain resting-state networks (RSNs) that sustain consciousness. Although full exploration of the networks under anesthesia is not yet available, current evidence indicates that anesthetic agents with hypnotic properties dose-dependently modulate RSN functioning. Each anesthetic agent has specific effects that are not uniform within a given network and probably correlate with the specific clinical features observed when one agent or another is used. Observations made on RSNs during anesthesia are supplementary arguments to link the networks with specific aspects of consciousness and connectedness to the environment and to confirm their physiological functions. The precise link between observations made on RSNs during anesthesia and known biochemical targets of anesthetic agents, or their effects on systems that regulate the sleep–wake cycle, is not established yet. PET studies using radiolabeled probes that specifically target a neurotransmission system offer insights into the links. New technological advances and modes of functional data analysis, such as Granger causality and dynamic causal modeling, will help in obtaining a more in-depth exploration of the complex interactions between brain regions, their modulation by anesthesia, and their role in information processing by the brain. Effects of hypnosis on RSNs also have been studied. The hypnotic state is useful for performing surgical procedures and explorations without general anesthesia. The hypnotic state is associated with specific changes in the activity of RSNs that confirm hypnosis as a specific brain state, different from normal wakeful consciousness and anesthetic states.

scholarly journals A functional MRI study of presurgical cognitive deficits in glioma patients

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena T Schouwenaars ◽  
Miek J de Dreu ◽  
Geert-Jan M Rutten ◽  
Nick F Ramsey ◽  
Johan M Jansma
Keyword(s):  
Functional Mri ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Neuropsychological Testing ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
High Grade Glioma ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Activity Levels

Abstract Background The main goal of this functional MRI (fMRI) study was to examine whether cognitive deficits in glioma patients prior to treatment are associated with abnormal brain activity in either the central executive network (CEN) or default mode network (DMN). Methods Forty-six glioma patients, and 23 group-matched healthy controls (HCs) participated in this fMRI experiment, performing an N-back task. Additionally, cognitive profiles of patients were evaluated outside the scanner. A region of interest–based analysis was used to compare brain activity in CEN and DMN between groups. Post hoc analyses were performed to evaluate differences between low-grade glioma (LGG) and high-grade glioma (HGG) patients. Results In-scanner performance was lower in glioma patients compared to HCs. Neuropsychological testing indicated cognitive impairment in LGG as well as HGG patients. fMRI results revealed normal CEN activation in glioma patients, whereas patients showed reduced DMN deactivation compared to HCs. Brain activity levels did not differ between LGG and HGG patients. Conclusions Our study suggests that cognitive deficits in glioma patients prior to treatment are associated with reduced responsiveness of the DMN, but not with abnormal CEN activation. These results suggest that cognitive deficits in glioma patients reflect a reduced capacity to achieve a brain state necessary for normal cognitive performance, rather than abnormal functioning of executive brain regions. Solely focusing on increases in brain activity may well be insufficient if we want to understand the underlying brain mechanism of cognitive impairments in patients, as our results indicate the importance of assessing deactivation.

scholarly journals Distinct Montages of Slow Oscillatory Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (so-tDCS) Constitute Different Mechanisms during Quiet Wakefulness

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 324
Author(s):  
Ping Koo-Poeggel ◽  
Verena Böttger ◽  
Lisa Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Slow Wave Sleep ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Electrode Placement ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Electrode Pair ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Applied Current ◽  
Large Power ◽  
Quiet Wakefulness ◽  
Eyes Closed

Slow oscillatory- (so-) tDCS has been applied in many sleep studies aimed to modulate brain rhythms of slow wave sleep and memory consolidation. Yet, so-tDCS may also modify coupled oscillatory networks. Efficacy of weak electric brain stimulation is however variable and dependent upon the brain state at the time of stimulation (subject and/or task-related) as well as on stimulation parameters (e.g., electrode placement and applied current. Anodal so-tDCS was applied during wakefulness with eyes-closed to examine efficacy when deviating from the dominant brain rhythm. Additionally, montages of different electrodes size and applied current strength were used. During a period of quiet wakefulness bilateral frontolateral stimulation (F3, F4; return electrodes at ipsilateral mastoids) was applied to two groups: ‘Group small’ (n = 16, f:8; small electrodes: 0.50 cm2; maximal current per electrode pair: 0.26 mA) and ‘Group Large’ (n = 16, f:8; 35 cm2; 0.35 mA). Anodal so-tDCS (0.75 Hz) was applied in five blocks of 5 min epochs with 1 min stimulation-free epochs between the blocks. A finger sequence tapping task (FSTT) was used to induce comparable cortical activity across sessions and subject groups. So-tDCS resulted in a suppression of alpha power over the parietal cortex. Interestingly, in Group Small alpha suppression occurred over the standard band (8–12 Hz), whereas for Group Large power of individual alpha frequency was suppressed. Group Small also revealed a decrease in FSTT performance at retest after stimulation. It is essential to include concordant measures of behavioral and brain activity to help understand variability and poor reproducibility in oscillatory-tDCS studies.

Dretske on Naturalizing Experience

Dialogue ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 561-566
Author(s):  
Irene Sonia Switankowsky
Keyword(s):  
Mental Content ◽  
External World ◽  
Perceptual Content ◽  
States Of Affairs ◽  
Conceptual Content ◽  
Content Externalism ◽  
Secondary Qualities ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
The Subject

Many theorists in epistemology and mind accept externalism with respect to content–namely, the claim that the conditions that individuate mental content are external to the occurrence of that content as a mental fact. Whatever it is that distinguishes a pain in the knee from a pain in the toe—or, alternatively, whatever it is that makes it possible for the subject to discriminate this pain as a pain in the knee from that pain as a pain in the toe—are factors and conditions located in the physical and external world. This much externalism seems to be required even if one is a thoroughly entrenched mentalist. This “content externalism” is captured, fairly effectively, by the more traditional distinction between concepts and percepts. What is then asserted by the mentalist is that concepts have their source or origin in the external world, but the perceptual content does not. Perceptual content can be identified in different ways which are: (1) the view that identifies the distinguishing feature of the perceptual with qualia, a position not far removed from the Lockean distinction between Primary and Secondary qualities; or, (2) the perceptual might also be characterized in terms of representationalism, where qualia are an essential part of the representational medium, but where the representational medium contains conceptual content as well. In either case, the perceptual is Type and/or Token distinct from whatever is the external physical conditions or states of affairs causally responsible for the occurrence of either the conceptual content or the perceptual content. An argument for the claim that percepts (colours, sounds, smells, touches, and so on) are essential and necessary is that, without such percepts, there can be no experience.

β- And γ-band EEG power predicts illusory auditory continuity perception

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (10) ◽  
pp. 2717-2724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Vinnik ◽  
Pavel M. Itskov ◽  
Evan Balaban
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain State ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Gap Detection ◽  
Noisy Environments ◽  
Baseline Activity ◽  
Masking Noise ◽  
Auditory Systems ◽  
Sound Source Segregation ◽  
Physically Identical

Because acoustic landscapes are complex and rapidly changing, auditory systems have evolved mechanisms that permit rapid detection of novel sounds, sound source segregation, and perceptual restoration of sounds obscured by noise. Perceptual restoration is particularly important in noisy environments because it allows organisms to track sounds over time even when they are masked. The continuity illusion is a striking example of perceptual restoration with sounds perceived as intact even when parts of them have been replaced by gaps and rendered inaudible by being masked by an extraneous sound. The mechanisms of auditory filling-in are complex and are currently not well-understood. The present study used the high temporal resolution of EEG to examine brain activity related to continuity illusion perception. Masking noise loudness was adjusted individually for each subject so that physically identical sounds on some trials elicited a continuity illusion (failure to detect a gap in a sound) and on other trials resulted in correct gap detection. This design ensured that any measurable differences in brain activity would be due to perceptual differences rather than physical differences among stimuli. We found that baseline activity recorded immediately before presentation of the stimulus significantly predicted the occurrence of the continuity illusion in 10 out of 14 participants based on power differences in γ-band EEG (34–80 Hz). Across all participants, power in the β and γ (12- to 80-Hz range) was informative about the subsequent perceptual decision. These data suggest that a subject's baseline brain state influences the strength of continuity illusions.

scholarly journals Perturbations in dynamical models of whole-brain activity dissociate between the level and stability of consciousness

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. e1009139
Author(s):  
Yonatan Sanz Perl ◽  
Carla Pallavicini ◽  
Ignacio Pérez Ipiña ◽  
Athena Demertzi ◽  
Vincent Bonhomme ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computational Models ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Complete Characterization ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Brain Injured ◽  
Level Of Consciousness ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Injured Patients

Consciousness transiently fades away during deep sleep, more stably under anesthesia, and sometimes permanently due to brain injury. The development of an index to quantify the level of consciousness across these different states is regarded as a key problem both in basic and clinical neuroscience. We argue that this problem is ill-defined since such an index would not exhaust all the relevant information about a given state of consciousness. While the level of consciousness can be taken to describe the actual brain state, a complete characterization should also include its potential behavior against external perturbations. We developed and analyzed whole-brain computational models to show that the stability of conscious states provides information complementary to their similarity to conscious wakefulness. Our work leads to a novel methodological framework to sort out different brain states by their stability and reversibility, and illustrates its usefulness to dissociate between physiological (sleep), pathological (brain-injured patients), and pharmacologically-induced (anesthesia) loss of consciousness.

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