Brains as Engines of Association

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Purves
Keyword(s):  
Neural Systems ◽  
Neural Function ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Nervous Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Sensing Systems ◽  
Lifetime Experience ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
And Behavior

Brains as Engines of Association seeks an operating principle of the human brain and is divided into four parts. The first part (“What Nervous Systems Do for Animals”) is intended to set the stage for understanding the emergence of neural systems as promoting what all organisms must accomplish: survival and reproduction. The second part (“Neural Systems as Engines of Association”) lays out the general argument that biological sensing systems face a daunting problem: they cannot measure the parameters of the world in the way physical instruments can. As a result, nervous systems must make and update associations (synaptic connections) on the basis of empirical success or failure over both evolutionary and individual time. The third part (“Evidence that Neural Systems Operate Empirically”) reviews evidence accumulated over the past 20 years that supports this interpretation in vision and audition, the sensory systems that have been most studied from this or any other perspective. Finally, the fourth part (“Alternative Concepts of Neural Function”) considers the pros and cons of other interpretations of how brains operate. The overarching theme is that the nervous systems of humans and every other animal operate on the basis associations between stimuli and behavior made by trial and error over species and lifetime experience.

scholarly journals Rich-club circuitry: function, evolution and vulnerability

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-131 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Interesting Property ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Brain Disorders ◽  
Nervous Systems ◽  
Rich Club ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Insight Into

Over the past decades, network neuroscience has played a fundamental role in the understanding of large-scale brain connectivity architecture. Brains, and more generally nervous systems, can be modeled as sets of elements (neurons, assemblies, or cortical chunks) that dynamically interact through a highly structured and adaptive neurocircuitry. An interesting property of neural networks is that elements rich in connections are central to the network organization and tend to interconnect strongly with each other, forming so-called rich clubs. The ubiquity of rich-club organization across different species and scales of investigation suggests that this topology could be a distinctive feature of biological systems with information processing capabilities. This review surveys recent neuroimaging, computational, and cross-species comparative literature to offer an insight into the function and origin of rich-club architecture in nervous systems, discussing its relevance to human cognition and behavior, and vulnerability to brain disorders.

Temporal Focus

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abbie J. Shipp
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Psychology Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
The Future ◽  
Behavior Based ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Temporal Focus

Temporal focus is the individual tendency to characteristically think more or less about the past, present, and future. Although originally rooted in early work from psychology, research on temporal focus has been steadily growing in a number of research areas, particularly since Zimbardo and Boyd’s (1999) influential article on the topic. This chapter will review temporal focus research from the past to the present, including how temporal focus has been conceptualized and measured, and which correlates and outcomes have been tested in terms of well-being and behavior. Based on this review, an agenda for research is created to direct temporal focus research in the future.

Expanding Evolutionary Psychology: toward a Better Understanding of Violence and Aggression

2003 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iver Mysterud ◽  
Dag Viljen Poleszynski
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Food Allergies ◽  
Sociocultural Factors ◽  
The Past ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Reactive Hypoglycemia ◽  
Proximate Factors ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
The Common ◽  
Habitual Intake

The “mainstream” evolutionary psychology model is currently under criticism from scientists of other persuasions wanting to expand the model or to make it more realistic in various ways. We argue that focusing on the environment as if it consisted only of social (or sociocultural) factors gives too limited a perspective if evolutionary approaches are to understand the behavior of modern humans. Taking the case of violence, we argue that numerous novel environmental factors of nutritional and physical-chemical origin should be considered as relevant proximate factors. The common thesis presented here is that several aspects of the biotic or abiotic environment are able to change brain chemistry, thus predisposing individuals to violence and aggression in given contexts. In the past, aggressive behavior has had a number of useful functions that were of particular importance to our ancestors' survival and reproduction. However, some of the conditions in our novel environment, which either lowered the threshold for aggression or released such behavior in contexts which were adaptive in our evolutionary past, no longer apply. It is high time evolutionary approaches to violence are expanded to include the possibilities that violence may be triggered by nutritionally depleted foods, reactive hypoglycemia caused by habitual intake of foods with a high glycemic index (GI), food allergies/intolerances and exposure to new environmental toxins (heavy metals, synthetic poisons).

Authentic leadership and follower’s role ethnicality: the role of leader’s ethical voice and ethical culture

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Asim Faheem ◽  
Ishfaq Ahmed ◽  
Insya Ain ◽  
Zanaira Iqbal
Keyword(s):  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Ethical Culture ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Demand ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Behavior

Purpose The ethical issues arising at work demand the role of both leader and employees, but how both the levels are linked in determining the ethical responses is an area that has not gained due attention in the past. Against this backdrop, this study aims to address the influence of a leader’s authenticity and ethical voice on ethical culture and the role ethicality of followers. Design/methodology/approach Survey design has been used, and a questionnaire is used to elicit the responses. In total, 381 filled questionnaires were used for data analysis. Findings The findings of this study highlight the role of authentic leadership in predicting the role ethicality of followers both directly and through the mediation of ethical culture. Furthermore, a leader’s ethical voice strengthens the authentic leadership and outcome relationships (with ethical culture and followers’ role ethicality). The moderated-mediation mechanism has proved as the leaders’ voice foster the indirect mechanism. Originality/value There is a dearth of literature that has focused on leadership traits (authenticity) and behavior (ethical voice) in predicting the followers’ outcomes (perceptions – ethical culture and behaviors – role ethicality). The moderated-mediation mechanism has been unattended in the past.

scholarly journals Behavior and Energy Losses of Cows during the Period of Low Temperatures

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 46-53
Author(s):  
Oleksandr O. Borshch ◽  
Oleksandr V. Borshch ◽  
Yurii Mashkin ◽  
Vasyl Malina ◽  
Maxim Fedorchenko
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperatures ◽  
Heat Insulation ◽  
Energy Losses ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
The Past ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Moderate Climate

Over the past 20 years, dairy farms in Ukraine have been actively introducing the keeping of cows in easy-to-assemble premises. However, in a moderate climate (with four distinct year seasons), the issues of microclimate, energy losses of animals and their behavior during the cold period of the year for keeping in such premises have not been fully studied. The purpose of this work was to study the influence of the heat insulation elements use of side curtains in easy-to-assemble premises during the period of low temperatures on microclimate, energy outgoings for thermoregulation and behavior of cows. The research conducted in the central part of Ukraine (Kyiv region). The research was conducted during January-February (29-43 days of the year) 2021. This period characterized by low average daily temperatures of -12.2– -18.7°С, strong wind gusts and daily precipitation in the form of snow. Two easy-toassemble premises for 400 heads were used for research. Parameters of placements (LxWxH): 150х32х10.5 m. The first one was without the use of curtains heat insulation elements, and the second one was with these elements of heat insulation. It was found that the use of polycarbonate wall heat insulation elements had a positive effect on the microclimate in the placement during the period of low temperatures. Indicators of average daily air temperatures in the placement were 3.2 and 8.8°C higher compared to the temperature in the same premise without the use of heat insulation elements and the environment. The wind speed also differed by 0.18 and 11.04 m/s, respectively. In addition, the heat insulation of the walls affected the temperature under the lying cow (+1.8°C), energy outgoings for thermoregulation (-1.93 MJ) and the number of cows that lay in the period of the lowest temperatures (+3.23-9.83%) compared to the placement without heat insulation elements. The difference in temperature of rubber carpet in the compared premises was significant: +3.3°C in the premises with heat insulation elements compared to the premises without heat insulation

scholarly journals The Effects of the Consumer's Consumption Tendency on the Consumption Behavior of Customers visiting Hair salons

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 1238-1245
Author(s):  
Mi-Sun Ku ◽  
Seo-Heui Kim
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Consumption Behavior ◽  
Beauty Salon ◽  
The Past ◽  
Rapid Economic Growth ◽  
Beauty Salons ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Day By Day

As Korea's economic leeway has increased through rapid economic growth, the past simple consumption patterns for food, clothing, and shelter have changed from consumption patterns that invest for quality of life. This change in consumption has also affected the beauty industry, and competition in the beauty salon industry is getting fiercer day by day. Accordingly, it is judged that it is necessary to study the consumption propensity and behavior of customers visiting beauty salons in the current situation. Therefore, this study was conducted to find out whether consumption propensity affects consumption behavior by filling out a questionnaire targeting people in their 20s and 40s who have visited beauty salons. We want to provide the necessary basic data.

American Policy-making and the North Korean Aggression

1955 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander L. George
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Korean War ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
American Experience ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
The Korean War ◽  
American Policy ◽  
Peripheral Areas ◽  
And Behavior

The Korean War represented the first American experience with the problem of meeting local Communist aggression by means of limited, if costly, warfare. But despite the revulsion with that experience, and the “new look” at military strategy and foreign policy, it may not be the last. The character of recent weapons developments and the passing of our thermonuclear monopoly make it probable that in the future, as in the past, American policy-makers will be forced to consider the alternative of local conflict, with all its problems and risks, in determining how to respond to the threat or actuality of Communist moves in the peripheral areas.In these circumstances, analyses of American policy-making immediately before and during the Korean War may well illuminate the perspectives and considerations relevant to this difficult and dangerous type of operation. Here, no more can be done than toexamine the effect of strategic planning and estimates of Communist intentions and behavior on the decision to commit American forces to the defense of South Korea. This decision, and even the crucial decision to commit ground forces to eventual offensive operations against the aggressor, was made within afew days of the North Korean attack. Attention, accordingly, is focused on American policy reactions to the war in the first week or ten days following June 25, 1950.

scholarly journals Control without Controllers: Toward a Distributed Neuroscience of Executive Control

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1684-1698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin R. Eisenreich ◽  
Rei Akaishi ◽  
Benjamin Y. Hayden
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Neural Control ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Control Modules ◽  
Organizing Principles

Executive control refers to the regulation of cognition and behavior by mental processes and is a hallmark of higher cognition. Most approaches to understanding its mechanisms begin with the assumption that our brains have anatomically segregated and functionally specialized control modules. The modular approach is intuitive: Control is conceptually distinct from basic mental processing, so an organization that reifies that distinction makes sense. An alternative approach sees executive control as self-organizing principles of a distributed organization. In distributed systems, control and controlled processes are colocalized within large numbers of dispersed computational agents. Control then is often an emergent consequence of simple rules governing the interaction between agents. Because these systems are unfamiliar and unintuitive, here we review several well-understood examples of distributed control systems, group living insects and social animals, and emphasize their parallels with neural systems. We then reexamine the cognitive neuroscience literature on executive control for evidence that its neural control systems may be distributed.

Current Robotic Platforms in Surgery and the Road Ahead

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aram Rojas ◽  
Mahir Gachabayov ◽  
Ziad Abouezzi ◽  
Roberto Bergamaschi ◽  
Rifat Latifi
Keyword(s):  
Robotic Surgery ◽  
Laparoscopic Approach ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Future Perspectives ◽  
3D Vision ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Past ◽  
Hospital Systems ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Robotic Platforms

Minimally invasive surgery has rapidly evolved from the once novel laparoscopic approach to advanced robotic surgery. In the past few decades alone, robotic systems have gone from systems which were significantly limited to full-fledged platforms featuring 3D vision, articulated instruments, integrated ultrasound and fluorescence capabilities, and even the latest wireless connectivity, as is now standard. In this review, we aimed to summarize features of currently commercialized and utilized robotic surgical systems as well as currently unfolding platforms. The pros and cons of different robotic surgical systems were discussed. In addition, we discussed the future perspectives of robotic platforms used in general surgery. In this regard, we emphasized that the market, once dominated by Intuitive Surgical Inc., has become occupied by several worthy competitors with new technological giants such as Google. Eventually, the question facing hospital systems will not be of whether or not to invest in robotic surgery, but instead of how they will strike balance between price, features, and availability when choosing robots from the growing market to best equip their surgeons.

Evolutionary Perspectives on Parenting

2021 ◽  
pp. 2-25
Author(s):  
Tomás Cabeza de Baca ◽  
Bruce J. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Parental Behavior ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Developmental Model ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Household Dynamics ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Theoretical Foundations ◽  
Evolutionary Perspectives

This chapter highlights parental behavior and household dynamics as one key set of factors that play a vital role in the regulation of development and behavior in children. It shows the benefits of using an evolutionary-developmental model and discusses fundamental points to consider when applying such a model to research. The application of Darwinian principles to domains of parenting and development provides a benefit to researchers by integrating the results of proximate-level research into a unified and interconnected framework. It also reorients within- and between-household differences in parenting as strategies molded by natural selection to maximize survival and reproduction under varied ecological circumstances. The chapter begins with a review of the theoretical foundations of evolutionary developmental psychology, followed by a brief explanation of methodological approaches used by developmentalists. It then looks at current research and future directions.

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