scholarly journals Speaking of death

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1754) ◽  
pp. 20180172 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Matthew Husband
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Linguistic Representation ◽  
Representational Format ◽  
Specific Trait ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Human Specific

As a human-specific trait, language offers a unique window on human cognition. Grammatical constraints on the ways we speak about events, for instance, have long been thought to reveal the representational formats that our minds impose on the ways that we think about events. In recent research, verbs that name events of death have stood out as key counterexamples to standard theories of the grammatical constraints on possible verbs. The special status of these thanatological verbs raises two important questions: why, given the vast number of verbs in any language, is it that verbs of death hold this special status, and what do they tell us about the restrictions on the representational format for possible verbs? This paper reexamines the evidence coming from verbs of death, confirming that they are counterexamples to standard theories, but that their behaviour suggests a more revealing constraint on our mental representations—that our minds impose strict restrictions on the format of asserted meaning. Thus, the constraints on linguistic representation and the human mind offer a unique perspective on the mental representations of thanatological phenomena. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals’.

scholarly journals Infant cognition includes the potentially human-unique ability to encode embedding

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. eaar8334 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Winkler ◽  
J. L. Mueller ◽  
A. D. Friederici ◽  
C. Männel
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Infant Cognition ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Auditory Oddball ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Nested Relations ◽  
Unique Ability ◽  
Human Specific

Human cognition relies on the ability to encode complex regularities in the input. Regularities above a certain complexity level can involve the feature of embedding, defined by nested relations between sequential elements. While comparative studies suggest the cognitive processing of embedding to be human specific, evidence of its ontogenesis is lacking. To assess infants’ ability to process embedding, we implemented nested relations in tone sequences, minimizing perceptual and memory requirements. We measured 5-month-olds’ brain responses in two auditory oddball paradigms, presenting standard sequences with one or two levels of embedding, interspersed with infrequent deviant sequences violating the established embedding rules. Brain potentials indicate that infants detect embedding violations and thus appear to track nested relations. This shows that the ability to encode embedding may be part of the basic human cognitive makeup, which might serve as scaffolding for the acquisition of complex regularities in language or music.

scholarly journals Key relationships between non-invasive functional neuroimaging and the underlying neuronal activity

2020 ◽  
Vol 376 (1815) ◽  
pp. 20190622
Author(s):  
Anusha Mishra ◽  
Catherine N. Hall ◽  
Clare Howarth ◽  
Ralph D. Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Vascular Function ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Measured Signal ◽  
Bold Signal ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Non Invasive

Functional neuroimaging using MRI relies on measurements of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals from which inferences are made about the underlying neuronal activity. This is possible because neuronal activity elicits increases in blood flow via neurovascular coupling, which gives rise to the BOLD signal. Hence, an accurate interpretation of what BOLD signals mean in terms of neural activity depends on a full understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the measured signal, including neurovascular and neurometabolic coupling, the contribution of different cell types to local signalling, and regional differences in these mechanisms. Furthermore, the contributions of systemic functions to cerebral blood flow may vary with ageing, disease and arousal states, with regard to both neuronal and vascular function. In addition, recent developments in non-invasive imaging technology, such as high-field fMRI, and comparative inter-species analysis, allow connections between non-invasive data and mechanistic knowledge gained from invasive cellular-level studies. Considered together, these factors have immense potential to improve BOLD signal interpretation and bring us closer to the ultimate purpose of decoding the mechanisms of human cognition. This theme issue covers a range of recent advances in these topics, providing a multidisciplinary scientific and technical framework for future work in the neurovascular and cognitive sciences. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Key relationships between non-invasive functional neuroimaging and the underlying neuronal activity'.

scholarly journals Pantomimic fossils in modern human communication

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1824) ◽  
Author(s):  
Przemysław Żywiczyński ◽  
Sławomir Wacewicz ◽  
Casey Lister
Keyword(s):  
Modern Human ◽  
The Body ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Core Component ◽  
Early Humans ◽  
Ape Communication ◽  
Iconic Signs ◽  
Human Specific ◽  
Key Innovations

Bodily mimesis, the capacity to use the body representationally, was one of the key innovations that allowed early humans to go beyond the ‘baseline’ of generalized ape communication and cognition. We argue that the original human-specific communication afforded by bodily mimesis was based on signs that involve three entities: an expression that represents an object (i.e. communicated content) for an interpreter . We further propose that the core component of this communication, pantomime, was able to transmit referential information that was not limited to select semantic domains or the ‘here-and-now’, by means of motivated—most importantly iconic—signs. Pressures for expressivity and economy then led to conventionalization of signs and a growth of linguistic characteristics: semiotic systematicity and combinatorial expression. Despite these developments, both naturalistic and experimental data suggest that the system of pantomime did not disappear and is actively used by modern humans. Its contemporary manifestations, or pantomimic fossils , emerge when language cannot be used, for instance when people do not share a common language, or in situations where the use of (spoken) language is difficult, impossible or forbidden. Under such circumstances, people bootstrap communication by means of pantomime and, when these circumstances persist, newly emergent pantomimic communication becomes increasingly language-like. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Reconstructing prehistoric languages’.

scholarly journals Hominin evolutionary thanatology from the mortuary to funerary realm: the palaeoanthropological bridge between chemistry and culture

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1754) ◽  
pp. 20180212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Pettitt
Keyword(s):  
Belief Systems ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Animal Kingdom ◽  
Core Set ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Animal Community ◽  
Palaeolithic Archaeology

Palaeoanthropology, or more precisely Palaeolithic archaeology, offers the possibility of bridging the gap between mortuary activities that can be observed in the wider animal community and which relate to chemistry and emotion; to the often-elaborate systems of rationalization and symbolic contextualisation that are characteristic of recently observable societies. I draw on ethological studies to provide a core set of mortuary behaviours one might expect hominoids to inherit, and on anthropological observations to explore funerary activity represented in the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, in order to examine how a distinctly human set of funerary behaviours arose from a more widespread set of mortuary behaviours. I suggest that the most profound innovation of the hominins was the incorporation of places into the commemoration of the dead, and propose a falsifiable mechanism for why this came about; and I suggest that the pattern of the earliest burials fits with modern hunter–gatherer belief systems about death, and how these vary by social complexity. Finally, I propose several research questions pertaining to the social context of funerary practices, suggesting how a hominin evolutionary thanatology may contribute not only to our understanding of human behavioural evolution, but to a wider thanatology of the animal kingdom. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals’.

scholarly journals Occurrence and variability of tactile interactions between wild American crows and dead conspecifics

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1754) ◽  
pp. 20170259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaeli Swift ◽  
John M. Marzluff
Keyword(s):  
Information Acquisition ◽  
Alarm Call ◽  
Controlled Experiments ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Risky Behaviour ◽  
American Crow ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Adaptive Value ◽  
American Crows ◽  
The Dead

Observations of some mammals and birds touching their dead provoke questions about the motivation and adaptive value of this potentially risky behaviour. Here, we use controlled experiments to determine if tactile interactions are characteristic of wild American crow responses to dead crows, and what the prevalence and nature of tactile interactions suggests about their motivations. In Experiment 1, we test if food or information acquisition motivates contact by presenting crows with taxidermy-prepared dead crows, and two species crows are known to scavenge: dead pigeons and dead squirrels. In Experiment 2, we test if territoriality motivates tactile interactions by presenting crows with taxidermy crows prepared to look either dead or upright and life-like. In Experiment 1, we find that crows are significantly less likely to make contact but more likely to alarm call and recruit other birds in response to dead crows than to dead pigeons and squirrels. In addition, we find that aggressive and sexual encounters with dead crows are seasonally biased. These findings are inconsistent with feeding or information acquisition-based motivation. In Experiment 2, we find that crows rarely dive-bomb and more often alarm call and recruit other crows to dead than to life-like crows, behaviours inconsistent with responses given to live intruders. Consistent with a danger response hypothesis, our results show that alarm calling and neighbour recruitment occur more frequently in response to dead crows than other stimuli, and that touching dead crows is atypical. Occasional contacts, which take a variety of aggressive and sexual forms, may result from an inability to mediate conflicting stimuli. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals’.

Managing Cognitive Load in the Design of Assistive Technology for Those with Learning Disabilities

2010 ◽  
pp. 21-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boaventura DaCosta ◽  
Soonhwa Seok
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Human Information Processing ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Empirically Supported ◽  
Effective Learning Environments

This is the second of three chapters serving as the introduction to this handbook which addresses the relationship between human cognition and assistive technologies and its design for individuals with cognitive disabilities. In this chapter the authors present strategies to manage cognitive load in the design of instructional materials for those with learning disabilities. The authors introduce cognitive load theory, which proposes a set of instructional principles grounded in human information processing research that can be leveraged in the creation of efficient and effective learning environments. They attempt to separate conjecture and speculation from empirically-based study and consolidate more than twenty-five years of research to highlight the best ways in which to increase learning. Altogether, the authors affirm the approach discussed in the last chapter—that technology for learning should be created with an understanding of design principles empirically supported by how the human mind works, particularly when it comes to the design of assistive technologies for individuals with learning disabilities.

(Remix) True Holograms: A Different Kind of Screen; A Different Kind of Ghost

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna Ng
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
3 Dimensional ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Two Dimensional Images

This chapter discusses true holograms as a “remix” discussion from Chapter 4 of ghosts out of the post-screen. Commonly confused with holographic projections, true holograms are two-dimensional images naturally viewed (i.e. without optical aids) as 3-dimensional objects. Leveraging theoretical sources such as Deleuze’s notion of “the brain is the screen” and Vilém Flusser’s ideas of point culture and linearity, the chapter argues for the post-screen through the true hologram whose ghosts are not of the spectral return of the dead, but digital apparitions via which the human mind ideates and projects realities. These digital ghosts thus return with a necromancy of their own on the terms of zerodimensionality and post-rationality, confronting us with new problems of reality and questions about ourselves.

Chapter IX

Frankenstein ◽  
2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Shelley
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
The Dead

Nothing is more painful to the human mind, than, after the feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows, and deprives the soul both of hope and fear. Justine died; she rested;...

From Psychology to Philosophy

Prejudice ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 43-60
Author(s):  
Endre Begby
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
One Dimension ◽  
Epistemic Normativity ◽  
Philosophical Discourse ◽  
Capacity Limitations ◽  
Ideal Approach

Calls to develop a framework for ‘non-ideal epistemology’ have recently gained traction in philosophical discourse, but little detail has yet been offered as to what this might involve. This chapter aims to remedy this shortcoming, both as a broader theoretical development and with specific view toward the epistemology of prejudice. Specifically,this chapter develops the notion of non-ideal epistemology along two dimensions. Along one dimension, constraints arising from distinctive capacity limitations of the human mind (“endogenous non-ideality”) are considered. In another dimension, constraints arising from specific limitations on the information environments that epistemic agents are forced to operate within (“exogenous non-ideality”) are considered. Taking a non-ideal approach to epistemology does not, however, mean giving up on epistemic normativity altogether: to the contrary, this chapter argues that non-ideal epistemology provides the only way for such norms to provide a genuine critical grip on human cognition at all.

scholarly journals Evolving evidence on a link between the ZMYM3 exceptionally long GA-STR and human cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Afshar ◽  
S. Khamse ◽  
F. Alizadeh ◽  
A. Delbari ◽  
R. Najafipour ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Onset ◽  
Selective Advantage ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Protein Coding ◽  
Allele Distribution ◽  
Specific Formula ◽  
Cognition Impairment ◽  
Male Subjects ◽  
Human Specific

Abstract The human X-linked zinc finger MYM-type protein 3 (ZMYM3) contains the longest GA-STR identified across protein-coding gene 5′ UTR sequences, at 32-repeats. This exceptionally long GA-STR is located at a complex string of GA-STRs with a human-specific formula across the complex as follows: (GA)8-(GA)4-(GA)6-(GA)32 (ZMYM3-207 ENST00000373998.5). ZMYM3 was previously reported among the top three genes involved in the progression of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Here we sequenced the ZMYM3 GA-STR complex in 750 human male subjects, consisting of late-onset neurocognitive disorder (NCD) as a clinical entity (n = 268) and matched controls (n = 482). We detected strict monomorphism of the GA-STR complex, except of the exceptionally long STR, which was architecturally skewed in respect of allele distribution between the NCD cases and controls [F (1, 50) = 12.283; p = 0.001]. Moreover, extreme alleles of this STR at 17, 20, 42, and 43 repeats were detected in seven NCD patients and not in the control group (Mid-P exact = 0.0003). A number of these alleles overlapped with alleles previously found in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients. In conclusion, we propose selective advantage for the exceptional length of the ZMYM3 GA-STR in human, and its link to a spectrum of diseases in which major cognition impairment is a predominant phenotype.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document