scholarly journals Control without controllers: Towards a distributed neuroscience of executive control

2016 ◽  
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

AbstractExecutive 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 co-localized 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 re-examine the cognitive neuroscience literature on executive control for evidence that its neural control systems may be distributed.

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.

Neural systems control of spatial orienting

1982 ◽  
Vol 298 (1089) ◽  
pp. 187-198 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Neural Control ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Covert Attention ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Covert Orienting ◽  
Spatial Orienting ◽  
Brain Degeneration

A peripheral visual cue in an empty field (1) often summons head or eyes, or both, (2) improves efficiency at. the cued position while attention is directed to it, even without overt movements, and (3) reduces processing efficiency at the cued position once attention is withdrawn. We have studied the time course and the effects of mid-brain and cortical damage on these components of orienting. The facilitation arises from shifts in covert attention. In cases of mid-brain degeneration due to progressive supranuclear palsy, saccadic movements were abolished, while covert orienting still occurs. However, covert orienting was found to be delayed in directions in which eye movements were most affected, suggesting a role for mid-brain pathways in covert orienting. Parietal lesions can cause massive loss in detection contralateral to the lesion. This is especially true when attention has been directed to the opposite side. These findings relate aspects of covert orienting of attention to neural control systems.

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.

The Feeding Network of Aplysia

2017 ◽  
pp. 400-422
Author(s):  
Elizabeth C. Cropper ◽  
Jian Jing ◽  
Klaudiusz R. Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Motor Activity ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Neural Control ◽  
Modular Organization ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Afferent Activation ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Activation Phase

This review focuses on the neural control of feeding in Aplysia. Its purpose is to highlight distinctive features of the behavior and to describe their neural basis. In a number of molluscs, food is grasped by a radula that protracts, retracts, and hyperretracts. In Aplysia, however, hyperretraction can require afferent activation. Phase-dependent regulation of sensorimotor transmission occurs in this context. Aplysia also open and close the radula, generating egestive as well as ingestive responses. Thus, the feeding network multitasks. It has a modular organization, and behaviors are constructed by combinations of behavior-specific and behavior-independent neurons. When feeding is initially triggered in Aplysia, responses are poorly defined. Motor activity is not properly configured unless responses are repeatedly induced and modulatory neurotransmitters are released from inputs to the central patter generator (CPG). Persistent effects of modulation have interesting consequences for task switching.

The Alerting and Orienting Systems of Attention Are Modified by Cannabis Dependence

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 520-532
Author(s):  
Ivett E. Ortega-Mora ◽  
Ulises Caballero-Sánchez ◽  
Talía V. Román-López ◽  
Cintia B. Rosas-Escobar ◽  
Mónica Méndez-Díaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Network Systems ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Cannabis Dependence ◽  
Alerting System

AbstractAttention allows us to select relevant information from the background. Although several studies have described that cannabis use induces deleterious effects on attention, it remains unclear if cannabis dependence affects the attention network systems differently.Objectives:To evaluate whether customary consumption of cannabis or cannabis dependence impacts the alerting, orienting, and executive control systems in young adults; to find out whether it is related to tobacco or alcohol dependence and if cannabis use characteristics are associated with the attention network systems.Method:One-hundred and fifty-four healthy adults and 102 cannabis users performed the Attention Network Test (ANT) to evaluate the alerting, orienting, and executive control systems.Results:Cannabis use enhanced the alerting system but decreased the orienting system. Moreover, those effects seem to be associated with cannabis dependence. Out of all the cannabis-using variables, only the age of onset of cannabis use significantly predicted the efficiency of the orienting and executive control systems.Conclusion:Cannabis dependence favors tonic alertness but reduces selective attention ability; earlier use of cannabis worsens the efficiency of selective attention and resolution of conflicts.

Animal Models and Alternatives in the Quality Control of Vaccines: Are In Vitro Methods or In Vivo Methods the Scientific Equivalent of the Emperor's New Clothes?

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-73
Author(s):  
Coenraad Hendriksen ◽  
Johan van der Gun
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Test Methods ◽  
In Vitro Test ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Inactivated Vaccines ◽  
Vitro Test

In the quality control of vaccine batches, the potency testing of inactivated vaccines is one of the areas requiring very large numbers of animals, which usually suffer significant distress as a result of the experimental procedures employed. This article deals with the potency testing of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids, two vaccines which are used extensively throughout the world. The relevance of the potency test prescribed by the European Pharmacopoeia monographs is questioned. The validity of the potency test as a model for the human response, the ability of the test to be standardised, and the relevance of the test in relation to the quality of the product are discussed. It is concluded that the potency test has only limited predictive value for the antitoxin responses to be expected in recipients of these toxoids. An alternative approach for estimating the potency of toxoid batches is discussed, in which a distinction is made between estimation of the immunogenic potency of the first few batches obtained from a seed lot and monitoring the consistency of the quality of subsequent batches. The use of animals is limited to the first few batches. Monitoring the consistency of the quality of subsequent batches is based on in vitro test methods. Factors which hamper the introduction and acceptance of the alternative approach are considered. Finally, proposals are made for replacement, reduction and/or refinement (the Three Rs) in the use of animals in the routine potency testing of toxoids.

scholarly journals Serial Interviews

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 160940691878345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Read
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Roles ◽  
Single Session ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Adequate Quality ◽  
Key Topics ◽  
Study Participants

Many qualitative social scientists conduct single-session interviews with large numbers of individuals so as to maximize the sample size and obtain a wide range of study participants. Yet in some circumstances, one-shot interviews cannot produce information of adequate quality, quantity, and validity. This article explains the several conditions that call for an alternative approach, serial interviewing, that entails interviewing participants on multiple occasions. This method is appropriate when studying complex or ill-defined issues, when interviews are subject to time constraints, when exploring change or variation over time, when participants are reluctant to share valid information, and when working with critical informants. A further benefit is the opportunity it provides for verifying and cross-checking information. This article delineates the general features of this technique. Through a series of encounters, the researcher builds familiarity and trust, probes a range of key topics from multiple angles, explores different facets of participants’ experiences, and learns from events that happen to take place during the interviews. This helps overcome biases associated with one-off interviews, including a tendency toward safe, simple answers in which participants flatten complexity, downplay sociopolitical conflict, and put themselves in a flattering light. This article illustrates the utility of this approach through examples drawn from published work and through a running illustration based on the author’s research on elected neighborhood leaders in Taipei. Serial interviewing helped produce relatively accurate and nuanced data concerning the power these leaders wield and their multiple roles as intermediaries between state and society.

Resituating cognitive mechanisms within heterarchical networks controlling physiology and behavior

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 620-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Bechtel
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Neural Control ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Production Mechanisms

Cognitive science has traditionally focused on mechanisms involved in high-level reasoning and problem-solving processes. Such mechanisms are often treated as autonomous from but controlling underlying physiological processes. I offer a different perspective on cognition which starts with the basic production mechanisms through which organisms construct and repair themselves and navigate their environments and then I develop a framework for conceptualizing how cognitive control mechanisms form a heterarchical network that regulates production mechanisms. Many of these control mechanisms perform cognitive tasks such as evaluating circumstances and making decisions. Cognitive control mechanisms are present in individual cells, but in metazoans, intracellular control is supplemented by a nervous system in which a multitude of neural control mechanisms are organized heterarchically. On this perspective, high-level cognitive mechanisms are not autonomous, but are elements in larger heterarchical networks. This has implications for future directions in cognitive science research.

Common feline problem behaviors: Aggression in multi-cat households

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Problem Behaviors ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Clinical Behavior ◽  
The People ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Behavior

Practical relevance: Being able to understand and intervene in cases of cat–cat aggression in multi-cat households is important for all veterinarians and behavior counsellors dealing with feline behavior cases. Clincal challenges: Feline conflicts are common, perhaps not helped by many owners’ assumption that this is the norm. Interventions can be complex in multi-cat households with large numbers of cats as there are more interactions to evaluate and monitor, and care needs to be taken not to negatively affect the other cats. There may be limitations due to the environment or the people involved and so behavior guidelines should always be tailored to the individual situation. Aims: This article reviews the main forms of aggression in multi-cat households and the appropriate behavioral interventions, considering both the typical scenarios and emotions/motivations most likely involved. It details essential environmental management for multi-cat homes, as well as an approach to friendly cat introductions. Audience: This article is aimed at veterinarians dealing with feline behavior cases as well as behavior counsellors, as both professionals are likely to experience cases of aggression in multi-cat households. Evidence base: The author draws on the published literature where available and, where there is a lack of research, on hypotheses derived from her own clinical behavior experience.

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