scholarly journals Rhythms of the Body, Rhythms of the Brain: Respiration, Neural Oscillations, and Embodied Cognition

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somogy Varga ◽  
Detlef H. Heck
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
The Body ◽  
General Mechanism ◽  
Rhythmic Contraction ◽  
Contraction And Relaxation ◽  
Epistemic Role ◽  
The Brain

AbstractIn spite of its importance as a life-defining rhythmic movement and its constant rhythmic contraction and relaxation of the body, respiration has not received attention in Embodied Cognition (EC) literature. Our paper aims to show that (1) respiration exerts significant and unexpected bottom-up influence on cognitive processes, and (2) it does so by modulating neural synchronization that underlies specific cognitive processes. Then, (3) we suggest that the particular example of respiration may function as a model for a general mechanism through which the body influences cognitive functioning. Finally, (4) we work out the implications for embodied cognition, draw a parallel to the role of gesture, and argue that respiration sometimes plays a double, pragmatic and epistemic, role, which reduces the cognitive load. In such cases, consistent with EC, the overall cognitive activity includes a loop-like interaction between neural and non-neural elements. (141 words)

scholarly journals Introduction to Special Issue on Music and Embodied Cognition

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Kevin J Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
The Body ◽  
Related Phenomenon ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Crucial Step

<p>THIS issue, broken into two volumes (Vol. 9, No. 3-4, 2014), offers a unique contribution to contemporary research on embodied approaches to music perception and related phenomenon.&nbsp; While the role of the body has often been acknowledged in a variety of disciplinary contexts, particularly in the domain of music performance, the 4E movement in cognitive science &ndash; i.e. interrelated paradigms that study cognitive processes as embodied, embedded, enactive, and extended phenomenon - has pushed advances in previously underexplored areas.&nbsp; Critically analyzing the benefits (and limits) of embodied approaches to the perception of music and related artistic practices is a crucial step for expanding the conceptual and empirical foundations of the 4E movement, as well as addressing related concerns for musicologists and music scholars.</p>

THE DYNAMICS OF EMBODIED COGNITION

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (04) ◽  
pp. 943-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
SCOTT HOTTON ◽  
JEFF YOSHIMI
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Dynamical Systems ◽  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Open System ◽  
The Body ◽  
Closed Systems ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Embodied Agent

Historically cognition was understood as the result of processes occurring solely in the brain. Recently, however, cognitive scientists and philosophers studying "embodied" or "situated" cognition have begun emphasizing the role of the body and environment in which brains are situated, i.e. they view the brain as an "open system". However, these theorists frequently rely on dynamical systems which are traditionally viewed as closed systems. We address this tension by extending the framework of dynamical systems theory. We show how structures which appear in the state space of an embodied agent differ from those that appear in closed systems, and we show how these structures can be used to model representational processes in embodied agents. We focus on neural networks as models of embodied cognition.

scholarly journals Millimeter (MM) wave and microwave frequency radiation produce deeply penetrating effects: the biology and the physics

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin L. Pall
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Electric Fields ◽  
Cardiac Activity ◽  
Maximum Level ◽  
Voltage Sensor ◽  
The Body ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Mm Waves

Abstract Millimeter wave (MM-wave) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are predicted to not produce penetrating effects in the body. The electric but not magnetic part of MM-EMFs are almost completely absorbed within the outer 1 mm of the body. Rodents are reported to have penetrating MM-wave impacts on the brain, the myocardium, liver, kidney and bone marrow. MM-waves produce electromagnetic sensitivity-like changes in rodent, frog and skate tissues. In humans, MM-waves have penetrating effects including impacts on the brain, producing EEG changes and other neurological/neuropsychiatric changes, increases in apparent electromagnetic hypersensitivity and produce changes on ulcers and cardiac activity. This review focuses on several issues required to understand penetrating effects of MM-waves and microwaves: 1. Electronically generated EMFs are coherent, producing much higher electrical and magnetic forces then do natural incoherent EMFs. 2. The fixed relationship between electrical and magnetic fields found in EMFs in a vacuum or highly permeable medium such as air, predicted by Maxwell’s equations, breaks down in other materials. Specifically, MM-wave electrical fields are almost completely absorbed in the outer 1 mm of the body due to the high dielectric constant of biological aqueous phases. However, the magnetic fields are very highly penetrating. 3. Time-varying magnetic fields have central roles in producing highly penetrating effects. The primary mechanism of EMF action is voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) activation with the EMFs acting via their forces on the voltage sensor, rather than by depolarization of the plasma membrane. Two distinct mechanisms, an indirect and a direct mechanism, are consistent with and predicted by the physics, to explain penetrating MM-wave VGCC activation via the voltage sensor. Time-varying coherent magnetic fields, as predicted by the Maxwell–Faraday version of Faraday’s law of induction, can put forces on ions dissolved in aqueous phases deep within the body, regenerating coherent electric fields which activate the VGCC voltage sensor. In addition, time-varying magnetic fields can directly put forces on the 20 charges in the VGCC voltage sensor. There are three very important findings here which are rarely recognized in the EMF scientific literature: coherence of electronically generated EMFs; the key role of time-varying magnetic fields in generating highly penetrating effects; the key role of both modulating and pure EMF pulses in greatly increasing very short term high level time-variation of magnetic and electric fields. It is probable that genuine safety guidelines must keep nanosecond timescale-variation of coherent electric and magnetic fields below some maximum level in order to produce genuine safety. These findings have important implications with regard to 5G radiation.

scholarly journals The role of cultural practices in the emergence of modern human intelligence

2008 ◽  
Vol 363 (1499) ◽  
pp. 2011-2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin Hutchins
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Human Intelligence ◽  
Symbolic Representations ◽  
High Level ◽  
Human Brains

Innate cognitive capacities are orchestrated by cultural practices to produce high-level cognitive processes. In human activities, examples of this phenomenon range from everyday inferences about space and time to the most sophisticated reasoning in scientific laboratories. A case is examined in which chimpanzees enter into cultural practices with humans (in experiments) in ways that appear to enable them to engage in symbol-mediated thought. Combining the cultural practices perspective with the theories of embodied cognition and enactment suggests that the chimpanzees' behaviour is actually mediated by non-symbolic representations. The possibility that non-human primates can engage in cultural practices that give them the appearance of symbol-mediated thought opens new avenues for thinking about the coevolution of human culture and human brains.

CCM3 Loss-Induced Lymphatic Defect Is Mediated by the Augmented VEGFR3-ERK1/2 Signaling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingfeng Qin ◽  
Haifeng Zhang ◽  
Busu Li ◽  
Quan Jiang ◽  
Francesc Lopez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Translocation ◽  
Fluorescein Isothiocyanate ◽  
The Body ◽  
Blue Dye ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Cavernous Malformations ◽  
Morphological Alterations ◽  
The Brain

Objective: Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) can happen anywhere in the body, although they most commonly produce symptoms in the brain. The role of CCM genes in other vascular beds outside the brain and retina is not well-examined, although the 3 CCM-associated genes ( CCM1 , CCM2 , and CCM3 ) are ubiquitously expressed in all tissues. We aimed to determine the role of CCM gene in lymphatics. Approach and Results: Mice with an inducible pan–endothelial cell (EC) or lymphatic EC deletion of Ccm3 ( Pdcd10 ECKO or Pdcd10 LECKO ) exhibit dilated lymphatic capillaries and collecting vessels with abnormal valve structure. Morphological alterations were correlated with lymphatic dysfunction in Pdcd10 LECKO mice as determined by Evans blue dye and fluorescein isothiocyanate(FITC)-dextran transport assays. Pdcd10 LECKO lymphatics had increased VEGFR3 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3)-ERK1/2 signaling with lymphatic hyperplasia. Mechanistic studies suggested that VEGFR3 is primarily regulated at a transcriptional level in Ccm3-deficient lymphatic ECs, in an NF-κB (nuclear factor κB)–dependent manner. CCM3 binds to importin alpha 2/KPNA2 (karyopherin subunit alpha 2), and a CCM3 deletion releases KPNA2 to activate NF-κB P65 by facilitating its nuclear translocation and P65-dependent VEGFR3 transcription. Moreover, increased VEGFR3 in lymphatic EC preferentially activates ERK1/2 signaling, which is critical for lymphatic EC proliferation. Importantly, inhibition of VEGFR3 or ERK1/2 rescued the lymphatic defects in structure and function. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that CCM3 deletion augments the VEGFR3-ERK1/2 signaling in lymphatic EC that drives lymphatic hyperplasia and malformation and warrant further investigation on the potential clinical relevance of lymphatic dysfunction in patients with CCM.

Could Emotions Be Modelled through Information Processing?

2015 ◽  
pp. 63-82
Author(s):  
Ebrahim Oshni Alvandi
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
Emotional Agents ◽  
The Brain

One way to evaluate cognitive processes in living or nonliving systems is by using the notion of “information processing”. Emotions as cognitive processes orient human beings to recognize, express and display themselves or their wellbeing through dynamical and adaptive form of information processing. In addition, humans behave or act emotionally in an embodied environment. The brain embeds symbols, meaning and purposes for emotions as well. So any model of natural or autonomous emotional agents/systems needs to consider the embodied features of emotions that are processed in an informational channel of the brain or a processing system. This analytical and explanatory study described in this chapter uses the pragmatic notion of information to develop a theoretical model for emotions that attempts to synthesize some essential aspects of human emotional processing. The model holds context-sensitive and purpose-based features of emotional pattering in the brain. The role of memory is discussed and an idea of control parameters that have roles in processing environmental variables in emotional patterning is introduced.

scholarly journals Thinking embodiment with genetics: epigenetics and postgenomic biology in embodied cognition and enactivism

Synthese ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Meloni ◽  
Jack Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
The Body ◽  
Precise Nature ◽  
Andy Clark ◽  
4E Cognition ◽  
Genomic Biology ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Epigenetic Research

AbstractThe role of the body in cognition is acknowledged across a variety of disciplines, even if the precise nature and scope of that contribution remain contentious. As a result, most philosophers working on embodiment—e.g. those in embodied cognition, enactivism, and ‘4e’ cognition—interact with the life sciences as part of their interdisciplinary agenda. Despite this, a detailed engagement with emerging findings in epigenetics and post-genomic biology has been missing from proponents of this embodied turn. Surveying this research provides an opportunity to rethink the relationship between embodiment and genetics, and we argue that the balance of current epigenetic research favours the extension of an enactivist approach to mind and life, rather than the extended functionalist view of embodied cognition associated with Andy Clark and Mike Wheeler, which is more substrate neutral.

scholarly journals Concentrations of the Selected Biomarkers of Endothelial Dysfunction in Response to Antiepileptic Drugs: A Literature Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 107602961985942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beata Sarecka-Hujar ◽  
Izabela Szołtysek-Bołdys ◽  
Ilona Kopyta ◽  
Barbara Dolińska ◽  
Andrzej Sobczak
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Cardiovascular Diseases ◽  
Endothelial Dysfunction ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Antiepileptic Drug ◽  
Asymmetric Dimethylarginine ◽  
The Body ◽  
Biochemical Processes ◽  
The Brain

Epilepsy is a disease arising from morphological and metabolic changes in the brain. Approximately 60% of patients with seizures can be controlled with 1 antiepileptic drug (AED), while in others, polytherapy is required. The AED treatment affects a number of biochemical processes in the body, including increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). It is indicated that the duration of AED therapy with some AEDs significantly accelerates the process of atherosclerosis. Most of AEDs increase levels of homocysteine (HCys) as well as may affect concentrations of new, nonclassical risk factors for atherosclerosis, that is, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and homoarginine (hArg). Because of the role of these parameters in the pathogenesis of CVD, knowledge of HCys, ADMA, and hArg concentrations in patients with epilepsia treated with AED, both pediatric and adult, appears to be of significant importance.

Physical activity as a protective factor for successful aging

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (87) ◽  
pp. 47-52
Author(s):  
Andrzej Jopkiewicz ◽  
Monika Królicka–Czerniak ◽  
Anita Zaręba
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Protective Role ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Brain

To divide the types of aging (successful, usual and impaired), as well as factors affecting this process, the protective role of physical activity was discussed in the literature. It was emphasized that physical activity is also a very important protective factor for cognitive aging - mainly executive function and memory. The prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, i.e. the regions of the brain responsible for the control and course of cognitive processes, show susceptibility to stimulation, which is movement exercises, which are prevention of degenerative changes within the brain.

scholarly journals What everybody knows: embodied information in serious leisure

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Cox ◽  
Brian Griffin ◽  
Jenna Hartel
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
The Body ◽  
Serious Leisure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Behaviour

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reconsider the role of the body in information in serious leisure by reviewing existing work in information behaviour that theorises the role of the body, and by drawing selectively on literature from beyond information studies to extend our understanding. Design/methodology/approach After finding a lack of attention to the body in most influential works on information behaviour, the paper identifies a number of important authors who do offer theorisations. It then explores what can be learnt by examining studies of embodied information in the hobbies of running, music and the liberal arts, published outside the discipline. Findings Auto-ethnographic studies influenced by phenomenology show that embodied information is central to the hobby of running, both through the diverse sensory information the runner uses and through the dissemination of information by the body as a sign. Studies of music drawing on the theory of embodied cognition, similarly suggest that it is a key part of amateur music information behaviour. Even when considering the liberal arts hobby, the core activity, reading, has been shown to be in significant ways embodied. The examples reveal how it is not only in more obviously embodied leisure activities such as sports, in which the body must be considered. Research limitations/implications Embodied information refers to how the authors receive information from the senses and the way the body is a sign that can be read by others. To fully understand this, more empirical and theoretical work is needed to reconcile insights from practice theory, phenomenology, embodied cognition and sensory studies. Originality/value The paper demonstrates how and why the body has been neglected in information behaviour research, reviews current work and identifies perspectives from other disciplines that can begin to fill the gap.

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