scholarly journals Untangling Sequences: Behavior vs. External Causes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subutai Ahmad ◽  
Jeff Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Input ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
The Body ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
External Causes ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Temporal Sequences ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Brain Change

ABSTRACTThere are two fundamental reasons why sensory inputs to the brain change over time. Sensory inputs can change due to external factors or they can change due to our own behavior. Interpreting behavior-generated changes requires knowledge of how the body is moving, whereas interpreting externally-generated changes relies solely on the temporal sequence of input patterns. The sensory signals entering the neocortex change due to a mixture of both behavior and external factors. The neocortex must disentangle them but the mechanisms are unknown. In this paper, we show that a single neural mechanism can learn and recognize both types of sequences. In the model, cells are driven by feedforward sensory input and are modulated by contextual input. If the contextual input includes information derived from efference motor copies, the cells learn sensorimotor sequences. If the contextual input consists of nearby cellular activity, the cells learn temporal sequences. Through simulation we show that a network containing both types of contextual input automatically separates and learns both types of input patterns. We review experimental data that suggests the upper layers of cortical regions contain the anatomical structure required to support this mechanism.

scholarly journals The emulation theory of representation: Motor control, imagery, and perception

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick Grush
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Sensory Feedback ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
The Body ◽  
Feedback Delay ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Effects Of Feedback ◽  
The Brain

The emulation theory of representation is developed and explored as a framework that can revealingly synthesize a wide variety of representational functions of the brain. The framework is based on constructs from control theory (forward models) and signal processing (Kalman filters). The idea is that in addition to simply engaging with the body and environment, the brain constructs neural circuits that act as models of the body and environment. During overt sensorimotor engagement, these models are driven by efference copies in parallel with the body and environment, in order to provide expectations of the sensory feedback, and to enhance and process sensory information. These models can also be run off-line in order to produce imagery, estimate outcomes of different actions, and evaluate and develop motor plans. The framework is initially developed within the context of motor control, where it has been shown that inner models running in parallel with the body can reduce the effects of feedback delay problems. The same mechanisms can account for motor imagery as the off-line driving of the emulator via efference copies. The framework is extended to account for visual imagery as the off-line driving of an emulator of the motor-visual loop. I also show how such systems can provide for amodal spatial imagery. Perception, including visual perception, results from such models being used to form expectations of, and to interpret, sensory input. I close by briefly outlining other cognitive functions that might also be synthesized within this framework, including reasoning, theory of mind phenomena, and language.

scholarly journals Congenital visual deprivation modulates the perception of own, but not others’ body size

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Nava ◽  
Luigi Tamè ◽  
Serena Giurgola ◽  
Nadia Bolognini
Keyword(s):  
Visual Experience ◽  
Visual Deprivation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Body Model ◽  
Congenital Limb ◽  
Ideal Body ◽  
Blind Individuals ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Limb Aplasia

Abstract Neuropsychological reports of phantom sensations in congenital limb aplasia have often been taken as evidence of the existence of an innate, ‘hard-wired’, representation of the body in the brain that does not need to be constructed from, or updated by, online afferent sensory inputs, including vision. However, when asked to draw the contour of their own body and of an ideal body (i.e. body with perfect proportions), congenitally, but not late blind individuals, exhibited a magnified representation of their own body, specifically of their hands, in comparison to sighted controls. This over-representation did not extend to their ideal body model. These findings show that the representation of the own body metric is shaped by early visual experience, and that seeing one’s own and other bodies early in development contributes to the construction of a unified internal model, in which ‘own’ and ‘other’ merge.

scholarly journals Mapping between sound, brain and behaviour: four-level framework for understanding rhythm processing in humans and non-human primates

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1835) ◽  
pp. 20200325
Author(s):  
Tomas Lenc ◽  
Hugo Merchant ◽  
Peter E. Keller ◽  
Henkjan Honing ◽  
Manuel Varlet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Input ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Musical Rhythm ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Flexible System ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Brain

Humans perceive and spontaneously move to one or several levels of periodic pulses (a meter, for short) when listening to musical rhythm, even when the sensory input does not provide prominent periodic cues to their temporal location. Here, we review a multi-levelled framework to understanding how external rhythmic inputs are mapped onto internally represented metric pulses. This mapping is studied using an approach to quantify and directly compare representations of metric pulses in signals corresponding to sensory inputs, neural activity and behaviour (typically body movement). Based on this approach, recent empirical evidence can be drawn together into a conceptual framework that unpacks the phenomenon of meter into four levels. Each level highlights specific functional processes that critically enable and shape the mapping from sensory input to internal meter. We discuss the nature, constraints and neural substrates of these processes, starting with fundamental mechanisms investigated in macaque monkeys that enable basic forms of mapping between simple rhythmic stimuli and internally represented metric pulse. We propose that human evolution has gradually built a robust and flexible system upon these fundamental processes, allowing more complex levels of mapping to emerge in musical behaviours. This approach opens promising avenues to understand the many facets of rhythmic behaviours across individuals and species. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Synchrony and rhythm interaction: from the brain to behavioural ecology’.

scholarly journals Motor and Sensory Cortical Processing of Neural Oscillatory Activities revealed by Human Swallowing using Intracranial Electrodes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroaki Hashimoto ◽  
Kazutaka Takahashi ◽  
Seiji Kameda ◽  
Fumiaki Yoshida ◽  
Hitoshi Maezawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Stem ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Involuntary Movement ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Motor Output ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Phase Amplitude ◽  
Intracranial Electrodes ◽  
The Brain

AbstractSwallowing is a unique movement because orchestration of voluntary and involuntary movement, and coordination between sensory input and motor output are indispensable. We hypothesized that neural mechanism of them were revealed by cortical oscillatory changes. Eight epileptic participants fitted with intracranial electrodes over the orofacial cortex were asked to swallow a water bolus, and cortical oscillatory changes were investigated. At the boundary time between voluntary and involuntary swallowing, high γ (75-150 Hz) power achieved the peak, and subsequently, the power decreased. High γ power increases (burst) were associated with both sensory input and motor output. However, phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) revealed that sensory-related coupling appeared during high γ-bursts, and motor-related coupling appeared before high γ-bursts. The peak of high γ power suggests switching of swallowing driving force from the cortex to the brain stem, and PAC findings suggest that motor-related coupling induces later motor-related high γ-activities representing endogenous neural processing.

scholarly journals Predictive feedback to V1 dynamically updates with sensory input

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Edwards ◽  
Petra Vetter ◽  
Fiona McGruer ◽  
Lucy S. Petro ◽  
Lars Muckli
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Apparent Motion ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Amplification Process ◽  
Early Visual Cortex ◽  
Higher Visual Areas ◽  
The Brain

AbstractPredictive coding theories propose that the brain creates internal models of the environment to predict upcoming sensory input. Hierarchical predictive coding models of vision postulate that higher visual areas generate predictions of sensory inputs and feed them back to early visual cortex. In V1, sensory inputs that do not match the predictions lead to amplified brain activation, but does this amplification process dynamically update to new retinotopic locations with eye-movements? We investigated the effect of eye-movements in predictive feedback using functional brain imaging and eye-tracking whilst presenting an apparent motion illusion. Apparent motion induces an internal model of motion, during which sensory predictions of the illusory motion feed back to V1. We observed attenuated BOLD responses to predicted stimuli at the new post-saccadic location in V1. Therefore, pre-saccadic predictions update their retinotopic location in time for post-saccadic input, validating dynamic predictive coding theories in V1.

Roles of Acupuncture in Medicine

1982 ◽  
Vol 10 (01n04) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsiang-Tung Chang
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Traditional Chinese Medicine ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
The Body ◽  
Acupuncture Analgesia ◽  
Defence Mechanisms ◽  
William Osler ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Self Defence

The medical thinking of traditional Chinese medicine is considered to stem mainly from the theory formulated for acupuncture, as evidenced by the preponderant discussions of acupuncture in "Nei Ching", a classic of Chinese Medicine. Acupuncture cannot do much to those diseases which involve irreversible organic damage. It is essentially a technique for correcting the reversible physiological malfunction of various parts of the body by physiological means. It is believed possible that the acupuncture-initiated impulses may activate the autonomic centers and the hypophysical system in the brain so as to improve the efficiency of homeostatic and self-defence mechanisms of the body. Recent studies in acupuncture analgesia have contributed much to the understanding of the neural mechanism of pain and its control. Modern medicine should accept acupuncture as an alternative in medical practice as advocated by William Osler whose viewpoint about the value of acupuncture is cited.

scholarly journals Attention enhances LFP phase coherence in macaque visual cortex, improving sensory processing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behzad Zareian ◽  
Mohammad Reza Daliri ◽  
Kourosh Maboudi ◽  
Hamid Abrishami Moghaddam ◽  
Stefan Treue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Phase Coherence ◽  
Neural Population ◽  
Attentional Modulation ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Optimal Behavior ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Visual Area Mt ◽  
The Brain

Attention selectively routes the most behaviorally relevant information among the vast pool of sensory inputs through cortical regions. Previous studies have shown that visual attention samples the surrounding stimuli periodically. However, the neural mechanism underlying this sampling in the sensory cortex, and whether the brain actively uses these rhythms, has remained elusive. Here, we hypothesize that selective attention controls the phase of oscillatory synaptic activities to efficiently process the relevant information in the brain. We document an attentional modulation of pre-stimulus inter-trial phase coherence (a measure of deviation between instantaneous phases of trials) at low frequencies in macaque visual area MT. Our data reveal that phase coherence increases when attention is deployed towards the receptive field of the recorded neural population. We further show that the attentional enhancement of phase coherence is positively correlated with the attentional modulation of stimulus induced firing rate, and importantly, a higher phase coherence leads to a faster behavioral response. Our results suggest a functional utilization of intrinsic neural oscillatory activities for better processing upcoming environmental stimuli, generating the optimal behavior.

scholarly journals Brain plasticity

2020 ◽  
pp. 68-76
Author(s):  
А.А. Пальцын ◽  
Н.Б. Свиридкина
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Exercise ◽  
Brain Plasticity ◽  
The Body ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Main Condition ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Internal And External Factors ◽  
The Brain

Пластичность мозга - способность изменяться под действием внутренних и внешних факторов и, в качестве следствия, изменять тело. Мозг - посредник, между организмом (телом) и средой. Среда и условия жизни постоянно изменяются. Через мозг осуществляются приспособления к этим изменениям организма, направленные на сохранение жизни в изменившихся условиях. Диапазон пластических возможностей мозга иллюстрируется способностью осязания заменить зрение, или способностью когнитивных и физических нагрузок, диеты, сна существенно замедлить возрастную деградацию физического и умственного здоровья. Пластичность мозга - главное условие здоровья и долголетия. Другого «эликсира молодости» сегодня нет и, по-видимому, никогда не будет. Способ поддержания пластичности мозга - его занятость. Путь к деградации мозга - интеллектуальный и физический покой. Plasticity of the brain is an ability to change under the influence of internal and external factors and, as a consequence, to change the body. The brain is a mediator between the organism (body) and the environment. The environment, living conditions, is continuously changing. Adaptation to these changes in the body aimed at preserving life in the changed conditions occurs via the brain. The range of plastic capabilities of the brain is illustrated by the ability of touch to replace vision or the ability of cognitive and physical exercise, diet, and sleep to slow down significantly the age-related decline of physical and mental health. Plasticity of the brain is the main condition for health and longevity. There is no other “elixir of youth” today and, apparently, will never be. A way to maintain brain plasticity is to keep it busy. The path to brain degradation is mental and physical quiescence.

3. How religion is expressed

2020 ◽  
pp. 32-65
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Tweed
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
The Body ◽  
Embodied Experience ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
The Senses ◽  
Cultural Forms ◽  
The Brain

“How religion is expressed,” aims to understand how religion functions by looking at how religion is mediated and expressed. Contrary to some writers who have been called mystics, the author suggests there is no unmediated religious experience. Religion is mediated by institutions and technologies, and also by the body and the senses. The brain shapes thinking and feeling. It orients adherents in time and space and shapes how sensory input is classified and how emotions are expressed. The embodied experience of religion is expressed through sound, smell, taste, touch, and sight. Religion is also expressed in diverse cultural forms. There are eight modes of religious expression: experiencing, imagining, making, narrating, conceptualizing, enacting, performing, and gathering.

Interoception and Homeostasis

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. (Bud) Craig
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Input ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Lamina I ◽  
Sensory Activity

This chapter examines the regions in the brainstem where the ascending lamina I axons terminate. These projection targets are all involved in homeostasis, and thus, these terminations confirm that lamina I projections serve as the central homeostatic pathway that conveys sensory input from the sympathetically innervated tissues of the body. In the lower brainstem or medulla, in fact, lamina I terminations occur precisely in the visceral sensorimotor layer defined by classical neuroanatomists at the junction of the developmental alar and basal plates. Terminations occur in regions that relay homeostatic sensory activity to higher centers as well as in regions that send descending controls to spinal autonomic regions. Homeostatic sensory inputs from parasympathetically innervated tissues that relay in the solitary nucleus also terminate in the same brainstem sites. Comparative evidence indicates that these projections are present in all mammals.

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