The Role of Executive Function in Shaping Reinforcement Learning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milena Rmus ◽  
Samuel McDougle ◽  
Anne Collins
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Instrumental Behavior ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Neural Computations ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain

Reinforcement learning (RL) models have advanced our understanding of how animals learn and make decisions, and how the brain supports some aspects of learning. However, the neural computations that are explained by RL algorithms fall short of explaining many sophisticated aspects of human decision making, including the generalization of learned information, one-shot learning, and the synthesis of task information in complex environments. Instead, these aspects of instrumental behavior are assumed to be supported by the brain’s executive functions (EF). We review recent findings that highlight the importance of EF in learning. Specifically, we advance the theory that EF sets the stage for canonical RL computations in the brain, providing inputs that broaden their flexibility and applicability. Our theory has important implications for how to interpret RL computations in the brain and behavior.

Mind, Brain, and Behavior

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Pascual-Leone ◽  
Adolfo Plasencia
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Dark Energy ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Inattentional Blindness ◽  
Detailed Explanation ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
The Mind ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Brain Change

In this dialogue, the Harvard neuroscientist, Alvaro Pascual-Leone initially reflects on the importance of ‘unlearning’ and forgetting. He then gives a detailed explanation of, and how he carries out, transcraneal magnetic stimulation (TMS) and how he uses this technology to fight diseases, as well as explaining his experiments on inattentional blindness. He then discusses how the brain acts as a hypothesis generator and whether the brain, the mind and the soul are different things or not. Later reflect on the questions: Is the mind and what we are a consequence of the brain’s structure?  Do changes in the brain change our reality? And why are a person’s dreams important? Then he explains how freewill and decision-making work from the brain, and relates his vision of intelligence and where it may be generated from, explaining the differences between the mind and the brain. He finally reflects on what is known so far about the brain’s “dark energy” and the way we are continuously being surprised by the wonders of the brain's plasticity.

Developmental psychopathology in an era of molecular genetics and neuroimaging: A developmental neurogenetics approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 587-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke W. Hyde
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Genetics ◽  
Developmental Psychopathology ◽  
Imaging Genetics ◽  
Gene Environment ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
And Function ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe emerging field of neurogenetics seeks to model the complex pathways from gene to brain to behavior. This field has focused on imaging genetics techniques that examine how variability in common genetic polymorphisms predict differences in brain structure and function. These studies are informed by other complimentary techniques (e.g., animal models and multimodal imaging) and have recently begun to incorporate the environment through examination of Imaging Gene × Environment interactions. Though neurogenetics has the potential to inform our understanding of the development of psychopathology, there has been little integration between principles of neurogenetics and developmental psychopathology. The paper describes a neurogenetics and Imaging Gene × Environment approach and how these approaches have been usefully applied to the study of psychopathology. Six tenets of developmental psychopathology (the structure of phenotypes, the importance of exploring mechanisms, the conditional nature of risk, the complexity of multilevel pathways, the role of development, and the importance of who is studied) are identified, and how these principles can further neurogenetics applications to understanding the development of psychopathology is discussed. A major issue of this piece is how neurogenetics and current imaging and molecular genetics approaches can be incorporated into developmental psychopathology perspectives with a goal of providing models for better understanding pathways from among genes, environments, the brain, and behavior.

scholarly journals Associative Learning and Motivation Differentially Requires Neuroligin-1 at Excitatory Synapses

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaqi Luo ◽  
Jessica M Tan ◽  
Jess Nithianantharajah
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Excitatory Synapses ◽  
Response Effort ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Signaling Complex ◽  
Neural Computations ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain

ABSTRACTIn a changing environment, a challenge for the brain is to flexibly guide adaptive behavior towards survival. Understanding how these decision-making processes and underlying neural computations are orchestrated by the structural components of the brain, from circuits to cells, and ultimately the signaling complex of proteins at synapses, is central to elucidating the mechanisms that shape normal and abnormal brain connectivity, plasticity and behavior. At excitatory synapses, neuroligin-1 (Nlgn1) a postsynaptic cell-adhesion molecule required for the formation of trans-synaptic complexes with presynaptic partners is critical for regulating synapse specification, function and plasticity. Extensive evidence shows Nlgn1 is essential for synaptic transmission and long-term plasticity, but how these signaling processes ultimately regulate components of cognitive behavior is much less understood. Here, employing a comprehensive battery of touchscreen-based cognitive assays, we measured two key decision problems: i) the ability to learn and exploit the associative structure of the environment and ii) the trade-off between potential rewards and costs, or positive and negative utilities associated with available actions. We found that mice lacking Nlgn1 have an intact capacity to acquire complex associative structures and adjust learned associations. However, loss of Nlgn1 alters motivation leading to a reduced willingness to overcome response effort for reward and an increased willingness to exert effort to escape an aversive situation. We suggest Nlgn1 may be important for balancing the weighting on positive and negative utilities in reward-cost trade-off. Our findings identify Nlgn1 is essential for regulating distinct cognitive processes underlying decision-making, providing evidence of a new model for dissociating the computations underlying learning and motivational processing.

Evolutionary Approaches to Rational Choice

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Ekblom
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Crime Science ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain

This chapter seeks to enrich and extend thinking about the rational choice perspective to offender decision making and its pivotal application in situational crime prevention by taking an evolutionary approach, which is still uncommon in crime science and criminology. The chapter introduces basic concepts of evolution, covering the brain and behavior, levels and types of explanation, the strained relationship with social science, and the evidencing of evolutionary processes. The focus then shifts to rationality, covering decision making; the wider suite of processes needed to understand rationality in action; and specific discussions of cooperation, humans’ wider “sociocognitive niche,” and development. Although evolutionary issues are addressed throughout, the penultimate section discusses how rationality in the broadest sense has unfolded over evolutionary history and the significant connection between maximization of utility in contemporary rational choice and maximization/optimization of fitness in evolution. The conclusion raises practical, empirical, and theoretical questions for crime science.

Neurological and cognitive significance of probiotics: a holy grail deciding individual personality

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 1059-1074
Author(s):  
Muhammad Afzal ◽  
Sayyeda Farwa Mazhar ◽  
Sadia Sana ◽  
Muhammad Naeem ◽  
Muhammad Hidayat Rasool ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Subjects ◽  
Human Microbiome ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Cognitive Significance ◽  
Individual Personality ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
Mood And Cognition ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain

The role of the human microbiome in the brain and behavioral development is an area of increasing attention. Recent investigations have found that diverse mechanisms and signals including the immune, endocrine and neural associations are responsible for the communication between gut microbiota and the brain. The studies have suggested that alteration of intestinal microbiota using probiotic formulations may offer a significant role in the maturation and organization of the brain and can shape the brain and behavior as well as mood and cognition in human subjects. The understanding of the possible impact of gut microflora on neurological function is a promising phenomenon that can surely transform the neurosciences and may decipher the novel etiologies for neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.

scholarly journals On the nature of explanations offered by network science: A perspective from and for practicing neuroscientists

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell A Bertolero ◽  
Danielle S Bassett
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Neural Function ◽  
Philosophical Work ◽  
Scale Free ◽  
Careful Treatment ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Network Neuroscience

This article is part a forthcoming Topics in Cognitive Science Special Issue: "Levels of Explanation in Cognitive Science: From Molecules to Culture," Matteo Colombo and Markus Knauff (Topic Editors). Network neuroscience represents the brain as a collection of regions and inter-regional connections. Given its ability to formalize systems-level models, network neuroscience has generated unique explanations of neural function and behavior. The mechanistic status of these explanations and how they can contribute to and fit within the field of neuroscience as a whole has received careful treatment from philosophers. However, these philosophical contributions have not yet reached many neuroscientists. Here we complement formal philosophical efforts by providing an applied perspective from and for neuroscientists. We discuss the mechanistic status of the explanations offered by network neuroscience and how they contribute to, enhance, and interdigitate with other types of explanations in neuroscience. In doing so, we rely on philosophical work concerning the role of causality, scale, and mechanisms in scientific explanations. In particular, we make the distinction between an explanation and the evidence supporting that explanation, and we argue for a scale-free nature of mechanistic explanations. In the course of these discussions, we hope to provide a useful applied framework in which network neuroscience explanations can be exercised across scales and combined with other fields of neuroscience to gain deeper insights into the brain and behavior.

scholarly journals Neurology, psychiatry and the chess game: a narrative review

2020 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-175
Author(s):  
Gustavo Leite FRANKLIN ◽  
Brunna N. G. V. PEREIRA ◽  
Nayra S.C. LIMA ◽  
Francisco Manoel Branco GERMINIANI ◽  
Carlos Henrique Ferreira CAMARGO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Literacy Learning ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Great Concentration ◽  
Chess Game ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Chess Players ◽  
The Brain

Abstract The chess game comprises different domains of cognitive function, demands great concentration and attention and is present in many cultures as an instrument of literacy, learning and entertainment. Over the years, many effects of the game on the brain have been studied. Seen that, we reviewed the current literature to analyze the influence of chess on cognitive performance, decision-making process, linking to historical neurological and psychiatric disorders as we describe different diseases related to renowned chess players throughout history, discussing the influences of chess on the brain and behavior.

Review of Self-regulation of the Brain and Behavior.

1985 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 999-999
Author(s):  
Gerald S. Wasserman
Keyword(s):  
Self Regulation ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain

Influence of Confucian culture on entrepreneurial decision making using data from China's floating population

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Ran Xiong ◽  
Ping Wei
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Floating Population ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Confucian Culture ◽  
Chinese Nation ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Entrepreneurial Decision ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Relationship

Confucian culture has had a deep-rooted influence on Chinese thinking and behavior for more than 2,000 years. With a manually created Confucian culture database and the 2017 China floating population survey, we used empirical analysis to test the relationship between Confucian culture and individual entrepreneurial choice using data obtained from China's floating population. After using the presence and number of Confucian schools and temples, and of chaste women as instrumental variables to counteract problems of endogeneity, we found that Confucian culture had a significant role in promoting individuals' entrepreneurial decision making among China's floating population. The results showed that, compared with those from areas of China not strongly influenced by Confucian culture, individuals from areas that are strongly influenced by Confucian culture were more likely to choose entrepreneurship as their occupation choice. Our findings reveal cultural factors that affect individual entrepreneurial behavior, and also illustrate the positive role of Confucianism as a representative of the typical cultures of the Chinese nation in the 21st century.

scholarly journals Consciousness, decision making, and volition: freedom beyond chance and necessity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Liljenström
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Neural Information ◽  
Neural Information Processing ◽  
Stochastic Population Model ◽  
The Brain

AbstractWhat is the role of consciousness in volition and decision-making? Are our actions fully determined by brain activity preceding our decisions to act, or can consciousness instead affect the brain activity leading to action? This has been much debated in philosophy, but also in science since the famous experiments by Libet in the 1980s, where the current most common interpretation is that conscious free will is an illusion. It seems that the brain knows, up to several seconds in advance what “you” decide to do. These studies have, however, been criticized, and alternative interpretations of the experiments can be given, some of which are discussed in this paper. In an attempt to elucidate the processes involved in decision-making (DM), as an essential part of volition, we have developed a computational model of relevant brain structures and their neurodynamics. While DM is a complex process, we have particularly focused on the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) for its emotional, and the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) for its cognitive aspects. In this paper, we present a stochastic population model representing the neural information processing of DM. Simulation results seem to confirm the notion that if decisions have to be made fast, emotional processes and aspects dominate, while rational processes are more time consuming and may result in a delayed decision. Finally, some limitations of current science and computational modeling will be discussed, hinting at a future development of science, where consciousness and free will may add to chance and necessity as explanation for what happens in the world.

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