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

Mapping Intimacies ◽

10.31234/osf.io/jcuv3 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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.

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The Role of Executive Function in Shaping Reinforcement Learning

10.31234/osf.io/9cvw3 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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.

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

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579415000188 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 587-613 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

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.

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

Future Microbiology ◽

10.2217/fmb-2019-0143 ◽

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.

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Review of Self-regulation of the Brain and Behavior.

Contemporary Psychology ◽

10.1037/023440 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 30 (12) ◽

pp. 999-999

Author(s):

Gerald S. Wasserman

Keyword(s):

Self Regulation ◽

Brain And Behavior ◽

And Behavior ◽

The Brain

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Song competition changes the brain and behavior of a male songbird

Journal of Experimental Biology ◽

10.1242/jeb.028456 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 212 (15) ◽

pp. 2411-2418 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

K. W. Sockman ◽

K. G. Salvante ◽

D. M. Racke ◽

C. R. Campbell ◽

B. A. Whitman

Keyword(s):

Brain And Behavior ◽

And Behavior ◽

The Brain

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The brain and behavior of the fowl

General Pharmacology The Vascular System ◽

10.1016/0306-3623(84)90107-1 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 175

Keyword(s):

Brain And Behavior ◽

And Behavior ◽

The Brain

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Müllerian inhibiting substance contributes to sex-linked biases in the brain and behavior

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.0902253106 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 106 (17) ◽

pp. 7203-7208 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Pei-Yu Wang ◽

Anna Protheroe ◽

Andrew N. Clarkson ◽

Floriane Imhoff ◽

Kyoko Koishi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Motor Neurons ◽

Reproductive Tract ◽

Behavioral Traits ◽

Spinal Motor Neurons ◽

Müllerian Inhibiting Substance ◽

Males And Females ◽

Brain And Behavior ◽

And Behavior ◽

The Brain ◽

Mullerian Inhibiting Substance

Many behavioral traits and most brain disorders are common to males and females but are more evident in one sex than the other. The control of these subtle sex-linked biases is largely unstudied and has been presumed to mirror that of the highly dimorphic reproductive nuclei. Sexual dimorphism in the reproductive tract is a product of Müllerian inhibiting substance (MIS), as well as the sex steroids. Males with a genetic deficiency in MIS signaling are sexually males, leading to the presumption that MIS is not a neural regulator. We challenge this presumption by reporting that most immature neurons in mice express the MIS-specific receptor (MISRII) and that male Mis−/− and Misrii−/− mice exhibit subtle feminization of their spinal motor neurons and of their exploratory behavior. Consequently, MIS may be a broad regulator of the subtle sex-linked biases in the nervous system.

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Sex differences in neural and behavioral signatures of cooperation revealed by fNIRS hyperscanning

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/srep26492 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Joseph M. Baker ◽

Ning Liu ◽

Xu Cui ◽

Pascal Vrticka ◽

Manish Saggar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Behavioral Signatures ◽

Computer Based ◽

Males And Females ◽

Brain And Behavior ◽

The Right ◽

And Behavior ◽

The Brain

Abstract Researchers from multiple fields have sought to understand how sex moderates human social behavior. While over 50 years of research has revealed differences in cooperation behavior of males and females, the underlying neural correlates of these sex differences have not been explained. A missing and fundamental element of this puzzle is an understanding of how the sex composition of an interacting dyad influences the brain and behavior during cooperation. Using fNIRS-based hyperscanning in 111 same- and mixed-sex dyads, we identified significant behavioral and neural sex-related differences in association with a computer-based cooperation task. Dyads containing at least one male demonstrated significantly higher behavioral performance than female/female dyads. Individual males and females showed significant activation in the right frontopolar and right inferior prefrontal cortices, although this activation was greater in females compared to males. Female/female dyad’s exhibited significant inter-brain coherence within the right temporal cortex, while significant coherence in male/male dyads occurred in the right inferior prefrontal cortex. Significant coherence was not observed in mixed-sex dyads. Finally, for same-sex dyads only, task-related inter-brain coherence was positively correlated with cooperation task performance. Our results highlight multiple important and previously undetected influences of sex on concurrent neural and behavioral signatures of cooperation.

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