scholarly journals I Am Conscious, Therefore, I Am: Imagery, Affect, Action, and a General Theory of Behavior

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
David F. Marks
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Control Center ◽  
Introspective Report ◽  
Intentional Behavior ◽  
Physiological Homeostasis ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Behavior

Organisms are adapted to each other and the environment because there is an inbuilt striving toward security, stability, and equilibrium. A General Theory of Behavior connects imagery, affect, and action with the central executive system we call consciousness, a direct emergent property of cerebral activity. The General Theory is founded on the assumption that the primary motivation of all of consciousness and intentional behavior is psychological homeostasis. Psychological homeostasis is as important to the organization of mind and behavior as physiological homeostasis is to the organization of bodily systems. Consciousness processes quasi-perceptual images independently of the input to the retina and sensorium. Consciousness is the “I am” control center for integration and regulation of (my) thoughts, (my) feelings, and (my) actions with (my) conscious mental imagery as foundation stones. The fundamental, universal conscious desire for psychological homeostasis benefits from the degree of vividness of inner imagery. Imagery vividness, a combination of clarity and liveliness, is beneficial to imagining, remembering, thinking, predicting, planning, and acting. Assessment of vividness using introspective report is validated by objective means such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A significant body of work shows that vividness of visual imagery is determined by the similarity of neural responses in imagery to those occurring in perception of actual objects and performance of activities. I am conscious; therefore, I am.

scholarly journals I am Conscious, Therefore I am: Imagery, Affect, Action, and a General Theory of Behaviour

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David F Marks
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
General Theory ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Primary Motivation ◽  
Introspective Report ◽  
Control Centre ◽  
Physiological Homeostasis ◽  
Executive System ◽  
And Performance

Organisms are adapted to each other and the environment, not as tradition would have it, because natural selection made them that way, but because there is inbuilt striving towards stability and equilibrium. A General Theory of Behaviour connects imagery, affect and action with the central executive system we call Consciousness. The General Theory is founded on the assumption that the primary motivation of all of Consciousness and intentional behaviour is Psychological Homeostasis. Psychological homeostasis is as important to the organisation of mind and behaviour as Physiological Homeostasis is to the organisation of bodily systems. Consciousness processes quasi-perceptual images independently of the input to the retina and sensorium. Consciousness is the “I-Am” control centre for integration and regulation of (my) thoughts, (my) feelings and (my) actions with (my) conscious mental imagery as foundation stones. Imagery vividness, a combination of clarity and liveliness, is essential to imagining, remembering, thinking, predicting, planning and acting. Assessment of vividness using introspective report is validated by objective means such as fMRI. A significant body of work shows that vividness of visual imagery is determined by the similarity of neural responses in imagery to those occurring in perception of actual objects and performance of activities. I am Conscious, therefore I am.

scholarly journals Controllability over stressor decreases responses in key threat-related brain areas

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chirag Limbachia ◽  
Kelly Morrow ◽  
Anastasiia Khibovska ◽  
Christian Meyer ◽  
Srikanth Padmala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Insula ◽  
Stria Terminalis ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Bed Nucleus ◽  
Posterior Insula ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
And Behavior

AbstractControllability over stressors has major impacts on brain and behavior. In humans, however, the effect of controllability on responses to stressors is poorly understood. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated how controllability altered responses to a shock-plus-sound stressor with a between-group yoked design, where participants in controllable and uncontrollable groups experienced matched stressor exposure. Employing Bayesian multilevel analysis at the level of regions of interest and voxels in the insula, and standard voxelwise analysis, we found that controllability decreased stressor-related responses across threat-related regions, notably in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and anterior insula. Posterior cingulate cortex, posterior insula, and possibly medial frontal gyrus showed increased responses during control over stressor. Our findings support the idea that the aversiveness of stressors is reduced when controllable, leading to decreased responses across key regions involved in anxiety-related processing, even at the level of the extended amygdala.

Practical Aspects of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byron Bernal
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Mapping Tool ◽  
Volitional Behavior ◽  
And Performance

AbstractFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become a broadly accepted presurgical mapping tool for pediatric populations with brain pathology. The aim of this article is to provide general guidelines on the pragmatic aspects of performing and processing fMRI, as well as interpreting its results across children of all age groups. Based on the author's accumulated experience of more than 20 years on this specific field, these guidelines consider many factors that include the particular physiology and anatomy of the child's brain, and how specific peculiarities may pose disadvantages or even certain advantages when performing fMRI procedures. The author carefully details the various challenges that the practitioner might face in dealing with limited volitional behavior and language comprehension of infants and small children and remedial strategies. The type and proper choice of task-based paradigms in keeping with the age and performance of the patient are discussed, as well as the appropriate selection and dosage of sedative agents and their inherent limitations. Recommendations about the scanner and settings for specific sequences are provided, as well as the required devices for appropriate stimulus delivery, response, and motion control. Practical aspects of fMRI postprocessing and quality control are discussed. Finally, given the relevance of resting-state-fMRI for use in noncooperative patients, a praxis-oriented guide to obtain, classify, and understand the spontaneous neural networks (utilizing independent component analysis) is also provided. The article concludes with a thorough discussion about the possible pitfalls at different stages of the fMRI process.

Increased neural response to fear in patients recovered from depression: a 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging study

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Norbury ◽  
S. Selvaraj ◽  
M. J. Taylor ◽  
C. Harmer ◽  
P. J. Cowen
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Limbic Regions

BackgroundPrevious imaging studies have revealed that acute major depression is characterized by altered neural responses to negative emotional stimuli. Typically, responses in limbic regions such as the amygdala are increased while activity in cortical regulatory regions such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is diminished. Whether these changes persist in unmedicated recovered patients is unclear.MethodWe used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine neural responses to emotional faces in a facial expression-matching task in 16 unmedicated recovered depressed patients and 21 healthy controls.ResultsCompared with controls, recovered depressed patients had increased responses bilaterally to fearful faces in the DLPFC and right caudate. Responses in the amygdala did not distinguish the groups.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that clinical recovery from depression is associated with increased activity in the DLPFC to negative emotional stimuli. We suggest that this increase may reflect a compensatory cortical control mechanism with the effect of limiting emotional dysregulation in limbic regions such as the amygdala.

Neural responses to intravenous serotonin revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging

2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 331-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke A. Henderson ◽  
Pearl L. Yu ◽  
Robert C. Frysinger ◽  
Jean-Philippe Galons ◽  
Richard Bandler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Fastigial Nucleus ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Solitary Tract Nucleus ◽  
Solitary Tract ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging

We examined the sequence of neural responses to the hypotension, bradycardia, and apnea evoked by intravenous administration of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin). Functional magnetic resonance imaging signal changes were assessed in nine isoflurane-anesthetized cats during baseline and after a bolus intravenous low dose (10 μg/kg) or high dose (20–30 μg/kg) of 5-hydroxytryptamine. In all cats, high-dose challenges elicited rapid-onset, transient signal declines in the intermediate portion of the solitary tract nucleus, caudal midline and caudal and rostral ventrolateral medulla, and fastigial nucleus of the cerebellum. Slightly delayed phasic declines appeared in the dentate and interpositus nuclei and dorsolateral pons. Late-developing responses also emerged in the solitary tract nucleus, parapyramidal region, periaqueductal gray, spinal trigeminal nucleus, inferior olivary nucleus, cerebellar vermis, and fastigial nucleus. Amygdala and hypothalamic sites showed delayed and prolonged signal increases. Intravenous serotonin infusion recruits cerebellar, amygdala, and hypothalamic sites in addition to classic brain stem cardiopulmonary areas and exhibits site-specific temporal patterns.

Cultural Specificity in Amygdala Response to Fear Faces

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 2167-2174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Y. Chiao ◽  
Tetsuya Iidaka ◽  
Heather L. Gordon ◽  
Junpei Nogawa ◽  
Moshe Bar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Group ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Adaptive Function ◽  
Amygdala Activation ◽  
Cultural Specificity ◽  
Early Warning Mechanism ◽  
Amygdala Response

The human amygdala robustly activates to fear faces. Heightened response to fear faces is thought to reflect the amygdala's adaptive function as an early warning mechanism. Although culture shapes several facets of emotional and social experience, including how fear is perceived and expressed to others, very little is known about how culture influences neural responses to fear stimuli. Here we show that the bilateral amygdala response to fear faces is modulated by culture. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure amygdala response to fear and nonfear faces in two distinct cultures. Native Japanese in Japan and Caucasians in the United States showed greater amygdala activation to fear expressed by members of their own cultural group. This finding provides novel and surprising evidence of cultural tuning in an automatic neural response.

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