Simple Nervous Systems and Behavior

2020 ◽  
pp. 98-130
Author(s):  
Mauricio R. Papini
Keyword(s):  
Nervous Systems ◽  
And Behavior

Brains as Engines of Association

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Purves
Keyword(s):  
Neural Systems ◽  
Neural Function ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Nervous Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Sensing Systems ◽  
Lifetime Experience ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
And Behavior

Brains as Engines of Association seeks an operating principle of the human brain and is divided into four parts. The first part (“What Nervous Systems Do for Animals”) is intended to set the stage for understanding the emergence of neural systems as promoting what all organisms must accomplish: survival and reproduction. The second part (“Neural Systems as Engines of Association”) lays out the general argument that biological sensing systems face a daunting problem: they cannot measure the parameters of the world in the way physical instruments can. As a result, nervous systems must make and update associations (synaptic connections) on the basis of empirical success or failure over both evolutionary and individual time. The third part (“Evidence that Neural Systems Operate Empirically”) reviews evidence accumulated over the past 20 years that supports this interpretation in vision and audition, the sensory systems that have been most studied from this or any other perspective. Finally, the fourth part (“Alternative Concepts of Neural Function”) considers the pros and cons of other interpretations of how brains operate. The overarching theme is that the nervous systems of humans and every other animal operate on the basis associations between stimuli and behavior made by trial and error over species and lifetime experience.

scholarly journals A Functional Role for Neutralizing Antibodies in Borna Disease: Influence on Virus Tropism outside the Central Nervous System

1998 ◽  
Vol 72 (11) ◽  
pp. 8884-8892 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Stitz ◽  
K. Nöske ◽  
O. Planz ◽  
E. Furrer ◽  
W. I. Lipkin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Rna Virus ◽  
Passive Immunization ◽  
Cns Infection ◽  
Nervous Systems ◽  
Humoral Immune ◽  
Central Nervous Systems ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Borna Disease

ABSTRACT Borna disease virus (BDV) is a negative-strand RNA virus that infects the central nervous systems (CNS) of warm-blooded animals and causes disturbances of movement and behavior. The basis for neurotropism remains poorly understood; however, the observation that the distribution of infectious virus in immunocompetent rats is different from that in immunoincompetent rats indicates a role for the immune system in BDV tropism: whereas in immunocompetent rats virus is restricted to the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, immunoincompetent rats also have virus in nonneural tissues. In an effort to examine the influence of the humoral immune response on BDV pathogenesis, we examined the effects of passive immunization with neutralizing antiserum in immunoincompetent rats. Serum transfer into immunoincompetent rats did not prevent persistent CNS infection but did result in restriction of virus to neural tissues. These results indicate that neutralizing antibodies may play a role in preventing generalized infection with BDV.

scholarly journals The dynamics of neural activation variables

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Reimann ◽  
Jonas Lins ◽  
Gregor Schöner
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Cognitive Robotics ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Nervous Systems ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Elementary Building

AbstractThis paper presents a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the elementary building blocks of neurally inspired architectures for cognitive robotics. It provides a brief outline of the fundamental principles by which biological nervous systems link to the environment in terms of perception, cognition, and behavior. We describe a class of dynamic neural activation variable based on these principles. We show that these dynamic neurons have the appropriate stability properties.Adding even simple connections between a small number of nodes is sufficient to constitute systems that make important decisions. Going through these mechanisms in detail, this paper should facilitate the design of neurally inspired architectures for behavior generation in robotic agents.

scholarly journals Neuronal calmodulin levels are controlled by CAMTA transcription factors

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanh Thi Vuong-Brender ◽  
Sean Flynn ◽  
Yvonne Vallis ◽  
Mario de Bono
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Ion Channels ◽  
General Mechanism ◽  
Nervous Systems ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Ancient Proteins ◽  
Transcription Activators ◽  
And Behavior

The ubiquitous Ca2+ sensor calmodulin (CaM) binds and regulates many proteins, including ion channels, CaM kinases, and calcineurin, according to Ca2+-CaM levels. What regulates neuronal CaM levels, is, however, unclear. CaM-binding transcription activators (CAMTAs) are ancient proteins expressed broadly in nervous systems and whose loss confers pleiotropic behavioral defects in flies, mice, and humans. Using Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila, we show that CAMTAs control neuronal CaM levels. The behavioral and neuronal Ca2+ signaling defects in mutants lacking camt-1, the sole C. elegans CAMTA, can be rescued by supplementing neuronal CaM. CAMT-1 binds multiple sites in the CaM promoter and deleting these sites phenocopies camt-1. Our data suggest CAMTAs mediate a conserved and general mechanism that controls neuronal CaM levels, thereby regulating Ca2+ signaling, physiology, and behavior.

scholarly journals Rich-club circuitry: function, evolution and vulnerability

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-131 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Interesting Property ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Brain Disorders ◽  
Nervous Systems ◽  
Rich Club ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Insight Into

Over the past decades, network neuroscience has played a fundamental role in the understanding of large-scale brain connectivity architecture. Brains, and more generally nervous systems, can be modeled as sets of elements (neurons, assemblies, or cortical chunks) that dynamically interact through a highly structured and adaptive neurocircuitry. An interesting property of neural networks is that elements rich in connections are central to the network organization and tend to interconnect strongly with each other, forming so-called rich clubs. The ubiquity of rich-club organization across different species and scales of investigation suggests that this topology could be a distinctive feature of biological systems with information processing capabilities. This review surveys recent neuroimaging, computational, and cross-species comparative literature to offer an insight into the function and origin of rich-club architecture in nervous systems, discussing its relevance to human cognition and behavior, and vulnerability to brain disorders.

How Homo economicus lost her mind and how we can revive her

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter DeScioli
Keyword(s):  
Economic Thought ◽  
History Of Economic Thought ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Economic Theories ◽  
Target Article ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
And Behavior

AbstractThe target article by Boyer & Petersen (B&P) contributes a vital message: that people have folk economic theories that shape their thoughts and behavior in the marketplace. This message is all the more important because, in the history of economic thought, Homo economicus was increasingly stripped of mental capacities. Intuitive theories can help restore the mind of Homo economicus.

The parent-offspring microbiome and neurobehavioral development

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey R. Alberts ◽  
Christopher Harshaw ◽  
Gregory E. Demas ◽  
Cara L. Wellman ◽  
Ardythe L. Morrow
Keyword(s):  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Neurobehavioral Development ◽  
Emotional Function ◽  
Neurobehavioral Outcomes ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract We identify the significance and typical requirements of developmental analyses of the microbiome-gut-brain (MGB) in parents, offspring, and parent-offspring relations, which have particular importance for neurobehavioral outcomes in mammalian species, including humans. We call for a focus on behavioral measures of social-emotional function. Methodological approaches to interpreting relations between the microbiota and behavior are discussed.

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