Seconds Last

2022 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-74
Author(s):  
P. G. Streeter ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Short Fiction ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Central Park ◽  
The Moment

What does it mean to be dead? If you were living in a perfect, but false, moment in time, would you choose to leave it? In this work of philosophical short fiction, Linus and Axel are sitting in Central Park on a perfect October day. They have lived in this same day, seemingly, forever. They know they are both dead. Linus died about ten years later than Axel. It occurs to Linus that if they are both seeing his vision of Central Park, it must be his reality. Linus theorizes that, at the moment of death, our brain activity speeds up dramatically, making it seem like our final moment in time lasts forever. However, it’s not real. Linus decides to end this moment in time and move on.

scholarly journals Personalized Biometrics of Physical Pain Agree with Psychophysics by Participants with Sensory over Responsivity

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Jihye Ryu ◽  
Tami Bar-Shalita ◽  
Yelena Granovsky ◽  
Irit Weissman-Fogel ◽  
Elizabeth B. Torres
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Summary Statistics ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Theoretical Population ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Reported Data

The study of pain requires a balance between subjective methods that rely on self-reports and complementary objective biometrics that ascertain physical signals associated with subjective accounts. There are at present no objective scales that enable the personalized assessment of pain, as most work involving electrophysiology rely on summary statistics from a priori theoretical population assumptions. Along these lines, recent work has provided evidence of differences in pain sensations between participants with Sensory Over Responsivity (SOR) and controls. While these analyses are useful to understand pain across groups, there remains a need to quantify individual differences more precisely in a personalized manner. Here we offer new methods to characterize pain using the moment-by-moment standardized fluctuations in EEG brain activity centrally reflecting the person’s experiencing temperature-based stimulation at the periphery. This type of gross data is often disregarded as noise, yet here we show its utility to characterize the lingering sensation of discomfort raising to the level of pain, individually, for each participant. We show fundamental differences between the SOR group in relation to controls and provide an objective account of pain congruent with the subjective self-reported data. This offers the potential to build a standardized scale useful to profile pain levels in a personalized manner across the general population.

An fMRI Study of Differences in Brain Activity Among Elite, Expert, and Novice Archers at the Moment of Optimal Aiming

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woojong Kim ◽  
Yongmin Chang ◽  
Jingu Kim ◽  
Jeehye Seo ◽  
Kwangmin Ryu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Expert And Novice ◽  
The Moment

scholarly journals Investigating motor preparatory processes and conscious volition using machine learning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siobhan Hall ◽  
Dawie van den Heever ◽  
Mikkel C. Vinding ◽  
Linzette Morris
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Test Accuracy ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Libet Experiment ◽  
Broad Term ◽  
Eeg Data ◽  
Intention To Move ◽  
The Moment

AbstractBackgroundConscious volition is a broad term and is difficult to reduce to a single empirical paradigm. It encompasses many areas of cognition, including decision-making and empirical studies can be done on these components. This work follows on the seminal work of Libet et al. (1983) which focused on brain activity preceding motor activity and conscious awareness of the intention to move. Previous results have subsequently faced criticism, particularly methods used to average out EEG data over all the trials and the readiness potential not being present on an individual trial basis. This following study aims to address these criticisms.ObjectivesTo use machine learning to investigate brain activity preceding left/right hand movements with relation to conscious intent and motor action.MethodologyThe data collection involved the recreation of the Libet experiment, with electroencephalography (EEG) data being collected. An addition made in this study was the choice between “left” and “right” while observing the Libet clock to subjectively mark the moment of conscious awareness. Twenty-one participants were included (four females, all right-handed). A deep (machine) learning model known as a convolutional neural network (CNN) was used for the EEG data analysis.ResultsSubjectively reported conscious intent preceded the action by 108 ms. The CNN model was able to predict the decision “left” or “right” as early as 4.45 seconds before the action with a test accuracy of 98%.ConclusionThis study has shown motor preparatory processes start up to 4.45 seconds before conscious awareness of a decision to move.

Neuroimaged

2020 ◽  
pp. 72-85
Author(s):  
Natalie Phillips ◽  
Cody Mejeur ◽  
Melissa Klamer ◽  
Karah Smith ◽  
Salvatore Antonnuci
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Digital Humanities ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Michigan State University ◽  
State University ◽  
Reading Processes ◽  
Digital World ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Over Time

Literary scholars have long known that reading can create worlds, make us feel, and even change our minds. Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience reveal the regions and networks of the brain that facilitate these reading processes. Using several studies of literature, poetry, and music conducted at the Digital Humanities and Literary Cognition lab at Michigan State University, this chapter demonstrates how we can bring together literary and neuroscientific understandings of reading to better grasp how we read, including how we read differently. In particular, fMRI allows us to see how our brain activity and engagement with literature while reading changes dramatically over time, and how our feelings and interpretations emerge dynamically in the moment-to-moment reading of the text. Beyond helping us understand the processes of reading better, reading in a scanner also presents an opportunity to rethink what reading is and looks like in an increasingly digital world.

scholarly journals Altered temporal, but intact spatial, features of transient network dynamics in psychosis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danhong Wang ◽  
Xiaolong Peng ◽  
Andrea Pelletier-Baldelli ◽  
Natasza Orlov ◽  
Amy Farabaugh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Occurrence Rate ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Spatial Features ◽  
Brain States ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Core Symptoms

AbstractContemporary models of psychosis suggest that a continuum of severity of psychotic symptoms exists, with subthreshold psychotic experiences (PEs) potentially reflecting some genetic and environmental risk factors shared with clinical psychosis. Thus, identifying abnormalities in brain activity that manifest across this continuum can shed new light on the pathophysiology of psychosis. Here, we investigated the moment-to-moment engagement of brain networks (“states”) in individuals with schizophrenia (SCZ) and PEs and identified features of these states that are associated with psychosis-spectrum symptoms. Transient brain states were defined by clustering “single snapshots” of blood oxygen level-dependent images, based on spatial similarity of the images. We found that individuals with SCZ (n = 35) demonstrated reduced recruitment of three brain states compared to demographically matched healthy controls (n = 35). Of these three illness-related states, one specific state, involving primarily the visual and salience networks, also occurred at a lower rate in individuals with persistent PEs (n = 22), compared to demographically matched healthy youth (n = 22). Moreover, the occurrence rate of this marker brain state was negatively correlated with the severity of PEs (r = −0.26, p = 0.003, n = 130). In contrast, the spatial map of this state appeared to be unaffected in the SCZ or PE groups. Thus, reduced engagement of a brain state involving the visual and salience networks was demonstrated across the psychosis continuum, suggesting that early disruptions of perceptual and affective function may underlie some of the core symptoms of the illness.

scholarly journals Innowacyjność kluczem rozwoju firmy IBM

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 40-53
Author(s):  
Radosław Uliszak ◽  
Nina Grad
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Storage Media ◽  
The World ◽  
Market Areas ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Moment

Innovation seen as the development of new methods, tools, new approaches and improvement of the existing processes is generally synonymous with “young” and modern companies. Hardly anyone would expect after 100 years of a company’s existence that it is able to continually meet the highest standards of business and compete on the international market, especially in terms of innovation. An example of such a company is International Business Machines (IBM). The company was founded in 1911 and initially dealt with the production of various equipment: weights, meat slicers, or data storage media, such as punch cards and machines for them. The latter have become over time the most important activity of the corporation. At the turn of the 1960s, IBM introduced hard disk drives, developed the world’s first storage, and introduced to customers the software language Fortran, which is still in use. In 1969, IBM computers were used by NASA during the first man on the moon mission. In 1981, the company created the first personal computer IBM 5150 PC, which the weekly magazine “Time” dubbed “machine of the year”. Thanks to its innovations, regardless of the era, IBM has always been ahead of the reality in which it is located. Today IBM announced that in 2019 it will have a supercomputer, which should come close to matching the power of the human brain. At the moment, BlueGene already copies 4.5% of human brain activity. The activities of such a powerful company are not only associated with market developments. In the 1990s, the company began to focus on new market areas, in particular services. In November this year, IBM introduced the five innovations that over the next five years would significantly improve the quality of life of urban citizens around the world, as well as reduce potential hazards. Therefore, the vision of the company seems to be right – our customer’s success, innovation for us and the world. The purpose of this paper is to present innovative solutions implemented by IBM in terms of technology and services.

scholarly journals Brain–computer interface technologies for monitoring and control of bionic systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 2058 (1) ◽  
pp. 012030
Author(s):  
R M Berestov ◽  
E A Bobkov ◽  
V S Belov ◽  
A V Nevedin
Keyword(s):  
Near Infrared ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Set Systems ◽  
Character Set ◽  
The Moment ◽  
And Control ◽  
Electroencephalogram Eeg

Abstract At the moment, neurocomputer interfaces (BCI) make it possible to implement on their basis devices for diagnosing a physical condition, implementing control systems for bionic prostheses, information input means such as neuro chat and character set systems based on brain potentials. At the moment, the main technology for obtaining brain activity for neurointerfaces is the electroencephalogram (EEG). There are promising technologies that will make it possible to achieve new results in the field of neurointerfaces. These technologies are functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and magnetoencephalography (MEG).

scholarly journals The Neural Correlates of Persuasion: A Common Network across Cultures and Media

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 2447-2459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily B. Falk ◽  
Lian Rameson ◽  
Elliot T. Berkman ◽  
Betty Liao ◽  
Yoona Kang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Persuasive Communication ◽  
Persuasive Messages ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Social Exchanges ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
The Moment

Persuasion is at the root of countless social exchanges in which one person or group is motivated to have another share its beliefs, desires, or behavioral intentions. Here, we report the first three functional magnetic resonance imaging studies to investigate the neurocognitive networks associated with feeling persuaded by an argument. In the first two studies, American and Korean participants, respectively, were exposed to a number of text-based persuasive messages. In both Study 1 and Study 2, feeling persuaded was associated with increased activity in posterior superior temporal sulcus bilaterally, temporal pole bilaterally, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest a discrete set of underlying mechanisms in the moment that the persuasion process occurs, and are strengthened by the fact that the results replicated across two diverse linguistic and cultural groups. Additionally, a third study using region-of-interest analyses demonstrated that neural activity in this network was also associated with persuasion when a sample of American participants viewed video-based messages. In sum, across three studies, including two different cultural groups and two types of media, persuasion was associated with a consistent network of regions in the brain. Activity in this network has been associated with social cognition and mentalizing and is consistent with models of persuasion that emphasize the importance of social cognitive processing in determining the efficacy of persuasive communication.

Introduction: Contexts, Politics and Genre

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Young
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Short Fiction ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
First Century ◽  
Literary Field ◽  
Feminist Politics ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
Story Writing ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
The Moment

The contemporary moment appears to be the moment for women short story writers, who have received increased critical attention and popular acclaim. Indeed, in surveying this literary field and attending to the reoccurring tropes and discourses in this body of work, it seems reasonable to argue that this is an opportune moment for considering the ways in which shifting feminist sensibilities and gendered subjectivities are revealed through women’s short story writing. A prevailing tendency in the short stories of many contemporary British women writers is a preoccupation with issues of gender and sexuality that, in turn, signals a wider engagement with feminist politics. In such narratives, the short story is used as an intentionally feminist literary vehicle in which to explore the issues and debates at the heart of feminist politics today. By framing the discussion in this way, ‘the moment’ brings together the short story and feminist politics and offers a means of conceptualising their independent status in the twenty-first century; as well as offering a new perspective on their interrelationship in the context of British women’s short story writing. The focus on the moment, then, bridges the formal features of the short story, the momentary experience of reading short fiction, and the ‘of the moment’ nature of feminist politics....

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