Cognitive versus virtual reality simulation for evaluation of technical skills in neurosurgery

OBJECTIVE Simulation is gaining momentum as a new modality of medical training, particularly in acute care settings such as surgery. In the present study, the authors aimed to compare individual cognitive skills with manual abilities as assessed by virtual reality (VR) simulation among neurosurgical residents. METHODS Participants were asked to complete a multiple-choice questionnaire assessing their surgical abilities regarding three basic neurosurgical procedures (endoscopic third ventriculostomy, cranial meningioma, and lumbar laminectomy). They subsequently performed these same three procedures on a VR simulator (NeuroTouch). RESULTS The authors found that cognitive scores correlated with self-evaluation of surgical experience and autonomy. On the contrary, VR simulation, as assessed by NeuroTouch automated scoring, did not reflect participants’ cognitive or self-evaluation of their surgical proficiency. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that neurosurgical education should focus as much on cognitive simulation (e.g., careful planning and critical appraisal of actual procedures) as on VR training of visuomotor skills.

Exploring Minds: Modes of Modeling and Simulation in Artificial Intelligence

The aim of this paper is to grasp the relevant distinctions between various ways in which models and simulations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) relate to cognitive phenomena. In order to get a systematic picture, a taxonomy is developed that is based on the coordinates of formal versus material analogies and theory-guided versus pre-theoretic models in science. These distinctions have parallels in the computational versus mimetic aspects and in analytic versus exploratory types of computer simulation. The proposed taxonomy cuts across the traditional dichotomies between symbolic and embodied AI, general intelligence and symbol and intelligence and cognitive simulation and human/non-human-like AI. According to the taxonomy proposed here, one can distinguish between four distinct general approaches that figured prominently in early and classical AI, and that have partly developed into distinct research programs: first, phenomenal simulations (e.g., Turing’s “imitation game”); second, simulations that explore general-level formal isomorphisms in pursuit of a general theory of intelligence (e.g., logic-based AI); third, simulations as exploratory material models that serve to develop theoretical accounts of cognitive processes (e.g., Marr’s stages of visual processing and classical connectionism); and fourth, simulations as strictly formal models of a theory of computation that postulates cognitive processes to be isomorphic with computational processes (strong symbolic AI). In continuation of pragmatic views of the modes of modeling and simulating world affairs, this taxonomy of approaches to modeling in AI helps to elucidate how available computational concepts and simulational resources contribute to the modes of representation and theory development in AI research—and what made that research program uniquely dependent on them.

Disputing Irrational Belief in Adolescent Using Cognitive Simulation: A Case Study

The adolescent problems discussed in individual counselling sessions vary widely. The approach the counsellor uses has an effect on the way the problem is solved and the follow-up determines the recurrence of the same problem. The use of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy focuses on aspects of irrational thinking as the root of individual problems. This article examines the case of a teenager and then determines the existing irrational thought patterns. This study uses a qualitative case study method by analyzing the counselling process. This study concluded that adolescents with emotional maturity tend to be potentially irrational by "demanding" and "awfulizing". This article recommends that educators outside of school and at school improve the rational thinking skills of adolescents through various awareness education.

Is there a G-factor in Hypnotic Suggestibility? Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Suggestibility

Individuals differ in their responsiveness to (post-)hypnotic suggestions. However, defining and measuring hypnotizability is contentious because standardized scales, such as the Harvard group scale (HGSHS:A), measure a mixture of general-suggestibility and its increase due to hypnotic induction (hypnotic-suggestibility). Exploratory factor analysis (FA) of standardized scales found them to be heterogeneous; however, the number and nature of latent factors are debated. We applied Confirmatory FA to HGSHS:A scores of 477 volunteers and tested several theory-driven models. Scores were best explained by a bifactor model consisting of a G-factor, tapping into hypnotizability, and three grouping factors, measuring specific suggestibilities, each requiring a unique combination of three top-down cognitive functions: cognitive-simulation, sensory-adaptation, and problem-solving. Structural equation modeling revealed that the simulation-adaptation factor (requiring cognitive-simulation and sensory-adaptation), predicts the other suggestibility factors. These results demonstrate the multifaceted structure of hypnotic-suggestibility and underscore the desideratum for developing a more differentiated scale, focusing on simulation-adaption suggestions.

Quantum Computing and Cognitive Simulation

In this chapter we look at three main areas in which quantum theory has beenapplied to understanding human cognition: the modelling of similarityjudgements; the modelling of decision making; and the modelling ofcategorisation and concept combination. We summarize the cognitive phenomenathat have been described by quantum theory. We describe how quantum theory hasbeen used to address each of these phenomena, as well as discussingquantum-theoretic approaches to modelling neuronal-level phenomena. Finally, wediscuss the implications for using quantum computing to model cognitivephenomena and artificial intelligence more generally.

How hypnotic suggestions work – critical review of prominent theories and a novel synthesis

Hypnotic and posthypnotic suggestions are frequently and successfully implemented in behavioral, neurocognitive, and clinical investigations and interventions. Despite abundant reports about the effectiveness of suggestions in altering behavior, perception, cognition, and subjective sense of agency (SoA), there is no consensus about the neurocognitive mechanisms driving these changes. The present review starts with procedural descriptions of hypnosis, suggestions, and suggestibility, followed by a systematic and comparative review of prominent theories of hypnosis, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses, based on their power to explain existing observations in the domain of hypnosis. Thereafter, we propose a novel theory of hypnosis, accounting for empirical evidence and synthesizing concepts from hypnosis and neurocognitive theories. The proposed simulation-adaption theory of hypnosis (SATH) is founded on three elements: cognitive-simulation, top-down sensory-adaptation, and mental training. SATH mechanistically explains different hypnotic phenomena, such as alterations in the SoA, positive and negative hallucinations, motor suggestions, and effects of suggestions on executive functions and memory. Finally, based on SATH and its postulated neurocognitive mechanisms, a procedure-oriented definition of hypnosis is proposed.

Use of vestibular galvanic stimulation for correction of the position and of the gaze in a flight simulator

SummaryGalvanic Vestibular Stimulation(GVS) induce the sensation of movement in subjects in flight simulators and in cosmonauts, creating a cognitive simulation of movement. The system consists of a control unit, a function generator, and a power amplifier. GVS is capable of activating the neurons of the vestibular system and inducing the sensation of movement. When applied in coordination with a flight simulation program GVS modifies the eye movement control responses, electrically activating the vestibular-ocular, vestibule-colic, and vestibule-spinal reflexes. The ultimate goal of this type of stimulation is to generate augmented reality in the pilots during training or potentially also during a flight in microgravity.