Neural Control of Space Coding and Action Production

Neural Control of Space Coding and Action Production
Author: C. Prablanc
Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2003-02-28
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780444509772

Clinical neuropsychology has evolved by integrating in its field the knowledge derived from neuroanatomical, electrophysiological and psychophysical data, and has led to the development of rehabilitation tools. This volume tries to link the new concepts and discoveries in the field of sensorimotor coordination. It contains the main contributions of participants of an international symposium held in Lyon in 2001 entitled "Neural control of space coding and action production". The book emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between perception and action, and the essential role of active sensorimotor organization or reorganization in building up perceptual and motor representations of the self and of the external world.

From Action to Cognition

From Action to Cognition
Author: Claes Von Hofsten
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 467
Release: 2007-10-19
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0080553435

Extensive neurophysiological and neuropsychological evidence show that perception, action, and cognition are closely related in the brain and develop in parallel to one another. Thus, perception, cognition, and social functioning are all anchored in the actions of the child. Actions reflect the motives, the problems to be solved, and the constraints and possibilities of the child’s body and sensory-motor system. The developing brain accumulates experiences, which it translates into knowledge used in planning future actions. Such knowledge is available because events are governed by rules and regulations. The present volume discusses all these aspects of how action and cognition are related in development.

Taking Action

Taking Action
Author: Scott H. Johnson-Frey
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2003
Genre: Cognitive neuroscience
ISBN: 9780262100977

Recent cognitive neuroscientific research that crosses traditional conceptual boundaries among perceptual, cognitive, and motor functions in an effort to understand intentional acts. Traditionally, neurologists, neuroscientists, and psychologists have viewed brain functions as grossly divisible into three separable components, each responsible for either perceptual, cognitive, or motor systems. The artificial boundaries of this simplification have impeded progress in understanding many phenomena, particularly intentional actions, which involve complex interactions among the three systems.This book presents a diverse range of work on action by cognitive neuroscientists who are thinking across the traditional boundaries. The topics discussed include catching moving targets, the use of tools, the acquisition of new actions, feedforward and feedback mechanisms, the flexible sequencing of individual movements, the coordination of multiple limbs, and the control of actions compromised by disease. The book also presents recent work on relatively unexplored yet fundamental issues such as how the brain formulates intentions to act and how it expresses ideas through manual gestures.

Sensorimotor Control of Grasping

Sensorimotor Control of Grasping
Author: Dennis A. Nowak
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 537
Release: 2009-06-25
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0521881579

Provides a contemporary summary of the physiology and pathophysiology of the manipulative and exploratory functions of the human hand.

Body Image and Body Schema

Body Image and Body Schema
Author: Helena De Preester
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2005-07-28
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9027294402

The body, as the common ground for objectivity and (inter)subjectivity, is a phenomenon with a perplexing plurality of registers. Therefore, this innovative volume offers an interdisciplinary approach from the fields of neuroscience, phenomenology and psychoanalysis. The concepts of body image and body schema have a firm tradition in each of these disciplines and make up the conceptual anchors of this volume. Challenged by neuropathological phenomena, neuroscience has dealt with body image and body schema since the beginning of the twentieth century. Halfway through the twentieth century, phenomenology was inspired by child development and elaborated a specifically phenomenological account of body image and schema. Starting from the mirror stage, this source of inspiration is shared with psychoanalysis which develops the concept of body image in interaction with the clinic of the singular subject. In this volume, the creative encounter of these three perspectives on the body opens up present-day paths for conceptualisation, research and (clinical) practice. (Series B)

Oxford Handbook of Numerical Cognition

Oxford Handbook of Numerical Cognition
Author: Roi Kadosh
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 1217
Release: 2015-07-30
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0191036005

How do we understand numbers? Do animals and babies have numerical abilities? Why do some people fail to grasp numbers, and how we can improve numerical understanding? Numbers are vital to so many areas of life: in science, economics, sports, education, and many aspects of everyday life from infancy onwards. Numerical cognition is a vibrant area that brings together scientists from different and diverse research areas (e.g., neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, comparative psychology, anthropology, education, and neuroscience) using different methodological approaches (e.g., behavioral studies of healthy children and adults and of patients; electrophysiology and brain imaging studies in humans; single-cell neurophysiology in non-human primates, habituation studies in human infants and animals, and computer modeling). While the study of numerical cognition had been relatively neglected for a long time, during the last decade there has been an explosion of studies and new findings. This has resulted in an enormous advance in our understanding of the neural and cognitive mechanisms of numerical cognition. In addition, there has recently been increasing interest and concern about pupils' mathematical achievement in many countries, resulting in attempts to use research to guide mathematics instruction in schools, and to develop interventions for children with mathematical difficulties. This handbook brings together the different research areas that make up the field of numerical cognition in one comprehensive and authoritative volume. The chapters provide a broad and extensive review that is written in an accessible form for scholars and students, as well as educationalists, clinicians, and policy makers. The book covers the most important aspects of research on numerical cognition from the areas of development psychology, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and rehabilitation, learning disabilities, human and animal cognition and neuroscience, computational modeling, education and individual differences, and philosophy. Containing more than 60 chapters by leading specialists in their fields, the Oxford Handbook of Numerical Cognition is a state-of-the-art review of the current literature.

Reprogramming the Brain

Reprogramming the Brain
Author: Aage R. Moller
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2006-10-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0080465919

The brain is plastic and it can change its function to adapt to changing demands of various kinds. The brain can also re-organize and change its function to better utilize its resources when parts of the brain have been damaged through injuries and diseases. This means that the brain is not “hard wired but can be reprogrammed when needed. This book describes different aspects of how the plasticity can become activated and how it can benefit the individual person. This book provides in-depth coverage of many important aspects of neural plasticity and how it applies to trauma, including strokes and disorders of the central nervous system that affect memory and cognition. The book also discusses how neural plasticity is involved in aphasia, pain and tinnitus. The roles of neural plasticity in motor rehabilitation and in adaptation to prostheses such as cochlear and cochlear nucleus implants are also topics of the book. * Provides in-depth coverage of many important aspects of neural plasticity and how it applies to trauma, including strokes and disorders of the central nervous system that affect memory and cognition * Discusses how neural plasticity is involved in aphasia, pain and tinnitus * Explains the roles of neural plasticity in motor rehabilitation and prosthesis such as cochlear and cochlear nucleus implants

Autonomic Dysfunction After Spinal Cord Injury

Autonomic Dysfunction After Spinal Cord Injury
Author: Lynne C. Weaver
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 472
Release: 2005-10-11
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0080460100

Autonomic dysfunction is a major and poorly understood consequence of spinal cord injury. It is a cause of very serious disability and requires much more research. It should be a focus of treatment strategies. This book will be of interest to anyone involved in research and treatment of spinal cord injury since it helps to explain the tremendously negative impact on the body caused by cord injury that is not as obvious as paralysis and loss of sensation. It contains a compilation of what is known about bladder, cardiovascular, bowel and sexual dysfunction after spinal cord injury, as it relates to the changes within the autonomic nervous system control of these functions. The book begins with a description of the time course of autonomic dysfunctions and their ramifications from the first hours after a spinal cord injury to the more stable chronic states. The next section contains three chapters that address anatomical findings that may provide some of the foundation for autonomic dysfunctions in many of the systems. The system-specific chapters then follow in four sections. Each section begins with a chapter or two defining the clinical problems experienced by people with cord injury. The following chapters present research, basic and clinical, that address the autonomic dysfunctions.