The Brain's Representational Power

The Brain's Representational Power
Author: Cyriel M.A. Pennartz
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 407
Release: 2015-09-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0262029316

A neuroscientifically informed theory arguing that the core of qualitative conscious experience arises from the integration of sensory and cognitive modalities. Although science has made considerable progress in discovering the neural basis of cognitive processes, how consciousness arises remains elusive. In this book, Cyriel Pennartz analyzes which aspects of conscious experience can be peeled away to access its core: the “hardest” aspect, the relationship between brain processes and the subjective, qualitative nature of consciousness. Pennartz traces the problem back to its historical roots in the foundations of neuroscience and connects early ideas on sensory processing to contemporary computational neuroscience. What can we learn from neural network models, and where do they fall short in bridging the gap between neural processes and conscious experience? Do neural models of cognition resemble inanimate systems, and how can this help us define requirements for conscious processing in the brain? These questions underlie Pennartz's examination of the brain's anatomy and neurophysiology. The perspective of his account is not limited to visual perception but broadened to include other sensory modalities and their integration. Formulating a representational theory of the neural basis of consciousness, Pennartz outlines properties that complex structures must express to process information consciously. This theoretical framework is constructed using empirical findings from neuropsychology and neuroscience as well as such theoretical arguments as the Cuneiform Room and the Wall Street Banker. Positing that qualitative experience is a multimodal and multilevel phenomenon at its very roots, Pennartz places this body of theory in the wider context of mind-brain philosophy, examining implications for our thinking about animal and robot consciousness.

The Brain's Representational Power

The Brain's Representational Power
Author: Cyriel M.A. Pennartz
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 407
Release: 2015-10-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 026233013X

A neuroscientifically informed theory arguing that the core of qualitative conscious experience arises from the integration of sensory and cognitive modalities. Although science has made considerable progress in discovering the neural basis of cognitive processes, how consciousness arises remains elusive. In this book, Cyriel Pennartz analyzes which aspects of conscious experience can be peeled away to access its core: the “hardest” aspect, the relationship between brain processes and the subjective, qualitative nature of consciousness. Pennartz traces the problem back to its historical roots in the foundations of neuroscience and connects early ideas on sensory processing to contemporary computational neuroscience. What can we learn from neural network models, and where do they fall short in bridging the gap between neural processes and conscious experience? Do neural models of cognition resemble inanimate systems, and how can this help us define requirements for conscious processing in the brain? These questions underlie Pennartz's examination of the brain's anatomy and neurophysiology. The perspective of his account is not limited to visual perception but broadened to include other sensory modalities and their integration. Formulating a representational theory of the neural basis of consciousness, Pennartz outlines properties that complex structures must express to process information consciously. This theoretical framework is constructed using empirical findings from neuropsychology and neuroscience as well as such theoretical arguments as the Cuneiform Room and the Wall Street Banker. Positing that qualitative experience is a multimodal and multilevel phenomenon at its very roots, Pennartz places this body of theory in the wider context of mind-brain philosophy, examining implications for our thinking about animal and robot consciousness.

The Engine of Reason, the Seat of the Soul

The Engine of Reason, the Seat of the Soul
Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 1995
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780262531429

This work summarizes results from neuroscience and recent work with artificial neural networks that together suggest a unified set of answers to questions about how the brain actually works; how it sustains a thinking, feeling, dreaming self; and how it sustains a self-conscious person.

Discovering the Brain

Discovering the Brain
Author: National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 195
Release: 1992-01-01
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309045290

The brain ... There is no other part of the human anatomy that is so intriguing. How does it develop and function and why does it sometimes, tragically, degenerate? The answers are complex. In Discovering the Brain, science writer Sandra Ackerman cuts through the complexity to bring this vital topic to the public. The 1990s were declared the "Decade of the Brain" by former President Bush, and the neuroscience community responded with a host of new investigations and conferences. Discovering the Brain is based on the Institute of Medicine conference, Decade of the Brain: Frontiers in Neuroscience and Brain Research. Discovering the Brain is a "field guide" to the brainâ€"an easy-to-read discussion of the brain's physical structure and where functions such as language and music appreciation lie. Ackerman examines: How electrical and chemical signals are conveyed in the brain. The mechanisms by which we see, hear, think, and pay attentionâ€"and how a "gut feeling" actually originates in the brain. Learning and memory retention, including parallels to computer memory and what they might tell us about our own mental capacity. Development of the brain throughout the life span, with a look at the aging brain. Ackerman provides an enlightening chapter on the connection between the brain's physical condition and various mental disorders and notes what progress can realistically be made toward the prevention and treatment of stroke and other ailments. Finally, she explores the potential for major advances during the "Decade of the Brain," with a look at medical imaging techniquesâ€"what various technologies can and cannot tell usâ€"and how the public and private sectors can contribute to continued advances in neuroscience. This highly readable volume will provide the public and policymakersâ€"and many scientists as wellâ€"with a helpful guide to understanding the many discoveries that are sure to be announced throughout the "Decade of the Brain."

The Mind and the Brain

The Mind and the Brain
Author: Jeffrey M. Schwartz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2009-07-23
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0061961981

A leading researcher in brain dysfunction and a "Wall Street Journal" science writer demonstrate that the human mind is an independent entity that can shape and control the physical brain.

The Spontaneous Brain

The Spontaneous Brain
Author: Georg Northoff
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 534
Release: 2018-10-09
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0262346974

An argument for a Copernican revolution in our consideration of mental features—a shift in which the world-brain problem supersedes the mind-body problem. Philosophers have long debated the mind-body problem—whether to attribute such mental features as consciousness to mind or to body. Meanwhile, neuroscientists search for empirical answers, seeking neural correlates for consciousness, self, and free will. In this book, Georg Northoff does not propose new solutions to the mind-body problem; instead, he questions the problem itself, arguing that it is an empirically, ontologically, and conceptually implausible way to address the existence and reality of mental features. We are better off, he contends, by addressing consciousness and other mental features in terms of the relationship between world and brain; philosophers should consider the world-brain problem rather than the mind-body problem. This calls for a Copernican shift in vantage point—from within the mind or brain to beyond the brain—in our consideration of mental features. Northoff, a neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and philosopher, explains that empirical evidence suggests that the brain's spontaneous activity and its spatiotemporal structure are central to aligning and integrating the brain within the world. This spatiotemporal structure allows the brain to extend beyond itself into body and world, creating the “world-brain relation” that is central to mental features. Northoff makes his argument in empirical, ontological, and epistemic-methodological terms. He discusses current models of the brain and applies these models to recent data on neuronal features underlying consciousness and proposes the world-brain relation as the ontological predisposition for consciousness.

The Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural Networks

The Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural Networks
Author: Michael A. Arbib
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 1328
Release: 2003
Genre: Neural circuitry
ISBN: 0262011972

This second edition presents the enormous progress made in recent years in the many subfields related to the two great questions : how does the brain work? and, How can we build intelligent machines? This second edition greatly increases the coverage of models of fundamental neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, and neural network approaches to language. (Midwest).

Space, Time and Number in the Brain

Space, Time and Number in the Brain
Author: Elizabeth Brannon
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2011-05-31
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0123859484

The study of mathematical cognition and the ways in which the ideas of space, time and number are encoded in brain circuitry has become a fundamental issue for neuroscience. How such encoding differs across cultures and educational level is of further interest in education and neuropsychology. This rapidly expanding field of research is overdue for an interdisciplinary volume such as this, which deals with the neurological and psychological foundations of human numeric capacity. A uniquely integrative work, this volume provides a much needed compilation of primary source material to researchers from basic neuroscience, psychology, developmental science, neuroimaging, neuropsychology and theoretical biology. The first comprehensive and authoritative volume dealing with neurological and psychological foundations of mathematical cognition Uniquely integrative volume at the frontier of a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field Features outstanding and truly international scholarship, with chapters written by leading experts in a variety of fields

The User's Manual For The Brain Volume I

The User's Manual For The Brain Volume I
Author: Bob G Bodenhamer
Publisher: Crown House Publishing
Total Pages: 369
Release: 1998-09-08
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 184590382X

The most comprehensive NLP Practitioner course manual ever written. A fully revised and updated edition, it contains the very latest in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, particularly with regard to the Meta-states model and the Meta-model of language. For all those embarking on Practitioner training or wishing to study at home, this book is your essential companion. Written and designed by two of the most important theorists in NLP today.

Large-scale Neuronal Theories of the Brain

Large-scale Neuronal Theories of the Brain
Author: Christof Koch
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 1994
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780262111836

This book originated at a small and informal workshop held in December of 1992 in Idyllwild, a relatively secluded resort village situated amid forests in the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs in Southern California. Eighteen colleagues from a broad range of disciplines, including biophysics, electrophysiology, neuroanatomy, psychophysics, clinical studies, mathematics and computer vision, discussed 'Large Scale Models of the Brain, ' that is, theories and models that cover a broad range of phenomena, including early and late vision, various memory systems, selective attention, and the neuronal code underlying figure-ground segregation and awareness (for a brief summary of this meeting, see Stevens 1993). The bias in the selection of the speakers toward researchers in the area of visual perception reflects both the academic background of one of the organizers as well as the (relative) more mature status of vision compared with other modalities. This should not be surprising given the emphasis we humans place on'seeing' for orienting ourselves, as well as the intense scrutiny visual processes have received due to their obvious usefullness in military, industrial, and robotic applications. JMD.