Cogprints: No conditions. Results ordered Title. 2018-01-17T14:22:05ZEPrintshttp://cogprints.org/images/sitelogo.gifhttp://cogprints.org/2006-12-22Z2011-03-11T08:56:44Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5302This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/53022006-12-22ZAssymetric rotational (circling) behavior, a dopamine-related asymmetry, preliminary findings in unmedicated and never-medicated schizophrenic patientsCircling behavior is one of the best understood behaviors in animals. It is, for the most part, dopaminergically mediated and related to asymmetry in dopaminergic activity between the left and right basal ganglia or left and right frontal cortex. As a rule, animals rotate toward the hemisphere with lower striatal dopaminergic activity. A direct technique to find human analogs of circling behavior was not available. We have developed an automated rotometer with which we can apply the circling rodent model to humans. Left-prone circling behavior (neglect of right-sided turning) was found in 10 unmedicated schizophrenic patients, whereas 85 normal controls demonstrated almost equal right and left turning. These preliminary results may suggest the presence of a dopaminergic asymmetry in some unmedicated schizophrenic patients; that is, right anterior subcortical or cortical structures of the brain may manifest a relative dopaminergic overactivity compared to left anterior structures in at least some unmedicated patients with schizophrenia.HS Bracha1998-03-26Z2011-03-11T08:54:07Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/625This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/6251998-03-26ZAsymmetric Division of Labor in Human Skilled Bimanual Action: The Kinematic Chain as a ModelThis article presents a tentative theoretical framework for the study of asymmetry in the context of human bimanual action. It is emphasized that in humans most skilled manual activities involve two hands playing different roles, a fact that has been often overlooked in the experimental study of human manual lateralization. As an alternative to the current concepts of manual preference and manual superiority, whose relevance is limited to the particular case of unimanual actions, the more general concept of lateral preference is proposed, to denote preference for one of the two possible ways of assigning two roles to two hands. A simple model describing intermanual division of labor in the variety of human skilled manual activities is outlined. The two main assumptions of the model are the following. 1) The two hands represent two motors, that is, devices serving to create motion, whose internal (biomechanical and physiological) complexity is ignored in the suggested approach. 2) In humans, the two manual motors cooperate with one another as if they were assembled in series, thereby forming a kinematic chain: In right-handers allowed to follow their lateral preferences, motion produced by the right hand tends to articulate with motion produced by the left. It is suggested that the kinematic chain model may help in understanding the adaptive advantage of human manual specialization.Yves Guiard2001-04-25Z2011-03-11T08:54:37Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1461This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/14612001-04-25ZAttention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH): the contribution of catecholaminergic activityIntroduction:
An attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity in children (ADDH, later known as ADHD) is now recognized in most countries, although diagnostic practices differ. Evidence is presented to show that the two cardinal symptoms of poor attentional performance and a high degree of motor activity may be functionally and causally separate.
Psychobiology:
Both attentional and motor-activity alterations are temporarily relieved in a proportion of subjects that respond to psychostimulants. Beneficial treatment decreases noradrenergic (NA) metabolism and normalizes variable levels of dopaminergic (DA) metabolism.
Clinical and animal models:
Parallels are drawn with other clinical syndromes arising from changed catecholaminergic activity (cf. Phenylketonuria, Tourette's syndrome, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome) and with behavioral interpretations of the result of damage to the dorsal noradrenergic bundle and dopaminergic VTA A10 nucleus (an animal model).
Biopsychological research directions:
Prognosis of ADDH subjects after treatment remains relatively poor. There may be a further defect of neurotransmitter metabolism in the ADDH syndrome. Research strategies are suggested based on the neurobiological correlates of the cognitive style of ADDH subjects and limbic/septal function in the animal model of the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)
Topics:
1 . Psychostimulant response ... Catecholamines / Serotonin,
2 . Electrophysiological and behavioral indices
3 . Responses to monoaminergic agents ... Precursors, L-DOPA, amino acids, monoamine oxidase and others:
4 . Clinical comparisons ... Phenylketonuria, Tourette's syndrome, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome:
5 . Models ... spontaneously hypertensive rat, neurobiology of hypertension Noradrenaline (NA), Glutamate (Glu), Neuropeptide Y (NPY) & Angiotensin, Serotonin (5-HT), Dopamine (DA):
6 . Link between behavior and cognition ... the septum and conditioned blocking measures of selective attention.
R. D. Oades1998-04-25Z2011-03-11T08:53:37Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/22This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/221998-04-25ZThe brain as a Darwin MachineAMIDST all the hyperbole about thinking machines that has accompanied the emergence of large-scale parallel computers from their serial predecessors, we have begun to contemplate the prospect of simulating some of our brain's massive parallelism. But one immediately runs into a role reversal worthy of a Mozart opera: the most distinctively human higher brain functions are surprisingly serial.William H. Calvin2001-03-16Z2011-03-11T08:54:36Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1371This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/13712001-03-16ZCatecholamines and conditioned blocking: effects of ventral tegmental, septal and frontal 6-hydroxydopamine lesions in ratsIntroduction:
The performance of rats on the conditioned blocking test (CB) of learned inattention was measured in a two-way shuttle avoidance task after sham and dopamine (DA) - depleting lesions of
the frontal cortex,
the limbic septum, and
the ventral tegmental area (VTA - A10).
Methods:
Animals were trained on two sessions with tone and / or light as conditioned stimuli. One group was trained with both stimuli on both sessions. A second group was trained on the first session with one stimulus and on the second with both stimuli. The blocking of conditioning to the added stimulus (b) was tested by presenting the stimuli (a and b) separately and measuring the blocking ration (avoidance to b/a + b) and response latencies.
Results:
1/ No deficits were recorded on tests of sensory and motor ability;
2/ The VTA group alone showed a hyperlocomotor response to apomorphine treatment, - and did not acquire the avoidance response (i.e. did not learn the active avoidance task);
3/ The appearance of blocking in the septally lesioned group was delayed until the end of the 20-trial test session - then it was exaggerated;
4/ Blocking was mildly attenuated in the frontally lesioned group.
5/ Dopamine (DA) levels were depleted by about 80% and noradrenaline (NA) levels by, respectively, 20% and 50% in the frontal and septal regions.
Figure 2 illustrates a) the CB impairment in the frontal group relative to sham controls, and b) the late development of "supr-blocking" in septally-damage animals.
Figure 3 illustrates the results of the HPLC analysis for NA, DA and DOPAC in frontal cortex, septum, N. accumbens and striatum after 6-OHDA lesions (& vehicle treatment) in the frontal, septal, and VTA areas.
Conclusions:
The results show that the levels of DA activity, or rather the balance between the activity of DA and NA in frontal and limbic regions can contribute to efficient associative conditioning and / or the normal ability of rats not to attend to a redundant stimulus.
R.D. OadesJ-M. RivetK. TaghzoutiM. KharoubyH. SimonM. Le Moal2001-06-18Z2011-03-11T08:54:40Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1572This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/15722001-06-18ZCategory Induction and RepresentationA provisional model is presented in which categorical perception
(CP) provides our basic or elementary categories. In acquiring a category we
learn to label or identify positive and negative instances from a sample of
confusable alternatives. Two kinds of internal representation are built up in this
learning by "acquaintance": (1) an iconic representation that subserves our
similarity judgments and (2) an analog/digital feature-filter that picks out the
invariant information allowing us to categorize the instances correctly. This
second, categorical representation is associated with the category name.
Category names then serve as the atomic symbols for a third representational
system, the (3) symbolic representations that underlie language and that
make it possible for us to learn by "description." Connectionism is one
possible mechainsm for learning the sensory invariants underlying
categorization and naming. Among the implications of the model are (a) the
"cognitive identity of (current) indiscriminables": Categories and their
representations can only be provisional and approximate, relative to the
alternatives encountered to date, rather than "exact." There is also (b) no
such thing as an absolute "feature," only those features that are invariant
within a particular context of confusable alternatives. Contrary to prevailing
"prototype" views, however, (c) such provisionally invariant features must
underlie successful categorization, and must be "sufficient" (at least in the
"satisficing" sense) to subserve reliable performance with all-or-none,
bounded categories, as in CP. Finally, the model brings out some basic
limitations of the "symbol-manipulative" approach to modeling cognition,
showing how (d) symbol meanings must be functionally grounded in
nonsymbolic, "shape-preserving" representations -- iconic and categorical
ones. Otherwise, all symbol interpretations are ungrounded and
indeterminate. This amounts to a principled call for a psychophysical (rather
than a neural) "bottom-up" approach to cognition.Stevan Harnad1998-03-27Z2011-03-11T08:53:46Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/251This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2511998-03-27ZCommentary on CamIn "Propositions about Images" Philip Cam accurately analyzes and criticizes the grounds I gave, in the works he cites, for my denial that we have privileged access (of any sort) to anything deserving to be called a mental image. He shows that I did not deal properly with the question of how I would interpret the ostensive force of "this" and "that" in an introspective judgment of the sort: "Now it looks like this and now it looks like that." What can one be ostending or referring to in such a case, if not to an image (or some feature of an image)?Daniel C. Dennett2004-07-06Z2011-03-11T08:55:37Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3687This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/36872004-07-06ZCOMPUTER MODELS AND AUTOMATA THEORY
IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
The applications of computers to biological and biomedical problem solving go back to the very beginnings of computer science, automata theory [1], and mathematical biology [2]. With the advent of more versatile and powerful computers, biological and biomedical applications of computers have proliferated so rapidly that it would be virtually impossible to compile a comprehensive review of all developments in this field. Limitations of computer simulations in biology have also come under close scrutiny, and claims have been made that biological systems have limited information processing power [3]. Such general conjectures do not, however, deter biologists and biomedical researchers from developing new computer applications in biology and medicine. Microprocessors are being widely employed in biological laboratories both for automatic data acquisition/processing and modeling; one particular area, which is of great biomedical interest, involves fast digital image processing and is already established for routine clinical examinations in radiological and nuclear medicine centers, Powerful techniques for biological research are routinely employing dedicated, on-line microprocessors or array processors; among such techniques are: Fourier-transform nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), NMR imaging (or tomography),
x-ray tomography, x-ray diffraction, high performance liquid chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry and mass spectrometry. Networking of laboratory microprocessors linked to a central, large memory computer is the next logical step in laboratory automation. Previously unapproachable problems, such as molecular dynamics of solutions, many-body interaction calculations and statistical mechanics of biological processes are all likely to benefit from the increasing access to the new generation of "supercomputers". In view of the large number, diversity and complexity of computer applications in biology and medicine, we could not review in any degree of detail all computer applications in these fields; instead, we shall be selective and focus our discussion on suggestive computer models of biological systems and those fundamental aspects of computer applications that are likely to continue to make an impact on biological and biomedical research. Thus, we shall consider unifying trends in mathematics, mathematical logics and computer science that are relevant to computer modeling of biological and biomedical systems. The latter are pitched at a more formal, abstract level than the applications and, therefore, encompass a number of concepts drawn from the abstract theory of sets and relations, network theory, automata theory, Boolean and n-valued logics, abstract algebra, topology and category theory. The present analysis of relational theories in biology and computer simulation has also inspired a number of new results which are presented here as "Conjectures" since their proofs are too lengthy and too technical to be included in this review. In order to maintain a self-contained presentation-the definitions of the main concepts are given, with the exception of a minimum of simple mathematical concepts.
The purpose of these theoretical sections is to provide the basis for approaching a number of basic biological questions:
(1) What are the essential characteristics of a biological organism as opposed to an automaton?
(2) Are biological systems recursively computable?
(3) What is the structure of the simplest (primordial) organism?
(4) What are the basic structures of neural and genetic networks?
(5) What are the common properties of classes of biological organisms?
(6) Which system representations are adequate for biodynamics?
(7) What is the optimal strategy for modifying an organism through genetic engineering? (8) What is the optimal simulation of a biological system with a digital or analog computer?
(9) What is life?
Professor I. C. Baianuicb1998-03-27Z2011-03-11T08:53:46Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/250This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2501998-03-27ZEliminate the Middletoad!Philosophical controversy about the mind has flourished in the thin air of our ignorance about the brain. The humble toad, it now seems, may provide our first instance of a creature whose whole brain is within the reach of our scientific understanding. What will happen to the traditional philosophical issues as our theoretical and factual ignorance recedes? Discussion of the issues explored in the target article is, as Ewert says, "often too theoretical, sometimes philosophical and even [as if that weren't bad enough?--DCD] emotion-laden." The research reported by Ewert has interesting philosophical implications, as he probably recognizes, but he wisely leaves the philosophy to the philosophers. Being one, I would like to draw some of the conclusions he eschews.Daniel C. Dennett2006-09-25Z2011-03-11T08:56:37Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5184This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/51842006-09-25ZForecasting Methods for Conflict SituationsIn 1975, a consortium sponsored by the Argentine government tried to purchase the stock of the Britishowned
Falkland Islands Company, a monopoly that owned 43 percent of the land in the Falklands, employed 51 per cent of the labor force, had a monopoly on all wool exports, and operated the steamship run to South America. The stockholders were willing to sell especially because the Argentine consortium was reportedly willing to pay “almost
any price.” But the British government stepped in to prevent the sale, (Murray N. Rothbard, as quoted in The Wall Street Journal, 8 April 1982). In my opinion, the actual solution in the Falklands War left both sides worse off than before. In contrast, a sale of the Falklands would have benefited both sides in the short run, and, as companies seldom wage shooting wars, this would probably have been a good long-range solution. Apparently, Britain did not predict how the Argentine generals would act when it blocked the sale, and the Argentine generals did not predict how Britain would respond when they occupied the islands. Accurate forecasting by each side in this situation might have led to a superior solution.J. Scott Armstrong1998-02-27Z2011-03-11T08:53:54Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/427This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4271998-02-27ZFormalization of two Puzzles Involving KnowledgeThis paper describes a formal system and uses it to express the puzzle of the three wise men and the puzzle of Mr. S and Mr. P. Four innovations in the axiomatization of knowledge were required: the ability to express joint knowledge of several people, the ability to express the initial non-knowledge, the ability to describe knowing what rather than merely knowing that, and the ability to express the change which occurs when someone learns something. Our axioms are written in first order logic and use Kripke-style possible worlds directly rather than modal operators or imitations thereof. We intend to use functions imitating modal operators and taking ``propositions'' and ``individual concepts'' as operands, but we haven't yet solved the problem of how to treat learning in such a formalism.John McCarthy1998-02-27Z2011-03-11T08:53:54Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/425This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/4251998-02-27ZGenerality in Artificial IntelligenceMy 1971 Turing Award Lecture was entitled ``Generality in Artificial Intelligence''. The topic turned out to have been overambitious in that I discovered that I was unable to put my thoughts on the subject in a satisfactory written form at that time. It would have been better to have reviewed previous work rather than attempt something new, but such wasn't my custom at that time. I am grateful to the ACM for the opportunity to try again. Unfortunately for our science, although perhaps fortunately for this project, the problem of generality in AI is almost as unsolved as ever, although we now have many ideas not available in 1971. This paper relies heavily on such ideas, but it is far from a full 1986 survey of approaches for achieving generality. Ideas are discussed at a length proportional to my familiarity with them rather than according to some objective criterion. It was obvious in 1971 and even in 1958 that AI programs suffered from a lack of generality. It is still obvious, and now there are many more details. The first gross symptom is that a small addition to the idea of a program often involves a complete rewrite beginning with the data structures. Some progress has been made in modularizing data structures, but small modifications of the search strategies are even less likely to be accomplished without rewriting. Another symptom is that no-one knows how to make a general database of common sense knowledge that could be used by any program that needed the knowledge. Along with other information, such a database would contain what a robot would need to know about the effects of moving objects around, what a person can be expected to know about his family, and the facts about buying and selling. This doesn't depend on whether the knowledge is to be expressed in a logical language or in some other formalism. When we take the logic approach to AI, lack of generality shows up in that the axioms we devise to express common sense knowledge are too restricted in their applicability for a general common sense database. In my opinion, getting a language for expressing general common sense knowledge for inclusion in a general database is the key problem of generality in AI. Here are some ideas for achieving generality proposed both before and after 1971. I repeat my disclaimer of comprehensiveness.John McCarthy2003-05-19Z2011-03-11T08:55:16Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2956This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/29562003-05-19ZIconic memory of icon?The objectives of the present commentary are to show that (1) one important theoretical property of iconic memory is inconsistent with a retinotopic icon, (2) data difficult for the notion of an icon do not necessarily challenge the notion of an iconic store, (3) the iconic store, as a theoretical mechanism, is an ecologically valid one, and (4) the rationale of experimentation is such that the experimental task need not mimic the phenomenon being studied.Dr Siu L. Chow1998-11-25Z2011-03-11T08:53:39Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/71This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/711998-11-25ZInduction of maternal behavior in rats: Effects of pseudopregnancy termination and placenta-smeared pupsThe onset of maternal behavior in Long-Evans rats was examined after pseudopregnancy (PsP) termination, both with and without exogenous estrogen administration, and in response to either clean or placenta-smeared stimulus pups. Natural (spontaneous) PsP termination was as effective in hastening the onset of maternal behavior as ovariectomy plus estrogen injection. If clean foster pups were presented as soon as pseudopregnancy terminated (first proestrus or cornified smear), maternal behavior was exhibited within 2 days; placenta-smeared foster pups presented at the same time elicited maternal behavior within 2 hr. The combination of initiating maternal- behavior testing immediately after the natural termination of pseudopregnancy and proffering placenta-smeared pups apparently simulates the hormonal milieu as well as the environmental cues present at parturition, noninvasively, producing optimal conditions for the rapid induction of maternal behavior.M. A. SteuerA. C. ThompsonJ. C. DoerrM. YouakimM. B. Kristal1998-03-27Z2011-03-11T08:53:46Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/252This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2521998-03-27ZIntentionalityIntentionality is aboutness. Some things are about other things: a belief can be about icebergs, but an iceberg is not about anything; an idea can be about the number 7, but the number 7 is not about anything; a book or a film can be about Paris, but Paris is not about anything. Philosophers have long been concerned with the analysis of the phenomenon of intentionality, which has seemed to many to be a fundamental feature of mental states and events.Daniel C DennettJohn Haugeland1999-08-22Z2011-03-11T08:54:18Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/826This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8261999-08-22ZMeta-Analysis of Pragmatic and Theoretical Research: A CritiqueMeta-analysis refers to a set of statistical procedures used to summarize and integrate many empirical studies that focus on one issue. This numerical method of integrating research findings is said to be superior to the narrative type of reviews because it is more objective, reliable, and rigorous. Moreover, the meta-analytic approach is supposedly capable of resolving research controversies, strengthening empirical hypotheses, and discovering new relationships among variables. In this study, these claims are examined and found to be wanting. Some objections to the use of meta-analysis as a means of substantiating theoretical assertions are raised with reference to the rationale of experimentation and to how knowledge evolves. It is concluded that it is inappropriate to apply meta-analysis to integrate theoretical research.Siu L. Chow2001-06-18Z2011-03-11T08:54:40Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1571This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/15712001-06-18ZPsychophysical and cognitive aspects of categorical perception: A critical overviewCategorization is a very basic cognitive activity. It is involved in
any task that calls for differential responding, from operant discrimination to
pattern recognition to naming and describing objects and states-of-affairs.
Explanations of categorization range from nativist theories denying that any
nontrivial categories are acquired by learning to inductivist theories claiming
that most categories are learned. "Categorical perception" (CP) is the name
given to a suggestive perceptual phenomenon that may serve as a useful
model for categorization in general: For certain perceptual categories,
within-category differences look much smaller than between-category
differences even when they are of the same size physically. For example, in
color perception, differences between reds and differences between yellows
look much smaller than equal-sized differences that cross the red/yellow
boundary; the same is true of the phoneme categories /ba/ and /da/. Indeed,
the effect of the category boundary is not merely quantitative, but qualitative.Stevan Harnad2004-09-07Z2011-03-11T08:55:41Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/3810This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/38102004-09-07ZQuantum Interactomics and Cancer Molecular Mechanisms Single cell interactomics in simpler organisms, as well as somatic cell interactomics in multicellular organisms, involve biomolecular interactions in complex signalling pathways that were recently represented in modular terms by quantum automata with ‘reversible behavior’ representing normal cell cycling and division. Other implications of such quantum automata, modular modeling of signaling pathways and cell differentiation during development are in the fields of neural plasticity and brain development leading to quantum-weave dynamic patterns and specific molecular processes underlying extensive memory, learning, anticipation mechanisms and the emergence of human consciousness during the early brain development in children. Cell interactomics is here represented for the first time as a mixture of ‘classical’ states that determine molecular dynamics subject to Boltzmann statistics and ‘steady-state’, metabolic (multi-stable) manifolds, together with ‘configuration’ spaces of metastable quantum states emerging from complex quantum dynamics of interacting networks of biomolecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids that are now collectively defined as quantum interactomics. On the other hand, the time dependent evolution over several generations of cancer cells --that are generally known to undergo frequent and extensive genetic mutations and, indeed, suffer genomic transformations at the chromosome level (such as extensive chromosomal aberrations found in many colon cancers)-- cannot be correctly represented in the ‘standard’ terms of quantum automaton modules, as the normal somatic cells can. This significant difference at the cancer cell genomic level is therefore reflected in major changes in cancer cell interactomics often from one cancer cell ‘cycle’ to the next, and thus it requires substantial changes in the modeling strategies, mathematical tools and experimental designs aimed at understanding cancer mechanisms. Novel solutions to this important problem in carcinogenesis are proposed and experimental validation procedures are suggested. From a medical research and clinical standpoint, this approach has important consequences for addressing and preventing the development of cancer resistance to medical therapy in ongoing clinical trials involving stage III cancer patients, as well as improving the designs of future clinical trials for cancer treatments.
*Communicated to: The Institute of Genomic Biology (currently under construction at UIUC, at 905 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana,IL.61801,USA).
KEYWORDS: Cancer cell interactomics; Somatic cell genomics and
Proteomics; current limitations of modular models of carcinogenesis;
Complex quantum dynamics; Quantum Automata models and Quantum Interactomics; quantum-weave dynamic patterns underlying human consciousness; specific molecular processes underlying extensive memory, learning, anticipation mechanisms and human consciousness; emergence of human consciousness during the early brain development in children; Cancer cell ‘cycling’; interacting networks of proteins and nucleic acids; genetic mutations and chromosomal aberrations in cancers, such as colon cancer; development of cancer resistance to therapy; ongoing clinical trials involving stage III cancer patients’ possible improvements of the designs for future clinical trials and cancer treatments.
Dr. I.C. Baianuicb1999-07-26Z2011-03-11T08:54:18Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/816This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8161999-07-26ZScience, Ecological Validity and ExperimentationSome important meta-theoretical insights about experimental psychology are integrated into the "conjectures and refutations" framework in order to reinforce a realist's view of scientific methodology. Some issues which may be difficult for the realist's position are discussed. It is argued that there is no need for the evidential observation to mimic the phenomenon of interest; such a mimicry may even be counter-productive. A case is also made that questions about ecological validity are not relevant to the rationale of experimentation.Siu L. Chow2007-10-22T10:42:24Z2011-03-11T08:56:59Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/5776This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/57762007-10-22T10:42:24ZSensory innervation of the external and internal genitalia of the female ratUsing a whole-nerve recording method, the genitalia of the female rat were found to receive afferent innervation as follows. Pelvic nerve: vagina, cervix, and perineal skin; hypogastric nerve: cervix and proximal three fifths of the uterus; pudendal nerve: skin of perineum, inner thigh, and clitoral sheath. It is probable that the pudendal and pelvic nerves are activated during copulation, and that all 3 nerves are activated during parturition.Lawrence C. PetersMark B. Kristalkristal@buffalo.eduBarry R. Komisaruk1999-08-22Z2011-03-11T08:54:19Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/827This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8271999-08-22ZSome Reflections on Harris and Rosenthal's 31 Meta-analysesA critique of Harris and Rosenthal's (1985) 31 meta-analyses of the mediation of interpersonal expectancy effects raises two issues. First, the study of interpersonal expectancy effects requires an examination of the expectancy-mediator-changes (B-C-D) chain in toto. Harris and Rosenthal's meta-analytic exercise fails to substantiate such a chain, and also fails to enhance understanding of the subtle and unwitting nature of the expectancy-mediator (B-C) and the mediator-changes (C-D) links. Second, mixing studies of uneven quality in a meta-analysis still appears to be a cause for concern.Siu L. Chow2002-03-12Z2011-03-11T08:54:54Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/2134This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/21342002-03-12ZUncomplemented Categories, or, What Is It Like To Be a BachelorTo learn and to use a category one must be able to sample both what is in it and what is not in it (i.e., what is in its complement), in order to pick out which invariant features distinguish members from nonmembers. Categories without complements may be responsible for certain conceptual and philosophical problems. Examples are experiential categories such as what it feels like to "be awake," "be alive," be aware," and "be." Providing a complement by analogy or extrapolation is a solution in some cases (such as what it feels like to be a bachelor), but only because the complement can in princible be sampled in the future, and because the analogy could in principle be correct. Where the complement is empty in principle, the "category" is intrinsically problematic. Other examples may include self-denial paradoxes (such as "this sentence is false") and problems with the predicate "exists." Stevan Harnad1999-04-26Z2011-03-11T08:54:18Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/809This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/8091999-04-26ZThe Uses of ConsciousnessReflexive consciousness evolved in the context of early human social life, as a means by which 'natural psychologists' could develop working models of their own and others' minds.Nicholas Humphrey2001-04-05Z2011-03-11T08:54:36Zhttp://cogprints.org/id/eprint/1390This item is in the repository with the URL: http://cogprints.org/id/eprint/13902001-04-05ZVentral tegmental (A10) system: neurobiology. 1. anatomy and connectivityIntroduction:
The VTA contains the A 10 group of dopamine (DA) containing neurons. These neurons have ben grouped into nuclei to be found on the floor of the midbrain tegmentum - the Nucleus paranigralis (Npn), Nucleus interfasicularis (Nif), Nucleus parabrachialis (Npbp) and the Nucleus linearis (rostralis and caudalis) *. The VTA is traversed by many blood vessels and nerve fibers **. Close to its poorly defined borders are found DA (A8, A9, A11) and 5-HT containing neurons (B8).
* Figures 2-4 show electron micrographs and drawings
** Figure 6 , electronmicrographs show neurovascular contacts in the rat and cat that could be used for, say, steroid hormone influence on neurotransmission.
Efferent projections of the VTA can be divided into 5 subsystems.
The mesorhombencephalic projects to other monoaminergic nucei, the cerebellum and a fine projection descends to other tegmental nuclei as far as the inferior olive. Fibers to the spinal cord havenot been demonstrated.
The mesodiencephalic path projects to several thalamic and hypothalamic nuclei andpossibly the median eminence. Functionally important examples are the anterior hypothalamic-preoptic area, Nucleus medialis dorsalis and reuniens thalami. These two subsystems are largely non-dopaminergic.
A minor mesostriatal projection is overshadowed by the large mesolimbic projection to the Nucleus accumbens, Tuberculum olfactorium, Septum lateralis and Nucleus interstitialis stria terminalis. There are also mesolimbic connections with several amygdaloid nuclei (especially centralis and basolateralis), the olfactory nuclei and Entorhinal cortex. A minor projection to the hippocampus has been detected.
The mesocortical pathway projects to sensory (e.g. visual) motor, limbic (e.g. retrosplenial) and polysensory association coretices (e.g. prefrontal). Prefrontal, orbitofrontal (insular) and cingulate cortices receive the most marked innervation from the VTA. A more widespread presence of DA in other cortices of rodents becomes progressively more evident in carnivores and primates.
Most but not all projections are unilateral (see Table VI for % crossed). Some neurons project to more than one area in mesodiencephalic, limbic and cortical systems. The majority of these fibers ascend in the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). Most areas receiving a projection from the VTA (DA or non-DA) project back to the VTA. The septo-hippocampal complex in particiular and the limbic system in general provide quantitatively much less feedback than other areas.
The role of the VTA as a mediator of dialogue with the fronto - striatal and limbic / extrapyramidal system is discussed under the theme of " circuit " systems (Figure 11, 12 & 13).
The large convergence of afferents to certain VTA projection areas (e.g., prefrontal, entorhinal cortices, lateral septum, central amygdala, habenula, and N. accumbens) is discussed under the theme of " convergence " systems (Figure 15 & 16).
Animal studies clearly demonstrate that the VTA in general, and its DA projections in particular are strategically organized to influence integrative neural function in diverse regions of the meso-, di- and telencephalon.
R.D. OadesG.M. Halliday