Review Lecture: Neural mechanisms of learning: an analysis of imprinting in the domestic chick

1981 ◽  
Vol 213 (1191) ◽  
pp. 101-137 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Chick ◽  
Storage Process ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Sensory Pathways ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
And Storage ◽  
Bilateral Destruction ◽  
The Brain

Learning is a complex set of processes involving the acquisition and storage of information. Imprinting in the domestic chick was studied to analyse the neural basis of storage. The recently hatched chick learns the characteristics of a visually conspicuous object by being exposed to it. When a chick is trained in this way, biochemical changes can be detected in the dorsal part of the forebrain. Through a series of experiments it was shown that these changes are unlikely to be non-specific consequences of training, but more probably reflect some aspect of the storage process. By using a radioautographic technique to localize the brain region more precisely, part of the hyperstriatum ventrale was implicated in this process. Bilateral destruction of the region before imprinting prevented acquisition, and bilateral destruction after imprinting impaired retention. After exposure for 140 min to an imprinting stimulus there was an increase in the area of contact between presynaptic and postsynaptic elements in the region. This effect was found on the left side only. Sequential lesions to left and right sides confirmed that there is a hemispheric asymmetry in the role of the region in the storage of information. The area receives input from the visual pathways and possibly from other sensory pathways, and projects to regions that are thought to be involved in the control of locomotor and viscero-endocrine functions. The results afford an opportunity for the further analysis both of storage and of the whole set of neural processes that underlie imprinting in the domestic chick.

scholarly journals A roadmap for the study of conscious audition and its neural basis

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1714) ◽  
pp. 20160103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew R. Dykstra ◽  
Peter A. Cariani ◽  
Alexander Gutschalk
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Perception ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Scene Analysis ◽  
Conscious Perception ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Auditory Scenes ◽  
Shed Light

How and which aspects of neural activity give rise to subjective perceptual experience—i.e. conscious perception—is a fundamental question of neuroscience. To date, the vast majority of work concerning this question has come from vision, raising the issue of generalizability of prominent resulting theories. However, recent work has begun to shed light on the neural processes subserving conscious perception in other modalities, particularly audition. Here, we outline a roadmap for the future study of conscious auditory perception and its neural basis, paying particular attention to how conscious perception emerges (and of which elements or groups of elements) in complex auditory scenes. We begin by discussing the functional role of the auditory system, particularly as it pertains to conscious perception. Next, we ask: what are the phenomena that need to be explained by a theory of conscious auditory perception? After surveying the available literature for candidate neural correlates, we end by considering the implications that such results have for a general theory of conscious perception as well as prominent outstanding questions and what approaches/techniques can best be used to address them. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Auditory and visual scene analysis’.

scholarly journals The Neural Basis of Shared Preference Learning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Farmer ◽  
Uri Hertz ◽  
Antonia Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
The Self ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Specific Manner ◽  
The Brain

AbstractDuring our daily lives, we often learn about the similarity of the traits and preferences of others to our own and use that information during our social interactions. However, it is unclear how the brain represents similarity between the self and others. One possible mechanism is to track similarity to oneself regardless of the identity of the other (Similarity account); an alternative is to track each confederate in terms of consistency of the similarity to the self, with respect to the choices they have made before (consistency account). Our study combined fMRI and computational modelling of reinforcement learning (RL) to investigate the neural processes that underlie learning about preference similarity. Participants chose which of two pieces of artwork they preferred and saw the choices of one confederate who usually shared their preference and another who usually did not. We modelled neural activation with RL models based on the similarity and consistency accounts. Data showed more brain regions whose activity pattern fits with the consistency account, specifically, areas linked to reward and social cognition. Our findings suggest that impressions of other people can be calculated in a person-specific manner which assumes that each individual behaves consistently with their past choices.

scholarly journals Complex of global functional network as the core of consciousness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiichi Onoda
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic System ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Posterior Part ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Attention Networks ◽  
The Core ◽  
Hierarchical Partition ◽  
Brain Fmri ◽  
The Brain

Finding the neural basis of consciousness is a challenging issue, and it is still inconclusive where the core of consciousness is distributed in the brain. The global neuronal workspace theory (GNWT) emphasizes the role of the frontoparietal regions, whereas the integrated information theory (IIT) argues that the posterior part of the brain is the core of consciousness. IIT has proposed “main complex” as the core of consciousness in a dynamic system, which is a set of elements that the information loss in a hierarchical partition approach is the largest among that of all its supersets and subsets. However, no experimental study has reported the core of consciousness using the main complex for actual brain activity. This study estimated the main complex of brain dynamics using a functional MRI. The whole-brain fMRI data of eight conditions (seven tasks and a rest state) were divided into multiple elements based on network atlases, and the main complex of the dynamic system was estimated for each condition. It is assumed that, if there is a set of elements in the complex that are common to all conditions, the set is likely to contain the core of consciousness. Executive control, salience, and dorsal/ventral attention networks were commonly included in the main complex across all conditions, implying that these networks are responsible for the core of consciousness. This finding is consistent with the GNWT, as these networks are across the prefrontal and parietal regions.

Minding the Emotional Thermostat

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan T. Denny ◽  
Kevin N. Ochsner
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Affective Neuroscience ◽  
Affect Dysregulation ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Regulation Of Emotion ◽  
The Brain

This chapter takes a social cognitive affective neuroscience approach to describe the processes and systems to give rise to emotion and the volitional control of emotion. It provides a detailed description of the processes that underlie the regulation of emotion. It introduces and synthesizes the brain structures involved in emotion processing and regulation. There is a particular focus on the role of the ventrolateral, dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrtonal cortex, amgydala, ventral striatum and insula, and on cognitive strategies such as reappraisal. It provides a critical framework for understanding the underlying behavioral and neural basis for the affect dysregulation observed across personality disorders, and summarizes future directions for this area of investigation.

Hypothalamic neurohormonal agents and sexual maturation of immature female rats

1961 ◽  
Vol 201 (6) ◽  
pp. 1176-1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Corbin ◽  
B. A. Schottelius
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Organ ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Albino Rats ◽  
Immature Female ◽  
Organ Growth ◽  
Hypophysectomized Rats ◽  
Bilateral Destruction ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Normal Controls

The possible role of four recognized hypothalamic constituents in activation and maturation of the hypophysial-reproductive organ complex of immature female albino rats was investigated. Normal and hypophysectomized rats and rats with bilateral destruction of an area extending from the ventromedial nucleus to mammillary body were studied. Animals were injected either with 70 milliunits of antidiuretic hormone (ADH), 70 milluniits of oxytocin, 25 µg of serotonin, or 2 µg of epinephrine every 5th day, from age 20 through 45 days, via a cannula permanently implanted in the 3rd ventricle of the brain. No response to ADH was observed. Oxytocin accelerated vaginal canalization and caused premature reproductive organ growth in normal recipients. Whereas lesioned untreated controls remained sexually retarded, vaginal opening and reproductive organ growth equivalent to 50-day-old sham-operated controls were induced in lesioned animals by oxytocin administration. Serotonin prevented maturation in normal controls, but was ineffective in lesioned animals. Hypophysectomized rats were unresponsive to any agent injected. The results imply that oxytocin may directly activate the hypophysis of immature female rats. Serotonin, on the other hand, inhibits the hypophysial-gonadal axis of these animals, but its effects probably are relayed via the hypothalamus.

scholarly journals Why the Readiness Potential Does Not Disprove Free Will

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-133
Author(s):  
Even Totland
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Human Subject ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Readiness Potential ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
The Brain

Neuroscientist Benjamin Libet has conducted a series of experiments that reveal the existence of certain neural processes in the brain of human subjects, initiating an action prior to the human subject’s intention to act, thus seemingly threatening our idea of free will. The purpose of this paper is to show how these processes do not disprove any idea of free will one might have as one would, if accepting such a thesis, be committing two distinct mereological fallacies and ultimately, would treat the human subject as inhabiting some of its parts as opposed to being the sum of its parts.

scholarly journals The neural basis of shared preference learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 1061-1072
Author(s):  
Harry Farmer ◽  
Uri Hertz ◽  
Antonia F de C Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Specific Manner ◽  
The Brain

Abstract During our daily lives, we often learn about the similarity of the traits and preferences of others to our own and use that information during our social interactions. However, it is unclear how the brain represents similarity between the self and others. One possible mechanism is to track similarity to oneself regardless of the identity of the other (Similarity account); an alternative is to track each other person in terms of consistency of their choice similarity with respect to the choices they have made before (consistency account). Our study combined functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and computational modelling of reinforcement learning (RL) to investigate the neural processes that underlie learning about preference similarity. Participants chose which of two pieces of artwork they preferred and saw the choices of one agent who usually shared their preference and another agent who usually did not. We modelled neural activation with RL models based on the similarity and consistency accounts. Our results showed that activity in brain areas linked to reward and social cognition followed the consistency account. Our findings suggest that impressions of other people can be calculated in a person-specific manner, which assumes that each individual behaves consistently with their past choices.

Neural Signature of Taste Familiarity in the Gustatory Cortex of the Freely Behaving Rat

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 3298-3308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Bahar ◽  
Yadin Dudai ◽  
Ehud Ahissar
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Response ◽  
Gustatory Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Populations ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Neural Signature ◽  
Freely Behaving ◽  
Acquisition Processes ◽  
And Storage ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Familiarization Session

Ample data indicate that the gustatory cortex (GC) subserves the processing, encoding, and storage of taste information. To further elucidate the neural processes involved, we recorded multi-unit activity in the GC of the freely behaving rat as it became familiar with a novel tastant. Exposure to the tastant was performed over three 40- to 50-min sessions, 24 h apart. In each session, the tastant was presented repeatedly, 1 s at a time, with 10- to 12-s inter-trial intervals. The neural response to the tastant typically lasted 7 s. Our results show that the average neuronal response to the tastant increased as this tastant became familiar, but this increase was detected only during the last 5 s of the response. The increased response was not generalized to another tastant. Furthermore, our analysis suggests that specific neuronal populations subserve the processing of familiarity of specific tastants. The signature of familiarity was not detected in the course of the familiarization session, but only on the subsequent day, suggesting that its development involves slow post-acquisition processes. Our data are in line with the notion that GC neurons process multiple taste attributes, familiarity included, during different temporal phases of their response. The data also suggest that by default the brain considers a taste stimulus as novel, unless proven otherwise.

scholarly journals Information flow between interacting human brains: Identification, validation, and relationship to social expertise

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (16) ◽  
pp. 5207-5212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edda Bilek ◽  
Matthias Ruf ◽  
Axel Schäfer ◽  
Ceren Akdeniz ◽  
Vince D. Calhoun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Human Brains ◽  
The Brain

Social interactions are fundamental for human behavior, but the quantification of their neural underpinnings remains challenging. Here, we used hyperscanning functional MRI (fMRI) to study information flow between brains of human dyads during real-time social interaction in a joint attention paradigm. In a hardware setup enabling immersive audiovisual interaction of subjects in linked fMRI scanners, we characterize cross-brain connectivity components that are unique to interacting individuals, identifying information flow between the sender’s and receiver’s temporoparietal junction. We replicate these findings in an independent sample and validate our methods by demonstrating that cross-brain connectivity relates to a key real-world measure of social behavior. Together, our findings support a central role of human-specific cortical areas in the brain dynamics of dyadic interactions and provide an approach for the noninvasive examination of the neural basis of healthy and disturbed human social behavior with minimal a priori assumptions.

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