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Tanenbaum, A.S. [Promotor

Improving our understanding of speech and language outcome in neurosurgery patients

Malignant gliomas remain incurable and result in more years of life lost than any other tumours. Surgical resection is strongly recommended but carries a risk of causing functional impairment. This thesis aims to demonstrate how state-of-the-art functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) language paradigms can contribute to neurosurgical planning. The first three experiments use a multitask fMRI language paradigm to functionally segregate left posterior temporal and left posterior frontal regions involved in the perception and production of speech. Experiment 1 demonstrated three functionally distinct responses in the left posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS), left temporo-parietal junction and anterior ascending terminal branch of the left STS. Experiment 2 validates these findings in an independent group of participants, increasing confidence that they are robust. Experiment 3 dissociates the response of three different parts of the left premotor cortex during speech production. Experiment 4 shows that left posterior temporal regions are more consistently activated, in neurotypical controls, when a picture naming task presents pairs of objects rather than single objects. Further work could therefore test whether paired object naming is a more sensitive task for pre- and intra-operative language mapping. Finally, Experiment 5 found that successful reading before and after surgery, in two patients with gliomas affecting the left temporo-parietal junction, enhanced activation in bilateral perirhinal regions that were associated with semantic identification of visually presented objects in neurotypical controls. Future studies can now test whether patients who undergo resection of the left temporo-parietal junction have better reading, post-surgery, when bilateral perirhinal activation is enhanced prior to surgery. Taken together, this work expands our knowledge of the functional anatomy of language, proposes a new way of utilising fMRI data from neurotypical controls to tailor pre- and intra-operative language mapping strategies and provides an insight into how the reading system reorganises itself after brain damage

Computer Aided Verification

This open access two-volume set LNCS 10980 and 10981 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Computer Aided Verification, CAV 2018, held in Oxford, UK, in July 2018. The 52 full and 13 tool papers presented together with 3 invited papers and 2 tutorials were carefully reviewed and selected from 215 submissions. The papers cover a wide range of topics and techniques, from algorithmic and logical foundations of verification to practical applications in distributed, networked, cyber-physical, and autonomous systems. They are organized in topical sections on model checking, program analysis using polyhedra, synthesis, learning, runtime verification, hybrid and timed systems, tools, probabilistic systems, static analysis, theory and security, SAT, SMT and decisions procedures, concurrency, and CPS, hardware, industrial applications

Disentangling Dyslexia - Phonological and Processing Impairment in Developmental Dyslexia

Il presente lavoro di tesi nasce con il duplice obiettivo di sviluppare un\u2019analisi approfondita degli aspetti pi\uf9 peculiari della dislessia evolutiva, quali la distribuzione del disturbo e le sue principali manifestazioni, e di avanzare un\u2019ipotesi originale in merito alle sue possibili cause. Decenni di ricerche condotte in campo internazionale hanno infatti dimostrato come la dislessia evolutiva non sia un semplice disturbo che ostacola unicamente l\u2019apprendimento della lettura e della scrittura, ma costituisca piuttosto una sindrome complessa ed articolata. A fianco delle pi\uf9 note difficolt\ue0 nel campo dell\u2019alfabetizzazione, infatti, i soggetti dislessici presentano deficit marcati nell\u2019ambito fonologico, che rendono particolarmente gravoso il compito di analizzare la struttura interna delle parole. Tale scarsa consapevolezza meta-fonologica pu\uf2 essere considerata alla base delle difficolt\ue0 nell\u2019acquisizione delle regole di conversione grafema-fonema che sottendono l\u2019apprendimento della letto-scrittura. Ad essa si aggiungono disturbi specifici del lessico, che appare essere meno sviluppato nei dislessici, e difficolt\ue0 nei cosiddetti rapid-naming tasks, nei quali viene richiesto ai partecipanti di nominare il pi\uf9 rapidamente possibile immagini di semplici oggetti, colori e simboli alfanumerici. Interessanti studi condotti pi\uf9 recentemente in campo linguistico, inoltre, hanno messo in luce come i dislessici presentino notevoli difficolt\ue0 nella comprensione di strutture grammaticali complesse che richiedono elevati costi di processing per essere correttamente interpretate. A questi disturbi di tipo linguistico, infine, si associano anche estese difficolt\ue0 di attenzione e, in particolare, una significativa incapacit\ue0 di concentrarsi sugli stimoli rilevanti al perseguimento del proprio obiettivo, filtrando quelli irrilevanti. Partendo dall\u2019analisi di tali manifestazioni della dislessia, obiettivo primario di questa tesi \ue8 stato quello di valutare le ipotesi elaborate nel corso dei decenni per spiegare l\u2019eziologia del disturbo, a partire dalle pi\uf9 tradizionaliste ipotesi sensoriali, che considerano la dislessia un problema di tipo visivo o uditivo, per arrivare a teorie pi\uf9 recenti, come quella del deficit magnocellulare, del deficit fonologico e del doppio-deficit. Dal momento che tali ipotesi, pur presentando spunti interessanti, si sono rivelate incapaci di spiegare la totalit\ue0 delle manifestazioni associate alla dislessia, la ricerca oggetto della presente dissertazione si \ue8 prefissa l\u2019obiettivo di sviluppare una nuova proposta che potesse fornire una spiegazione pi\uf9 completa del disturbo. Tale ipotesi, che chiameremo \u201cIpotesi del deficit di Memoria di Lavoro Fonologica ed Esecutiva\u201d, prende spunto dai numerosi studi condotti in campo internazionale che hanno messo in luce come i dislessici presentino deficit molto marcati nei test che analizzano la loro memoria di lavoro. Per quando riguarda l\u2019architettura della memoria di lavoro umana, si \ue8 adottato il modello sviluppato da Baddeley ed Hitch (1974) e successivamente affinato da Baddeley (2000), secondo il quale la memoria di lavoro \ue8 costituita dall\u2019Esecutivo Centrale, un sistema dotato di compiti di controllo, supervisione e gestione dell\u2019attenzione, e deputato a dirigere le attivit\ue0 di due magazzini a breve termine, il Loop Fonologico e il Taccuino Visuo-Spaziale, che si occupano rispettivamente del mantenimento temporaneo di informazioni di tipo fonologico e visuo-spaziale. A questi due sotto-sistemi ne \ue8 stato recentemente aggiunto un terzo, il Buffer Episodico, il quale, essendo in grado di supportare un codice multimodale, ha il compito di integrare le informazioni provenienti dal Loop Fonologico e dal Taccuino Visuo-Spaziale. In modo da testare in maniera specifica la memoria di lavoro nei bambini dislessici, confrontando la loro performance con quella dei coetanei normodotati, \ue8 stato sviluppato e applicato un primo protocollo sperimentale che ha dimostrato, in linea con i risultati ottenuti in altri studi condotti in campo internazionale, come i dislessici presentino marcati deficit a livello di Loop Fonologico e di Esecutivo Centrale, mentre la loro performance nei compiti di memoria a breve termine visuo-spaziale rientra nella norma. Sulla base di questi risultati, l\u2019Ipotesi del Deficit di Memoria di Lavoro Fonologica ed Esecutiva propone che la dislessia sia un disturbo strettamente connesso ad una limitazione della memoria di lavoro e in particolare della memoria fonologica a breve termine e delle funzioni esecutive. La conseguenza pi\uf9 evidente del malfunzionamento del Loop Fonologico \ue8 rappresentata dall\u2019incapacit\ue0 di analizzare correttamente la struttura interna delle parole, che si manifesta da un lato nella scarsa consapevolezza meta-fonologica frequentemente diagnosticata nei dislessici, e dall\u2019altro nella loro difficolt\ue0 di acquisizione delle corrette regole di conversione grafema-fonema. Dal momento che una delle funzioni attribuite al Loop Fonologico \ue8 quella di avere un ruolo determinante nella costruzione del vocabolario dell\u2019individuo e nell\u2019accesso lessicale, ipotizzarne un malfunzionamento permette di spiegare anche le limitazioni del lessico e le difficolt\ue0 nei rapid-naming task riportate nei dislessici. Un disturbo all\u2019Esecutivo Centrale, invece, comporta notevoli problemi nello svolgimento di compiti che richiedono risorse elevate in termini di processing, ovvero che necessitano l\u2019immagazzinamento temporaneo e la manipolazione di pi\uf9 fonti di informazione, nonch\ue9 l\u2019elaborazione simultanea di pi\uf9 procedure. Ne sono un esempio concreto le difficolt\ue0 di comprensione di strutture linguistiche complesse, tipicamente riscontrate nella dislessia. Inoltre, essendo l\u2019Esecutivo Centrale direttamente coinvolto nella gestione e nel controllo dell\u2019attenzione, la sua compromissione pu\uf2 essere ritenuta responsabile dei deficit di attenzione spesso riportati nei dislessici. Per testare ulteriormente questa ipotesi sono stati sviluppati tre protocolli sperimentali volti ad analizzare la performance dei dislessici nella comprensione di strutture complesse, quali le implicature scalari, la negazione e i pronomi. Compatibilmente con quanto predetto dall\u2019ipotesi di riferimento, i bambini dislessici hanno manifestato significative difficolt\ue0 in tutti e tre i protocolli, dimostrando ancora una volta come i problemi emergano chiaramente nei compiti che richiedono costi cognitivi elevati. Nello specifico, i risultati hanno evidenziato che i dislessici non solo commettono pi\uf9 errori dei coetanei normodotati, ma presentano una performance simile a quella di bambini di due e quattro anni pi\uf9 giovani di loro, addirittura di et\ue0 prescolare. In conclusione, l\u2019Ipotesi del Deficit di Memoria di Lavoro Esecutiva e Fonologica \ue8 potenzialmente in grado di spiegare tutte le manifestazioni connesse alla dislessia e discusse in questa tesi. Tale ipotesi si pone pertanto come un punto di partenza per lo sviluppo di future analisi e prospettive sulla dislessia evolutiva, nonch\ue9 per l\u2019elaborazione di strumenti diagnostici e di riabilitazione sempre pi\uf9 precisi ed adeguati.In the present dissertation I will review some of the most peculiar aspects concerning developmental dyslexia, focusing on its distribution and, especially, on its manifestations and possible causes. Observing that dyslexic individuals appear to manifest severe deficits in those cognitive tasks which require a fine phonological analysis and which are particularly demanding in terms of processing resources, I will propose an original hypothesis to account for the cognitive impairment underlying this disorder, the Phonological and Executive Working Memory Deficit Hypothesis. Working Memory is the brain system engaged in the temporary storage and manipulation of those information that are necessary for those cognitive tasks such as reasoning, learning, problem solving, language comprehension and comprehension and it plays a fundamental role in human cognition. Individual differences in cognitive tasks are determined by the general capacity of their Working Memory: people whose Working Memory is limited or less efficient are more likely to show lower speed and accuracy in the execution of those complex tasks which are demanding in terms of processing resources. In the Phonological and Executive Working Memory Deficit Hypothesis, I propose that developmental dyslexia is characterized by the presence of two main impairments affecting their Working Memory. On the one side, in fact, dyslexic individuals suffer from a phonological memory deficit, preventing them from correctly analyzing the internal structure of words and nonwords. On the other side, instead, they show an impairment affecting their executive functions and hampering their performance in complex and demanding tasks. The severity of these impairments determines the severity of the disorder itself. A clear consequence of this hypothesis is that dyslexic individuals are expected to exhibit difficulties whenever they are asked to perform complex operations or to execute more than one task simultaneously. Nevertheless, a compensation is allowed by the general plasticity of the system: an individual with an high IQ score, for instance, can learn to use alternative strategies to perform a task in order to circumvent her difficulties. Throughout this discussion, I will show that the Phonological and Executive Working Memory Deficit Hypothesis is able to account for all the principal manifestations of developmental dyslexia, explaining not only the well-known reading and spelling difficulties that characterize the disorder, but also the frequently reported phonological deficits, vocabulary and naming disorders, grammatical impairments and attention problems. The dissertation is organized as follows. In Chapter 1 I will present a detailed introduction to developmental dyslexia, discussing the manifestations of the disorder, and focusing on recent studies developed to identify the precursors of dyslexia. Moreover, I will briefly introduce the neurobiological aspects of the disorder. Chapter 2, instead, will be dedicated to the illustration of the main theories proposed to explain the causes of dyslexia, ranging from the Visual and Auditory Deficit Hypotheses and moving to the more recent approaches, such as the Magnocellular Deficit Hypothesis, the Phonological Deficit Hypothesis, the Double Deficit Hypothesis and the Phonological and Executive Working Memory Deficit Hypothesis. Discussing both strengths and weaknesses of each proposal, I will argue that none of them is able to capture all the difficulties associated with dyslexia, except for the Phonological and Executive Working Memory Deficit Hypothesis. However, I will suggest that this proposal should be reformulated more precisely and, first of all, strengthened by a further experimental protocol developed to test precisely dyslexic children\u2019s and age-matched typically developing children\u2019s Working Memory. The results of this experimental protocol will be presented in Chapter 3. As I will observe, findings provide uncontroversial evidence in favor of an impairment affecting dyslexics\u2019 Phonological Loop and Central Executive, but leaving their Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad spared and normally functioning. Considering these results as a starting point, I will propose my hypothesis, the Phonological and Executive Working Memory Deficit Hypothesis, in Chapter 4. Specifically, I will argue that dyslexics\u2019 poorly functioning phonological memory and executive functions hamper their performance in tasks requiring a good phonological competence and demanding a high amount of cognitive resources. I will note, therefore, that dyslexics\u2019 deficits are more likely to arise in complex tasks. In order to further test the Phonological and Executive Working Memory Deficit Hypothesis I decided to assess dyslexic children\u2019s performance in linguistically complex tasks, developing three experimental protocols whose results will be presented in the subsequent chapters. In Chapter 5 I will discuss the result of a first protocol testing dyslexic children\u2019s ability to compute scalar implicatures, an operation remarkably expensive in terms of processing resources, comparing their performance to that shown by age-matched typically developing children, a group of younger children and a group composed by adults. In Chapter 6 I will present a second experiment testing the interpretation of negation in dyslexic children and age-matched typically developing children, considering their ability to comprehend negative sentences, negative quantifiers and negative concord. Finally, in Chapter 7 I will expose the results of a last protocol assessing dyslexic children\u2019s competence in the interpretation of pronouns, comparing their performance to that shown by age-matched control children, control adults and two groups of younger children. As I will argue throughout the discussion, all three experiments provided results which are consistent with the Phonological and Executive Working Memory Deficit Hypothesis, demonstrating that dyslexics are indeed remarkably more impaired than their peers in the comprehension of complex sentences, and that their performance is similar to that shown by children who are 2 or 4 years younger than them. Finally, Chapter 8 will be dedicated to the concluding remarks: I will summarize the considerations put forward throughout the dissertation and I will propose a new definition of developmental dyslexia, which focuses on the phonological and executive Working Memory impairment exhibited by dyslexic individuals. I will also briefly introduce and discuss the Cerebellar Deficit Hypothesis developed by Nicolson and colleagues (1995, 2001, 2008) to explain dyslexia. I will argue that the Cerebellar Deficit Hypothesis and the Phonological and Executive Working Memory Deficit Hypothesis present both commonalities and differences and that further research is needed to analyze more thoroughly the distinct predictions made by the two proposals

Mindedness: On the minimal conditions for possessing a mind

This thesis explores the grounds for justifying the ascription of mentality to non-human agents. In the first part, I set my research within the framework of scientific naturalism and the computational theory of mind. Then I argue that while the behaviour of certain agents demands a computational explanation, there is no justification for attributing mentality to them. I use these examples to backup my claim that some authors indulge in unnecessary ascription of mentality to certain animals (e.g. insects) on the main grounds that they possess computational capacities. The second part of my thesis takes up recent literature exploring the line that divides computational agents with and without mentality. More precisely, I criticise the proposals put forward by Fodor, Dretske, Burge, Bermúdez and Carruthers. My main argument takes the form of a reductio ad absurdum by showing that their criteria apply to artefacts to which the attribution of mentality is unjustified. Overall, I conclude that even though the views advanced by the mentioned authors help to elucidate the computational grounds that could make the emergence of a mind possible, they do not offer a satisfactory criterion for the ascription of mentality to some computational agents but not others. In the final part I develop my own proposal for grounding the attribution of mentality. My strategy consists in drawing upon the distinction between personal and subpersonal levels of explanation, according to which properly psychological descriptions have whole-agents as their subject matter, use a distinctive theoretical vocabulary, and are constrained by norms of rationality. After showing that the personal-subpersonal distinction is compatible with a naturalistic framework, I adapt the distinction so that it can be applied to non-human agents, and conclude that it imposes constraints in cognitive architecture that point in the direction of cognitive access, generality and integration

Embodied reflective practice : the embodied nature of reflection-in-action

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the applicability of aspects of Schön’s (1983) theories of reflection-in-action in relation to visual art practice. Schön’s (1983) theories demonstrate that whilst they are written with design disciplines in mind, they do not extend to consider the appropriateness of its use in visual art practice. Scrivener (2000: 10) draws the distinction that whilst Schön’s (1983) use of scientific language in reflection-in-action is considered applicable for problem-solving projects in design, aspects of it are problematic for creative production research projects and recommends focusing reflection on the underlying experience of creative production. This thesis proposes that this and other issues, such as the emphasis on problem solving, and particularly, a reliance on a conversational metaphor, is likewise problematic for visual art practice. This thesis therefore moves to examine what is distinct about the application of reflective methods in visual art practice, in relation to design and research in the arts, through a series of text-based and documentary case studies. Analysis of the case studies suggest that there is an emphasis on embodiment essential to visual art processes, which is experiential in nature rather than problem-solving. A thorough examination of recent theories of embodied mind, which provide empirical evidence from a broad range of knowledge fields for the pervasive role of embodiment in shaping human experience, is presented. The primary research method is a review of two existing sets of theories and a synthesis of aspects of them in an original context, a process offered as an original contribution to knowledge. The context in question is the assessment of the applicability of the resulting synthesis to visual art practice, a domain for which neither theory was written. Knowing-in-action (Schön, 1983) describes the tacit knowing implicit in skillful performance when practice is going well, reflection-inaction (Schön, 1983) takes over, and describes the processes cycled through, only when problems are encountered in practice. Through an analysis of theories of embodied mind, and the documentary cases studies, the conclusion is drawn that in addition to these descriptions there is a rich layer of non-verbal embodied experience shaping action, conceptual meaning and verbal articulations of practice. This thesis therefore suggests modifications to theories of reflective practice in the visual arts, by incorporating theories of embodied mind in the development of additional reflective methods to supplement Schön’s theories (1983). Two methods are proposed as worthy of further study. The first researches Mark Johnson’s (1987) theory of metaphorical projection, which is presented as a means of mapping aspects of visual arts practitioners' verbal articulations of practice, back onto source domains in their embodied experiences of practice. The second explores a recommendation from within theories of embodied mind (Varela, Thompson and Rosch, 1993: 27) that mindfulness training could help develop a mindful, open-ended reflection. Taken together, this thesis proposes that an Embodied Reflective Practice could be developed to the benefit of visual art practitioners