Volitron: On a Psychodynamic Robot and Its Four Realities

This paper discusses the concept of Volitron - a controller to make its host robot increase its competence in such activities as self-initiated exploration of an environment, new goal acquisition, and planning/executing of actions while taking into account predicted behaviors of objects of interest. There are four key elements in Volitron's structure: a model of perceived reality, a model of desired reality, a model of ideal reality and a model of anticipated reality. The task of a robot's working memory includes producing images of the robot itself imitating another subject's activities and sending the images to a model of desired reality. A tension (a concept borrowed from psychoanalysis) arising from the differences between a perceived reality and a desired reality is a source of a motivation toward action. The final decision to take an action is based on a comparison of the model of anticipated reality with that of ideal reality. The interaction of Volitron's elements are described in the paper. Furthermore, a computational model of working memory (WM) and its psychological justification are provided

Computer modeling of human decision making

Models of human decision making are reviewed. Models which treat just the cognitive aspects of human behavior are included as well as models which include motivation. Both models which have associated computer programs, and those that do not, are considered. Since flow diagrams, that assist in constructing computer simulation of such models, were not generally available, such diagrams were constructed and are presented. The result provides a rich source of information, which can aid in construction of more realistic future simulations of human decision making

THE THERAPEUTIC MODEL OF GROUP ANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY IN BRAIN\u27S PLASTICITY MODIFICATION AND EXPRESSION, IN PATIENTS WITH COGNITIVE AND PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS: A HYPOTHESIS OF NEURON-IMMUNE-ANALYSIS AND NEURON-IMMUNE-MODULATION

Background: Dementia-like situations and depressive symptoms can be caused by a specific neuron circuit blockage, related with remote organic causes that are not cited in the CNS. Excessive cytokine secretion during stress situations is one of these causes which can be related with onset of cognitive symptoms including or accompanied by depressive ones, sometimes in an overlapping way. In both cases, chronic inflammation is a common hidden mechanism causing a vicious circle with mechanisms of somatic chronic stress and vice-versa while the serotonin pathway seems not to get seriously involved. Materials and methods: Psychotherapy could dynamically influence the brain’s and synaptic plasticity by treating disorders in an analogue with life’s emotional trauma and conflicts, and by altering current life’s stimuli according to the restoration of memories in the prefrontal lobe and in deeper brain areas. After neurological examinations, EEG, Mini Mental Scale and MRI control, Patients underwent personal and group psychotherapy with selective members of their choice participating in the group. Results: The reduction of the cytokine’s levels by participation and psycho-education inside the Group Psychotherapeutic Treatment, could lead to a regulation of IL-1, to the reduction of CRP, to the amelioration of the levels of cortisol thus regulating the inflammation of the bain. The function of the Psychotherapeutic environment as a “container” is strongly associated with stress relief and reduction of the hyper secretion of cortisol, with successful management of the cortisol blood levels, and with impact on the HPA Axis, with consequence to cortisol secretions in the body’s organs and glands. EEG and Mini Mental Scale significantly change and improve after Psychotherapy. Medical treatment for depression and dementia failed in comparison with the benefits which emerged from the Psychotherapeutic method

Neurobiology and the Changing Face of Eating Disorder Treatment: Healing the Eating Disordered Brain

By recognizing eating disorders (EDs) as disruptions in brain circuitry, neuroscience has begun to shed light on how people make changes in psychotherapy. The clinician who treats the eating disordered patient also treats the eating disordered brain. It is time for practitioners to become better acquainted with the organ they treat, and to apply neuroplasticity research findings to clinical practice. Eating disorders and body image disturbances signify the loss of integrity of the core self. Twenty-first century research and technology has validated the age‐old notion that healthy neuronal connectivity within, and between, mind(s), brain(s), and body(s) reintegrates and defines the healthy self. The concept of the “self” as embodied (grounded in somatic reality) expands the scope of effective healing practices. Neurophysiological (somatosensory education and mindful psychotherapeutic attachments) interventions that support the emergence of embodied mindfulness and sensory awareness facilitate the reintegration of the eating disordered brain, and of the fragmented core self. Both lie at the heart of eating disorder recovery. Nowhere in the field of mental health are the concepts of the embedded self and embodied healing as significant as in the treatment of eating disorders and body image disturbances. This article discusses the healing impact of neurophysiological connections, intrapersonal and interpersonal, that foster recovery of the self

Decoding cognition from spontaneous neural activity

In human neuroscience, studies of cognition are rarely grounded in non-task-evoked, ‘spontaneous’ neural activity. Indeed, studies of spontaneous activity tend to focus predominantly on intrinsic neural patterns (for example, resting-state networks). Taking a ‘representation-rich’ approach bridges the gap between cognition and resting-state communities: this approach relies on decoding task-related representations from spontaneous neural activity, allowing quantification of the representational content and rich dynamics of such activity. For example, if we know the neural representation of an episodic memory, we can decode its subsequent replay during rest. We argue that such an approach advances cognitive research beyond a focus on immediate task demand and provides insight into the functional relevance of the intrinsic neural pattern (for example, the default mode network). This in turn enables a greater integration between human and animal neuroscience, facilitating experimental testing of theoretical accounts of intrinsic activity, and opening new avenues of research in psychiatry

Mind over chatter: plastic up-regulation of the fMRI alertness network by EEG neurofeedback

EEG neurofeedback (NFB) is a brain-computer interface (BCI) approach used to shape brain oscillations by means of real-time feedback from the electroencephalogram (EEG), which is known to reflect neural activity across cortical networks. Although NFB is being evaluated as a novel tool for treating brain disorders, evidence is scarce on the mechanism of its impact on brain function. In this study with 34 healthy participants, we examined whether, during the performance of an attentional auditory oddball task, the functional connectivity strength of distinct fMRI networks would be plastically altered after a 30-min NFB session of alpha-band reduction (n=17) versus a sham-feedback condition (n=17). Our results reveal that compared to sham, NFB induced a specific increase of functional connectivity within the alertness/salience network (dorsal anterior and mid cingulate), which was detectable 30 minutes after termination of training. Crucially, these effects were significantly correlated with reduced mind-wandering 'on-task' and were coupled to NFB-mediated resting state reductions in the alpha-band (8-12 Hz). No such relationships were evident for the sham condition. Although group default-mode network (DMN) connectivity was not significantly altered following NFB, we observed a positive association between modulations of resting alpha amplitude and precuneal connectivity, both correlating positively with frequency of mind-wandering. Our findings demonstrate a temporally direct, plastic impact of NFB on large-scale brain functional networks, and provide promising neurobehavioral evidence supporting its use as a noninvasive tool to modulate brain function in health and disease

Using the Brain as a Metaphor to Model Flexible Production Systems

Manufacturing flexibility is critical for survival in industries characterized by rapid change and diverse product markets. Although new manufacturing technologies make it possible to accomplish flexibility, their potential remains unrealized by firms whose organizational elements do not possess adaptive capabilities. We use the brain as a metaphor to generate insights on how firms might design flexible production systems. We chose the brain as a metaphor because it is a self-organizing system capable of responding rapidly to a broad range of external stimuli. The brain as a metaphor suggests that flexibility can be enhanced by employing practices that promote distributed processes occurring in parallel manner. Such practices lie in contrast to those employed by production systems built on scientific management principles that promote localized processes in a sequential manner. By exploring these contrasting modes of operation, we argue that the brain as a metaphor opens up new avenues for theory development related to the design of flexible production systems.Information Systems Working Papers Serie