What Kind of an Illusion is the Illusion of Self

Both early and later forms of Buddhism developed a set of arguments to demonstrate that the self is an illusion. This article begins with a brief review of some of the arguments but then proceeds to show that these arguments are not themselves sufficient to dispel the illusion. It analyzes three ways in which the illusion of self manifests itself – as wish fulfillment, as a cognitive illusion, and as a phenomenal illusion (what might be called the “I” sense). With respect to this last, the article reviews some recent developments in cognitive neuropsychology and neuroscience to discuss the way in which the phenomenal illusion of self is encoded within our brain processes. This article also considers the way in which the illusion of self is constructed through social interaction, by episodic memory, and by narrative construction. Finally, it focuses on how the illusion of self developed as an evolutionary necessity to make it possible for the human organism to navigate physical and social reality; and that it continues to be useful today. This poses a dilemma for the Buddhist soteriological project of extinguishing the illusion of self. Specifically, while it is possible to develop a non-self perspective though the continued practice of vipassanā (mindfulness meditation), it is not possible to maintain it consistently. The article concludes that even fully enlightened individuals must sometimes oscillate between a non-self perspective and a self-perspective and suggests an analogy between this oscillation and what occurs in the Kanizsa square illusion

An investigation of episodic future thinking, episodic foresight and prospective memory in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background and Objectives: The overall objective of the current thesis was to investigate three forms of prospection in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), namely episodic future thinking, episodic foresight and prospective memory (PM), using three empirical studies. While few past studies have found ASD-related impairments in episodic future thinking, there is limited understanding of the mechanisms that might underpin these impairments in this clinical group. The aim of the first empirical study was therefore to investigate whether difficulties in two potential cognitive mechanisms, specifically scene construction and self-projection through time, might contribute to episodic future thinking deficits in children with ASD. In addition, no studies to date have examined the practical application of episodic future thinking, which involves taking steps in the present in light of imaginations of the future (referred to as episodic foresight in the current thesis), in individuals with ASD. Thus, the second empirical study aimed to investigate whether episodic foresight might be compromised in children with ASD, and possible cognitive factors that might underpin any identified episodic foresight deficits. Furthermore, while time-based PM has consistently been shown to be impaired in ASD, findings on event-based PM have been mixed in the literature. The cognitive contributors to impairments in PM also remain unclear. Hence, the aim of the third empirical study was to investigate event-based and time-based PM, as well as their potential contributing factors, in children with ASD. Lastly, given the importance of episodic foresight and PM on daily functioning argued in the literature, the current thesis also explored the relationships between these forms of prospection and functional capacity in children with ASD. Method and Results: Children with high-functioning ASD (i.e., IQ > 80) aged 8 to 12 years and age- and IQ-matched healthy controls were recruited for the current research project. Study 1 (n = 37 ASD, 60 controls) showed that impairments in episodic future thinking were linked to difficulties in scene construction, rather than self-projection through time. In addition, Study 2 (n = 40 ASD, 55 controls) provided novel evidence of an intact capacity to take appropriate steps in the present in anticipation of potential future problems in the ASD group. However, children with the disorder demonstrated an impaired capacity to subsequently implement actions at specific future points that allowed successful problem resolutions, therefore result in a failure in episodic foresight. The impairments in implementing actions at appropriate future points were not attributable to retrospective memory or executive functioning deficits. Study 3 (n = 32 ASD, 42 controls) revealed pervasive deficits in both event-based and time-based PM in children with ASD, and indicated that these deficits were related to difficulties in executive functioning and retrospective memory for PM task content. Finally, episodic foresight and PM were not found to be associated with functional capacity in the ASD group. Conclusions: The current thesis provided novel insights into the unique profile of impairments across different forms of prospection in children with ASD. Further investigations will be needed to clarify how and why specific impairments in these forms of prospection are apparent in children with ASD, specifically whether these impairments may be attributable to common underlying deficits. Future research in this area will be beneficial in contributing to the development of targeted interventions that aim to improve daily functioning in this clinical population

Crowd-based cognitive perception of the physical world: Towards the internet of senses

This paper introduces a possible architecture and discusses the research directions for the realization of the Cognitive Perceptual Internet (CPI), which is enabled by the convergence of wired and wireless communications, traditional sensor networks, mobile crowd-sensing, and machine learning techniques. The CPI concept stems from the fact that mobile devices, such as smartphones and wearables, are becoming an outstanding mean for zero-effort world-sensing and digitalization thanks to their pervasive diffusion and the increasing number of embedded sensors. Data collected by such devices provide unprecedented insights into the physical world that can be inferred through cognitive processes, thus originating a digital sixth sense. In this paper, we describe how the Internet can behave like a sensing brain, thus evolving into the Internet of Senses, with network-based cognitive perception and action capabilities built upon mobile crowd-sensing mechanisms. The new concept of hyper-map is envisioned as an efficient geo-referenced repository of knowledge about the physical world. Such knowledge is acquired and augmented through heterogeneous sensors, multi-user cooperation and distributed learning mechanisms. Furthermore, we indicate the possibility to accommodate proactive sensors, in addition to common reactive sensors such as cameras, antennas, thermometers and inertial measurement units, by exploiting massive antenna arrays at millimeter-waves to enhance mobile terminals perception capabilities as well as the range of new applications. Finally, we distillate some insights about the challenges arising in the realization of the CPI, corroborated by preliminary results, and we depict a futuristic scenario where the proposed Internet of Senses becomes true

Macro-Level Cognitive and Linguistic Function in Early Stage Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a global health concern, particularly as there is currently no cure for the disease. Interventions to slow progression of disease, pharmacological or non-pharmacological, need to be targeted early on before any significant neurodegeneration has occurred, as these changes are irreversible, and lost cognitive function cannot be recovered. This makes it imperative to detect pathological cognitive decline as early as possible. Although biomarkers have received a lot of attention in this regard, they have several limitations, particularly outside of research settings, such as cost and availability. Cognitive markers, other than traditional neuropsychological test measures, on the other hand, have received comparatively less attention with regards to early detection; and, particularly cognitive markers that are rooted in real-world, everyday cognition, have been lacking. Due to the disease being incurable, interventions are aimed at maintaining independent living and good quality of life for as long as possible. This necessitates outcomes that can measure meaningful change in cognition and everyday functioning. The goal of the present dissertation was to identify gaps in the current literature on cognitive and linguistic assessments that are embedded in aspects of everyday cognition in AD, and work towards developing paradigms to address the gaps. Due to the emphasis on early detection, the work focused on patients in the very early stage of AD and on its preceding stage of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). In light of evidence reporting the inability of AD patients to follow narratives, be it verbal or non-verbal, a systematic review of text comprehension studies was conducted to characterize and evaluate macro-level measures of discourse comprehension in their sensitivity to early stage AD, and their ability to distinguish pathological ageing due to AD or MCI from cognitive ageing. Results showed that, not only AD patients, but also MCI patients were significantly more impaired on macro-level measures of comprehension compared to cognitively healthy older adults. These findings were consistent across all eight studies included in the review, indicating a robust effect, though there were minor differences in the sensitivity of different measures. Next, moving towards non-verbal narratives, a novel picture-based paradigm assessing event cognition, with a focus on event integration and macro-event recognition, was introduced. This study aimed to examine the macro-level processing of events by using a format requiring integration of micro-events, depicted in pictures, into a larger macro-event. AD and MCI patients’ ability to connect the micro-events temporally and causally to identify the depicted macro-event was assessed. As hypothesized, the findings showed that patient groups had significant difficulties in determining temporal order of micro-events, even when provided with a verbal cue, as well as in conceptualizing the macro-event from the presented micro-events, when compared to healthy older adults. Finally, using traditional neuropsychological tests, the cognitive processes involved in performing the macro-event recognition task were determined by examining correlations. Primarily, semantic memory and executive functioning appear to play a role. However, the strength of correlations was fairly moderate, indicating added value of event recognition task in cognitive assessment. Taken together, these findings show the sensitivity of macro-level cognitive and linguistic markers based in everyday cognition in the early stages of AD, and highlight the positive role of such cognitive assessment methods in bringing together objective assessment methods and everyday cognition

Cognitive Training With Healthy Older Adults: Investigating the Effectiveness of the Brain Age Software for Nintendo DS

An increasing number of empirical studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of cognitive training (CT) with healthy, cognitively intact older adults. Less is known regarding the effectiveness of commercially available “brain training” programs. The current study investigated the impact of daily CT presented via the Brain Age® software for Nintendo DS on neurocognitive abilities in a sample of healthy, community-dwelling older adults. Over the six-week study, participants in the CT group completed training activities and were compared to an active control group who played card games on the Nintendo DS. At pre-test and post-test, a wide range of empirically validated neuropsychological outcome measures was administered to examine the proximal and distal transfer effects of training. Although within normal range, the average MMSE score was significantly higher in the control group at pre-test; no other baseline differences in demographics or performance on primary neuropsychological outcome measures were observed. In the CT group, estimated “brain age” decreased and performance on daily training tasks significantly improved over the six-week study period. Importantly however, performance improved from pre-test to post-test on measures of everyday verbal memory, visual working memory, and math fluency in both the CT and active control groups. Participants in the CT group rated usage of the Brain Age software as significantly more mentally challenging and endorsed greater subjective memory improvement at post-test than participants in the control group. These findings demonstrate that both CT and cognitive stimulation protocols produced transfer effects in the current study. That is, Brain Age software use led to enhanced cognitive performance over time, but it did not do in a manner that exceeded the effects achieved by general cognitive stimulation. Enhanced working memory in the CT group and executive attention in the control group are discussed as possible explanation for improved performance on the outcome measures

Automatic detection of disorientation among people with dementia

Ageing is characterized by decline in cognition including visuospatial function, necessary for independently executing instrumental activities of daily living. The onset of Alzheimer’s disease dementia exacerbates this decline, leading to major challenges for patients and increased burden for caregivers. An important function affected by this decline is spatial orientation. This work provides insight into substrates of real-world wayfinding challenges among older adults, with emphasis on viable features aiding the detection of spatial disorientation and design of possible interventions

Gaze transitions when learning with multimedia

Eye tracking methodology is used to examine the influence of interactive multimedia on the allocation of visual attention and its dynamics during learning. We hypothesized that an interactive simulation promotes more organized switching of attention between different elements of multimedia learning material, e.g., textual description and pictorial visualization. Participants studied a description of an algorithm accompanied either by an interactive simulation, self-paced animation, or static illustration. Using a novel framework for entropy-based comparison of gaze transition matrices, results showed that the interactive simulation elicited more careful visual investigation of the learning material as well as reading of the problem description through to its completion

Using Nintendo Wii to improve Cognition in Traumatic Brain Injury

The unfortunate accident of Michael Schumacher had highlighted the fact that Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can happen unexpectedly. Those who survive have to grapple with physical and cognitive disabilities. Hence it is important to investigate all possible treatment approaches to curtail TBI-related morbidity. This paper explores and evaluates the research evidence pertaining to treatment approaches relating to cognitive remediation and the use of electronic virtual reality. It describes a study whose objective was to identify improvement of cognition among Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients by using Nintendo Wii Sports (NWS) as the intervention tool and to determine if months since injury, virtual reality experience and Glasgow Coma Scale affect Mini Mental State Examination Score after intervention. The experiment can be easily repeated in Neuro Clinics & Wards and Occupational Therapy Centres to test for improvements in cognition in the treatment of other ailments or injuries which have resulted in brain impairments. Thirty (30) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients with Mild Glasgow Coma scale (GCS) 33.3% (10) and Moderate Glasgow Coma scale (GCS) 66.7% (20) were selected.They were ? 16 years old and the number of months after injury was calculated at the time when GCS test was conducted.This is not to be confused with the work done at UCLA (Babikian et al., 2011) where the studies were on a  sample of children with mild TBI . The number of months was longitudinal time points of the study. The main outcome measures used was the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). It was observed that there was significant improvement in cognitive functions from purposeful use of NWS. Even patients with moderate traumatic brain injury improved MMSE score after intervention. Mean MMSE result increased from 19.8 to 26.4. NWS intervention did show significant improvement in cognition among Traumatic Brain Injury patients with mild or moderate score of GCS independent of VR experience. Keywords Nintendo Wii Game Sports (NWS), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI

Cognitive Modeling for Computer Animation: A Comparative Review

Cognitive modeling is a provocative new paradigm that paves the way towards intelligent graphical characters by providing them with logic and reasoning skills. Cognitively empowered self-animating characters will see in the near future a widespread use in the interactive game, multimedia, virtual reality and production animation industries. This review covers three recently-published papers from the field of cognitive modeling for computer animation. The approaches and techniques employed are very different. The cognition model in the first paper is built on top of Soar, which is intended as a general cognitive architecture for developing systems that exhibit intelligent behaviors. The second paper uses an active plan tree and a plan library to achieve the fast and robust reactivity to the environment changes. The third paper, based on an AI formalism known as the situation calculus, develops a cognitive modeling language called CML and uses it to specify a behavior outline or sketch plan to direct the characters in terms of goals. Instead of presenting each paper in isolation then comparatively analyzing them, we take a top-down approach by first classifying the field into three different categories and then attempting to put each paper into a proper category. Hopefully in this way it can provide a more cohesive, systematic view of cognitive modeling approaches employed in computer animation

Understanding the Cognitive Impact of Emerging Web Technologies: A Research Focus Area for Embodied, Extended and Distributed Approaches to Cognition

Alongside existing research into the social, political and economic impacts of the Web, there is also a need to explore the effects of the Web on our cognitive profile. This is particularly so as the range of interactive opportunities we have with the Web expands under the influence of a range of emerging technologies. Embodied, extended and distributed approaches to cognition are relevant to understanding the potential cognitive impact of these new technologies because of the emphasis they place on extra-neural and extra-corporeal factors in the shaping of our cognitive capabilities at both an individual and collective level. The current paper outlines a number of areas where embodied, extended and distributed approaches to cognition are useful in understanding the impact of emerging Web technologies on future forms of both human and machine intelligence