Identifying the Neurocognitive bases of creativity to increase human and computational creativity

En esta Tesis Doctoral se ha identificado la estructura neurocognitiva que sustenta la creatividad humana a partir del análisis conjunto de más de 800 referencias bibliográficas que muestran las investigaciones más importantes realizadas hasta la fecha. Sobre la base de esta estructura, se ha identificado un paradigma neurocognitivo de la creatividad humana y se ha propuesto un modelo neurocognitivo del proceso creativo. Finalmente, también se ha propuesto un paradigma creativo neurocognitivo computacional y se ha diseñado la estructura de un sistema computacional creativo, basado en una estructura multiagente. La investigación que se ha realizado sobre el tema hasta la fecha es muy especializada y se centra en aspectos muy concretos de la creatividad, y en muchos casos tienen poca relación entre sí. Por ello, y para tener una idea conjunta y holística de los procesos neurocognitivos de la creatividad humana, es necesario estudiar todas estas investigaciones de forma interconectada. Esta idea conjunta permitiría dirigir investigaciones más específicas para ser más efectivos. Por ello, lo primero que se ha hecho ha sido clasificar, agrupar, analizar, entrelazar y estructurar, de forma ordenada, las investigaciones más importantes que se han realizado hasta la fecha. Sin embargo, el trabajo realizado va mucho más allá, ya que estructurando y entrelazando las investigaciones existentes ha sido posible identificar ciertos patrones, correlaciones y paralelismos, y realizar ciertas deducciones, que en su conjunto, han permitido identificar los procesos neurocognitivos fundamentales. bases de la creatividad humana. La Tesis se estructura en los siguientes capítulos: Capitulo 2 Análisis de los principales métodos para estimular la creatividad Se analizan las principales definiciones de creatividad, y se ha decidido que el mejor enfoque para su análisis es estructurarla taxonómicamente, bajo el modelo 4P. Se ha realizado una recopilación y análisis de los métodos más efectivos que estimulan la creatividad humana, mostrando las ventajas y desventajas de cada uno. Capítulo 3 Estructura funcional del cerebro humano y su relación con el proceso creativo Se identifica la estructura neurocognitiva general del cerebro humano que permite generar los procesos fundamentales y básicos de su actividad creativa. Capítulo 4 El papel fundamental de la DMN en el proceso creativo Se ha observado que la red de modo predeterminado (DMN) tiene un papel principal en la creatividad. Por ello, se ha dedicado un capítulo a su estudio, y se han identificado varios factores que la involucran directamente en la actividad creativa del cerebro humano. Capítulo 5 Identificación y análisis de las bases neurocognitivas de la creatividad humana Se ha identificado el conjunto general de factores neurocognitivos que sustentan los procesos creativos en el cerebro humano. Capítulo 6 Paradigma neurocognitivo de la creatividad humana Se ha propuesto un modelo neurocognitivo del proceso creativo que reestructura, completa y detalla todos los modelos conceptuales propuestos hasta el momento. Capítulo 7 Paradigma computacional de la creatividad basado en la estructura neurocognitiva humana Analizando las diferentes bases neurocognitivas que sustentan la creatividad humana, se han establecido paralelismos computacionales y se han realizado diferentes sugerencias para el diseño de un sistema computacional creativo.In this Doctoral Thesis, the neurocognitive structure that supports human creativity has been identified based on the joint analysis of more than 800 bibliographical references that show the most important investigations carried out to date. Based on this structure, a neurocognitive paradigm of human creativity has been described, and a neurocognitive model of creative process has been proposed. Finally, a computational neurocognitive creative paradigm has been also proposed, and the structure of a creative computational multi-agent system has been designed. The research that has been carried out on the subject is very specialized and focuses on very specific aspects of creativity, and in many cases they have little relationship with each other. For this reason, and in order to have a joint and holistic idea of the neurocognitive processes of human creativity, it is necessary to study all these investigations in an interconnected way. This joint idea would allow directing more specific investigations in order to be more effective. For this reason, the first thing that has been done has been to classify, group, analyze, intertwine and structure, in an orderly manner, the most important investigations that have been carried out to date. However, the work carried out goes much further, since by structuring and intertwining the existing research it has been possible to identify certain patterns, correlations and parallelisms, and make certain deductions, which as a whole, have made it possible to identify the fundamental neurocognitive bases of human creativity. Chapter 2 Analysis of the main methods to stimulate creativity The main definitions of creativity are analyzed, and it has been decided that the best approach for its analysis is to structure it taxonomically, under the 4P model. A compilation and analysis of the most effective methods that stimulate human creativity has been carried out, showing the advantages and disadvantages of each one. Chapter 3 Functional structure of the human brain and its relationship with the creative process The general neurocognitive structure of the human brain that allows the generation of the fundamental and basic processes of its creative activity are identified. Chapter 4 The fundamental role of the DMN in the creative process It has been observed that the Default mode network (DMN) has a main role in creativity. For this reason, a chapter has been dedicated to its study, and several factors have been identified that directly involve it in the creative activity of the human brain. Chapter 5 Identification and analysis of the neurocognitive bases of human creativity The general set of neurocognitive factors that underpin creative processes in the human brain has been identified. Chapter 6 Neurocognitive paradigm of human creativity A neurocognitive model of the creative process has been proposed, which restructures, completes and details all the conceptual models proposed so far. Chapter 7 Computational paradigm of creativity based on the human neurocognitive structure Analyzing the different neurocognitive bases that support human creativity, computational parallels have been established and different suggestions have been made for the design of a creative computational system

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 259)

A bibliography containing 476 documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in May 1984 is presented. The primary subject categories included are: life sciences, aerospace medicine, behavioral sciences, man/system technology, life support, and planetary biology. Topics extensively represented were space flight stress, man machine systems, weightlessness, human performance, mental performance, and spacecraft environments. Abstracts for each citation are given

Mind out of matter: topics in the physical foundations of consciousness and cognition

This dissertation begins with an exploration of a brand of dual aspect monism and some problems deriving from the distinction between a first person and third person point of view. I continue with an outline of one way in which the conscious experience of the subject might arise from organisational properties of a material substrate. With this picture to hand, I first examine theoretical features at the level of brain organisation which may be required to support conscious experience and then discuss what bearing some actual attributes of biological brains might have on such experience. I conclude the first half of the dissertation with comments on information processing and with artificial neural networks meant to display simple varieties of the organisational features initially described abstractly.While the first half begins with a view of conscious experience and infers downwards in the organisational hierarchy to explore neural features suggested by the view, attention in the second half shifts towards analysing low level dynamical features of material substrates and inferring upwards to possible effects on experience. There is particular emphasis on clarifying the role of chaotic dynamics, and I discuss relationships between levels of description of a cognitive system and comment on issues of complexity, computability, and predictability before returning to the topic of representation which earlier played a central part in isolating features of brain organisation which may underlie conscious experience.Some themes run throughout the dissertation, including an emphasis on understanding experience from both the first person and the third person points of view and on analysing the latter at different levels of description. Other themes include a sustained effort to integrate the picture offered here with existing empirical data and to situate current problems in the philosophy of mind within the new framework, as well as an appeal to tools from mathematics, computer science, and cognitive science to complement the more standard philosophical repertoire

Handbook on clinical neurology and neurosurgery

HANDBOOKNEUROLOGYNEUROSURGERYКЛИНИЧЕСКАЯ НЕВРОЛОГИЯНЕВРОЛОГИЯНЕЙРОХИРУРГИЯThis handbook includes main parts of clinical neurology and neurosurgery

Exploration of the Brain's White Matter Structure through Visual Abstraction and Multi-Scale Local Fiber Tract Contraction

International audienceWe present a visualization technique for brain fiber tracts from DTI data that provides insight into the structure of white matter through visual abstraction. We achieve this abstraction by analyzing the local similarity of tract segment directions at different scales using a stepwise increase of the search range. Next, locally similar tract segments are moved toward each other in an iterative process, resulting in a local contraction of tracts perpendicular to the local tract direction at a given scale. This not only leads to the abstraction of the global structure of the white matter as represented by the tracts, but also creates volumetric voids. This increase of empty space decreases the mutual occlusion of tracts and, consequently, results in a better understanding of the brain's three-dimensional fiber tract structure. Our implementation supports an interactive and continuous transition between the original and the abstracted representations via various scale levels of similarity. We also support the selection of groups of tracts, which are highlighted and rendered with the abstracted visualization as context

An analysis of the distinction between voluntary and involuntary behaviour in psychology

Psychology, as a separate scientific discipline, was derived from philosophy and physiology and, in part, adopted their concepts and language. Initially psychology perceived its subject matter to be volition, among other mental constructs. In response to internal tensions, involving methodology, more intense interest was given to the study of behaviour. Behaviouristic psychology proposed the abolition of mental constructs, and sought to interpret behaviour in mechanistic terms. Two powerful methods were developed to study behaviour objectively; the classical and instrumental conditioning procedures. The use of the two conditioning procedures generated much controversy concerning the classification of behaviour as well as the necessary and sufficient conditions for learning.However, the behavioural taxonomy generated by its scientific study has been inadequately formulated and there have been fundamental confusions about the concept of behaviour itself. These confusions have been highlighted by the recent experimental data from two important areas of research in the experimental study of learning; (i) autoshaping (ii) the operant conditioning of autonomic responses. These data challenge the widely held view that all behaviour may be classified, after Skinner, as operants or respondents.ConventionaL psychological wisdom has conflated the concepts of 'voluntary' and 'involuntary' with the concepts of 'operant' and 'respondent', respectively. 'Respondents' by definition have specifiable antecedents, whereas 'operants' do not. The inability to note specific antecedents to instrumental behaviour is reflected in the original studies using animals by Thorndike. Instrumental (operant) behaviour was seen as 'impulsive', 'emitted' or 'spontaneous' - terms which have traditionally been associated with voluntary behaviour. Inadvertently, under the influence of Skinner, the vitalistic connotations of the operant were hidden from view and protected from criticism. Concomitant with these developments, the role of the central nervous system in the production and control of movement is being re-interpreted by neurophysiologists. In this field mentalistic and vitalistic accounts of behaviour have emerged at the highest levels. Although physical accounts of behaviour do not have logical priority over mental accounts, the former have the advantage of being more open to direct experimental investigation. The apparent paradox of a so-called mechanistic, physicalistic psychology and physiology accounting for behaviour in terms of vitalistic and mentalistic concepts prompted this analysis of the distinction between voluntary and involuntary behaviour.An historical approach is adopted which draws on both primary and secondary sources in psychology, physiology, philosophy and medicine. References to voluntary and involuntary processes from the early Greeks to the present day, are summarized and their relationship with the broader intellectual issues is broached. The distinction between voluntary and involuntary behaviours arose early in western intellectual history and the concept of 'voluntary behaviour' was discussed, largely within the context of moral responsibility. At various times the mentalistic concepts of soul, mind and free-will were proposed as its source.The idea that voluntary movement issued from the 'free-will' received its greatest support from Christian theology. Ecclesiastical monopoly of educated thought ensured that this interpretation of behaviour was firmly established in the institutions of western culture. With the rise of western science, the language of this view and its connotations intruded into the language of the disciplines of modern philosophy and physiology, among others. The term 'voluntary', referring to behaviour, has undergone numerous and subtle changes in meaning, and the separation of voluntary and involuntary behaviour parallels several other important conceptual dichotomies. Two of these are the'mind-body problem' and the 'mechanism vs vitalism' debate. Contemporary literature in the fields of psychology, physiology and philosophy reflects the fact that these conceptual issues have not been resolved, as once was thought; but are active points of debate.Psychology is presently changing its understanding of behaviour, and today the voluntary-involuntary distinction may be maintained by the operational definition of a voluntary response being an 'instructed response'. Instructed responses as voluntary responses have been extensively used in both experimental and clinical studies of behaviour. This operational definition, in contrast to others, has brought the voluntary response under direct experimental scrutiny and deprived it of its 'uncaused' attribute. Its use has produced much needed empirical data concerning the metric parameters of movement.No one method of study or theoretical model is likely to explain behaviour in the·near future, and such an explanation will not be derived from experimental evidence alone. It is suggested that future interpretations of behaviour will use concepts derived from such technical fields as engineering and cybernetics as well as from psychology and physiology. Perhaps no current conceptual analysis can give us even partial insight into the future development of self-regulating machines; the future development of such machines, however may shed light onto our current concepts

Life Sciences Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1996

This document includes information on all peer reviewed projects funded by the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, Life Sciences Division during fiscal year 1996. This document will be published annually and made available to scientists in the space life sciences field both as a hard copy and as an interactive Internet web page

Life Sciences Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1997

This document includes information on all peer reviewed projects funded by the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, Life Sciences Division during fiscal year 1997. This document will be published annually and made available to scientists in the space life sciences field both as a hard copy and as an interactive internet web page

SPATIAL TRANSFORMATION PATTERN DUE TO COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY IN KAMPONG HOUSE

ABSTRACT Kampung houses are houses in kampung area of the city. Kampung House oftenly transformed into others use as urban dynamics. One of the transfomation is related to the commercial activities addition by the house owner. It make house with full private space become into mixused house with more public spaces or completely changed into full public commercial building. This study investigate the spatial transformation pattern of the kampung houses due to their commercial activities addition. Site observations, interviews and questionnaires were performed to study the spatial transformation. This study found that in kampung houses, the spatial transformation pattern was depend on type of commercial activities and owner perceptions, and there are several steps of the spatial transformation related the commercial activity addition. Keywords: spatial transformation pattern; commercial activity; owner perception, kampung house; adaptabilit

Life Sciences Program Tasks and Bibliography

This document includes information on all peer reviewed projects funded by the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, Life Sciences Division during fiscal year 1995. Additionally, this inaugural edition of the Task Book includes information for FY 1994 programs. This document will be published annually and made available to scientists in the space life sciences field both as a hard copy and as an interactive Internet web pag