Precis of neuroconstructivism: how the brain constructs cognition

Neuroconstructivism: How the Brain Constructs Cognition proposes a unifying framework for the study of cognitive development that brings together (1) constructivism (which views development as the progressive elaboration of increasingly complex structures), (2) cognitive neuroscience (which aims to understand the neural mechanisms underlying behavior), and (3) computational modeling (which proposes formal and explicit specifications of information processing). The guiding principle of our approach is context dependence, within and (in contrast to Marr [1982]) between levels of organization. We propose that three mechanisms guide the emergence of representations: competition, cooperation, and chronotopy; which themselves allow for two central processes: proactivity and progressive specialization. We suggest that the main outcome of development is partial representations, distributed across distinct functional circuits. This framework is derived by examining development at the level of single neurons, brain systems, and whole organisms. We use the terms encellment, embrainment, and embodiment to describe the higher-level contextual influences that act at each of these levels of organization. To illustrate these mechanisms in operation we provide case studies in early visual perception, infant habituation, phonological development, and object representations in infancy. Three further case studies are concerned with interactions between levels of explanation: social development, atypical development and within that, developmental dyslexia. We conclude that cognitive development arises from a dynamic, contextual change in embodied neural structures leading to partial representations across multiple brain regions and timescales, in response to proactively specified physical and social environment

Learning from Teacher's Eye Movement: Expertise, Subject Matter and Video Modeling

How teachers' eye movements can be used to understand and improve education is the central focus of the present paper. Three empirical studies were carried out to understand the nature of teachers' eye movements in natural settings and how they might be used to promote learning. The studies explored 1) the relationship between teacher expertise and eye movement in the course of teaching, 2) how individual differences and the demands of different subjects affect teachers' eye movement during literacy and mathematics instruction, 3) whether including an expert's eye movement and hand information in instructional videos can promote learning. Each study looked at the nature and use of teacher eye movements from a different angle but collectively converge on contributions to answering the question: what can we learn from teachers' eye movements? The paper also contains an independent methodology chapter dedicated to reviewing and comparing methods of representing eye movements in order to determine a suitable statistical procedure for representing the richness of current and similar eye tracking data. Results show that there are considerable differences between expert and novice teachers' eye movement in a real teaching situation, replicating similar patterns revealed by past studies on expertise and gaze behavior in athletics and other fields. This paper also identified the mix of person-specific and subject-specific eye movement patterns that occur when the same teacher teaches different topics to the same children. The final study reports evidence that eye movement can be useful in teaching; by showing increased learning when learners saw an expert model's eye movement in a video modeling example. The implications of these studies regarding teacher education and instruction are discussed.PHDEducation & PsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145853/1/yizhenh_1.pd

From memory and attention to consciousness : Exploring three major aspects of cognitive brain functioning

The present work gives overview and insight into three different areas of cognitive neuroscience, representing exemplary aspects of the diverse spectrum of research areas: Memory, attention and consciousness. Research on memory processes distinguishes between working memory (WM) and long term memory (LTM). According to the classical view, the LTM encoding relies on structures in the MTL including the hippocampus and WM processes rely on the prefrontal and parietal cortices. In contrast to this simple dichotomy, however, recent studies have shown that some WM tasks, e.g. those involving novel stimuli, also activate MTL structures. In the first part the question of whether the maintenance of several items in WM, which activates the MTL, influences the encoding of items into LTM is addressed. It is demonstrated that a simultaneous WM/LTM task results in an interference, which affects memory processing capacities in the MTL and leads to a decrease in the LTM performance when accompanied by a high WM load. Furthermore the parahippocampal cortex (PHC) is revealed as a locus of a memory processing interference between WM and LTM for the first time. Successful information processing requires focusing attention on a certain stimulus property and suppressing irrelevant information. An important paradigm for investigating attentional top-down control in case of interfering stimulus properties is Stroop’s interference task (Stroop, 1935). The second part the neural correlates of a newly developed auditory Stroop task are investigated. Using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design, sound files in a tone-pitch interference task were presented, that required subjects to focus on one stimulus property (pitch or meaning of a spoken word) while ignoring the other one. In contrast to visual Stroop tasks a very posterior part of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was found activated in incongruent phonetic trials (as compared to the incongruent semantic trials), together with common regions such as the pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), areas associated with attentional control. In addition, the integration of these regions into a conflict processing network using functional connectivity was shown. In the context of a theoretical excursus the third part shows within the broad field of consciousness research, how new methods in recoding and analyzing electro-encephalography (EEG) data can lead to a different understanding of the origination of different states of consciousness. The starting point of consideration were recent findings revealing unusual and remarkable alterations in the EEG in meditation experts. Today meditation is considered to be a valuable source deepening our understanding of the neural correlates of consciousness, since meditation experts are usually trained for decades to reach altered states of consciousness. It is suggested that different forms of meditation have similar steps of development, which should be related to similar neurophysiological correlates. Some electrophysiological alterations can be observed on the beginner/student level, which are closely related to non-meditative processes. Others appear to correspond to an advanced/expert level, and seem to be unique for meditation related states of consciousness. Meditation is one possibility of specializing brain/mind functions within the confines of the brain’s neural plasticity. This plasticity is likely supported by certain meditation related EEG patterns, for instance, synchronized gamma oscillations. While it has been formerly postulated that meditation comprises mainly passive relaxation states, recent EEG findings suggest that meditation is associated with active states involving cognitive restructuring and learning.</p

Backwards is the way forward: feedback in the cortical hierarchy predicts the expected future

Clark offers a powerful description of the brain as a prediction machine, which offers progress on two distinct levels. First, on an abstract conceptual level, it provides a unifying framework for perception, action, and cognition (including subdivisions such as attention, expectation, and imagination). Second, hierarchical prediction offers progress on a concrete descriptive level for testing and constraining conceptual elements and mechanisms of predictive coding models (estimation of predictions, prediction errors, and internal models)

Image and Evidence: The Study of Attention through the Combined Lenses of Neuroscience and Art

: Levy, EK 2012, ‘An artistic exploration of inattention blindness’, in Frontiers Hum Neurosci, vol. 5, ISSN=1662-5161.Full version unavailable due to 3rd party copyright restrictions.This study proposed that new insights about attention, including its phenomenon and pathology, would be provided by combining perspectives of the neurobiological discourse about attention with analyses of artworks that exploit the constraints of the attentional system. To advance the central argument that art offers a training ground for the attentional system, a wide range of contemporary art was analysed in light of specific tasks invoked. The kinds of cognitive tasks these works initiate with respect to the attentional system have been particularly critical to this research. Attention was explored within the context of transdisciplinary art practices, varied circumstances of viewing, new neuroscientific findings, and new approaches towards learning. Research for this dissertation required practical investigations in a gallery setting, and this original work was contextualised and correlated with pertinent neuroscientific approaches. It was also concluded that art can enhance public awareness of attention disorders and assist the public in discriminating between medical and social factors through questioning how norms of behaviour are defined and measured. This territory was examined through the comparative analysis of several diagnostic tests for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), through the adaptation of a methodology from economics involving patent citation in order to show market incentives, and through examples of data visualisation. The construction of an installation and collaborative animation allowed participants to experience first-hand the constraints on the attentional system, provoking awareness of our own “normal” physiological limitations. The embodied knowledge of images, emotion, and social context that are deeply embedded in art practices appeared to be capable of supplementing neuroscience’s understanding of attention and its disorders