The hippocampus and cerebellum in adaptively timed learning, recognition, and movement

The concepts of declarative memory and procedural memory have been used to distinguish two basic types of learning. A neural network model suggests how such memory processes work together as recognition learning, reinforcement learning, and sensory-motor learning take place during adaptive behaviors. To coordinate these processes, the hippocampal formation and cerebellum each contain circuits that learn to adaptively time their outputs. Within the model, hippocampal timing helps to maintain attention on motivationally salient goal objects during variable task-related delays, and cerebellar timing controls the release of conditioned responses. This property is part of the model's description of how cognitive-emotional interactions focus attention on motivationally valued cues, and how this process breaks down due to hippocampal ablation. The model suggests that the hippocampal mechanisms that help to rapidly draw attention to salient cues could prematurely release motor commands were not the release of these commands adaptively timed by the cerebellum. The model hippocampal system modulates cortical recognition learning without actually encoding the representational information that the cortex encodes. These properties avoid the difficulties faced by several models that propose a direct hippocampal role in recognition learning. Learning within the model hippocampal system controls adaptive timing and spatial orientation. Model properties hereby clarify how hippocampal ablations cause amnesic symptoms and difficulties with tasks which combine task delays, novelty detection, and attention towards goal objects amid distractions. When these model recognition, reinforcement, sensory-motor, and timing processes work together, they suggest how the brain can accomplish conditioning of multiple sensory events to delayed rewards, as during serial compound conditioning.Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-92-J-0225, F49620-86-C-0037, 90-0128); Advanced Research Projects Agency (ONR N00014-92-J-4015); Office of Naval Research (N00014-91-J-4100, N00014-92-J-1309, N00014-92-J-1904); National Institute of Mental Health (MH-42900

The Phenomenon of Indirect Learning: Brain Mechanisms and Models

AbstractWe studied an artificially constructed isomorphism between denotative (color) and lexical (geometric shapes) spaces and revealed the dynamics of formation of color-semantic representations in the process of indirect learning. We have detected the component of evoked potential (EP), which describes its changes from trial to trial in the process of learning; it significantly correlates with the value and direction of the errors. The results confirm the role of the brain structures that control movement (globus pallidus, caudate nucleus) in problems reconfiguring the system of relations between the sensory attributes of the reception of sign (visual cortex), and attributes of denotatum stored in memory (frontal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus) that occur during the formation of concepts

Mnemonic as an innovative approach to creative teaching of secondary school chemistry

Chemistry as a secondary school subject despite its importance and central role in science and development is often found difficult to understand by students. Chief among the contributing factors being the approaches used by chemistry teachers which tend to make chemistry concepts to be too abstract and uninteresting to students. Thus, most often, students tend to view concepts in chemistry as being too “volatile” as they often are unable to remember them. Thus, in order to ensure that chemistry teaching and learning become more interesting and for students to be able to remember learnt chemistry concepts, the use of mnemonics was suggested. This suggestion is based on the premise that learning and remembering of  information becomes better when presented in forms that are personal, surprising or humorous and when various scientific facts and procedures to be learnt are well connected to more familiar words and phrases. Mnemonic is defined as a memory aid meant to assist in the learning and recall of information that might have been somewhat problematic to recall. Using some chemistry concepts, the paper identified some forms in which  mnemonics can be used innovatively in teaching senior school chemistry. The paper then advocated for the creative usage of mnemonics in teaching chemistry to be included as a vital component of initial training and the retraining of secondary school chemistry teachers. [AJCE 4(2), Special Issue, May 2014

Building concepts one episode at a time: The hippocampus and concept formation

Concepts organize our experiences and allow for meaningful inferences in novel situations. Acquiring new concepts requires extracting regularities across multiple learning experiences, a process formalized in mathematical models of learning. These models posit a computational framework that has increasingly aligned with the expanding repertoire of functions associated with the hippocampus. Here, we propose the Episodes-to-Concepts (EpCon) theoretical model of hippocampal function in concept learning and review evidence for the hippocampal computations that support concept formation including memory integration, attentional biasing, and memory-based prediction error. We focus on recent studies that have directly assessed the hippocampal role in concept learning with an innovative approach that combines computational modeling and sophisticated neuroimaging measures. Collectively, this work suggests that the hippocampus does much more than encode individual episodes; rather, it adaptively transforms initially-encoded episodic memories into organized conceptual knowledge that drives novel behavior

Expanding the basic science debate: the role of physics knowledge in interpreting clinical findings.

Current research suggests a role for biomedical knowledge in learning and retaining concepts related to medical diagnosis. However, learning may be influenced by other, non-biomedical knowledge. We explored this idea using an experimental design and examined the effects of causal knowledge on the learning, retention, and interpretation of medical information. Participants studied a handout about several respiratory disorders and how to interpret respiratory exam findings. The control group received the information in standard textbook format and the experimental group was presented with the same information as well as a causal explanation about how sound travels through lungs in both the normal and disease states. Comprehension and memory of the information was evaluated with a multiple-choice exam. Several questions that were not related to the causal knowledge served as control items. Questions related to the interpretation of physical exam findings served as the critical test items. The experimental group outperformed the control group on the critical test items, and our study shows that a causal explanation can improve a student\u27s memory for interpreting clinical details. We suggest an expansion of which basic sciences are considered fundamental to medical education

A Notation for Planning SQL Queries

Structured Query Language (SQL) is still the de facto database query language widely used in industry and taught in almost all university level database courses. The role of SQL is further strengthened by the emergence of NewSQL systems which use SQL as their query language as well as some NoSQL systems, e.g., Cassandra and DynamoDB, which base their query languages on SQL. Even though the syntax of SQL is relatively simple when compared to programming languages, studies suggest that students struggle with simple concepts due to working memory constraints when learning SQL. This teaching tip presents a novel, simple, and intuitive notation for planning more complex SQL queries, which 1) facilitates the learning of SQL by providing students with a big picture of a particular data demand in regard to the database structure and 2) separates the logic of a data demand from the syntax and semantics of SQL, thus alleviating the strain on the student’s short-term memory. The notation can also be applied when discussing SQL semantics during the teaching process without focusing on the syntactical nuances of the language

Learning complex historical knowledge at high school: The role of working memory

Learning History implies the acquisition of historical and social concepts, analyzing its mutual relationships in the explanation of historical change. The comprehension of Industrial Revolution in England requires the use of at least four main concepts: Agrarian Revolution, Demographic Increase, Technological Innovations and the need of Accumulated Capital. The understanding of these concepts and the establishment of its relationships is a quite demanding cognitive task. Therefore, the crucial role of working memory in these cognitive processes is hypothesized. This paper presents a study on the teaching and learning of this subject matter by first-grade of high school subjects. The main objective of this study was to analyze the process of understanding and acquisition of this complex subject, testing the influence of three variables: working memory capacity, prior knowledge and attitude for meaningful learning. Pretest examined subject’s knowledge of some basic concepts and their ability to describe and explain the phenomenon, as well as to summarize and comment a text and to represent their knowledge by means of a concept map. Differences in working memory capacity were controlled by means of the reading span test. Finally, subject’s attitude for meaningful learning was tested on line using an observation record. Teaching was developed during 6 classes following the usual scheme and methodology focused on reaching a gradual and overall understanding of the phenomenon. Learning results were checked in a post-test where we used the same test than before. There was a highly significant increase in all the post-test measures. Students with higher reading span learnt more and better than students with lower reading span. Therefore, working memory seems to play a crucial role when our subjects are building up historical knowledge as to Industrial Revolution. The significant correlation between knowledge in pretest and post-test showed that pretest scores are a quite good predictor of posttest ones, as all the cognitive theories held. As to the attitude, its high correlation with both knowledge measures (pre and post-test) bears out our prediction about the relevant role of this variable. Finally the analysis of subjects concept maps in pretest and posttest confirmed an improvement on subjects’ organization of knowledge, increasing its levels of depth and connectivity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interactive Concept Acquisition for Embodied Artificial Agents

An important capacity that is still lacking in intelligent systems such as robots, is the ability to use concepts in a human-like manner. Indeed, the use of concepts has been recognised as being fundamental to a wide range of cognitive skills, including classification, reasoning and memory. Intricately intertwined with language, concepts are at the core of human cognition; but despite a large body or research, their functioning is as of yet not well understood. Nevertheless it remains clear that if intelligent systems are to achieve a level of cognition comparable to humans, they will have to posses the ability to deal with the fundamental role that concepts play in cognition. A promising manner in which conceptual knowledge can be acquired by an intelligent system is through ongoing, incremental development. In this view, a system is situated in the world and gradually acquires skills and knowledge through interaction with its social and physical environment. Important in this regard is the notion that cognition is embodied. As such, both the physical body and the environment shape the manner in which cognition, including the learning and use of concepts, operates. Through active partaking in the interaction, an intelligent system might influence its learning experience as to be more effective. This work presents experiments which illustrate how these notions of interaction and embodiment can influence the learning process of artificial systems. It shows how an artificial agent can benefit from interactive learning. Rather than passively absorbing knowledge, the system actively partakes in its learning experience, yielding improved learning. Next, the influence of embodiment on perception is further explored in a case study concerning colour perception, which results in an alternative explanation for the question of why human colour experience is very similar amongst individuals despite physiological differences. Finally experiments, in which an artificial agent is embodied in a novel robot that is tailored for human-robot interaction, illustrate how active strategies are also beneficial in an HRI setting in which the robot learns from a human teacher

Neuronal Plasticity in the Juvenile and Adult Brain Regulated by the Extracellular Matrix

In brains of higher vertebrates, the delicate balance of structural remodeling and stabilization of neuronal networks changes over the life-span. While the juvenile brain is characterized by high structural plasticity, it is more restricted in the adult. During brain maturation, the occurrence of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a critical step to restrict the potential for neuronal remodeling and regeneration, but providing structural tenacity. How this putative limitation of adult neuronal plasticity might impact on learning-related plasticity, lifelong memory reformation, and higher cognitive functions is subject of current research. Here, we summarize recent evidence that recognizes the ECM and its activity-dependent modulation as a key regulator of learning-related plasticity in the adult brain. We will first outline molecular concepts of enzymatic ECM modulation and its impact on synaptic plasticity mechanisms. Thereafter, the ECM’s role in converting juvenile to adult plasticity will be explained by several key studies in wild-type and genetic knockout animals. Finally, current research evidences the impact of ECM dynamics in different brain areas including neocortex on learning-related plasticity in the adult brain impacting on lifelong learning and memory. Experimental modulation of the ECM in local neuronal circuits further opens short-term windows of activity-dependent reorganization. Malfunctions of the ECM might contribute to a variety of neurological disorders. Therefore, experimental ECM modulation might not only promote complex forms of learning and cognitive flexible adaptation of valuable behavioral options, but has further implications for guided neuroplasticity with regenerative and therapeutic potential