1,567 research outputs found
Audiovisual temporal correspondence modulates human multisensory superior temporal sulcus plus primary sensory cortices
The brain should integrate related but not unrelated information from different senses. Temporal patterning of inputs to different modalities may provide critical information about whether those inputs are related or not. We studied effects of temporal correspondence between auditory and visual streams on human brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI). Streams of visual flashes with irregularly jittered, arrhythmic timing could appear on right or left, with or without a stream of auditory tones that coincided perfectly when present ( highly unlikely by chance), were noncoincident with vision ( different erratic, arrhythmic pattern with same temporal statistics), or an auditory stream appeared alone. fMRI revealed blood oxygenation level-dependent ( BOLD) increases in multisensory superior temporal sulcus (mSTS), contralateral to a visual stream when coincident with an auditory stream, and BOLD decreases for noncoincidence relative to unisensory baselines. Contralateral primary visual cortex and auditory cortex were also affected by audiovisual temporal correspondence or noncorrespondence, as confirmed in individuals. Connectivity analyses indicated enhanced influence from mSTS on primary sensory areas, rather than vice versa, during audiovisual correspondence. Temporal correspondence between auditory and visual streams affects a network of both multisensory ( mSTS) and sensory-specific areas in humans, including even primary visual and auditory cortex, with stronger responses for corresponding and thus related audiovisual inputs
Beyond deficit-based models of learners' cognition: Interpreting engineering students' difficulties with sense-making in terms of fine-grained epistemological and conceptual dynamics
Researchers have argued against deficit-based explanations of students'
troubles with mathematical sense-making, pointing instead to factors such as
epistemology: students' beliefs about knowledge and learning can hinder them
from activating and integrating productive knowledge they have. In this case
study of an engineering major solving problems (about content from his
introductory physics course) during a clinical interview, we show that "Jim"
has all the mathematical and conceptual knowledge he would need to solve a
hydrostatic pressure problem that we posed to him. But he reaches and sticks
with an incorrect answer that violates common sense. We argue that his lack of
mathematical sense-making-specifically, translating and reconciling between
mathematical and everyday/common-sense reasoning-stems in part from his
epistemological views, i.e., his views about the nature of knowledge and
learning. He regards mathematical equations as much more trustworthy than
everyday reasoning, and he does not view mathematical equations as expressing
meaning that tractably connects to common sense. For these reasons, he does not
view reconciling between common sense and mathematical formalism as either
necessary or plausible to accomplish. We, however, avoid a potential "deficit
trap"-substituting an epistemological deficit for a concepts/skills deficit-by
incorporating multiple, context-dependent epistemological stances into Jim's
cognitive dynamics. We argue that Jim's epistemological stance contains
productive seeds that instructors could build upon to support Jim's
mathematical sense-making: He does see common-sense as connected to formalism
(though not always tractably so) and in some circumstances this connection is
both salient and valued.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of Engineering Educatio
High-field fMRI reveals brain activation patterns underlying saccade execution in the human superior colliculus
Background
The superior colliculus (SC) has been shown to play a crucial role in the initiation and coordination of eye- and head-movements. The knowledge about the function of this structure is mainly based on single-unit recordings in animals with relatively few neuroimaging studies investigating eye-movement related brain activity in humans.
Methodology/Principal Findings
The present study employed high-field (7 Tesla) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate SC responses during endogenously cued saccades in humans. In response to centrally presented instructional cues, subjects either performed saccades away from (centrifugal) or towards (centripetal) the center of straight gaze or maintained fixation at the center position. Compared to central fixation, the execution of saccades elicited hemodynamic activity within a network of cortical and subcortical areas that included the SC, lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), occipital cortex, striatum, and the pulvinar.
Conclusions/Significance
Activity in the SC was enhanced contralateral to the direction of the saccade (i.e., greater activity in the right as compared to left SC during leftward saccades and vice versa) during both centrifugal and centripetal saccades, thereby demonstrating that the contralateral predominance for saccade execution that has been shown to exist in animals is also present in the human SC. In addition, centrifugal saccades elicited greater activity in the SC than did centripetal saccades, while also being accompanied by an enhanced deactivation within the prefrontal default-mode network. This pattern of brain activity might reflect the reduced processing effort required to move the eyes toward as compared to away from the center of straight gaze, a position that might serve as a spatial baseline in which the retinotopic and craniotopic reference frames are aligned
Symbolic Manipulators Affect Mathematical Mindsets
Symbolic calculators like Mathematica are becoming more commonplace among
upper level physics students. The presence of such a powerful calculator can
couple strongly to the type of mathematical reasoning students employ. It does
not merely offer a convenient way to perform the computations students would
have otherwise wanted to do by hand. This paper presents examples from the work
of upper level physics majors where Mathematica plays an active role in
focusing and sustaining their thought around calculation. These students still
engage in powerful mathematical reasoning while they calculate but struggle
because of the narrowed breadth of their thinking. Their reasoning is drawn
into local attractors where they look to calculation schemes to resolve
questions instead of, for example, mapping the mathematics to the physical
system at hand. We model the influence of Mathematica as an integral part of
the constant feedback that occurs in how students frame, and hence focus, their
work
Pharmacological And Genetic Reversal Of Age-Dependent Cognitive Deficits Attributable To Decreased Presenilin Function
Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is the leading cause of cognitive loss and neurodegeneration in the developed world. Although its genetic and environmental causes are not generally known, familial forms of the disease (FAD) are attributable to mutations in a single copy of the Presenilin (PS) and amyloid precursor protein genes. The dominant inheritance pattern of FAD indicates that it may be attributable to gain or change of function mutations. Studies of FAD-linked forms of presenilin (psn) in model organisms, however, indicate that they are loss of function, leading to the possibility that a reduction in PS activity might contribute to FAD and that proper psn levels are important for maintaining normal cognition throughout life. To explore this issue further, we have tested the effect of reducing psn activity during aging in Drosophila melanogaster males. We have found that flies in which the dosage of psn function is reduced by 50% display age-onset impairments in learning and memory. Treatment with metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) antagonists or lithium during the aging process prevented the onset of these deficits, and treatment of aged flies reversed the age-dependent deficits. Genetic reduction of Drosophila metabotropic glutamate receptor (DmGluRA), the inositol trisphosphate receptor (InsP(3)R), or inositol polyphosphate 1-phosphatase also prevented these age-onset cognitive deficits. These findings suggest that reduced psn activity may contribute to the age-onset cognitive loss observed with FAD. They also indicate that enhanced mGluR signaling and calcium release regulated by InsP(3)R as underlying causes of the age-dependent cognitive phenotypes observed when psn activity is reduced
Perimovement decrease of alpha/beta oscillations in the human nucleus accumbens
The human nucleus accumbens is thought to play an important role in guiding future action selection via an evaluation of current action outcomes. Here we provide electrophysiological evidence for a more direct, i.e., online, role during action preparation. We recorded local field potentials from the nucleus accumbens in patients with epilepsy undergoing surgery for deep brain stimulation. We found a consistent decrease in the power of alpha/beta oscillations (10β30 Hz) before and around the time of movements. This perimovement alpha/beta desynchronization was observed in seven of eight patients and was present both before instructed movements in a serial reaction time task as well as before self-paced, deliberate choices in a decision making task. A similar beta decrease over sensorimotor cortex and in the subthalamic nucleus has been directly related to movement preparation and execution. Our results support the idea of a direct role of the human nucleus accumbens in action preparation and execution
A Path Algorithm for Constrained Estimation
Many least squares problems involve affine equality and inequality
constraints. Although there are variety of methods for solving such problems,
most statisticians find constrained estimation challenging. The current paper
proposes a new path following algorithm for quadratic programming based on
exact penalization. Similar penalties arise in regularization in model
selection. Classical penalty methods solve a sequence of unconstrained problems
that put greater and greater stress on meeting the constraints. In the limit as
the penalty constant tends to , one recovers the constrained solution.
In the exact penalty method, squared penalties are replaced by absolute value
penalties, and the solution is recovered for a finite value of the penalty
constant. The exact path following method starts at the unconstrained solution
and follows the solution path as the penalty constant increases. In the
process, the solution path hits, slides along, and exits from the various
constraints. Path following in lasso penalized regression, in contrast, starts
with a large value of the penalty constant and works its way downward. In both
settings, inspection of the entire solution path is revealing. Just as with the
lasso and generalized lasso, it is possible to plot the effective degrees of
freedom along the solution path. For a strictly convex quadratic program, the
exact penalty algorithm can be framed entirely in terms of the sweep operator
of regression analysis. A few well chosen examples illustrate the mechanics and
potential of path following.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure
Testing of Liquid Metal Components for Nuclear Surface Power Systems
The capability to perform testing at both the module/component level and in near prototypic reactor configurations using a non-nuclear test methodology allowed for evaluation of two components critical to the development of a potential nuclear fission power system for the lunar surface. A pair of 1 kW Stirling power convertors, similar to the type that would be used in a reactor system to convert heat to electricity, were integrated into a reactor simulator system to determine their performance using pumped NaK as the hot side working fluid. The performance in the pumped-NaK system met or exceed the baseline performance measurements where the converters were electrically heated. At the maximum hot-side temperature of 550 C the maximum output power was 2375 watts. A specially-designed test apparatus was fabricated and used to quantify the performance of an annular linear induction pump that is similar to the type that could be used to circulate liquid metal through the core of a space reactor system. The errors on the measurements were generally much smaller than the magnitude of the measurements, permitting accurate performance evaluation over a wide range of operating conditions. The pump produced flow rates spanning roughly 0.16 to 5.7 l/s (2.5 to 90 GPM), and delta p levels from less than 1 kPa to 90 kPa (greater than 0.145 psi to roughly 13 psi). At the nominal FSP system operating temperature of 525 C the maximum efficiency was just over 4%
Modelling residential habitability and human displacement for tsunami scenarios in Christchurch, New Zealand
Epistemic Complexity and the Journeyman-Expert Transition
Physics students can encounter difficulties in physics problem solving as a
result of failing to use knowledge that they have but do not perceive as
relevant or appropriate. In previous work the authors have demonstrated that
some of these difficulties may be epistemological. Students may limit the kinds
of knowledge that they use. For example, they may use formal manipulations and
ignore physical sense making or vice versa. Both beginning (novice) and
intermediate (journeymen) students demonstrate these difficulties. Learning
both to switch one's epistemological lens on a problem and to integrate
different kinds of knowledge is a critical component of learning to solve
problems in physics effectively. In this paper, we present two case studies in
which journeyman students (upper-division physics majors) demonstrate switching
between epistemological resources in approaching a complex problem. We
conjecture that mastering these epistemological skills is an essential
component of learning complex problem solving in physics.Comment: 12 page
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