636 research outputs found
Neurophysiology
Contains reports on three research projects.Bell Telephone Laboratories, IncorporatedNational Institutes of HealthTeagle Foundation, IncorporatedUnited States Air Force (WADD Contract AF33(616)-7783
Minimization via duality
We show how to use duality theory to construct minimized versions of a wide class of automata. We work out three cases in detail: (a variant of) ordinary automata, weighted automata and probabilistic automata. The basic idea is that instead of constructing a maximal quotient we go to the dual and look for a minimal subalgebra and then return to the original category. Duality ensures that the minimal subobject becomes the maximally quotiented object
Intention and motor representation in purposive action
Are there distinct roles for intention and motor representation in explaining the purposiveness of action? Standard accounts of action assign a role to intention but are silent on motor representation. The temptation is to suppose that nothing need be said here because motor representation is either only an enabling condition for purposive action or else merely a variety of intention. This paper provides reasons for resisting that temptation. Some motor representations, like intentions, coordinate actions in virtue of representing outcomes; but, unlike intentions, motor representations cannot feature as premises or conclusions in practical reasoning. This implies that motor representation has a distinctive role in explaining the purposiveness of action. It also gives rise to a problem: were the roles of intention and motor representation entirely independent, this would impair effective action. It is therefore necessary to explain how intentions interlock with motor representations. The solution, we argue, is to recognise that the contents of intentions can be partially determined by the contents of motor representations. Understanding this content-determining relation enables better understanding how intentions relate to actions
Temporal Correlations of Local Network Losses
We introduce a continuum model describing data losses in a single node of a
packet-switched network (like the Internet) which preserves the discrete nature
of the data loss process. {\em By construction}, the model has critical
behavior with a sharp transition from exponentially small to finite losses with
increasing data arrival rate. We show that such a model exhibits strong
fluctuations in the loss rate at the critical point and non-Markovian power-law
correlations in time, in spite of the Markovian character of the data arrival
process. The continuum model allows for rather general incoming data packet
distributions and can be naturally generalized to consider the buffer server
idleness statistics
Recognizing Speech in a Novel Accent: The Motor Theory of Speech Perception Reframed
The motor theory of speech perception holds that we perceive the speech of
another in terms of a motor representation of that speech. However, when we
have learned to recognize a foreign accent, it seems plausible that recognition
of a word rarely involves reconstruction of the speech gestures of the speaker
rather than the listener. To better assess the motor theory and this
observation, we proceed in three stages. Part 1 places the motor theory of
speech perception in a larger framework based on our earlier models of the
adaptive formation of mirror neurons for grasping, and for viewing extensions
of that mirror system as part of a larger system for neuro-linguistic
processing, augmented by the present consideration of recognizing speech in a
novel accent. Part 2 then offers a novel computational model of how a listener
comes to understand the speech of someone speaking the listener's native
language with a foreign accent. The core tenet of the model is that the
listener uses hypotheses about the word the speaker is currently uttering to
update probabilities linking the sound produced by the speaker to phonemes in
the native language repertoire of the listener. This, on average, improves the
recognition of later words. This model is neutral regarding the nature of the
representations it uses (motor vs. auditory). It serve as a reference point for
the discussion in Part 3, which proposes a dual-stream neuro-linguistic
architecture to revisits claims for and against the motor theory of speech
perception and the relevance of mirror neurons, and extracts some implications
for the reframing of the motor theory
Random Walks in Local Dynamics of Network Losses
We suggest a model for data losses in a single node of a packet-switched
network (like the Internet) which reduces to one-dimensional discrete random
walks with unusual boundary conditions. The model shows critical behavior with
an abrupt transition from exponentially small to finite losses as the data
arrival rate increases. The critical point is characterized by strong
fluctuations of the loss rate. Although we consider the packet arrival being a
Markovian process, the loss rate exhibits non-Markovian power-law correlations
in time at the critical point.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
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Spring School on Language, Music, and Cognition: Organizing Events in Time
The interdisciplinary spring school âLanguage, music, and cognition: Organizing events in timeâ was held from February 26 to March 2, 2018 at the Institute of Musicology of the University of Cologne. Language, speech, and music as events in time were explored from different perspectives including evolutionary biology, social cognition, developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience of speech, language, and communication, as well as computational and biological approaches to language and music. There were 10 lectures, 4 workshops, and 1 student poster session.
Overall, the spring school investigated language and music as neurocognitive systems and focused on a mechanistic approach exploring the neural substrates underlying musical, linguistic, social, and emotional processes and behaviors. In particular, researchers approached questions concerning cognitive processes, computational procedures, and neural mechanisms underlying the temporal organization of language and music, mainly from two perspectives: one was concerned with syntax or structural representations of language and music as neurocognitive systems (i.e., an intrapersonal perspective), while the other emphasized social interaction and emotions in their communicative function (i.e., an interpersonal perspective). The spring school not only acted as a platform for knowledge transfer and exchange but also generated a number of important research questions as challenges for future investigations
Neurophysiology
Contains reports on four research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant G-16526)National Institutes of Health (Grants MH-04737-03 and NB-04985-01)United States Air Force, Aeronautical Systems Division (Contract AF33(616)-7783)United States Air Force (Contract AF19(604)-6619), administered by Montana State CollegeNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NsG-496)Teagle Foundation, IncorporatedBell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporate
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