Recently added to the River Campus Libraries' book and ebook collections:
Artificial Intelligence and Brain Research by
How does artificial intelligence (AI) work and are there parallels to the human brain? What do natural and artificial intelligence have in common, and what are the differences? Is the brain nothing more than a biological computer? What are neural networks and how can the term deep learning be explained simply? Since the cognitive revolution in the middle of the last century, AI and brain research have been closely intertwined. There have been several spectacular breakthroughs in the field of AI in recent years, from alphaGo to DALL-E 2 and ChatGPT, which were completely unthinkable until recently. However, researchers are already working on the innovations of tomorrow, such as hybrid machine learning or neuro-symbolic AI. But what does this actually mean? Based on current research findings and exciting practical examples, this non-fiction book provides an understandable introduction to the basics and challenges of these fascinating disciplines. You will learn what neuroscience and psychology know about how the brain works and how artificial intelligence works. You will also learn how AI has revolutionized our understanding of the brain and how findings from brain research are used in computer science to further develop AI algorithms. Discover the fascinating world of these two disciplines. Find out why artificial intelligence and brain research are two sides of the same coin and how they will shape our future.
Bayesian Models of Cognition: Reverse Engineering the Mind by
How does human intelligence work, in engineering terms? How do our minds get so much from so little? Bayesian models of cognition provide a powerful framework for answering these questions by reverse-engineering the mind. This textbook offers an authoritative introduction to Bayesian cognitive science and a unifying theoretical perspective on how the mind works. Part I provides an introduction to the key mathematical ideas and illustrations with examples from the psychological literature, including detailed derivations of specific models and references that can be used to learn more about the underlying principles. Part II details more advanced topics and their applications before engaging with critiques of the reverse-engineering approach. Written by experts at the forefront of new research, this comprehensive text brings the fields of cognitive science and artificial intelligence back together and establishes a firmly grounded mathematical and computational foundation for the understanding of human intelligence. The only textbook comprehensively introducing the Bayesian approach to cognition Written by pioneers in the field Offers cutting-edge coverage of Bayesian cognitive science's research frontiers.
The Brain Abstracted: Simplification in the History and Philosophy of Neuroscience by
An exciting, new framework for interpreting the philosophical significance of neuroscience. All science needs to simplify, but when the object of research is something as complicated as the brain, this challenge can stretch the limits of scientific possibility. In fact, in The Brain Abstracted, an avowedly "opinionated" history of neuroscience, M. Chirimuuta argues that, due to the brain's complexity, neuroscientific theories have only captured partial truths-and "neurophilosophy" is unlikely to be achieved. Looking at the theory and practice of neuroscience, both past and present, Chirimuuta shows how the science has been shaped by the problem of brain complexity and the need, in science, to make things as simple as possible. From this history, Chirimuuta draws lessons for debates in philosophy of science over the limits and definition of science and in philosophy of mind over explanations of consciousness and the mind-body problem. The Brain Abstracted is the product of a historical rupture that has become visible in the twenty-first century, between the "classical" scientific approach, which seeks simple, intelligible principles underlying the manifest complexity of nature, and a data-driven engineering approach, which dispenses with the search for elegant, explanatory laws and models. In the space created by this rupture, Chirimuuta finds grounds for theoretical and practical humility. Her aim in The Brain Abstracted is not to reform neuroscience, or offer advice to neuroscientists, but rather to interpret their work-and to suggest a new framework for interpreting the philosophical significance of neuroscience.
Cognitive Control along the Language Continuum by
This book provides a comprehensive review of the interactions between language and cognitive control in children. Broadening its scope beyond specific dimensions of language and cognition, it provides an extensive review of the dynamic changes in cognitive control along the entire language continuum. It integrates behavioral and neurophysiological findings from different disciplines, such as bilingualism, cognitive psychology, and communication disorders. A better understanding of the relationship between cognitive control and language in various speakers allows us to develop more sensitive experimental paradigms, as well as more efficient assessment and intervention methods.
Cognitive Control of Action: Selected Works of David A. Rosenbaum by
In this volume, David A. Rosenbaum reflects on his distinguished career as an eminent scholar in the field of human perception and performance. Offering a unique perspective on the cognitive psychology of physical action control, the book charts Rosenbaum's development as one of the pioneers of the field. Featuring a newly written introduction in which the author offers a unique insight into his initial work on the movement precuing technique, along with coverage of other phenomena and models related to the translation of mental life into physical behavior, the book is essential reading for students and researchers interested in human perception, motor control, and embodiment.
From Chaos to Stability: How the Brain Invents Our Conscious Worlds by
At the heart of Israel Rosenfield and Edward Ziff 's inquiry is the nature of brain function. The sensory world is disordered and chaotic. There are no labels for tables, chairs, or airplanes, and indeed there are no colors, sounds, or smells, only photons, airwaves, odorant molecules, and so on, which are unlabeled and impossible to "know." To make sense of this chaos, the brain must simplify the sensory inputs by creating, or inventing, the colors, sounds, smells, forms, and faces that are perceived in consciousness, which become a proxy for the chaotic world in which we live. The brain's ability to generalize and categorize these invented perceptions, and to relate them to one another, enables it to form memories, which are not fixed representations of things past, but a dynamic and malleable function of the brain that is relational. When formation of these worlds breaks down, neurological differences arise. Although the mechanisms that transform sensory chaos into the simplified perceptions experienced in consciousness remain elusive, Rosenfield and Ziff relate what they have learned by means of imaging brain activity and by mapping the neural circuits that comprise memory traces. In addition, the authors offer perspectives for future studies of consciousness.
From Geometry to Behavior: An Introduction to Spatial Cognition by
An overview of the mechanisms and evolution of spatial cognition, integrating evidence from psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and computational geometry. Understanding how we deal with space requires input from many fields, including ethology, neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, linguistics, geography, and spatial information theory. In From Geometry to Behavior, cognitive neuroscientist Hanspeter A. Mallot provides an overview of the basic mechanisms of spatial behavior in animals and humans, showing how they combine to support higher-level performance. Mallot explores the biological mechanisms of dealing with space, from the perception of visual space to the constructions of large space representations - that is, the cognitive map. The volume is also relevant to the epistemology of spatial knowledge in the philosophy of mind. Mallot aims to establish spatial cognition as a scientific field in its own right. His general approach is psychophysical, in that it focuses on quantitative descriptions of behavioral performance and their real-world determinants, thus connecting to the work of theorists in computational neuroscience, robotics, and computational geometry. After an overview of scientific thinking about space, Mallot covers spatial behavior and its underlying mechanisms in the order of increasing memory involvement. He describes the cognitive processes that underlie advanced spatial behaviors such as directed search, wayfinding, spatial planning, spatial reasoning, object building and manipulation, and communication about space. These mechanisms are part of the larger cognitive apparatus that also serves visual and object cognition; understanding events, actions, and causality; and social cognition, which includes language. Of all of these cognitive domains, spatial cognition most likely occurred first in the course of evolution and is the most widespread throughout the animal kingdom.
From Perception to Pleasure: The Neuroscience of Music and Why We Love It by
Why do we love music? What enables us to create it, perceive it, and enjoy it? In From Perception to Pleasure, Robert Zatorre provides answers to these questions from the perspective of cognitive neuroscience, explaining how we get from perception of sound patterns to pleasurable responses. The book is organized around a central thesis: that pleasure in music arises from interactions between cortical loops that enable processing of sound patterns, and subcortical circuits responsible for reward and valuation. This model integrates knowledge derived from basic neuroscience of the auditory system and of reward mechanisms with the concept that perception and pleasure depend on mechanisms of prediction, anticipation, and valuation.The first part of the book describes the pathways to and from the auditory cortex that generate internal representations of musical structure at different levels of abstraction, which then interact with memory, sensory-motor, and other cognitive mechanisms that are essential to perceive and produce music. The second part of the book focuses on the functional anatomy of the dopaminergic reward system; its involvement in musical pleasure; the links between prediction, surprise, and complexity; and what happens when the system is disrupted.The book is richly illustrated to help the reader follow the scientific findings. Most of all, From Perception to Pleasure provides an integrative model for a large body of scientific knowledge that explains how patterns of abstract sounds can generate profoundly moving hedonic experiences.
From Sensing to Sentience: How Feeling Emerges from the Brain by
Sentience is the feeling aspect of consciousness. In From Sensing to Sentience, Todd Feinberg develops a new theory called Neurobiological Emergentism (NBE) that integrates biological, neurobiological, evolutionary, and philosophical perspectives to explain how sentience naturally emerges from the brain. Emergent properties are broadly defined as features of a complex system that are not present in the parts of a system when they are considered in isolation but may emerge as a system feature of those parts and their interactions. Tracing a journey of billions of years of evolution from life to the basic sensing capabilities of single-celled organisms up to the sentience of animals with advanced nervous systems, including all vertebrates (for instance, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals), arthropods (insects and crabs), and cephalopods such as the octopus, Feinberg argues that sentience gradually but eventually emerged along diverse evolutionary lines with the evolution of sufficiently neurobiologically complex brains during the Cambrian period over 520 million years ago. Ultimately, Feinberg argues that viewing sentience as an emergent process can explain both its neurobiological basis as well its perplexing personal nature, thus solving the historical philosophical problem of the apparent "explanatory gap" between the brain and experience.
The Frontal Cortex: Organization, Networks, and Function by
An in-depth investigation of the structure, neuronal mechanisms, and computations of the frontal lobe that enable higher-level thought. Experts from neurobiology, neuroanatomy, evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, computational neuroscience, and clinical science examine how the neuronal structure of the frontal lobes enables unique aspects of higher-level thought. Implications for understanding disrupted function in neurological and psychiatric disorders, as well as societal issues, such as volitional control of behavior and educational practice, are also considered.
Language, Cognition, and the Way We Think: An Interdisciplinary Approach by
The cognitive potency of the human mind can be fully appreciated only if it is conceived of as a linguistic mind. This is the starting point of Nikola Kompa's investigation into the relationship between language and cognition. Underpinned by philosophical ideas from Plato to Ockham, and from Locke to Vygotsky, Kompa uses theories within the philosophy of language, mind, and cognitive science and draws on neuro-psychology and psycholinguistic studies to explore core ideas about language and cognition. How did language transform our ancestors into creatures of considerable cognitive and social accomplishment? How does language augment cognition? Is language only a means of communicating our ideas or is a means of thinking itself? Her study has repercussions for a broad range of questions, from how humans differ from other animals and what a cognitive architecture looks like if it approximates the achievements of the human mind, to questions of education and cross-cultural communication. Theorizing and forming hypotheses about how language and cognition might have coevolved, how the availability of (symbolic) labels enhance various cognitive functions, what the cognitive function of inner speech might be and how inner speech and thought relate to each other, Kompa addresses the perennial philosophical question of what the benefits of having a language might be, and brings into sharper relief the intimate connection between linguistic and other cognitive functions. Informed by recent discussions on language evolution, labels, and inner speech, this timely contribution helps us understand more about how language changes the way we think.
Neural Bases of Timing and Time Perception by
Neural Bases of Timing and Time Perception provides a cutting-edge overview of the main contemporary neuroscientific methods and findings in this burgeoning field. Featuring an international collection of leading researchers, this text reports the main methodological tools available to address important questions in the field, what discoveries these tools led to, and what avenues remain to be explored. The book provides concise descriptions of the latest neuroscientific developments about time perception and temporal processing (for instance, how to use TMS or tDCS to study time judgments); and signposts avenues for clinicians to develop new insights for understanding pathologies (as in the case of schizophrenia, for instance) from a temporal perspective. This book will appeal to anyone interested in how we perceive the passing of time, whether from an academic or clinical background.
Neuroethics and Cultural Diversity by
There is a growing discussion concerning the relationship between neuroethical reflections and cultural diversity, which is among the most impactful factors in shaping neuroethics, both as a scientific discipline and a social enterprise. The impacts of culture on science and its public perception are particularly relevant to neuroethics, which aims to facilitate the creation of an interface between neuroscience and society at large. Time is ripe for neuroethics to review the influence of the culturally specific contexts from which it originated (i.e. North America and Western Europe) and to also include other cultural perspectives in the discussion. This book illustrates a convergent approach among different cultures in identifying the main issues raised by neuroscience and emerging technologies. This should be taken as a starting point for advancing in the search for shared solutions, which are, if not definitive, at least sufficiently reliable to be translated into democratic deliberative processes.
On the Origin and Nature of Cognition: A Topological Model of Cognitive Architecture by
This monograph is an extension of the earlier monographs dealing with the application of the new modified involuted manifold model. This monograph has two objectives. Firstly, it seeks to integrate neuronal organization with cognitive functionalities. Secondly, it tries to formalize a structural template of cognitive functionalities. It is based on the postulate that cognitive functionalities are essentially natural phenomena and therefore amenable to formal naturalistic description. Therefore, it employs a topological model of spacetime proposed earlier to define a new framework wherein neuronal networks occupy the four-dimensional configurations of spacetime, and cognitive functionalities occupy higher dimensional configurations of spacetime. Using the Darwinian conception of natural selection, the monograph outlines a model of natural selection operating at more than one level. Thus, natural selection at the four-dimensional configurations of spacetime leads to structural agnosticism so prevalent in neuronal organization. At the same time, natural selection at the higher dimensional configurations of spacetime leads to natural selection of cognitive functionalities. Since the proposed model offers a new computational paradigm formalized in another monograph, this monograph provides a new way to formalize cognitive computations.
The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience by
The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience brings together the leading developmental cognitive neuroscientists in the field that work on understanding human development, and the complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and brain maturational factors that shape social and cognitive functioning in development. It includes chapters on new, emerging research areas that show promise for understanding both brain and behaviour in development, such as nutrition and the microbiome gut-brain axis and sleep. Looking beyond early developmental changes, this handbook also places importance on the period of adolescence, which is an important developmental juncture. By assuming complexity from the outset, the developmental cognitive neuroscience research approach provides much needed insights into both the initial set-up of brain networks and cognitive mechanisms, and also into adaptability across the developmental trajectory. This is important not only for scientists studying typical and atypical development, but also for interventional work looking for critical or sensitive periods where interventions would be most effective. The developmental cognitive neuroscience research approach intersects nature and nurture and considers both health and disease models. It also focuses on understanding the complexity of human development, necessitating a multi-level and multi-factor research approach to grasp change and plasticity which, by definition, is multidisciplinary.The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience is a landmark volume, providing the reader with a comprehensive and state-of-the-art overview of current research in the field, whilst highlighting current gaps and directions for future research.
The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition, 2nd ed. by
Embodied cognition is one of the foremost areas of study and research in philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology and cognitive science. The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition is an outstanding guide and reference source to the key topics and debates in this exciting subject and essential reading for any student and scholar of philosophy of mind and cognitive science. Extensively revised and enlarged for this second edition, it comprises over forty chapters by a team of international contributors, the Handbook is divided into six parts: Historical underpinnings; Perspectives on embodied cognition; Applied embodied cognition: perception, language, and reasoning; Applied embodied cognition: social and moral cognition and emotion; Applied embodied cognition: memory, attention, and group cognition; and Meta-topics. The early chapters of the Handbook cover empirical and philosophical foundations of embodied cognition, focusing on Gibsonian and phenomenological approaches. Subsequent chapters cover additional, important themes common to work in embodied cognition, including embedded, extended and enactive cognition as well as chapters on empirical research in perception, language, reasoning, social and moral cognition, emotion, consciousness, memory, and learning and development. For the second edition many existing chapters have been revised and six new chapters added on: AI and robotics, predictive processing, second language learning, animal cognition, sport psychology and sense of self, brining the handbook fully up to date with current research and debate.