Computational Theories and Their Implementation in the Brain

Computational Theories and Their Implementation in the Brain PDF Author: Lucia Vaina
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198749783
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
David Marr is known for his research on the brain in the late 60s and 70s, becoming one of the main founders of Computational Neuroscience when neuroscience was in its infancy. Written by distinguished contributors, this book evaluates the extent to which his theories are still valid and identifies areas that need to be altered.

Computational Theories and Their Implementation in the Brain

Computational Theories and Their Implementation in the Brain PDF Author: Lucia Vaina
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198749783
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
David Marr is known for his research on the brain in the late 60s and 70s, becoming one of the main founders of Computational Neuroscience when neuroscience was in its infancy. Written by distinguished contributors, this book evaluates the extent to which his theories are still valid and identifies areas that need to be altered.

The Spike

The Spike PDF Author: Mark Humphries
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691213518
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
The story of a neural impulse and what it reveals about how our brains work We see the last cookie in the box and think, can I take that? We reach a hand out. In the 2.1 seconds that this impulse travels through our brain, billions of neurons communicate with one another, sending blips of voltage through our sensory and motor regions. Neuroscientists call these blips “spikes.” Spikes enable us to do everything: talk, eat, run, see, plan, and decide. In The Spike, Mark Humphries takes readers on the epic journey of a spike through a single, brief reaction. In vivid language, Humphries tells the story of what happens in our brain, what we know about spikes, and what we still have left to understand about them. Drawing on decades of research in neuroscience, Humphries explores how spikes are born, how they are transmitted, and how they lead us to action. He dives into previously unanswered mysteries: Why are most neurons silent? What causes neurons to fire spikes spontaneously, without input from other neurons or the outside world? Why do most spikes fail to reach any destination? Humphries presents a new vision of the brain, one where fundamental computations are carried out by spontaneous spikes that predict what will happen in the world, helping us to perceive, decide, and react quickly enough for our survival. Traversing neuroscience’s expansive terrain, The Spike follows a single electrical response to illuminate how our extraordinary brains work.

Computational Theories of Interaction and Agency

Computational Theories of Interaction and Agency PDF Author: Philip Agre
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262510905
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 794

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Book Description
Over time the field of artificial intelligence has developed an "agent perspective" expanding its focus from thought to action, from search spaces to physical environments, and from problem-solving to long-term activity. Originally published as a special double volume of the journal Artificial Intelligence, this book brings together fundamental work by the top researchers in artificial intelligence, neural networks, computer science, robotics, and cognitive science on the themes of interaction and agency. It identifies recurring themes and outlines a methodology of the concept of "agency." The seventeen contributions cover the construction of principled characterizations of interactions between agents and their environments, as well as the use of these characterizations to guide analysis of existing agents and the synthesis of artificial agents.Artificial Intelligence series.Special Issues of Artificial Intelligence

Explaining the Computational Mind

Explaining the Computational Mind PDF Author: Marcin Milkowski
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262313928
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
A defense of the computational explanation of cognition that relies on mechanistic philosophy of science and advocates for explanatory pluralism. In this book, Marcin Milkowski argues that the mind can be explained computationally because it is itself computational—whether it engages in mental arithmetic, parses natural language, or processes the auditory signals that allow us to experience music. Defending the computational explanation against objections to it—from John Searle and Hilary Putnam in particular—Milkowski writes that computationalism is here to stay but is not what many have taken it to be. It does not, for example, rely on a Cartesian gulf between software and hardware, or mind and brain. Milkowski's mechanistic construal of computation allows him to show that no purely computational explanation of a physical process will ever be complete. Computationalism is only plausible, he argues, if you also accept explanatory pluralism. Milkowski sketches a mechanistic theory of implementation of computation against a background of extant conceptions, describing four dissimilar computational models of cognition. He reviews other philosophical accounts of implementation and computational explanation and defends a notion of representation that is compatible with his mechanistic account and adequate vis à vis the four models discussed earlier. Instead of arguing that there is no computation without representation, he inverts the slogan and shows that there is no representation without computation—but explains that representation goes beyond purely computational considerations. Milkowski's arguments succeed in vindicating computational explanation in a novel way by relying on mechanistic theory of science and interventionist theory of causation.

The Brain from Inside Out

The Brain from Inside Out PDF Author: György Buzsáki MD, PhD
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190905395
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
Is there a right way to study how the brain works? Following the empiricist's tradition, the most common approach involves the study of neural reactions to stimuli presented by an experimenter. This 'outside-in' method fueled a generation of brain research and now must confront hidden assumptions about causation and concepts that may not hold neatly for systems that act and react. György Buzsáki's The Brain from Inside Out examines why the outside-in framework for understanding brain function has become stagnant and points to new directions for understanding neural function. Building upon the success of 2011's Rhythms of the Brain, Professor Buzsáki presents the brain as a foretelling device that interacts with its environment through action and the examination of action's consequence. Consider that our brains are initially filled with nonsense patterns, all of which are gibberish until grounded by action-based interactions. By matching these nonsense "words" to the outcomes of action, they acquire meaning. Once its circuits are "calibrated" by action and experience, the brain can disengage from its sensors and actuators, and examine "what happens if" scenarios by peeking into its own computation, a process that we refer to as cognition. The Brain from Inside Out explains why our brain is not an information-absorbing coding device, as it is often portrayed, but a venture-seeking explorer constantly controlling the body to test hypotheses. Our brain does not process information: it creates it.

Vision

Vision PDF Author: David Marr
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262514621
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 429

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Book Description
Available again, an influential book that offers a framework for understanding visual perception and considers fundamental questions about the brain and its functions. David Marr's posthumously published Vision (1982) influenced a generation of brain and cognitive scientists, inspiring many to enter the field. In Vision, Marr describes a general framework for understanding visual perception and touches on broader questions about how the brain and its functions can be studied and understood. Researchers from a range of brain and cognitive sciences have long valued Marr's creativity, intellectual power, and ability to integrate insights and data from neuroscience, psychology, and computation. This MIT Press edition makes Marr's influential work available to a new generation of students and scientists. In Marr's framework, the process of vision constructs a set of representations, starting from a description of the input image and culminating with a description of three-dimensional objects in the surrounding environment. A central theme, and one that has had far-reaching influence in both neuroscience and cognitive science, is the notion of different levels of analysis—in Marr's framework, the computational level, the algorithmic level, and the hardware implementation level. Now, thirty years later, the main problems that occupied Marr remain fundamental open problems in the study of perception. Vision provides inspiration for the continuing efforts to integrate knowledge from cognition and computation to understand vision and the brain.

Key Thinkers in Neuroscience

Key Thinkers in Neuroscience PDF Author: Andy Wickens
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351271024
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
Key Thinkers in Neuroscience provides insight into the life and work of some of the most significant minds that have shaped the field. Studies of the human brain have been varied and complex, and the field is rich in pioneers whose endeavours have broken new ground in neuroscience. Adopting a chronological and multi-disciplinary approach to each Key Thinker, the book highlights their extraordinary contributions to neuroscience. Beginning with Santiago Ramon y Cajal and finishing with the philosophers Patricia Churchland and Paul Churchland, this book provides a comprehensive look at the new ideas and discoveries that have shaped neuroscientific research and practice, and the people that have been invaluable to this field. This book will be an indispensable companion for all students of neuroscience and the history of psychology, as well as anyone interested in how we have built our knowledge of the brain.

Neurocognitive Mechanisms

Neurocognitive Mechanisms PDF Author: Gualtiero Piccinini
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198866283
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 413

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Book Description
Gualtiero Piccinini presents a systematic and rigorous philosophical defence of the computational theory of cognition. His view posits that cognition involves neural computation within multilevel neurocognitive mechanisms, and includes novel ideas about ontology, functions, neural representation, neural computation, and consciousness.

Understanding the Prefrontal Cortex

Understanding the Prefrontal Cortex PDF Author: Richard Passingham
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019258300X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 592

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Book Description
A successor to the acclaimed 'Neurobiology of the Prefrontal Cortex', 'Understanding the Prefrontal Cortex' presents a careful study of the anatomical connections in this brain region, showing how each area and subarea of the brain has a unique pattern of connections, and exploring the transformation that this area performs - from its inputs to it outputs. The book starts with two chapters of foundational material, before considering five subdivisions of the prefrontal cortex, and looking at the transformation that each one performs. Next it considers how the prefrontal cortex interacts with the rest of the brain, including not only cortical areas but also subcortical areas such as the basal ganglia and cerebellum. The book ends with a final section in which these principles are applied to the human brain. It starts by discussing the expansion of the prefrontal cortex during human evolution. It then considers how the human brain has co-opted mechanisms that existed in our primate ancestors, and by providing new inputs had extended them so as to support reasoning, remembering events from the distant past and imagining events in the distant future, the sense of self, language, the ability to understand the mental states of others, and the ability to cooperate and learn social and moral rules. Written by a leading brain scientist, the book will be an important and influential contribution to the neuroscience literature.

From the Retina to the Neocortex

From the Retina to the Neocortex PDF Author: Lucia Vaina
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783764334727
Category : Brain
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description