The simple task of grasping objects has been studied for centuries by scientists, therapists and engineers who have tried to understand and duplicate the versatility of the human hand. Using an interdisciplinary approach and new framework for looking at prehension, the authors uncover the subleties of the amazing interaction between the hand and the brain. They draw from such diverse fields as experimental psychology, kinesiology, robotics, neural networks, artificial intelligence, neuropsychology and rehabilitation. A triangle strategy is presented, starting from conceptual models that suggest both experimental and computational models. Chapters describe the multiple postures established by the hand, phases in the dynamic process of reaching for, grasping and manipulating various objects, and the constraints acting on such activity.

Appendices provide the complete anatomy of the upper limb, the basics of computational modelling, and the fundamentals of prosthetic and dextrous robot hands. The ultimate goal of this book is to develop a common vocabularly for multidisciplinary researchers who strive to understand a system as complex as the hand under the control of the human brain.

Drug addiction remains one of the most important public health problems in western societies and is a rising concern for developing nations. Over the past 3 decades, experimental research on the neurobiology and psychology of drug addiction has generated a torrent of exciting data, from the molecular up to the behavioral levels. As a result, a new and pressing challenge for addiction research is to formulate a synthetic theoretical framework that goes well beyond mere scientific eclectism to deepen our understanding of drug addiction and to foster our capacity to prevent and to cure drug addiction. Intrigued by the apparent irrational behavior of drug addicts, researchers from a wide range of scientific disciplines have formulated a plethora of theoretical schemes over the years to understand addiction. However, most of these theories and models are qualitative in nature and are formulated using terms that are often ill-defined. As a result, the empirical validity of these models has been difficult to test rigorously, which has served to generate more controversy than clarity. In this context, as in other scientific fields, mathematical and computational modeling should contribute to the development of more testable and rigorous models of addiction.

Since the appearance of the John O'Keefe and Lynn Nadel book in which they proposed that the hippocampus provides an abstract, internal representation of the animal's environment, considerable conceptual progress in the area of navigational information processing has been achieved. The purpose of the current work is to consolidate recent data and conceptual insights related to navigational insight processing in a format useful to both practitioners and advanced students in neuroscience.

Sensory substitution and augmentation devices are built to try to replace or enhance one sense by using another sense. For example, in tactile-vision, stimulation of the skin driven by input to a camera is used to replace the ordinary sense of vision that uses our eyes. The feelSpace belt aims to give people a magnetic sense of direction using vibrotactile stimulation driven by a digital compass. Fiona Macpherson brings together researchers -neuroscientists, psychologists and philosophers -who are developing these technologies, studying the minds and behaviour of subjects who use them. Sensory Substitution and Augmentation has three specific aims. The first is to present the latest empirical research on sensory substitution and augmentation. Second, philosophers and scientists who adopt a very different approach comment on the empirical work. Their commentaries are often critical of the assumptions of the work, but often they make and call for clarifications, suggest extensions to the work, or comment on features of the application of the work that the original authors do not. This is one reason why Sensory Substitution and Augmentation is more than simply a collection of papers on the same topic. Finally, philosophers look at the nature of sensory substitution and augmentation, tackling issues such as the nature and limitations of sensory substitution, the nature of the sensory experiences, theories of perception, and the potential for these devices to help those people with disabilities, in part due to future amendments of the devices that are suggested. Throughout, there is a particular focus on the nature of the perceptual experiences, the sensory interactions, and the changes that take place in the mind and brain over time that occur while using and training to use these technologies.

In nine chapters, contributors explore how genetic, hormonal, and neurological factors affect the behavior of males and females within complex environmental settings. Based on the latest research, the essays theorize about the causes of variation in sex differences in behavior and related phenomena. Sex differences in behavior are examined as a cross-species phenomenon and as having numerous biological as well as environmental determinants.

Human consciousness has perplexed philosophers, artists and scientists for centuries. Some hold it to be purely physical, while others believe it transcends the material world. Now comes a book that offers a new perspective - based entirely on evidence from the natural sciences - whereby materialism and dualism co-exist. The author - a distinguished pioneer of nonlinear dynamics - bases his argument on a hierarchical view of mental organization; a stairway. Atoms give rise to molecules, neurons form the brain and individual consciousness leads to shared culture. All steps are needed to complete the picture and each level derives from the previous one. The book shows specialists how each of their fields adds to the overall picture, while providing general readers with an introduction to this investigation.

Here is the first volume of a new series that explores diversity, culture, and ethnicity and their impact on neurological function. This volume features research-based evidence on the impact of Hispanic culture on brain-behavior relationships. Articles explore factors such as acculturation, assimilation, cultural identity, and migration patterns. Clinical issues, such as competence and minimal standards and novel approaches for appropriate assessments of Hispanic populations, are examined. You ll discover important new findings and gain fascinating perspectives from disciplines in both the life and social sciences.

Timing and Time Perception: Procedures, Measures, and Applications is a one-of-a-kind, collective effort to present the most utilized and known methods on timing and time perception. Specifically, it covers methods and analysis on circadian timing, synchrony perception, reaction/response time, time estimation, and alternative methods for clinical/developmental research. The book includes experimental protocols, programming code, and sample results and the content ranges from very introductory to more advanced so as to cover the needs of both junior and senior researchers. We hope that this will be the first step in future efforts to document experimental methods and analysis both in a theoretical and in a practical manner. Contributors are: Patricia V. Agostino, Rocio Alcala-Quintana, Fuat Balci, Karin Bausenhart, Richard Block, Ivana L. Bussi, Carlos S. Caldart, Mariagrazia Capizzi, Xiaoqin Chen, Angel Correa, Massimiliano Di Luca, Celine Z. Duval, Mark T. Elliott, Dagmar Fraser, David Freestone, Miguel A. Garcia-Perez, Anne Giersch, Simon Grondin, Nori Jacoby, Florian Klapproth, Franziska Kopp, Maria Kostaki, Laurence Lalanne, Giovanna Mioni, Trevor B. Penney, Patrick E. Poncelet, Patrick Simen, Ryan Stables, Rolf Ulrich, Argiro Vatakis, Dominic Ward, Alan M. Wing, Kieran Yarrow, and Dan Zakay.

Cognition and artificial intelligence are entering a new era in which the aspects of symbolic manipulation and of connectionism begin to come together. This leads to a dialog of truly interdisciplinary character. The book covers aspects of fuzzy logic, case based reasoning, learning as well as meaning, language, and consciousness. The authors of this topical volume have their background in logic, computer science, physics and mathematics, philosophy, psychology and neurobiology.

Cluster analysis is a multivariate classification technique that allows for identification of homogenous subgroups within diverse samples based on shared characteristics. In recent years, cluster analysis has been increasingly applied to psychological and neuropsychological variables to address a number of empirical questions. This book provides an overview of cluster analysis, including statistical and methodological considerations in its application to neurobehavioral variables. First, an introduction to cluster analysis is presented that emphasizes issues of relevance to neuropsychological research, including controversies surrounding it use. Cluster analysis is then applied to clinical disorders that do not have an associated prototypical neuropsychological profile, including traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia, and health problems associated with homelessness. In a second application, cluster analysis is used to investigate the course of normal memory development. Finally, cluster analysis is applied to classification of brain injury severity in children and adolescents who sustained traumatic brain injury.

How did we get from unconscious material forces to the dazzling intricacy of the human mind? Standard evolutionary theory has not provided us with a continuous picture of that long emergence. In consequence, psychological theories remain highly fragmented, without deeper roots or foundations, while the general public either remain confused, or invoke miracles or the hand of an intelligent designer. This book provides new concepts from dynamic systems theory, and the new evolutionary synthesis, to present a comprehensive overview of the evolution of cognition. It combines ideas about complexity and environmental structure to highlight the emergence of intelligent systems very early in evolution. Intelligent systems came to dominate evolution through increasing complexity, including cell signalling, epigenetics, developmental systems, behaviour, brain and cognitive systems, to culminate in the human cognitive and other mental systems. This volume has fundamental implications for psychological theory and our understanding of humanity.

When conducting scientific research in any field, it is not sufficient to simply design thoughtful and informative experiments to explore ideas and hypotheses. The experiments must be conducted in such a manner that the data generated effectively address the ideas and hypotheses under study. Collecting good data necessitates the use of good methods, techniques, and instrumentation. Behavioral neuroscience is most certainly a field that, over the years, has required novel, inventive, and effective methods and tech niques to collect data on a rather difficult subject, namely, how the brain and nervous system encode behavior. Perhaps one of the most interesting things about the field of behav ioral neuroscience is that most scientists in this field are engaged in a variety of activities-it is not always the same boring routine. The rule, not the ex ception, in this field is that investigators are trained in a variety of techniques and skills. This work requires knowledge of skills in such diverse tech niques as surgery, animal training, basic electronics, computer programming, statistics, and histology, as well as having a good theoretical background knowledge of the relevant literature and the creativity and logic necessary to design and execute critical experiments. One does not have to be an expert in all of these skills, and conversely not all skills require an expert."

Dyslexia, a language communication disability, remains a little-understood and controversial disease among specialists, educators, and parents. This cuts through the controversies within the academic and medical communities to provide a commonsense approach to defining and diagnosing dyslexia.

An examination of the relationship between imperial collapse, the emergence of successor nationalism, the exclusion of ethnic groups and the refugee experience. Written by both established authorities and younger scholars, this book offers a unique international comparative approach to the study of refugees at the end of empire

Behavioral neurology is founded on lesions of cortical gray matter, but recently the contributions of cerebral white matter to cognitive and emotional dysfunction have also attracted attention. The Behavioral Neurology of White Matter surveys this broad and fascinating field from a clinical perspective. Stimulated by recent improvements in neuroimaging, white matter has been carefully studied, and its role in the operations of cognition and emotion clarified by correlations with clinical observations. The relevance of normal and abnormal white matter to behavioral neurology is apparent in every context where this question has been examined: in development, aging, and in a host of diseases, intoxications, and injuries. Since the first edition of this book in 2001, steady advances have been made in understanding the neurobiology of white matter and its clinical significance; this edition provides a comprehensive update on this rapidly expanding field. Every chapter has been extensively rewritten, including a comprehensive revision of the account of the neuropsychiatry of white matter, a particularly challenging area. The syndrome of white matter dementia is discussed in detail, and its refinement with new information is considered along with the proposal of mild cognitive dysfunction as a precursor syndrome in many clinical settings. In addition, two new chapters have been added, one on the emerging area of white matter changes associated with neurodegenerative disorders such Alzheimer's Disease, and another on neurologic aspects of white matter including intriguing new information on white matter plasticity. A unifying theme is the concept of connectivity, as it is clear the white matter forms an essential component of the widespread distributed neural networks by which cognition and emotion are organized. In addition to the microconnectivity within gray matter that subserves information processing, the macroconnectivity of white matter enables information transfer - both are critical for the functions of the human mind.

This book develops and tests an ecological and evolutionary theory of the causes of human values the core beliefs that guide people s cognition and behavior and their variation across time and space around the world. We call this theory the parasite-stress theory of values or the parasite-stress theory of sociality. The evidence we present in our book indicates that both a wide span of human affairs and major aspects of human cultural diversity can be understood in light of variable parasite (infectious disease) stress and the range of value systems evoked by variable parasite stress. The same evidence supports the hypothesis that people have psychological adaptations that function to adopt values dependent upon local infectious-disease adversity. The authorshave identified key variables, variation in infectious disease adversity and in the core values it evokes, for understanding these topics and in novel and encompassing ways. Although the human species is the focus in the book, evidence presented in the book shows that the parasite-stress theory of sociality informs other topics in ecology and evolutionary biology such as variable family organization and speciation processes and biological diversity in general in non-human animals."

This conference was instigated by a combination of factors: The nature of the problem, the wide spread occupational epidemiology reported on eye symptoms and eye fatigue in the workplace, and the organizers' awareness of the complexity of the scientific and clinical bases of knowledge that might be usefully applied. The introduction of new methods into system neurobiology provides new insights into how we receive and process information from the external world, and act upon it. New, non-invasive methods have opened the way to direct observation of the human brain in action. Due particularly to the interaction between the visual and oculomotor requirements involved, several clinical and scientific fields intersect when these issues are considered. To provide clear vision the accommodative and pupillary mechanisms are used. To maintain binocularity, the ver gence oculomotor system, sensitive to fatigue, must attain congruence with accommodative levels. This accommodation-vergence linkage was a focus of our symposium."

What distinguishes good explanations in neuroscience from bad? Carl F. Craver constructs and defends standards for evaluating neuroscientific explanations that are grounded in a systematic view of what neuroscientific explanations are: descriptions of multilevel mechanisms. In developing this approach, he draws on a wide range of examples in the history of neuroscience (e.g. Hodgkin and Huxleys model of the action potential and LTP as a putative explanation for different kinds of memory), as well as recent philosophical work on the nature of scientific explanation. Readers in neuroscience, psychology, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of science will find much to provoke and stimulate them in this book.

Between the growing numbers of children and adolescents playing sports and the increased attention to head injuries by the larger sports community and the general public, pediatric concussions are emerging as a major concern. And as practitioners are seeing more young clients with head injuries, questions arise about age-appropriate assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and return to activity. Pediatric and Adolescent Concussion: Diagnosis, Management, and Outcomes offers evidence-based guidelines where few previously existed. This comprehensive volume clearly explains the effects of traumatic injury on the developing brain in sports- and non-sports-related contexts, and establishes a framework for immediate and long-term management, especially the crucial first 24 hours. Chapters provide a basic grounding in its subject with a history of concussion as a medical entity and a review of definitional and classification issues, take the reader through the steps of a neuropsychological evaluation, pinpoint post-injury issues, and offer strategies for the prevention of further or future injury. Pediatric and Adolescent Concussion: Diagnosis, Management, and Outcomes serves as both educational resource and practical framework for a wide array of professionals, including neuropsychologists, sports medicine physicians, child psychologists and psychiatrists, pediatric and family physicians, athletic trainers, social workers, and educators.

This volume provides comprehensive international coverage of neuropsyc hological rehabilitation. It contains scientific discussions of dynami c brain changes (genetics, structure, physiology and hormones) plastic ity of the central nervous system, functional reorganization and brain repair in response to treatment in all stages. Also emphasized is acu te care of early and precise diagnostics, and later theories and princ iples guiding rehabilitative treatment. This volume is intended for cl inicians, professionals and students in areas of neuropsychology, heal th psychology, rehabilitation, behavioral neurology, occupational and physical therapy.

Can psychoanalysis offer a new computer model? Can computer designers help psychoanalysts to understand their theory better?In contemporary publications human psyche is often related to neural networks. Why? The wiring in computers can also be related to application software. But does this really make sense?

Artificial Intelligence has tried to implement functions of human psyche. The reached achievements are remarkable; however, the goal to get a functional model of the mental apparatus was not reached. Was the selected direction incorrect?The editors are convinced: yes, and they try to give answers here. If one accepts that the brain is an information processing system, then one also has to accept that computer theories can be applied to the brain s functions, the human mental apparatus.

The contributors of this book - Solms, Panksepp, Sloman and many others who are all experts in computer design, psychoanalysis and neurology are united in one goal: finding synergy in their interdisciplinary fields."

In Everyday Conceptions of Emotion, prominent anthropologists, linguists and psychologists come together for the first time to discuss how emotions are conceptualised by people of different cultures and ages, speaking different languages. Anger, fear, jealousy and emotion itself are concepts that are bound up with the English language, embedded in a way of thinking, acting and speaking. At the same time, the metaphors underlying such concepts are often similar across languages, and children of different cultures follow common developmental pathways. The book thus discusses the interplay of social and cultural factors that humans share in their development of an understanding of the affective side of their lives. For researchers interested in emotion, development of concepts and language, cultural and linguistic influences on psychological processes.

This monograph reports on advances in the measurement and study of autonomic nervous system (ANS) dynamics as a source of reliable and effective markers for mood state recognition and assessment of emotional responses. Its primary impact will be in affective computing and the application of emotion-recognition systems. Applicative studies of biosignals such as: electrocardiograms; electrodermal responses; respiration activity; gaze points; and pupil-size variation are covered in detail, and experimental results explain how to characterize the elicited affective levels and mood states pragmatically and accurately using the information thus extracted from the ANS. Nonlinear signal processing techniques play a crucial role in understanding the ANS physiology underlying superficially noticeable changes and provide important quantifiers of cardiovascular control dynamics. These have prognostic value in both healthy subjects and patients with mood disorders. Moreover, Autonomic Nervous System Dynamics for Mood and Emotional-State Recognition proposes a novel probabilistic approach based on the point-process theory in order to model and characterize the instantaneous ANS nonlinear dynamics providing a foundation from which machine "understanding" of emotional response can be enhanced. Using mathematics and signal processing, this work also contributes to pragmatic issues such as emotional and mood-state modeling, elicitation, and non-invasive ANS monitoring. Throughout the text a critical review on the current state-of-the-art is reported, leading to the description of dedicated experimental protocols, novel and reliable mood models, and novel wearable systems able to perform ANS monitoring in a naturalistic environment. Biomedical engineers will find this book of interest, especially those concerned with nonlinear analysis, as will researchers and industrial technicians developing wearable systems and sensors for ANS monitoring.