Showing papers in "Trends in Cognitive Sciences in 2004"

TL;DR: Recent research has begun to shed light on the larger function of the ACC, suggesting some new possibilities concerning how conflict monitoring might fit into the cingulate's overall role in cognition and action.

TL;DR: Advances in human lesion-mapping support the functional localization of such inhibition to right IFC alone, and future research should investigate the generality of this proposed inhibitory function to other task domains, and its interaction within a wider network.

TL;DR: This work reviews recent behavioral and neuropsychological evidence that these ontogenetically and phylogenetically shared abilities rest on two core systems for representing number, and identifies one system for representing large, approximate numerical magnitudes, and a second system for the precise representation of small numbers of individual objects.

TL;DR: It is suggested that network analysis offers new fundamental insights into global and integrative aspects of brain function, including the origin of flexible and coherent cognitive states within the neural architecture.

TL;DR: It is claimed that the fundamental mechanism at the basis of the experiential understanding of others' actions is the activation of the mirror neuron system, and a similar mechanism, but involving theactivation of viscero-motor centers, underlies the experience of the emotions of others.

TL;DR: It is shown that, depending on the type of information, different combination and integration strategies are used and that prior knowledge is often required for interpreting the sensory signals.

TL;DR: A new approach combines independent component analysis (ICA), time/frequency analysis, and trial-by-trial visualization that measures EEG source dynamics without requiring an explicit head model.

TL;DR: The existence of social norms is one of the big unsolved problems in social cognitive science Although no other concept is invoked more frequently in the social sciences, we still know little about how social norms are formed, the forces determining their content, and the cognitive and emotional requirements that enable a species to establish and enforce social norms as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: It is suggested that the processing of self-referential stimuli in cortical midline structures (CMS) is a fundamental component in generating a model of the self.

TL;DR: It is concluded that more detailed research is needed to fractionate the executive system in autism by assessing a wide range of executive functions as well as their neuroanatomical correlates in the same individuals across the lifespan.

TL;DR: Empirical support is presented for the notion that changes in specific neural networks that hold an updated map of body shape and posture are compatible with the inclusion of tools in the "Body Schema", as if the hand were elongated to the tip of the tool.

TL;DR: Evidence suggesting that the anterior cingulate cortex plays a key role in the physical-social pain overlap is reviewed and it is suggested that the physical and social pain circuitry might share components of a broader neural alarm system.

TL;DR: A medial superior frontal gyrus (SFG) region centred on the pre-supplementary motor area is involved in the selection of action sets whereas the anterior cingulate cortex has a fundamental role in relating actions to their consequences, both positive reinforcement outcomes and errors, and in guiding decisions about which actions are worth making.

TL;DR: The Reverse Hierarchy Theory is extended to describe the dynamics of skill acquisition and interpret recent behavioral and electrophysiological findings.

TL;DR: It is argued that the brain addresses problems of integrating distributed codes in perception by creating multi-layered networks of bindings - 'event files' - that temporarily link codes of perceptual events, the current task context, and the actions performed therein.

TL;DR: Results from recent neuroimaging studies suggest that the different types of vocal information could be processed in partially dissociated functional pathways, and support a neurocognitive model of voice perception largely similar to that proposed for face perception.

TL;DR: A new framework is proposed that relates gamma oscillations observed in human, as well as in animal, experiments to two underlying processes: the comparison of memory contents with stimulus-related information and the utilization of signals derived from this comparison.

TL;DR: It is argued that conversation is easy because of an interactive processing mechanism that leads to the alignment of linguistic representations between partners that is functionally similar to the automatic links between perception and behaviour.

TL;DR: These findings indicate that behaviors associated with complex tool use arise from functionally specialized networks involving temporal, parietal and frontal areas within the left cerebral hemisphere.

TL;DR: The advent of functional magnetic resonance imaging in non-human primates has facilitated comparison of the neurobiology of cognitive functions in humans and macaque monkeys, but there are profound functional differences in the intraparietal cortex suggesting that not all its constituent areas are homologous.

TL;DR: It is proposed that early "theory of mind" is a modular-heuristic process of domain-specific learning, and that this process develops slowly through the preschool period and well beyond.

TL;DR: Based on the anatomical connections of these areas, and the Hebbian learning rule, a simple but powerful account of how the monkey brain can learn to understand the actions of others by associating them with self-produced actions, at the also discriminating its own actions from those of others is proposed.

TL;DR: It is argued that language can play a significant role in structuring, or restructuring, a domain as fundamental as spatial cognition, and to work out how to account for cross-cultural cognitive diversity in core cognitive domains.

TL;DR: The study of these cognitive penetrations into action will narrow the brain-mind gap and will facilitate the development of a cognitive neuroscience perspective on bimanual movement control.

TL;DR: It is argued that cognitive limitations such as temporal discounting, numerical discrimination and memory make reciprocity difficult for animals.

TL;DR: A view is presented that is currently developing out of the converging work of developmental psychologists, evolutionary psychologists and cognitive anthropologists about the emergence and evolution of cultures.

TL;DR: The hierarchical LOCs identified by this analysis are useful for understanding the complex structure of conscious experience in adults, and they provide a metric for measuring the level at which consciousness is operating in specific situations.

TL;DR: Results support the somatic-marker hypothesis of consciousness (a modern successor to the James-Lange theory of emotion) and the neuroanatomical concept that human awareness is based on a phylogenetically distinct interoceptive pathway.

TL;DR: For instance, the authors showed that motor development is not just a question of gaining control over muscles, but also a question about why a particular movement is made, how the movements are planned, and how they anticipate what is going to happen next.

TL;DR: It is argued here that many neurophysiological experiments on attention and reward do not permit a clean dissociation between the two, giving rise to uncertainty about how signals related to attention and rewards are distributed in the brain.