A neural global workspace model for conscious attention
TL;DR: A neurocognitive model is presented in which consciousness is defined as a global integration and dissemination system - nested in a large-scale, distributed array of specialized bioprocessors - which controls the allocation of the processing resources of the central nervous system.
About: This article is published in Neural Networks.The article was published on 1997-10-01 and is currently open access. It has received 67 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Global Workspace Theory & Neural correlates of consciousness.
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TL;DR: A wide variety of data on capacity limits suggesting that the smaller capacity limit in short-term memory tasks is real is brought together and a capacity limit for the focus of attention is proposed.
Abstract: Miller (1956) summarized evidence that people can remember about seven chunks in short-term memory (STM) tasks. How- ever, that number was meant more as a rough estimate and a rhetorical device than as a real capacity limit. Others have since suggested that there is a more precise capacity limit, but that it is only three to five chunks. The present target article brings together a wide vari- ety of data on capacity limits suggesting that the smaller capacity limit is real. Capacity limits will be useful in analyses of information processing only if the boundary conditions for observing them can be carefully described. Four basic conditions in which chunks can be identified and capacity limits can accordingly be observed are: (1) when information overload limits chunks to individual stimulus items, (2) when other steps are taken specifically to block the recoding of stimulus items into larger chunks, (3) in performance discontinuities caused by the capacity limit, and (4) in various indirect effects of the capacity limit. Under these conditions, rehearsal and long-term memory cannot be used to combine stimulus items into chunks of an unknown size; nor can storage mechanisms that are not capacity- limited, such as sensory memory, allow the capacity-limited storage mechanism to be refilled during recall. A single, central capacity limit averaging about four chunks is implicated along with other, noncapacity-limited sources. The pure STM capacity limit expressed in chunks is distinguished from compound STM limits obtained when the number of separately held chunks is unclear. Reasons why pure capacity estimates fall within a narrow range are discussed and a capacity limit for the focus of attention is proposed.
5,677 citations
234 citations
TL;DR: A neural blackboard architecture for sentence structure, where neural structures that encode for words are temporarily bound in a manner that preserves the structure of the sentence, is presented and shown that the architecture solves the four problems presented by Jackendoff.
Abstract: Human cognition is unique in the way in which it relies on combinatorial (or compositional) structures. Language provides ample evidence for the existence of combinatorial structures, but they can also be found in visual cognition. To understand the neural basis of human cognition, it is therefore essential to understand how combinatorial structures can be instantiated in neural terms. In his recent book on the foundations of language, Jackendoff described four fundamental problems for a neural instantiation of combinatorial structures: the massiveness of the binding problem, the problem of 2, the problem of variables, and the transformation of combinatorial structures from working memory to long-term memory. This paper aims to show that these problems can be solved by means of neural "blackboard" architectures. For this purpose, a neural blackboard architecture for sentence structure is presented. In this architecture, neural structures that encode for words are temporarily bound in a manner that preserves the structure of the sentence. It is shown that the architecture solves the four problems presented by Jackendoff. The ability of the architecture to instantiate sentence structures is illustrated with examples of sentence complexity observed in human language performance. Similarities exist between the architecture for sentence structure and blackboard architectures for combinatorial structures in visual cognition, derived from the structure of the visual cortex. These architectures are briefly discussed, together with an example of a combinatorial structure in which the blackboard architectures for language and vision are combined. In this way, the architecture for language is grounded in perception. Perspectives and potential developments of the architectures are discussed.
189 citations
TL;DR: This survey of experimental findings and theoretical insights of the past 25 years places the brain firmly into the conceptual framework of nonlinear dynamics, operating at the brink of criticality, which is achieved and maintained by self-organization.
Abstract: This survey of experimental findings and theoretical insights of the past 25 years places the brain firmly into the conceptual framework of nonlinear dynamics, operating at the brink of criticality, which is achieved and maintained by self-organization. It is here the basis for proposing that the application of the twin concepts of scaling and universality of the theory of non-equilibrium phase transitions can serve as an informative approach for elucidating the nature of underlying neural-mechanisms, with emphasis on the dynamics of recursively reentrant activity flow in intracortical and cortico-subcortical neuronal loops.
154 citations
Cites result from "A neural global workspace model for..."
...…in neurophysiological terms were introduced by Baars and associates in a ‘neural global workspace’ (Newman and Baars 1993), primarily in relation to attention in schemas of neural network models (Newman et al. 1997), and similar to those which Taylor and Alavi (1993) had applied earlier....
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TL;DR: This work suggests that consciousness arose as a solution to problems in the logistics of decision making in mobile animals with centralized brains, and has correspondingly ancient roots.
148 citations
References
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17 Jul 1986
15,313 citations
TL;DR: A new supervised learning procedure for systems composed of many separate networks, each of which learns to handle a subset of the complete set of training cases, which is demonstrated to be able to be solved by a very simple expert network.
Abstract: We present a new supervised learning procedure for systems composed of many separate networks, each of which learns to handle a subset of the complete set of training cases. The new procedure can be viewed either as a modular version of a multilayer supervised network, or as an associative version of competitive learning. It therefore provides a new link between these two apparently different approaches. We demonstrate that the learning procedure divides up a vowel discrimination task into appropriate subtasks, each of which can be solved by a very simple expert network.
4,338 citations
"A neural global workspace model for..." refers background in this paper
...…engineering problems such as object recognition and robot motion control, the concept of combining modular networks using gating connections has been actively exploited to develop highly reliable systems (Jacobs et al., 1991; Hampshire and Waibel, 1992; Jacobs and Jordan, 1993; Cho and Kim, 1995)....
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Book•
01 Jan 1988
TL;DR: In this article, the basic model of conscious representations are internally consistent and globally distributed, and the neural basis of conscious experience is explained, including the fundamental role of context, goal contexts, spontaneous problem solving and the stream of consciousness.
Abstract: List of figures and tables Preface Part I Introduction: 1 What is to be explained? some preliminaries Part II The Basic Model: 2 Model 1: conscious representations are internally consistent and globally distributed 3 The neural basis of conscious experience Part III The Fundamental Role of Context: 4 Model 2: unconscious contexts shape conscious experience 5 Model 3: conscious experience is informative - it always demands some degree of adaptation Part IV Goals and Voluntary Control: 6 Model 4: Goal contexts, spontaneous problem solving, and the stream of consciousness 7 Model 5: volition as ideomotor control of thought and action Part V Attention, self, and conscious self-monitoring: 8 Model 6: attention as control of access to consciousness 9 Model 7 Self as the dominant context of experience and action Part VI Consciousness is Functional: 10 The functions of consciousness Part VII Conclusion: 11 A summary and some future directions Glossary and guide to theoretical claims References Name index, Subject index
2,722 citations
"A neural global workspace model for..." refers background or methods or result in this paper
...Certainly its serious consideration is a fairly recent development (Jackendorf, 1987; Baars, 1988; JohnsonLaird, 1988; Edelman, 1989; Crick and Koch, 1990a), although a brief enthusiasm for the subject surfaced, and submerged, three decades ago (Eccles, 1966; Penfield, 1975)....
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...Indeed, the general term we have used to describe it elsewhere is the ’extended reticular–thalamic activation system’, or ’ERTAS’ (Baars, 1988; Newman and Baars, 1993; Newman, 1995a, 1995b, 1997)....
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...The ’intralaminar complex’ (Newman and Baars, 1993) is also integral to the ERTAS system, as the non-specific portion of the thalamocortical circuit....
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...The stream of consciousness arises out of the operations of the GW system — and, over time, our sense of being a coherent ‘I’ (the memory and intention systems vital to this aspect are beyond the scope of this paper; see Baars et al., in press; Newman, 1997)....
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...The common receptive fields of typical bimodal cells in this array show a significant degree of congruence....
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Book•
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: The Prefrontal Cortex, Fifth Edition, provides users with a thoroughly updated version of this comprehensive work that has historically served as the classic reference on this part of the brain.
Abstract: The Prefrontal Cortex, Fifth Edition, provides users with a thoroughly updated version of this comprehensive work that has historically served as the classic reference on this part of the brain. The book offers a unifying, interdisciplinary perspective that is lacking in other volumes written about the frontal lobes, and is, once again, written by the award-winning author who discovered "memory cells," the physiological substrate of working memory. The fifth edition constitutes a comprehensive update, including all the major advances made on the physiology and cognitive neuroscience of the region since publication in 2008. All chapters have been fully revised, and the overview of prefrontal functions now interprets experimental data within the theoretical framework of the new paradigm of cortical structure and dynamics (the Cognit Paradigm), addressing the accompanying social, economic, and cultural implications. * Provides a distinctly interdisciplinary view of the prefrontal cortex, covering all major methodologies, from comparative anatomy to modern imaging* Unique analysis and synthesis of a large body of basic and clinical data on the subject (more than 2000 references)* Written by an award-winning author who discovered "memory cells," the physiological substrate of working memory* Synthesizes evidence that the prefrontal cortex constitutes a complex pre-adaptive system* Incorporates emerging study of the role of the frontal lobes in social, economic, and cultural adaptation
2,589 citations
TL;DR: The basal ganglia circuitry is designed so as to modulate in a precise manner the neuronal activity of several brain functional systems, which are involved in the direct control of different aspects of psychomotor behavior.
2,085 citations
"A neural global workspace model for..." refers background in this paper
...Newman (1997) goes on to cite evidence (Parent and Hazrati, 1995) that the BG ‘extension’ (like the thalamocortical loops) sends rich, collateral projections to nRt that effect not only its ‘gating’ of motor programs, but hippocampal-mediated episodic memory functions (see also Newman, 1995b)....
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...More recent research on the basal ganglia (see reviews by Groenewegen and Berendse, 1994; Parent and Hazrati, 1995) have suggested that they constitute a ‘motor programming extension’ of the frontal lobes as well — routed through the thalamus (p. 112–113)....
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