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Jan 21, 2007

Cognitive robotics

Via Mind Hacks

 

Memoirs of a Postgrad has an interesting analysis of cognitive robotics - the science of developing 'cognitive agents'

 

Link 

 

Motor imagery and stroke rehabilitation

Motor imagery and stroke rehabilitation: a critical discussion.

J Rehabil Med. 2007 Jan;39(1):5-13

Authors: de Vries S, Mulder T

Motor disorders are a frequent consequence of stroke and much effort is invested in the re-acquisition of motor control. Although patients often regain some of their lost function after therapy, most remain chronically disabled. Functional recovery is achieved largely through reorganization processes in the damaged brain. Neural reorganization depends on the information provided by sensorimotor efferent-afferent feedback loops. It has, however, been shown that the motor system can also be activated "offline" by imagining (motor imagery) or observing movements. The discovery of mirror neurones, which fire not only when an action is executed, but also when one observes another person performing the same action, also show that our action system can be used "online" as well as offline. It is an intriguing question as to whether the information provided by motor imagery or motor observation can lead to functional recovery and plastic changes in patients after stroke. This article reviews the evidence for motor imagery or observation as novel methods in stroke rehabilitation

The neural basis of narrative imagery

The neural basis of narrative imagery: emotion and action.

Prog Brain Res. 2006;156:93-103

Authors: Sabatinelli D, Lang PJ, Bradley MM, Flaisch T

It has been proposed that narrative emotional imagery activates an associative network of stimulus, semantic, and response (procedural) information. In previous research, predicted response components have been demonstrated through psychophysiological methods in peripheral nervous system. Here we investigate central nervous system concomitants of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant narrative imagery with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Subjects were presented with brief narrative scripts over headphones, and then imagined themselves engaged in the described events. During script perception, auditory association cortex showed enhanced activation during affectively arousing (pleasant and unpleasant), relative to neutral imagery. Structures involved in language processing (left middle frontal gyrus) and spatial navigation (retrosplenium) were also active during script presentation. At the onset of narrative imagery, supplementary motor area, lateral cerebellum, and left inferior frontal gyrus were initiated, showing enhanced signal change during affectively arousing (pleasant and unpleasant), relative to neutral scripts. These data are consistent with a bioinformational model of emotion that considers response mobilization as the measurable output of narrative imagery.