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Apraxia: The Cognitive side of motor control

Georg Goldenberg

The concept of apraxia was shaped by the German psychiatrist Hugo Liepmann some 100 years ago. He suggested that fibers connecting posterior brain regions to the motor cortex are the anatomical ... More

The concept of apraxia was shaped by the German psychiatrist Hugo Liepmann some 100 years ago. He suggested that fibers connecting posterior brain regions to the motor cortex are the anatomical substrate of the conversion of multimodal mental images of intended actions into motor commands. Liepmann’s ideas fell into disgrace during the middle of the twentieth century but were resuscitated in its last third and became dominant for modern research. Alternative approaches agreed with Liepmann in the distinction between high and low levels of motor commands. The book discusses manifestations and aspects of apraxia with an emphasis on the high versus low level of control which is conceptualized as a distinction between cognitive and motor aspects of action control. It concludes that the cognitive nature of apraxia comes to the fore most clearly in three manifestations of apraxia that are exclusively bound to left-hemisphere damage: imitation of meaningless hand postures, use of single mechanical tools, and pantomime of tool use. Their functional communality is a central role for segmentation and combination. For imitation, visual features of the demonstrated gesture are segmented into distinct body parts which are combined for reproducing the posture. For tool use the structures of tool and recipient are segmented into functionally significant traits which are combined to form mechanical chains, and for pantomime the compound image of hand, action, and object is segmented into distinctive features of the object and the acting hand which are combined to form a comprehensible image of the object and its use.Less

The Cognitive and Neural Bases of Spatial Neglect

Hans-Otto Karnath, A. David Milner, and Giuseppe Vallar (eds)

Spatial neglect is a disorder of space-related behaviour. It is characterized by failure to explore the side of space contralateral to a brain lesion, or to react or respond to stimuli or subjects ... More

Spatial neglect is a disorder of space-related behaviour. It is characterized by failure to explore the side of space contralateral to a brain lesion, or to react or respond to stimuli or subjects located on this side. Research on spatial neglect and related disorders has developed rapidly in recent years. These advances have been made as a result of neuropsychological studies of patients with brain damage and behavioural studies of animal models, as well as through functional neurophysiological experiments and functional neuroimaging. This book provides an overview of this wide-ranging field, providing a cohesive synthesis of the most recent observations and results. The study of spatial neglect helps us to understand normal mechanisms of directing and maintaining spatial attention and is relevant to the contemporary search for the cerebral correlates of conscious experience, voluntary action and the nature of personal identity itself. The book is divided into seven sections covering the anatomical and neurophysiological bases of the disorder, frameworks of neglect, perceptual and motor factors, the relation to attention, the cognitive processes involved, and strategies for rehabilitation.Less

Comparative Neuropsychology

A. David Milner (ed.)

This book has been prepared as a tribute to the late George Ettlinger, one of the leading figures in comparative neuropsychology research over the last forty years, and reflects research in the many ... More

This book has been prepared as a tribute to the late George Ettlinger, one of the leading figures in comparative neuropsychology research over the last forty years, and reflects research in the many areas where Ettlinger made a particular contribution to our understanding. Taking as their starting point the assumption that the human brain shares many of its most important functional systems with its primate relatives, the chapteres take a comparative evolutionary approach to understanding human cognition and brain function. The book's fifteen chapters cover a wide range of subject areas, including memory, visual and somatosensory perception, motor control, attention, cross-modality integration, interhemispheric transmission, and behavioural intelligence. The final chapters of the book critically discuss questions basic to the comparative enterprise: whether we can in fact apply concepts derived from human cognitive psychology to primate neuropsychology, and whether there are evolutionary discontinuities in cortical brain structure among the higher primate species.Less

Computational Theories and their Implementation in the Brain: The legacy of David Marr

Lucia M. Vaina and Richard E. Passingham (eds)

In the late 1960s and early 1970s David Marr produced three astonishing papers in which he gave a detailed account of how the fine structure and known cell types of the cerebellum, hippocampus and ... More

In the late 1960s and early 1970s David Marr produced three astonishing papers in which he gave a detailed account of how the fine structure and known cell types of the cerebellum, hippocampus and neocortex perform the functions that they do. He later went on to be one of the main founders of Computational Neuroscience. In his book on Vision he distinguished between the computational, algorithmic and implementational levels, and the three early theories concerned implementation. However, they were produced when Neuroscience was in its infancy. Now that so much more is known it is time to revisit these early theories to see to what extent they are still valid and what needs to be altered to produce viable theories that stand up to current evidence. This book has gathered some of the most distinguished international contributors to do this. After a general introduction there are three chapters on the cerebellum, three on the hippocampus and two on the neocortex. The book ends with an appreciation of the life of David Marr by Lucia Vaina.Less

The Effectiveness of Rehabilitation for Cognitive Deficits

Peter W. Halligan and Derick T. Wade (eds)

Many patients with brain damage are left with a range of neuropsychological deficits that impair normal cognitive process. It is generally recognised that these less ... More

Many patients with brain damage are left with a range of neuropsychological deficits that impair normal cognitive process. It is generally recognised that these less obvious cognitive deficits (including memory, language, perception, attention, and executive disorders) militate against full recovery often to a greater extent than more traditional medical deficits (e.g. paralysis, sensory loss, etc.). Recognition of this has helped fuel the exponential growth in cognitive neuropsychology and neuroscience over the past thirty years. In turn, this theoretical approach has been used to guide and inform the development of cognitive therapies designed to remediate cognitive impairments and their functional consequences. Cognitive rehabilitation has over the last decade grown to become an established and influential therapeutic approach. There is now a considerable body of knowledge describing the principles and theoretical basis for analysing and directing treatments to selective cognitive deficits. Despite this, the clinical effectiveness and extent to which cognitive theory can inform therapeutic treatment has been questioned. It is timely, therefore, to evaluate and discuss the type and quality of evidence used in support of cognitive rehabilitation.Less

Evolutionary Neuropsychology: An Introduction to the Evolution of the Structures and Functions of the Human Brain

Frederick L. Coolidge

This book is designed to introduce the evolutionary origins of the human brain’s present structures and functions. Evolutionary neuropsychology is a new multidisciplinary science that embraces and ... More

This book is designed to introduce the evolutionary origins of the human brain’s present structures and functions. Evolutionary neuropsychology is a new multidisciplinary science that embraces and uses empirical findings from the fields of evolution, neuroscience, cognitive sciences, psychology, anthropology, and archaeology. This book is designed for the intellectually curious, but styled especially for academics at any level and psychologists focusing on various aspects of human behavior. The bedrock foundation of evolutionary neuropsychology is the assumption that functionally specialized brain regions are adaptations naturally selected in response to various environmental challenges over the course of billions of years of evolution. These adaptations and their brain regions and circuitry may now serve new functions, which are called exaptations, and they are particularly involved in higher cognitive functions.Less

Foundations of Neuroeconomic Analysis

Paul W. Glimcher

A new academic field, neuroeconomics, has emerged at the border of the social and natural sciences. This book argues that a meaningful interdisciplinary synthesis of the study of human and animal ... More

A new academic field, neuroeconomics, has emerged at the border of the social and natural sciences. This book argues that a meaningful interdisciplinary synthesis of the study of human and animal choice is not only desirable, but also well underway, and so it is time to develop formally a foundational approach for the field. This book does so by laying the philosophical and empirical groundwork and integrating the theory of choice and valuation with the relevant physical constraints and mechanisms. While there has been an intense debate about the value and prospects of neuroeconomics, this book argues that existing data from neuroeconomics' three parent fields—neuroscience, psychology, and economics—already specify the basic features of the primate choice mechanism at all three levels of analysis. Its central argument is that combining these three disciplines gives us enough insight to define many of the fundamental features of decision making that have previously eluded scholars working within each individual field.Less

The Handbook of Clinical Neuropsychology

John Marshall

Jennifer Gurd and Udo Kischka (eds)

The past thirty years have seen the field of clinical neuropsychology grow to become an influential discipline within mainstream clinical psychology and an established component of most professional ... More

The past thirty years have seen the field of clinical neuropsychology grow to become an influential discipline within mainstream clinical psychology and an established component of most professional courses. It remains one of the fastest growing specialities within mainstream clinical psychology, neurology, and the psychiatric disciplines. Updated to take account of these rapid developments, this book contains chapters that demonstrate the contribution that neuropsychological approaches can make to the assessment, diagnosis, and range of treatments for cognitive disorders following brain damage, as well as addressing the special considerations when treating the elderly. The book is divided into ten sections, covering everything from methodological and conceptual issues, functional neuroanatomy, and the historical context. Throughout, the content draws on contemporary neuroscientific techniques, focusing on the methods of functional imaging, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry, and cognitive rehabilitation. It also provides background information on laboratory and research techniques, as well as covering relevant neurology and psychiatry.Less

The Link Between Religion and Health: Psychoneuroimmunology and the Faith Factor

Harold G. Koenig and Harvey J. Cohen

This book presents new medical research establishing a connection between religion and health and examines the implications for Eastern and Western religious traditions and for society and culture. ... More

This book presents new medical research establishing a connection between religion and health and examines the implications for Eastern and Western religious traditions and for society and culture. It examines a series of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) topics that relate to religious faith and behavior. PNI studies the relationships between mental states and the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. Among the issues explored are how mental states in general and belief states in particular affect physical health. The book argues that religious involvement and belief can affect certain neuroendocrine and immune mechanisms, and that these mechanisms, in turn, positively affect a wide variety of health outcomes such as susceptibility to cancer and recovery following surgery.Less

Losing Touch: A man without his body

Jonathan Cole

Ian Waterman lost touch and movement/position sense (proprioception) below the neck over 40 years ago, though pain and temperature perception and his peripheral movement nerves were unaffected. ... More

Ian Waterman lost touch and movement/position sense (proprioception) below the neck over 40 years ago, though pain and temperature perception and his peripheral movement nerves were unaffected. Without proprioceptive feedback he was completely unable to move and felt both disembodied and frightened. Then, slowly, he taught himself to dress, eat, and walk by thinking about each movement and with visual supervision. Through his experiences we can better understand proprioception. The narrative moves between biography and the scientific research he has been involved in. He has been married three times and built up successful careers in disability access audit, using his impairment to his advantage, and in rare turkey breeding and journalism. The neuroscience has led to data on movement without feedback, the pleasantness of touch, gesture, pain, and orientation of the body in space. This account shows how the science was actually done but also reveals Ian’s journey from passive subject to informed critic of science and scientists. His unique response to such a rare condition has also led to a BBC documentary, theatrical portrayals, and a weightless flight with NASA. As a young man Ian sought triumph over his impairment; now, nearly 65, he has more mature reflections on living with such an extraordinary loss, the limits it has imposed, and the opportunities it has enabled. He gives his views on scientists and on others he has met including Oliver Sacks and Peter Brook. In an Afterword those from science, the arts, and philosophy give an appreciation of his contribution.Less

Music and Dementia: From Cognition to Therapy

Amee Baird, Sandra Garrido, and Jeanette Tamplin (eds)

Our population is aging and consequently there is an increasing incidence of dementia. With no cure to date, there is an urgent need for the development of therapies that can alleviate symptoms of ... More

Our population is aging and consequently there is an increasing incidence of dementia. With no cure to date, there is an urgent need for the development of therapies that can alleviate symptoms of dementia and ensure optimal well-being for people with dementia and their carers. There is accumulating evidence that music is an effective nonpharmacological treatment for various symptoms of dementia. In its various forms, music (as a formal therapy or informal activity) engages widespread brain regions and in doing so can promote numerous benefits, including triggering memories, enhancing relationships, reducing agitation, and alleviating depression and anxiety. This book outlines the current research on music and dementia, from internationally renowned experts in music therapy, music psychology, and clinical neuropsychology.Less

The Neurobiology of the Prefrontal Cortex: Anatomy, Evolution, and the Origin of Insight

Richard E. Passingham and Steven P. Wise

The prefrontal cortex makes up almost a quarter of the human brain, and it expanded dramatically during primate evolution. This book presents a new theory about its fundamental function. The book ... More

The prefrontal cortex makes up almost a quarter of the human brain, and it expanded dramatically during primate evolution. This book presents a new theory about its fundamental function. The book argues that primate-specific parts of the prefrontal cortex evolved to reduce errors in foraging choices, so that particular ancestors of modern humans could overcome periodic food shortages. These developments laid the foundation for working out problems in our imagination, which resulted in the insights that allow humans to avoid errors entirely, at least at times. The book details which parts of the prefrontal cortex evolved exclusively in primates, how its connections explain why the prefrontal cortex alone can perform its function, and why other parts of the brain cannot do what the prefrontal cortex does. Based on an analysis of its evolutionary history, the book uses evidence from lesion, imaging, and cell-recording experiments to argue that the primate prefrontal cortex generates goals from a current behavioral context and that it can do so on the basis of single events. As a result, the prefrontal cortex uses the attentive control of behavior to augment an older general-purpose learning system, one that evolved very early in the history of animals. This older system learns slowly and cumulatively over many experiences based on reinforcement. The chapters argue that a new learning system evolved in primates at a particular time and place in their history, that it did so to decrease the errors inherent in the older learning system, and that severe volatility of food resources provided the driving force for these developments.Less

The Neuropsychology of Anxiety: An enquiry into the function of the septo-hippocampal system

Jeffrey A. Gray and Neil McNaughton

This book provides an updated theory of the nature of anxiety and the brain systems controlling anxiety, combined with a theory of hippocampal function, which was first proposed thirty years ago. ... More

This book provides an updated theory of the nature of anxiety and the brain systems controlling anxiety, combined with a theory of hippocampal function, which was first proposed thirty years ago. While remaining controversial, the core of this theory, of a ‘Behavioural Inhibition System’, has stood the test of time, with its main predictions repeatedly confirmed. Novel anti-anxiety drugs share none of the side effects or primary pharmacological actions of the classical anti-anxiety drugs on the actions of which the theory was based; but they have both the behavioural and hippocampal actions predicted by the theory. This text is the second edition of the book and it departs significantly from the first. It provides, for the first time, a single construct — goal conflict — that underlies all the known inputs to the system; and it includes current data on the amygdala. Its reviews include the ethology of defence, learning theory, the psychopharmacology of anti-anxiety drugs, anxiety disorders, and the clinical and laboratory analysis of amnesia. The cognitive and behavioural functions in anxiety of the septo-hippocampal system and the amygdala are also analysed, as are their separate roles in memory and fear. Their functions are related to a hierarchy of additional structures — from the prefrontal cortex to the periaqueductal gray — that control the various forms of defensive behaviour and to detailed analysis of the monoamine systems that modulate this control. The resultant neurology is linked to the typology, symptoms, pre-disposing personality and therapy of anxiety and phobic disorders, and to the symptoms of amnesia.Less

The Neuropsychology of Vision

Manfred Fahle and Mark Greenlee (eds)

This book describes a range of new approaches to neuropsychological investigation and provides a broad overview of visual neuropsychology. It starts by presenting the results from new research ... More

This book describes a range of new approaches to neuropsychological investigation and provides a broad overview of visual neuropsychology. It starts by presenting the results from new research employing single-unit recordings on the neuronal basis of perception demonstrating that the visual system relies strongly on feedback from higher to lower levels of information processing, and that neuronal plasticity exists in the primary sensory cortices of adults, areas previously considered to be hard-wired. The book also describes other new and adapted techniques to measure brain activity, including multi-unit sum potential recording, functional magnetic resonance imaging and employing transcranial magnetic stimulation to induce temporary, circumscribed functional lesions in the cortices of normal subjects to mimic disorders. The coverage then moves on to review the experience of patients suffering from disturbances of visual perception. The disorders covered include agnosia, neglect, blindsight, and achromatopsia. The final chapter is devoted to recovery and rehabilitation from cerebral visual disorder.Less

Primate Neuroethology

Michael Platt and Asif Ghazanfar (eds)

This edited volume bridges the epistemological gap between primate ethologists and primate neurobiologists. Experts in several fields review work ranging from primate foraging behavior, to the ... More

This edited volume bridges the epistemological gap between primate ethologists and primate neurobiologists. Experts in several fields review work ranging from primate foraging behavior, to the neurophysiology of motor control; from vocal communication, to the functions of the auditory cortex. This synthesis of the cognitive, ethological, and neurobiological approaches to primate behavior yields an understanding of our primate cousins to date, and sheds light on the evolutionary development of human behavior and cognition. The book contains chapters by primatologists, comparative psychologists, and neuroscientists, who have developed new ideas and experimental approaches, and who have applied these to a variety of issues dealing with primate behavior and neurobiology. The volume collects in a single book both basic and cutting-edge information on primate behavior and cognition, neurobiology, and the emerging discipline of neuroethology.Less

The Roots of Cognitive Neuroscience: Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychology

Anjan Chatterjee and H. Branch Coslett (eds)

The Roots of Cognitive Neuroscience takes a close look at what we can learn about our minds from how brain damage impairs our cognitive and emotional systems. This approach has a long ... More

The Roots of Cognitive Neuroscience takes a close look at what we can learn about our minds from how brain damage impairs our cognitive and emotional systems. This approach has a long and rich tradition dating back to the 19th century. With the rise of new technologies, such as functional neuroimaging and non-invasive brain stimulation, interest in mind-brain connections among scientists and the lay public has grown exponentially. Behavioral neurology and neuropsychology offer critical insights into the neuronal implementation of large-scale cognitive and affective systems. The book starts out by making a strong case for the role of single case studies as a way to generate new hypotheses and advance the field. This chapter is followed by a review of work done before the First World War demonstrating that the theoretical issues that investigators faced then remain fundamentally relevant to contemporary cognitive neuroscientists. The rest of the book covers central topics in cognitive neuroscience including the nature of memory, language, perception, attention, motor control, body representations, the self, emotions, and pharmacology. There are chapters on modeling and neuronal plasticity as well as on visual art and creativity. Each of these chapters take pains to clarify how this research strategy informs our understanding of these large scale systems by scrutinizing the systematic nature of their breakdown. Taken together, the chapters show that the roots of cognitive neuroscience, behavioral neurology and neuropsychology, continue to ground our understanding of the biology of mind and are as important today as they were 150 years ago.Less

Vascular Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Advancing an Integrated Approach

David J. Libon, Melissa Lamar, Rodney A. Swenson, and Kenneth M. Heilman (eds)

Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia are acknowledged as the two most common types of dementia. Each of these dementia syndromes are associated with prodromal clinical syndromes, often referred ... More

Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia are acknowledged as the two most common types of dementia. Each of these dementia syndromes are associated with prodromal clinical syndromes, often referred to as mild cognitive impairment. Recent research has demonstrated considerable heterogeneity regarding the underlying neuropathology associated with these dementia syndromes and their prodromal disorders. Thus, it is often difficult to understand how or what underlying biological substrate is actually responsible for the alterations in neurocognition and behaviour as seen in clinical evaluations. This inherent neuropsychological and neuropathology heterogeneity calls into question current paradigms used for diagnosis and clinical trials designed to treat these disorders. This volume summarizes our current understanding regarding the inherent clinical, neuropathological, and biological heterogeneity in Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, and mild cognitive impairment and suggests that these disorders are best viewed as existing along a continuum rather than treated as separate and distinct clinical syndromes. In this book, we put forth the point of view that dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia; and subtle pre-dementia syndromes such as mild cognitive impairment are best viewed as existing along a continuum rather than distinct and separate disorders.Less