Cognitive Control Architecture for the Practical Realization of UAV Collision Avoidance.

A highly intelligent system often draws lessons from the unique abilities of humans. Current humanlike models, however, mainly focus on biological behavior, and the brain functions of humans are often overlooked. By drawing inspiration from brain science, this article shows how aspects of brain processing such as sensing, preprocessing, cognition, obstacle learning, behavior, strategy learning, pre-action, and action can be melded together in a coherent manner with cognitive control architecture. This work is based on the notion that the anti-collision response is activated in sequence, which starts from obstacle sensing to action. In the process of collision avoidance, cognition and learning modules continuously control the UAV's repertoire. Furthermore, simulated and experimental results show that the proposed architecture is effective and feasible.

Electrophysiological Activity from the Eye Muscles, Cerebellum and Cerebrum During Reflexive (Classical Pavlovian) Versus Voluntary (Ivanov-Smolensky) Eye-Blink Conditioning.

We report an experiment to investigate the role of the cerebellum and cerebrum in motor learning of timed movements. Eleven healthy human subjects were recruited to perform two experiments, the first was a classical eye-blink conditioning procedure with an auditory tone as conditional stimulus (CS) and vestibular unconditional stimulus (US) in the form of a double head-tap. In the second experiment, subjects were asked to blink voluntarily in synchrony with the double head-tap US preceded by a CS, a form of Ivanov-Smolensky conditioning in which a command or instruction is associated with the US. Electrophysiological recordings were made of extra-ocular EMG and EOG at infra-ocular sites (IO1/2), EEG from over the frontal eye fields (C3'/C4') and from over the posterior fossa over the cerebellum for the electrocerebellogram (ECeG). The behavioural outcomes of the experiments showed weak reflexive conditioning for the first experiment despite the double tap but robust, well-synchronised voluntary conditioning for the second. Voluntary conditioned blinks were larger than the reflex ones. For the voluntary conditioning experiment, a contingent negative variation (CNV) was also present in the EEG leads prior to movement, and modulation of the high-frequency EEG occurred during movement. US-related cerebellar activity was prominent in the high-frequency ECeG for both experiments, while conditioned response-related cerebellar activity was additionally present in the voluntary conditioning experiment. These results demonstrate a role for the cerebellum in voluntary (Ivanov-Smolensky) as well as in reflexive (classical Pavlovian) conditioning.

"Alarm-corrected" ergonomic armrest use could improve learning curves of novices on robotic simulator.

BACKGROUND: In robotic surgery, the professional ergonomic habit of using an armrest reduces operator fatigue and increases the precision of motion. We designed and validated a pressure surveillance system (PSS) based on force sensors to investigate armrest use. The objective was to evaluate whether adding an alarm to the PSS system could shorten ergonomic training and improve performance. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty robot and simulator-naïve participants were recruited and randomized in two groups (A and B). The PSS was installed on a robotic simulator, the dV-Trainer, to detect contact with the armrest. The Group A members completed three tasks on the dV-Trainer without the alarm, making 15 attempts at each task. The Group B members practiced the first two tasks with the alarm and then completed the final tasks without the alarm. The simulator provided an overall score reflecting the trainees' performance. We used the new concept of an "armrest load" score to describe the ergonomic habit of using the armrest. RESULTS: Group B had a significantly higher performance score (p < 0.001) and armrest load score (p < 0.001) than Group A from the fifth attempt of the first task to the end of the experiment. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the conditioned reflex effect, the alarm associated with the PSS rectified ergonomic errors and accelerated professional ergonomic habit acquisition. The combination of the PSS and alarm is effective in significantly shortening the learning curve in the robotic training process.

The Pavlovian interpretation of speech and aphasia: Alexander Luria and Wilder Penfield.

This paper discusses a neglected aspect of the historiography of aphasia, the role that Pavlovian conditioning played in Alexander Luria's and Wilder Penfield's understanding of the acquisition, expression, and loss of spoken and written speech. Luria was born into a bourgeois family in Tzarist Russia and pursued his research on speech and aphasia under the Soviet regime. Luria's work was condemned in the last years of Stalin's rule, but it received international acclaim in the West after Stalin's death. Penfield was conversant with Pavlov's writing having had a working relationship with one of Pavlov's foremost students, Boris Babkin, who came to McGill University and later to the Montreal Neurological Institute after being jailed and exiled from the Soviet Union for lack of revolutionary fervor. Both Luria and Penfield, the latter as early as 1935, saw in Pavlovian conditioning mediated by specific areas of the human cerebral cortex the basic neurophysiological mechanism underlying speech and thought, and in Penfield's' case, memory, perception, self-awareness, and purposeful behavior. It is concluded that Luria and Penfield independently arrived at a general hypothesis, based on Pavlovian conditioning, that united the localization of speech, the syndromes caused by damage to speech-competent regions, and the putative neurophysiological mechanisms that they believed to underlie speech and higher cortical functions.

Homeostatic and endocrine responses as the basis for systemic therapy with medical gases: ozone, xenon and molecular hydrogen.

Among medical gases, including gases used therapeutically, this review discusses the comparative physiological activity of three gases - ozone (O3), xenon (Xe) and molecular hydrogen (H2), which together form representatives of three types of substances - typical oxidizing, inert, and typical reducing agents. Upon analysis of published and proprietary data, we concluded that these three medical gases can manipulate the neuroendocrine system, by modulating the production or release of hormones via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid, hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axes, or the gastrointestinal pathway. With repeated administration of the gases over time, these modulations become a predictable consequence of conditioned homeostatic reflexes, resulting in regulation of physiological activity. For example, the regular activation of the unconditioned defense reflex in response to repeated intoxication by ozone leads to the formation of an anticipatory stable conditioned response, which counteracts the toxic action of O3. The concept of a Pavlovian conditioned reflex (or hormoligosis) is a brief metaphor for the understanding the therapeutic effect of systemic ozone therapy.

How babies learn: The autonomic socioemotional reflex.

BACKGROUND: Human and animal research has long documented the negative effects of early traumatic events on long-term development and socioemotional behavior. Yet, how and where the body stores these memories remains unclear. Current theories propose that the brain stores such memory in the subcortical limbic system. However, a clear theory of change with testable hypothesis has yet to emerge. AIMS: In this paper, we review the classical Pavlovian conditioning learning tradition, along with its functional variant. Then, we review calming cycle theory, which builds upon the idea that mother/infant learning is distinct from other types of learning, requiring a new set of assumptions in light of functional Pavlovian conditioning. CONCLUSION: Calming cycle theory states that learning of behaviors associated with subcortical autonomic physiology is separate and distinct from learning of behaviors associated with cortical physiology. Mother/infant autonomic learning starts in the uterine environment via functional Pavlovian co-conditioning that is stored as conditional reflexes within the dyad's autonomic nervous systems. These reflexes are preserved transnatally as autonomic socioemotional reflexes (ASRs), which can be used to monitor mother-infant relational health. The functional Pavlovian co-conditioning mechanism can be exploited to change the physiological/behavioral reflex response. The theory provides a well established learning mechanism, a theory of change and a method of change, along with a set of hypotheses with which to test the theory. We present evidence from a randomized controlled trial with prematurely born infants and their mothers that supports calming cycle theory.

The Introduction of Pavlovian Theory and the Change of the Medical System in China in the 1950s: Focusing on the Construction of the Protective Medical System.

In the 1930s, Stalin established Pavlovian theory as a socialist medical theory, criticized bourgeois science and ideology, and consolidated his dictatorship. Stalin used Pavlov's theory to emphasize the interaction between man and environment and the inheritance of acquired characteristics, trying to ensure the legitimacy of the socialist system reform in politics and society. Therefore, if the Soviet scientists and doctors did not conform to Pavlov's theory, their research would be strictly controlled, making free and creative research impossible. In the 1950s, China and North Korea, which accepted the socialist political model of the Soviet Union, also had this dogmatic tendency. In 1950, China signed the "The Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship," initiated the movement of learning from the Soviet Union in politics, economy, society, education, law, science, medical care, and other aspects, and established a socialist country based on the Soviet model. In Chinese medical circles, through the "Pavlov Learning Movement," they accepted the health care system and medical technology of the Soviet Union without any criticism, and carried out the ideological transformation of intellectuals to wipe out the influence of western capitalism. Moreover, Virchow's 'Cellular Pathology' and Mendel's 'Genetics' were denounced as reactionary bourgeoisie theory, and Pavlov's theory became a socialist medical theory based on dialectical materialism. As a result, the Communist Party of China reorganized the medical and scientific knowledge system based on Pavlov's theory, and took it as an important ideological tool to establish the socialist medical system. In the 1950s, Chinese medical workers strengthened ideological education through the "Pavlov's learning movement," applied this theory to clinical practice, and implemented new treatment methods such as "Sleep Therapy" and "PPM(Psychoprophylactic Painless childbirth Method)." In addition, hospitals implemented the "Protective Medical System" and established the socialist medical system. The goal of the protective medical system was to eliminate the negative stimulation which has adverse effects on the treatment of patients and to establish a patient-centered medical system. Therefore, the hospital launched a comprehensive effort to create a clean environment, eliminate all kinds of noise, cultivate a friendly working attitude, and improve nutrition. As a result, the hospital environment and the working attitude of medical staff improved and the treatment rate of diseases also improved, while the mortality rate of patients decreased. At the same time, with the strengthening of political education for doctors, nurses and patients in hospitals, hospitals have become places to educate socialist laws and ideology. In addition, in order to prove the superiority of Pavlov's theory, medical workers carried out unscientific sleep therapy on patients, so people's body became an experimental space for of socialism. Moreover, in the implementation of PPM, women could not tell the pain of childbirth, but under medical control, they were in a contradictory situation of enduring labor pain. The Communist Party of China has established its national identity by promoting its image of "rescuer", which liberates the patients from the pain of disease, and the "welfare" image of taking good care of the people's body. The Communist Party of China has reconstructed the metaphors of "sickness" and "labor pain", making it an indispensable medium for the concepts of socialism, women's Liberation and medical welfare to be engraved on the people's body. Therefore, through the clinical practice of sleep therapy and PPM, we can understand how the Communist Party of China controlled the people's body, and such policies and systems demonstrate the "medical" governance mode of socialist control over the people.

[Fluoxetine enhances combined learning and memory abilities of mice by promoting neural cell functions in the barrel cortex].

OBJECTIVE: To study the behavioral characteristics of memory maintenance and regression in a mouse model of combined learning and memory training with fluoxetine treatment and explore the neural basis for learning and memory in the barrel area of the brain. METHODS: Twenty-six 16-day-old C57 mice were randomized into two equal groups and were given daily intraperitoneal injection of saline (control) or fluoxetine. The mice were subjected to stimulation of the right whiskers using a multi-sensory stimulation simulator and were given simultaneously olfactory stimulation with butyl acetate. In the initial 10 days of the experiment, the mice were given corresponding drug treatment followed by whisker and olfactory stimulations on a daily basis; from day 11 to day 17, only the drugs were administered without the stimulations; on day 18, both the drugs and stimulations were administered. The daily performance of the mice was recorded and analyzed. In the field potential experiment, the left barrel cortex of the mouse brain was selected to record the frequency of field potential signals in response to whisker stimulation. RESULTS: In the behavioral test, the mice treated with fluoxetine showed greater increments of the frequency and angle of whisker deflection than the control mice (P < 0.01). Compared with the peak levels that occurred on the 10th day, the swing angle and frequency of the whisker deflection decreased on the 17th day decreased in both groups, and the reduction was more obvious in the control group (P < 0.05). During the training on the 18th day, the whisker movement of the mice increased rapidly to the peak level and showed significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). In the field potential experiment on the 10th and 17th day, the frequencies of field potential signal in response to whisker stimulation was significantly higher in fluoxetine group than in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Combined training of the mice results in the formation of combined memory. Fluoxetine can enhance combined learning and memory abilities and prolong such memories in mice by promoting the function of the barrel cortex cells.

Decoding white coat hypertension.

There is arguably no less understood or more intriguing problem in hypertension that the "white coat" condition, the standard concept of which is significantly blood pressure reading obtained by medical personnel of authoritative standing than that obtained by more junior and less authoritative personnel and by the patients themselves. Using hospital-initiated ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, the while effect manifests as initial and ending pressure elevations, and, in treated patients, a low daytime profile. The effect is essentially systolic. Pure diastolic white coat hypertension appears to be exceedingly rare. On the basis of the studies, we believe that the white coat phenomenon is a common, periodic, neuro-endocrine reflex conditioned by anticipation of having the blood pressure taken and the fear of what this measurement may indicate concerning future illness. It does not change with time, or with prolonged association with the physician, particularly with advancing years, it may be superimposed upon essential hypertension, and in patients receiving hypertensive medication, blunting of the nighttime dip, which occurs in about half the patients, may be a compensatory mechanisms, rather than an indication of cardiovascular risk. Rather than the blunted dip, the morning surge or the widened pulse pressure, cardiovascular risk appears to be related to elevation of the average night time pressure.

Gutkha Addiction: Nicotine Dependence or a Conditioned Reflex?

BACKGROUND: A pre-packaged mixture of areca nut, tobacco, slaked lime, catechu, and flavoring agents is popularly known as Gutkha. Aim of study is to analyze the addiction biology of Gutkha chewing and to assess efficacy of a cessation program based on nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patterns of addiction of 400 Gutkha chewers were analyzed with a questionnaire-based survey. Urine cotinine levels of 60 subjects undergoing NRT were periodically estimated using gas chromatography. RESULTS: Mean urine cotinine levels of relapse and relapse-free cases were 5800.38 µg/g of creatine and 5622.16 µg/g of creatine. The difference was not found to be statistically significant. A 83.3% of the subjects associated their chewing habit with day to day activities. Overall relapse rate was found to be 79%. The most common reported reason for relapse was unacceptable taste and form of nicotine chewing gums. CONCLUSION: Repetitive coexistence in time of an indifferent act and the act of chewing Gutkha where, the act of chewing is almost always preceded by the indifferent act sets in a conditioned reflex. Gutkha addiction can be considered as a form of conditioned reflex, rather than actual craving for nicotine.

Neurons in the barrel cortex turn into processing whisker and odor signals: a cellular mechanism for the storage and retrieval of associative signals.

Associative learning and memory are essential to logical thinking and cognition. How the neurons are recruited as associative memory cells to encode multiple input signals for their associated storage and distinguishable retrieval remains unclear. We studied this issue in the barrel cortex by in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, electrophysiology, and neural tracing in our mouse model that the simultaneous whisker and olfaction stimulations led to odorant-induced whisker motion. After this cross-modal reflex arose, the barrel and piriform cortices connected. More than 40% of barrel cortical neurons became to encode odor signal alongside whisker signal. Some of these neurons expressed distinct activity patterns in response to acquired odor signal and innate whisker signal, and others encoded similar pattern in response to these signals. In the meantime, certain barrel cortical astrocytes encoded odorant and whisker signals. After associative learning, the neurons and astrocytes in the sensory cortices are able to store the newly learnt signal (cross-modal memory) besides the innate signal (native-modal memory). Such associative memory cells distinguish the differences of these signals by programming different codes and signify the historical associations of these signals by similar codes in information retrievals.

Effects of bacterial melanin on motor recovery and regeneration after unilateral destruction of Substantia Nigra pars compacta in rats.

We examined the potential neuroprotective action of bacterial melanin (BM) in rats after unilateral destruction of Substantia Nigra pars compacta (SNc) dopaminergic neurons. 24 rats were initially trained to an instrumental conditioned reflex (ICR) and then subjected to unilateral electrolytic destruction of SNc. Unilateral deficit in balancing hindlimb movements was observed in all rats after the destruction. On the next day after the destruction part of the animals (n=12) was intramuscularly injected with BM solution at the concentration 6 mg/ml (0.17 g/kg). The other 12 operated rats served as a control group. On the second day after the operation the testing of instrumental conditioned reflex was resumed in both groups. Comparison of recovery periods for the ICR in both groups showed that recovery of the reflex and balancing hindlimb movements in melanin treated rats took place in three postoperative testing days, whereas in control group the recovery was not complete after 23 testing days. Electrophysiological study was conducted in 12 intact rats to show the effects of BM on the activity of SNc neurons. The firing rate of neurons was significantly increased by the BM injection. Morpho-histochemical study of brain sections was conducted after the completion of behavioral experiments. In melanin injected rats the study revealed absence of destruction or electrode trace in Substantia Nigra pars compacta of melanin injected rats. BM stimulates regeneration and microcirculation in SNc. Increased electrical activity of SN neurons and regenerative efforts induced by BM accelerate motor recovery after unilateral SNc destruction.