Model Virtues in Computational Cognitive Neuroscience.

There is an abundance of computational models in cognitive neuroscience. A framework for what is desirable in a model, what justifies the introduction of a new one, or what makes one better than another is lacking, however. In this article, we examine key qualities ("virtues") that are desirable in computational models, and how these are interrelated. To keep the scope of the article manageable, we focus on the field of cognitive control, where we identified six "model virtues": empirical accuracy, empirical scope, functional analysis, causal detail, biological plausibility, and psychological plausibility. We first illustrate their use in published work on Stroop modeling and then discuss what expert modelers in the field of cognitive control said about them in a series of qualitative interviews. We found that virtues are interrelated and that their value depends on the modeler's goals, in ways that are not typically acknowledged in the literature. We recommend that researchers make the reasons for their modeling choices more explicit in published work. Our work is meant as a first step. Although our focus here is on cognitive control, we hope that our findings will spark discussion of virtues in other fields as well.

A new era in cognitive neuroscience: the tidal wave of artificial intelligence (AI).

Translating artificial intelligence techniques into the realm of cognitive neuroscience holds promise for significant breakthroughs in our ability to probe the intrinsic mechanisms of the brain. The recent unprecedented development of robust AI models is changing how and what we understand about the brain. In this Editorial, we invite contributions for a BMC Neuroscience Collection on "AI and Cognitive Neuroscience".

Cognition of Time and Thinking Beyond.

A common research protocol in cognitive neuroscience is to train subjects to perform deliberately designed experiments while recording brain activity, with the aim of understanding the brain mechanisms underlying cognition. However, how the results of this protocol of research can be applied in technology is seldom discussed. Here, I review the studies on time processing of the brain as examples of this research protocol, as well as two main application areas of neuroscience (neuroengineering and brain-inspired artificial intelligence). Time processing is a fundamental dimension of cognition, and time is also an indispensable dimension of any real-world signal to be processed in technology. Therefore, one may expect that the studies of time processing in cognition profoundly influence brain-related technology. Surprisingly, I found that the results from cognitive studies on timing processing are hardly helpful in solving practical problems. This awkward situation may be due to the lack of generalizability of the results of cognitive studies, which are under well-controlled laboratory conditions, to real-life situations. This lack of generalizability may be rooted in the fundamental unknowability of the world (including cognition). Overall, this paper questions and criticizes the usefulness and prospect of the abovementioned research protocol of cognitive neuroscience. I then give three suggestions for future research. First, to improve the generalizability of research, it is better to study brain activity under real-life conditions instead of in well-controlled laboratory experiments. Second, to overcome the unknowability of the world, we can engineer an easily accessible surrogate of the object under investigation, so that we can predict the behavior of the object under investigation by experimenting on the surrogate. Third, the paper calls for technology-oriented research, with the aim of technology creation instead of knowledge discovery.

Models need mechanisms, but not labels.

The target article proposes a model involving the important but not well-investigated topics of curiosity and creativity. The model, however, falls short of providing convincing explanations of the basic mechanisms underlying these phenomena. We outline the importance of mechanistic thinking in dealing with the concepts outlined in this article specifically and within psychology and cognitive neuroscience in general.

Fractals in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience.

The fractal dimension of cognition refers to the idea that the cognitive processes of the human brain exhibit fractal properties. This means that certain patterns of cognitive activity, such as visual perception, memory, language, or problem-solving, can be described using the mathematical concept of fractal dimension.The idea that cognition is fractal has been proposed by some researchers as a way to understand the complex, self-similar nature of the human brain. However, it's a relatively new idea and is still under investigation, so it's not yet clear to what extent cognitive processes exhibit fractal properties or what implications this might have for our understanding of the brain and clinical practice. Indeed, the mission of the "fractal neuroscience" field is to define the characteristics of fractality in human cognition in order to differently characterize the emergence of brain disorders.

Getting closer to social interactions using electroencephalography in developmental cognitive neuroscience.

The field of developmental cognitive neuroscience is advancing rapidly, with large-scale, population-wide, longitudinal studies emerging as a key means of unraveling the complexity of the developing brain and cognitive processes in children. While numerous neuroscientific techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have proved advantageous in such investigations, this perspective proposes a renewed focus on electroencephalography (EEG), leveraging underexplored possibilities of EEG. In addition to its temporal precision, low costs, and ease of application, EEG distinguishes itself with its ability to capture neural activity linked to social interactions in increasingly ecologically valid settings. Specifically, EEG can be measured during social interactions in the lab, hyperscanning can be used to study brain activity in two (or more) people simultaneously, and mobile EEG can be used to measure brain activity in real-life settings. This perspective paper summarizes research in these three areas, making a persuasive argument for the renewed inclusion of EEG into the toolkit of developmental cognitive and social neuroscientists.

A synergetic turn in cognitive neuroscience of brain diseases.

Despite significant improvements in our understanding of brain diseases, many barriers remain. Cognitive neuroscience faces four major challenges: complex structure-function associations; disease phenotype heterogeneity; the lack of transdiagnostic models; and oversimplified cognitive approaches restricted to the laboratory. Here, we propose a synergetics framework that can help to perform the necessary dimensionality reduction of complex interactions between the brain, body, and environment. The key solutions include low-dimensional spatiotemporal hierarchies for brain-structure associations, whole-brain modeling to handle phenotype diversity, model integration of shared transdiagnostic pathophysiological pathways, and naturalistic frameworks balancing experimental control and ecological validity. Creating whole-brain models with reduced manifolds combined with ecological measures can improve our understanding of brain disease and help identify novel interventions. Synergetics provides an integrated framework for future progress in clinical and cognitive neuroscience, pushing the boundaries of brain health and disease toward more mature, naturalistic approaches.

Overcoming boundaries: Interdisciplinary challenges and opportunities in cognitive neuroscience.

Cognitive neuroscience has considerable untapped potential to translate our understanding of brain function into applications that maintain, restore, or enhance human cognition. Complex, real-world phenomena encountered in daily life, professional contexts, and in the arts, can also be a rich source of information for better understanding cognition, which in turn can lead to advances in knowledge and health outcomes. Interdisciplinary work is needed for these bi-directional benefits to be realized. Our cognitive neuroscience team has been collaborating on several interdisciplinary projects: hardware and software development for brain stimulation, measuring human operator state in safety-critical robotics environments, and exploring emotional regulation in actors who perform traumatic narratives. Our approach is to study research questions of mutual interest in the contexts of domain-specific applications, using (and sometimes improving) the experimental tools and techniques of cognitive neuroscience. These interdisciplinary attempts are described as case studies in the present work to illustrate non-trivial challenges that come from working across traditional disciplinary boundaries. We reflect on how obstacles to interdisciplinary work can be overcome, with the goals of enriching our understanding of human cognition and amplifying the positive effects cognitive neuroscientists have on society and innovation.

The involvement of the human prefrontal cortex in the emergence of visual awareness.

Exploring the neural mechanisms of awareness is a fundamental task of cognitive neuroscience. There is an ongoing dispute regarding the role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in the emergence of awareness, which is partially raised by the confound between report- and awareness-related activity. To address this problem, we designed a visual awareness task that can minimize report-related motor confounding. Our results show that saccadic latency is significantly shorter in the aware trials than in the unaware trials. Local field potential (LFP) data from six patients consistently show early (200-300ms) awareness-related activity in the PFC, including event-related potential and high-gamma activity. Moreover, the awareness state can be reliably decoded by the neural activity in the PFC since the early stage, and the neural pattern is dynamically changed rather than being stable during the representation of awareness. Furthermore, the enhancement of dynamic functional connectivity, through the phase modulation at low frequency, between the PFC and other brain regions in the early stage of the awareness trials may explain the mechanism of conscious access. These results indicate that the PFC is critically involved in the emergence of awareness.

The convergence of naturalistic paradigms and cognitive neuroscience methods to investigate memory and its development.

Studies that involve lab-based stimuli (e.g., words, pictures) are fundamental in the memory literature. At the same time, there is growing acknowledgment that memory processes assessed in the lab may not be analogous to how memory operates in the real world. Naturalistic paradigms can bridge this gap and over the decades a growing proportion of memory research has involved more naturalistic events. However, there is significant variation in the types of naturalistic studies used to study memory and its development, each with various advantages and limitations. Further, there are notable gaps in how often different types of naturalistic approaches have been combined with cognitive neuroscience methods (e.g., fMRI, EEG) to elucidate the neural processes and substrates involved in memory encoding and retrieval in the real world. Here we summarize and discuss what we identify as progressively more naturalistic methodologies used in the memory literature (movie, virtual reality, staged-events inside and outside of the lab, photo-taking, and naturally occurring event studies). Our goal is to describe each approach's benefits (e.g., naturalistic quality, feasibility), limitations (e.g., viability of neuroimaging method for event encoding versus event retrieval), and discuss possible future directions with each approach. We focus on child studies, when available, but also highlight past adult studies. Although there is a growing body of child memory research, naturalistic approaches combined with cognitive neuroscience methodologies in this domain remain sparse. Overall, this viewpoint article reviews how we can study memory through the lens of developmental cognitive neuroscience, while utilizing naturalistic and real-world events.

The SocialVidStim: a video database of positive and negative social evaluation stimuli for use in social cognitive neuroscience paradigms.

This paper describes the SocialVidStim-a database of video stimuli available to the scientific community depicting positive and negative social evaluative and neutral statements. The SocialVidStim comprises 53 diverse individuals reflecting the demographic makeup of the USA, ranging from 9 to 41 years old, saying 20-60 positive and 20-60 negative social evaluative statements (e.g. 'You are a very trustworthy/annoying person'), and 20-60 neutral statements (e.g. 'The sky is blue'), totaling 5793 videos post-production. The SocialVidStim are designed for use in behavioral and functional magetic resonance imaging paradigms, across developmental stages, in diverse populations. This study describes stimuli development and reports initial validity and reliability data on a subset videos (N = 1890) depicting individuals aged 18-41 years. Raters perceive videos as expected: positive videos elicit positively valenced ratings, negative videos elicit negatively valenced ratings and neutral videos are rated as neutral. Test-retest reliability data demonstrate intraclass correlations in the good-to-excellent range for negative and positive videos and the moderate range for neutral videos. We also report small effects on valence and arousal that should be considered during stimuli selection, including match between rater and actor sex and actor believability. The SocialVidStim is a resource for researchers and we offer suggestions for using the SocialVidStim in future research.

Stanislas Dehaene.

Stanislas Dehaene is a cognitive neuroscientist elucidating the biological mechanisms that give rise to human perception and cognition. In a conversation with Neuron, he talks about his ongoing interest in consciousness research, the role of theory in neuroscience, and his current work on education and the science of learning.

Bridging cognitive neuroscience and education: Insights from EEG recording during mathematical proof evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Much of modern mathematics education prioritizes symbolic formalism even at the expense of non-symbolic intuition, we contextualize our study in the ongoing debates on the balance between symbolic and non-symbolic reasoning. We explore the dissociation of oscillatory dynamics between algebraic (symbolic) and geometric (non-symbolic) processing in advanced mathematical reasoning during a naturalistic design. METHOD: Employing mobile EEG technology, we investigated students' beta and gamma wave patterns over frontal and parietal regions while they engaged with mathematical demonstrations in symbolic and non-symbolic formats within a tutor-student framework. We used extended, naturalistic stimuli to approximate an authentic educational setting. CONCLUSION: Our findings reveal nuanced distinctions in neural processing, particularly in terms of gamma waves and activity in parietal regions. Furthermore, no clear overall format preference emerged from the neuroscientific perspective despite students rating symbolic demonstrations higher for understanding and familiarity.

Deep social neuroscience: the promise and peril of using artificial neural networks to study the social brain.

This review offers an accessible primer to social neuroscientists interested in neural networks. It begins by providing an overview of key concepts in deep learning. It then discusses three ways neural networks can be useful to social neuroscientists: (i) building statistical models to predict behavior from brain activity; (ii) quantifying naturalistic stimuli and social interactions; and (iii) generating cognitive models of social brain function. These applications have the potential to enhance the clinical value of neuroimaging and improve the generalizability of social neuroscience research. We also discuss the significant practical challenges, theoretical limitations and ethical issues faced by deep learning. If the field can successfully navigate these hazards, we believe that artificial neural networks may prove indispensable for the next stage of the field's development: deep social neuroscience.

Differently different?: A commentary on the emerging social cognitive neuroscience of female autism.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, behaviourally identified, which is generally characterised by social communication differences, and restrictive and repetitive patterns of behaviour and interests. It has long been claimed that it is more common in males. This observed preponderance of males in autistic populations has served as a focussing framework in all spheres of autism-related issues, from recognition and diagnosis through to theoretical models and research agendas. One related issue is the near total absence of females in key research areas. For example, this paper reports a review of over 120 brain-imaging studies of social brain processes in autism that reveals that nearly 70% only included male participants or minimal numbers (just one or two) of females. Authors of such studies very rarely report that their cohorts are virtually female-free and discuss their findings as though applicable to all autistic individuals. The absence of females can be linked to exclusionary consequences of autism diagnostic procedures, which have mainly been developed on male-only cohorts. There is clear evidence that disproportionately large numbers of females do not meet diagnostic criteria and are then excluded from ongoing autism research. Another issue is a long-standing assumption that the female autism phenotype is broadly equivalent to that of the male autism phenotype. Thus, models derived from male-based studies could be applicable to females. However, it is now emerging that certain patterns of social behaviour may be very different in females. This includes a specific type of social behaviour called camouflaging or masking, linked to attempts to disguise autistic characteristics. With respect to research in the field of sex/gender cognitive neuroscience, there is emerging evidence of female differences in patterns of connectivity and/or activation in the social brain that are at odds with those reported in previous, male-only studies. Decades of research have excluded or overlooked females on the autistic spectrum, resulting in the construction of inaccurate and misleading cognitive neuroscience models, and missed opportunities to explore the brain bases of this highly complex condition. A note of warning needs to be sounded about inferences drawn from past research, but if future research addresses this problem of male bias, then a deeper understanding of autism as a whole, as well as in previously overlooked females, will start to emerge.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, behaviourally identified, which is generally characterised by social communication differences, and restrictive and repetitive patterns of behaviour and interests. It has long been claimed that it is more common in males, with oft-quoted ratios of 4M: 1F. This has been reflected in the development of diagnostic criteria for autism and, consequently, of measures of eligibility for autism research programmes, with females being (as is now emerging) disproportionately excluded.As outlined in this review, this issue has been particularly problematic in brain-based studies of autism. Many studies have only tested male autistic participants, or minimal numbers of autistic females. By default, sex differences were not examined. But the impression given by such research reports has commonly been that the findings would be applicable to all autistic individuals.Recent psychological and clinical research has shown that there are a significant number of autistic females who have been missed by traditional diagnostic practices. Their inclusion has increased their eligibility for autism research studies. With respect to brain research, it has become possible to devise studies with matched numbers of autistic females and males, and to replicate studies that have previously only tested males. Newly emerging findings from such studies are demonstrating that the 'robust' autism-related differences previously observed in autistic male-only cohorts do not fully generalise to autistic females.It will be necessary to exercise caution in drawing inferences from previous male-biased studies of the autistic brain. However, the identification and inclusion of previously excluded female autistic participants hopefully offers more accurate insights into this highly complex and heterogeneous condition.

Spirituality and Cognitive Neurosciences / Espiritualidad y neurociencias cognitivas

Spirituality is a word derived from Greek and is composed of the voice spiritus mean-ing breath, ­alis, which refers to that which relates to and the suffix ­lity indicating quality. Spirituality is the knowledge, acceptance, or cultivation of one's essence. For Aristotle, it is the highest form of activity of the spirit, thinking about thinking, the pleasure of theorizing... Spirituality is the inner life. Expressions and practices of spirituality are personal; it is how you understand the world and the universe within yourself.

Espiritualidad es una palabra derivada del griego y se compone de la voz spiritus, que significa aliento, -alis, que se refiere a aquello con lo que se relaciona, y el sufijo -lity, que indica cualidad. La espiritualidad es el conocimiento, la aceptación o el cultivo de la propia esencia. Para Aristóteles, es la forma más elevada de actividad del espíritu, el pensar sobre el pensar, el placer de teorizar... La espiritualidad es la vida interior. Las expresiones y prácticas de la espiritualidad son personales; es cómo entiendes el mundo y el universo dentro de ti mismo.

Formação em psicologia escolar: implicações para a prática em equipe multiprofissional / The school psychology formation: implications for the practice in multidisciplinary team / Formación en psicología escolar: implicaciones para la práctica en equipo multiprofesional

O objetivo dessa pesquisa foi levantar o perfil sociodemográfico e formativo de psicólogos escolares, e discutir seu impacto nas práticas junto ao coletivo escolar e no trabalho em equipe. No município onde ocorreu a pesquisa, o psicólogo escolar é membro da equipe de especialistas em Educação. Participaram da pesquisa 62 psicólogos que atuam no Ensino Fundamental I, II, e na Educação de Jovens e Adultos. Os participantes responderam um questionário on-line com perguntas abertas e fechadas sobre dados sociodemográficos, de formação e atuação profissional. Realizou-se uma análise qualitativa a partir dos objetivos e itens do instrumento, quais sejam: caracterização do perfil sociodemográfico dos psicólogos escolares, formação acadêmica, atuação em psicologia escolar, atuação em outros campos/áreas da psicologia, e atuação em equipe de especialistas. A média de idade dos profissionais é de 47,46 anos, e apenas um é do sexo masculino. Possuem tempo de atuação de um a 36 anos, e a maioria não possui estágio supervisionado e pós-graduações no campo da psicologia escolar. Parte das equipes que trabalham nas escolas está incompleta, e há uma variabilidade nos dias e horários de reuniões. Reafirma-se que a formação de psicólogos escolares tem repercussões na atuação junto à equipe multidisciplinar, e a importância de intervenções pautadas na perspectiva crítica e psicossocial em Psicologia Escolar. Ademais, conhecer o perfil sociodemográfico e formativo destes profissionais possibilita obter um quadro atualizado sobre o grupo pesquisado e criar estratégias de intervenção que potencializem a atuação desses profissionais junto à equipe de especialistas e demais setores da escola.(AU)

The aim of this research is to identify the sociodemographic and training profile of school psychologists, and discuss their impact on practices within the school collective and the teamwork. In the city where the research took place, the school psychologist is a member of the council's expert team in Education. The research participants included 62 psychologists that work in elementary and intermediate school, and EJA. They answered an open and multiple choice online survey on sociodemographic, formation, and working data. A qualitative analysis was conducted considering its objectives and items, namely: sociodemographic profile, academic education, professional background on school psychology, other psychology fields/ areas, and participation on expert teams. The professionals are 47 and 46 years old, average, only one of them being male. They work in this position from one up to 36 years, and most of them do not have training experience and postgraduate studies in school psychology. Part of the teams working at schools are incomplete, and there is a variability concerning days and hours to team meetings. It is notable that the training profile of psychologists has repercussions in the performance with the multidisciplinary team, and in the importance of interventions based on critical and psychosocial perspectives in School Psychology. Moreover, knowing the sociodemographic and training profile of these professionals allowed us to have an updated chart about the researched group, as well as to create intervention strategies that enhance these professionals' performance within the expert team and other sectors of the school.(AU)

Esta investigación tuvo por objetivo levantar el perfil sociodemográfico y formativo de psicólogos escolares para discutir su impacto en las prácticas junto al colectivo escolar y al trabajo en equipo. En el municipio donde ocurrió la investigación, este profesional es miembro del equipo municipal de especialistas en Educación. Participaron 62 psicólogos que actúan en la educación primaria, secundaria y en la educación para jóvenes y adultos (EJA), y que respondieron a un cuestionario en línea con preguntas abiertas y de opción múltiple sobre datos sociodemográficos, de formación y de actuación profesional. Se realizó un análisis cualitativo según sus objetivos e ítems, o sea: perfil sociodemográfico, formación académica, actuación en Psicología Escolar, en otros campos/áreas de la Psicología o en equipo de especialistas. La edad mediana de los profesionales es de 46-47 años, y solo uno es del sexo masculino. El tiempo de actuación en el área varía entre 1 y 36 años, y la mayoría de los encuestados no tiene formación inicial y posgrado en el campo de la Psicología Escolar. Parte de los equipos que trabajan en las escuelas está incompleta, y existe una variabilidad en los días y horarios de reuniones. Se observó que la formación de los psicólogos escolares tiene repercusiones en la actuación con el equipo multidisciplinario y en la importancia de intervenciones basadas en la perspectiva crítica y psicosocial en Psicología Escolar. Además, conocer su perfil sociodemográfico y formativo posibilita obtener un cuadro actualizado sobre el grupo investigado, además de crear estrategias de intervención que potencialicen la actuación junto al equipo de especialistas y a los demás sectores de la escuela.(AU)

Aportes históricos de la neurociencia cognitiva y su emergencia en Chile / The deveolpment of cognitive neuroscience in Chile

Very little has been written about the national pioneer investigators and the formal institutions and channels of knowledge that have contributed to the consolidation of cognitive neuroscience in Chile. This article is a review based on scientific publications, magazine articles and interviews with neuroscientists that were key to the development of cognitive neuroscience in Chile. In particular, the review incorporates information about the different Chilean investigators, the universities where they completed their doctoral studies, and the institutions where they settled afterwards. The objective of this article is to describe the way in which neuroscientific knowledge extended in Chile and to give recognition to pioneering scientists. The information retrieved was processed through the reconstruction of an interaction network between local and foreign neuroscientists, as well as their universities and institutions of origin, that contributed to the development of cognitive neuroscience in Chile. A visual representation of these networks was elaborated. In addition, the scientists' academic training in Chile and abroad is summarized in a table. This analysis allows for a deeper comprehension of the socio-historical context in which cognitive neuroscience emerges and encourages a critical perspective of its development in Chile.