...Broken Mirror: The Mirror Neuron System and the Salience Landscape Dysfunction Pamela H. Crittenden University of Maryland University College The Mirror Neuron System and the Salience Landscape Dysfunction This paper will summarized and critique the important points discussed by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Lindsay M. Oberman in the article “The Theory of Autism”. Support and expansion of the ideas presented will be discussed. Several points in the article will be evaluated. Two theories that were prevalent during their studies to help explain and or determine the cause of Autism were the Mirror Neuron Dysfunctions and Disrupted Salience Landscape Theory. To begin it is important to define what is meant by Autism. It is a genetic disorder that plagues a small portion of Americans. Children diagnosed with Autism are unable to carry on normal conversations and tend to remove themselves from any chance of social contact. Although they may experience different types of emotions such as fear and pleasure they also experience poor language, lack of eye contact and social isolation. As stated by the author (Ramachandran and Oberman, 2006) Patricia M. Rodier believes that “susceptibility to autism is inherited” and her theory is based on a “newly discovered class of nerve cells in the brain called Mirror Neurons” (Ramachandran and Oberman, 2006, p.64). These nerve cells take on the same characteristics of an Autistic...
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...Spring 12 Mirror Neurons In Motor and Social Acts The authors who ushered in what might be considered the most critical finding of 21st century neuroscience to date—the discovery of mirror neurons (MNs)—contend that MNs underlie simulation theories of action understanding and mindreading (Gallese & Goldman, 1998); Gallese et al., (2004). The mechanism that allows mirroring of action is referred to as the ‘direct-matching hypothesis,’ (Rizzolatti et al., 2001), and the claim is based on the response properties of MNs in monkeys. The discovery of MNs is important in that if the implications of their function are properly understood, it lays a foundation for explanations of not only understanding of action and other minds (Gallese, 2003), but for other big questions, such as the evolution of language (Rizzolatti & Arbib, 1998). The concern of this paper is MN function as a feature at the core of the stronger claims. Alternative theorists challenge the characterization of the MN role as ‘mirroring’ action, as their findings show that mirroring cannot be direct and must rely on an interpretation of the observed action. They claim: a) MNs do not simulate with enough precision to be referred to as ‘mirroring,’ in which they are said to simulate an agent’s motor program onto the very same motor repertoire of an observer not performing the act; b) mirror neuron activation is predictive of action, not replicative; and c) the function of these neurons supports a model that is generative...
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...“Clear thinking requires peace of mind rather than intelligence.” ~Meredith Forder … When it comes to making the right choices in life, mere intelligence will not guarantee the best result. This fact is exemplified by the problems of obesity, anxiety, stress, addictions and depression among highly intelligent people. At Clear Thinking we believe that many of life’s problems can be solved by simply learning how to think clearly—how to keep your mind calm, focused and within your control. Critical thinking...the awakening of the intellect to the study of itself. Critical thinking is a rich concept that has been developing throughout the past 2500 years. The term "critical thinking" has its roots in the mid-late 20th century. We offer here overlapping definitions, together which form a substantive, transdisciplinary conception of critical thinking. Critical Thinking as Defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, 1987 A statement by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul, presented at the 8th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform, Summer 1987. Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that...
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...The neurons that shaped civilizations I'd like to talk to you today about the human brain, which is what we do research on at the University of California. Just think about this problem for a second. Here is a lump of flesh, about three pounds, which you can hold in the palm of your hand. But it can contemplate the vastness of interstellar space. It can contemplate the meaning of infinity, ask questions about the meaning of its own existence, about the nature of God. 0:34And this is truly the most amazing thing in the world. It's the greatest mystery confronting human beings:How does this all come about? Well, the brain, as you know, is made up of neurons. We're looking at neurons here. There are 100 billion neurons in the adult human brain. And each neuron makes something like 1,000 to 10,000 contacts with other neurons in the brain. And based on this, people have calculatedthat the number of permutations and combinations of brain activity exceeds the number of elementary particles in the universe. 1:01So, how do you go about studying the brain? One approach is to look at patients who had lesions in different part of the brain, and study changes in their behavior. This is what I spoke about in the last TED.Today I'll talk about a different approach, which is to put electrodes in different parts of the brain, and actually record the activity of individual nerve cells in the brain. Sort of eavesdrop on the activity of nerve cells in the brain. 1:22Now, one recent discovery...
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...Yawning: The Power of a Single Word Intro: The power of a single word…one of life’s greatest mysteries. The ability to affect an entire crowd by uttering a distinct expression…do you know what word I’m talking about? It’s the word… Yawn. Believe it or not, yawning is one of the most googled phenomenons in the world. As a frequent yawner, I often question the mysterious bodily function. Without thinking about it, I can see or hear someone yawn, yearn to replicate the action, and before I know it, my mouth is agape. In fact, I’ve caught myself yawning involuntarily while talking on the phone to some of my most exciting friends. I’m pretty sure what I heard at the other end of the phone was a contagious yawn from the ever-so entertaining counterpart. All of you have experienced yawning, but many do not know its purpose, which is why I am here to inform you about why we yawn, why it is contagious, and how it benefits the body. Body: There are several reasons why we yawn, and those reasons have puzzled scientists for years. After completing many experiments, Andrew C. Gallup, a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University, concluded that yawning cools the brain. Gallup explains to WebMD that when you begin to yawn, the stretching of your jaw increases blood flow in the neck, face, and head. The deep inhalation of breath that comes with a yawn drives the flow of spinal fluid and blood to the brain. Cool air that is breathed in lowers the temperature of these...
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...As long as psychology has been a discipline in its own right there have been many new and exciting theories proposed, all claiming to hold more promise and insight than the last. Consequently, many of these theories are scrutinized by those of the potentially effected field, and rightly so. Therefore the concept of a paradigm shifting theory in the form of mirror neurons would surely be scrutinized more than most, as the potential of such a theory has implications across many a field in psychology. However the concept of mirror neurons may have the potential to increase any understanding of how human and animal brains may function. Furthermore, in order to discuss possible implications of mirror neurons this essay has firstly presented a detailed description for the concept of mirror neurons, supporting any explanation with relevant research. In addition to any supporting research, research providing evidence to the contrary has been provided to enable a balanced analysis. Therefore, a balanced description of mirror neurons will facilitate any critical analysis for the possible psychological implications, thereby providing a balanced argument for the legitimacy of mirror neurons. Additionally, following any analysis of relevant research, a balanced and supported conclusion was produced in order to summarise any analysed research. Accordingly, the concept of mirror neurons first came to be in the winter of 1991when a paper entitled ‘Understanding motor events: A neurophysiological...
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...The frontal lobe of our brain helps to modify and control emotions derived from the limbic system. At the back of the frontal lobe, is a strip of neurons called the motor cortex. This part of the brain has been undergoing scientific research because it contains what scientist call mirror neurons. These neurons fire both when an action is preformed and when one watches that same action being performed. These neurons are believed to give both animals and people the ability to connect with someone just from watching their actions. Mirror neurons tie us not only to other people’s actions, but to other people’s feelings as well. Due to the messages sent from the mirror neurons to the limbic system of our brains, we are allowed to tune into other...
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...Neuroplasticity and mirror neurons kind of fit together due to the fact they are both involving the brain. Neuroplasticity is a more recent study that focuses on brain growth and development. It is a term used to discuss that the brain actually continues to change up through adulthood instead of only growing in early life then stopping. Neuroplasticity studies have shown that the brain continues to create neural pathways to help us adapt to new situations throughout life. The key word here is, “adapt.” This is another example how culture can affect our biology as our brain can change many times in a single life time without ever consulting our DNA. Mirror neurons first entered scientific discussion when researchers discovered brain activity...
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...THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE Research Report for WR227 Jeremy Byrd Winter Term, 2013 Table of Contents Introduction 3 The Emergence of Language 3 The Theories of Johann Gottfried Herder 4 Pre-Language 4 Sound and Language 5 Theory of Divine Inspiration 5 Criticism of Herder's Work 6 The Gestural Theory 6 Motor Activity and Language 7 The Mirror Neuron System Theory 7 Theory of Sound Symbolism 8 Synesthesia 8 Discontinuity Theories 9 Summary 9 Works Cited 10 Introduction The origin of human language is a mystery which has baffled scholars and scientists for thousands of years. It can only be speculated how language began and evolved; the lack of direct evidence suggesting that it is perhaps a riddle that cannot be solved (Deacon 7). Yet this has not stopped many various theories from emerging over the years, speculations ranging from wild guesses to educated, scientific deductions. According to prominent linguist Eric Heinz Lenneberg, theories surrounding the origin of language are categorized into two main groups: continuity theories and discontinuity theories (Hill 134). Continuity theories hold that language was formed through a long process of evolution. Discontinuity theories are based on the belief that language is too complex to have evolved out of natural systems and is the result of a significant evolutionary jump which took place relatively abruptly. On the side of continuity theories...
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...which indeed contribute 70-75% of what perceive as taste from food. After all, we do actively “watch” TV, “listen” to music, but a lot of us seldom actively “smell” things in our daily life. The nose is small, but the generation of sense of smell is too complex to be fully understood still. Main body There are a myriad of differentiated cells responsible for the generation of smell situated in the nasal cavity which constitute part of the olfactory system. Inside the nasal cavity, the turbinates direct the inspired air toward the olfactory epithelium in the upper posterior region, the surface of which is covered by a mucus layer. Though only a few centimeters wide, there are an estimated 6,000,000 bipolar olfactory receptor cells (or neurons) inside the olfactory epithelium. There are about 347 related and various olfactory receptor types and a typical receptor cell contains only one type. Astonishingly, one cell is responsible for a range of odorants, the reason for which will be discussed in the later part. The olfactory cells step into the olfactory mucus with 10-30 receptor bearing cilia, and extend a long axon through the epithelium and cribriform plate to the olfactory bulb, a signal relay center. For detection, odorants, essentially volatile and non-reacting chemicals, have to pass through the 10–40μm thick mucus layer, which is achieved by either diffusion or the aid of odorant binding proteins which escort lipophilic molecules through the aqueous mucus medium. Note...
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...The capacity to communicate is one of the fundamental elements of the human condition which separate people from the animal world. While almost all animals are capable of vocalizations and many have a rich and diverse method of communication; no animal can match the dexterity and abstract cognition of the human mind. The study of the way the brain processes, stores, and organizes information into learning has been studied for centuries—yet it has only been in the past few hundred years that true breakthroughs in the cognitive sciences has been observed. Arguably one of the most essential discoveries in brain function lies within the compartmentalization of mental, emotional, logistical, motor, and cognitive capabilities, this process began in earnest with the discovery of Broca's Area through the diagnosis of a particular symptom of trauma—Broca's aphasia. To understand the overall picture of this convoluted problem we must first examine the historical foundations through which aphasia was diagnosed. From there we will attempt to dissect the process of language evolution and attempt to recognize where aphasia fits within the equation of language structure. From structure, we must then look even closer to the actual biology of the neural network to examine how learning and language develops in order to assist in the therapy of aphasics the world over. Broca's area is a portion of the brain in the left temporal lobe which has been attributed to the process of speech...
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...New studies of the brain show that leaders can improve group performance by understanding the biology of empathy. by Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis and the Biology of Social Intelligence Leadership IN 1998, ONE OF US, DANIEL GOLEMAN, published in these pages his first article on emotional intelligence and leadership. The response to “What Makes a Leader?” was enthusiastic. People throughout and beyond the business community started talking about the vital role that empathy and self-knowledge play in effective leadership. The concept of emotional intelligence continues to occupy a prominent space in the leadership literature and in everyday coaching practices. But in the past five years, research in the emerging field of social neuroscience – the study of what happens in the brain while people interact – is beginning to reveal subtle new truths about what makes a good leader. Jean-François Podevin | 74 Harvard Business Review September 2008 | hbr.org Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership but their inability to get along socially on the job was profesThe salient discovery is that certain things leaders do – spesionally self-defeating. cifically, exhibit empathy and become attuned to others’ What’s new about our definition of social intelligence is moods – literally affect both their own brain chemistry and its biological underpinning, which we will explore in the folthat of their followers. Indeed, researchers have found that the lowing pages. Drawing on the...
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...Actions and Motor Resonance Humans are adapted to living in social groups with complex patterns of social interactions. Understanding the meaning of other people’s behavior is an essential aspect of human communication, and a large amount of our daily life is spent watching and interpreting the actions of others (Barresi & Moore, 1996). The neural mechanism underlying our ability to represent others’ goals by the mere observation of their motor actions has been the target of considerable research. Behavioral experiments had suggested that the system for generating and representing actions is also used in the perception of actions (Knoblich & Prinz, 2001). This approach was strengthened by the discovery of “mirror” neurons in the macaque monkey brain, a class of neurons found in the parietal and the premotor cortex. They were seen to discharge not only when the monkey performed an action but also when the monkey was observing an experimenter or another monkey performing the same action (di Pellegrino, Fadiga, Fogassi, Gallese, & Rizzolatti, 1992). Similarly, neuroimaging studies in humans have revealed parietal (PAR) and premotor (PM) activations both during execution and action observation, suggesting that action observation automatically triggers action representations (Grèzes, Armony, Rowe, & Passingham, 2003). The superior temporal sulcus (STS), involved in the perception of...
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...Network, 2014), to the sophisticated scientific study performed by specialists in the field today (Queens University, 2014), humankind has sought to discover and unravel the secrets of the human brain. This long journey through the millennia has seen a dramatic evolution in the nature of psychology (Origins, 2014), however, it was not until the nineteenth century that a truly scientific discipline was born (Thomas, 2014). Wilhelm Wundt (1832 – 1920) (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2014), set up the first psychology laboratory, situated within the department of philosophy, at the University of Leipzig in 1876 (Thomas, 2014). The facility was devoted to physiological experimentation through scientific methodology, and it was also where the theory of introspection, which posited that reflection and interpretation of lived experiences could help to develop a model of consciousness, was developed. (Thomas, 2014). Since this time, psychology as a ‘scientific’ specialty has grown into a discipline with many branches, with each of these branches being devoted to a particular aspect or paradigm (Ritchie & Grenier, 2002) This essay will present a concise account of critical, historical and conceptual issues that have contributed to the evolution of psychology, and to what the future of the discipline might look like. One of the main criticisms of psychology is that of whether or not it is a science (Makunda, 1997; Manicas & Secord, 1983). Firstly, should psychology be included...
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...PERSONALITY Psychoanalytic Freud’s psychosexual theory Structure: id (pleasure principle), ego (reality principle), superego (morals, ideals) Levels of awareness: conscious, preconscious, unconscious Development: oral, anal, phallic (Oedipal complex, penis envy), latency, genital Fixations Defense mechanisms - reduce anxiety Repression (primary) Regression Reaction formation Rationalization Displacement Sublimation Projection Denial Neo-Freudians Adler—social, not sexual tensions * Birth order, inferiority complex Horney—rejected penis envy idea Carl Jung—collective unconscious Assessment Projective tests Rorschach TAT - Thematic Apperception Test Draw-a-person Sentence completion Evaluation: * Repression often not shown (vivid memory often results after trauma) * Terror management theory Social-cognitive Reciprocal determinism—interplay of Personal factors/internal cognition Behavior Environment Personal control (Julian Rotter) External locus of control Internal locus of control *Without internal locus, learned helplessness results Explanatory style (Martin Seligman) Optimistic Unstable, specific, external Pessimistic Stable, global, internal Bandura Personality influenced by observational learning, outside influences (Bobo doll study) Self-efficacy (belief in ability to do things that lead to positive outcomes) Humanism Maslow—self-actualization Hierarchy of needs * Safety—security—love—selfesteem—self-actualization Carl Rogers—person-centered Genuineness Unconditional...
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