Trends in cognitive sciences
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Trends Cogn. Sci. (Regul. Ed.) · Sep 2012
ReviewEmotion and decision-making: affect-driven belief systems in anxiety and depression.
Emotion processing and decision-making are integral aspects of daily life. However, our understanding of the interaction between these constructs is limited. ⋯ We discuss how studies of individuals with emotional dysfunctions provide evidence that alterations of decision-making can be viewed in terms of altered probability and value computation. We argue that the probabilistic representation of belief states in the context of partially observable Markov decision processes provides a useful approach to examine alterations in probability and value representation in individuals with anxiety and depression, and outline the broader implications of this approach.
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The early philosopher Immanuel Kant suggested that the mind’s intrinsic features are intimately linked to the extrinsic stimuli of the environment it processes. Currently, the field faces an analogous problem with regard to the brain. Kant’s ideas may provide novel insights into how the brain’s intrinsic features must be so that they can be linked to the neural processing of extrinsic stimuli to enable the latter’s association with consciousness and self.
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Trends Cogn. Sci. (Regul. Ed.) · Jun 2012
ReviewCognitive contributions of the ventral parietal cortex: an integrative theoretical account.
Although ventral parietal cortex (VPC) activations can be found in a variety of cognitive domains, these activations have been typically attributed to cognitive operations specific to each domain. In this article, we propose a hypothesis that can account for VPC activations across all the cognitive domains reviewed. ⋯ Then, we consider the localization of VPC activations across domains and conclude that they are largely overlapping with some differences around the edges. Finally, we assess how well four different hypotheses of VPC function can explain findings in various domains and conclude that a bottom-up attention hypothesis provides the most complete and parsimonious account.
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Trends Cogn. Sci. (Regul. Ed.) · Mar 2012
ReviewVentromedial prefrontal-subcortical systems and the generation of affective meaning.
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) comprises a set of interconnected regions that integrate information from affective sensory and social cues, long-term memory, and representations of the 'self'. Alhough the vmPFC is implicated in a variety of seemingly disparate processes, these processes are organized around a common theme. The vmPFC is not necessary for affective responses per se, but is critical when affective responses are shaped by conceptual information about specific outcomes. The vmPFC thus functions as a hub that links concepts with brainstem systems capable of coordinating organism-wide emotional behavior, a process we describe in terms of the generation of affective meaning, and which could explain the common role played by the vmPFC in a range of experimental paradigms.
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Many believe empathy and related pro-social behaviors to be the sole province of humans. The evolutionary antecedents of such phenomena, however, have been observed in lower mammals. By demonstrating empathy-based helping behavior in rats, a recently published study has provided clear-cut evidence that pro-social behaviors are not limited to humans.