Advanced Cognitive Abilities Research Articles

Experimental expansion of relative telencephalon size improves the main executive function abilities in guppy.

Executive functions are a set of cognitive control processes required for optimizing goal-directed behavior. Despite more than two centuries of research on executive functions, mostly in humans and nonhuman primates, there is still a knowledge gap in what constitutes the mechanistic basis of evolutionary variation in executive function abilities. Here, we show experimentally that size changes in a forebrain structure (i.e. telencephalon) underlie individual variation in executive function capacities in a fish. For this, we used male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) issued from artificial selection lines with substantial differences in telencephalon size relative to the rest of the brain. We tested fish from the up- and down-selected lines not only in three tasks for the main core executive functions: cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory, but also in a basic conditioning test that does not require executive functions. Individuals with relatively larger telencephalons outperformed individuals with smaller telencephalons in all three executive function assays but not in the conditioning assay. Based on our findings, we propose that the telencephalon is the executive brain in teleost fish. Together, it suggests that selective enlargement of key brain structures with distinct functions, like the fish telencephalon, is a potent evolutionary pathway toward evolutionary enhancement of advanced cognitive abilities in vertebrates.

The Effects of COVID-19 on the Emotional and Social Stability, Motivation and Attitudes of Gifted and Non-Gifted Children in Greece

Gifted children exhibit advanced cognitive abilities, usually beyond their emotional development, which puts them at higher risk of the negative consequences of isolation. This study investigates the effects of distance learning and home confinement on the emotional and social stability, motivation, and attitudes of gifted and non-gifted children in Greece. Our study includes two subsets, from before (September 2017 to March 2020) and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020 to March 2022). The analysis indicated that home confinement and distance learning caused children to create a stronger attachment with their parents, and it increased the involvement of parents in their child's school experience. Non-gifted children displayed high levels of certain attitudes (perfectionism, desire for acceptance, and condescending behavior) and demonstrated elevated motivation. Gifted children in the pre-COVID-19 period had already displayed increased levels of condescending attitude, which is assumed to be the result of already existing expectations from their parents. The pandemic further increased this attitude, as a result of the higher expectations of their parents. Overall, the study highlighted the importance of children to have more than one support system and the need for them to strengthen their self-image.

Numerosity as a visual property: Evidence from two highly evolutionary distant species.

Most animals, from humans to invertebrates, possess an ability to estimate numbers. This evolutionary advantage facilitates animals' choice of environments with more food sources, more conspecifics to increase mating success, and/or reduced predation risk among others. However, how the brain processes numerical information remains largely unknown. There are currently two lines of research interested in how numerosity of visual objects is perceived and analyzed in the brain. The first argues that numerosity is an advanced cognitive ability processed in high-order brain areas, while the second proposes that "numbers" are attributes of the visual scene and thus numerosity is processed in the visual sensory system. Recent evidence points to a sensory involvement in estimating magnitudes. In this Perspective, we highlight this evidence in two highly evolutionary distant species: humans and flies. We also discuss the advantages of studying numerical processing in fruit flies in order to dissect the neural circuits involved in and required for numerical processing. Based on experimental manipulation and the fly connectome, we propose a plausible neural network for number sense in invertebrates.

Different impacts of long-term abacus training on symbolic and non-symbolic numerical magnitude processing in children

Abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) has been shown to be effective in promoting math ability in children. Given that AMC relies on a visuospatial strategy to perform rapid and precise arithmetic, previous studies mostly focused on the promotion of AMC training on arithmetic ability and mathematical visual-spatial ability, as well as its transfer of advanced cognitive ability. However, little attention has been given to its impact on basic numerical comparison ability. Here, we aim to examine whether and how long-term AMC training impacts symbolic and non-symbolic numerical comparisons. The distance effect (DE) was utilized as a marker, indicating that the comparison between two numbers becomes faster as their numerical distance enlarges. In the current study, forty-one children matched for age and sex were recruited at primary school entry and randomly assigned to the AMC group and the control group. After three years of training, the event-related potential (ERP) recording technique was used to explore the temporal dynamics of number comparison, of which tasks were given in symbolic (Arabic number) or non-symbolic (dot array) format. In the symbolic task, the children in the AMC group showed a smaller DE than those in the control group. Two ERP components, N1 and P2p, located in parietal areas (PO7, PO8) were selected as neural markers of numerical processing. Both groups showed DE in the P2p component in both tasks, but only the children in the AMC group showed DE in the N1 component in the non-symbolic task. In addition, the DE size calculated from reaction times and ERP amplitudes was correlated with higher cognitive capacities, such as coding ability. Taken together, the present results provide evidence that long-term AMC training may be beneficial for numerical processing in children, which may be associated with neurocognitive indices of parietal brain regions.

A software system for modeling evolution in a population of organisms with vision, interacting with each other in 3D simulator.

Development of computer models imitating the work of the nervous systems of living organisms, taking into account their morphology and electrophysiology, is one of the important and promising branches of computational neurobiology. It is often sought to model not only the nervous system, but also the body, muscles, sensory systems, and a virtual three-dimensional physical environment in which the behavior of an organism can be observed and which provides its sensory systems with adequate data streams that change in response to the movement of the organism. For a system of hundreds or thousands of neurons, one can still hope to determine the necessary parameters and get the functioning of the nervous system more or less similar to that of a living organism - as, for example, in a recent work on the modeling of the Xenopus tadpole. However, of greatest interest, both practical and fundamental, are organisms that have vision, a more complex nervous system, and, accordingly, significantly more advanced cognitive abilities. Determining the structure and parameters of the nervous systems of such organisms is an extremely difficult task. Moreover, at the cellular level they change over time, these including changes under the influence of the streams of sensory signals they perceive and the life experience gained, including the consequences of their own actions under certain circumstances. Knowing the structure of the nervous system and the number of nerve cells forming it, at least approximately, one can try to optimize the initial parameters of the model through artificial evolution, during which virtual organisms will interact and survive, each under the control of its own version of the nervous system. In addition, in principle, the rules by which the brain changes during the life of the organism can also evolve. This work is devoted to the development of a neuroevolutionary simulator capable of performing simultaneous functioning of virtual organisms that have a visual system and are able to interact with each other. The amount of computational resources required for the operation of models of the physical body of an organism, the nervous system and the virtual environment was estimated, and the performance of the simulator on a modern desktop computing system was determined depending on the number of simultaneously simulated organisms.

MANAJEMEN PENDIDIKAN DALAM PERSPEKTIF AL-QUR’AN DAN AS-SUNNAH

Islamic education is becoming more prevalent throughout society and is in high demand due to its perceived academic and Qur'an memorization advantages. In addition to strong management, good education is attained through good administration. According to the Qur'anic verses, management already exists and is illustrated by the Prophets and Apostles of his day. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to study and describe educational management from the Qur'an and Sunnah's perspective. There are numerous verses in the Qur'an that discuss school management, particularly the four educational responsibilities of Planning, Organizing, Acting, and Controlling (POAC). Some verses can be understood quickly to be explanations of managerial functions, while others require the reader to have advanced cognitive abilities (HOTS). The history of the Prophet Muhammad saw is likewise heavily influenced by the four managerial functions. Therefore, it may be stated that Islam had management science in the Qur'an and was exhibited by the Prophet Muhammad saw before Europeans were aware of it.

Capturing advanced human cognitive abilities with deep neural networks.

How can artificial neural networks capture the advanced cognitive abilities of pioneering scientists? I suggest they must learn to exploit human-invented tools of thought and human-like ways of using them, and must engage in explicit goal-directed problem solving as exemplified in the activities of scientists and mathematicians and taught in advanced educational settings.

Cognitive psychology-based artificial intelligence review.

Most of the current development of artificial intelligence is based on brain cognition, however, this replication of biology cannot simulate the subjective emotional and mental state changes of human beings. Due to the imperfections of existing artificial intelligence, this manuscript summarizes and clarifies that artificial intelligence system combined with cognitive psychology is the research direction of artificial intelligence. It aims to promote the development of artificial intelligence and give computers human advanced cognitive abilities, so that computers can recognize emotions, understand human feelings, and eventually achieve dialog and empathy with humans and other artificial intelligence. This paper emphasizes the development potential and importance of artificial intelligence to understand, possess and discriminate human mental states, and argues its application value with three typical application examples of human–computer interaction: face attraction, affective computing, and music emotion, which is conducive to the further and higher level of artificial intelligence research.

Investigation of the effect of alpha wave-containing music on the cognitive performance and brain activity of university students

Cognition is one of the most vital brain functions, which ranges from assisting students in recalling what they have been taught to assisting us in concentrating while accomplishing chores. Nowadays, many jobs require advanced cognitive abilities, particularly among high school and university students. As a result, preserving or improving our cognitive abilities has become necessary in modern society. Alpha-wave music, which targets the brain frequency range from 8 to 12 Hz, is a promising approach to boosting cognitive performance. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the immediate, short term, or long term effects of alpha wave music on the cognitive performance and brain activity of students. In an online experiment, two groups of students were recruited and randomized into control and experimental groups. The experimental group was required to listen to alpha music for two weeks (here called the intervention). Participants from both groups will have their cognitive performance assessed before, immediately after, and two weeks following the intervention. In the immediate effect experiment, another group of participants have their alpha relative power evaluated while performing different tasks. The results of the online experiment revealed that feedback from participants listening to alpha music are mostly positive, while the response time of cognitive tasks indicated an improvement trend (p<0.05). The positive potential of alpha music was also confirmed with the immediate effect study where the alpha power was higher during alpha music exposure than during the remaining sessions. In conclusion, this study provided preliminary evidence to support the implementation of alpha music intervention to improve the cognitive function of students.

Signatures of adaptive evolution in platyrrhine primate genomes

The platyrrhine family Cebidae (capuchin and squirrel monkeys) exhibit among the largest primate encephalization quotients. Each cebid lineage is also characterized by notable lineage-specific traits, with capuchins showing striking similarities to Hominidae such as high sensorimotor intelligence with tool use, advanced cognitive abilities, and behavioral flexibility. Here, we take a comparative genomics approach, performing genome-wide tests for positive selection across five cebid branches, to gain insight into major periods of cebid adaptive evolution. We uncover candidate targets of selection across cebid evolutionary history that may underlie the emergence of lineage-specific traits. Our analyses highlight shifting and sustained selective pressures on genes related to brain development, longevity, reproduction, and morphology, including evidence for cumulative and diversifying neurobiological adaptations across cebid evolution. In addition to generating a high-quality reference genome assembly for robust capuchins, our results lend to a better understanding of the adaptive diversification of this distinctive primate clade.

Social Neuro AI: Social Interaction as the “Dark Matter” of AI

This article introduces a three-axis framework indicating how AI can be informed by biological examples of social learning mechanisms. We argue that the complex human cognitive architecture owes a large portion of its expressive power to its ability to engage in social and cultural learning. However, the field of AI has mostly embraced a solipsistic perspective on intelligence. We thus argue that social interactions not only are largely unexplored in this field but also are an essential element of advanced cognitive ability, and therefore constitute metaphorically the “dark matter” of AI. In the first section, we discuss how social learning plays a key role in the development of intelligence. We do so by discussing social and cultural learning theories and empirical findings from social neuroscience. Then, we discuss three lines of research that fall under the umbrella of Social NeuroAI and can contribute to developing socially intelligent embodied agents in complex environments. First, neuroscientific theories of cognitive architecture, such as the global workspace theory and the attention schema theory, can enhance biological plausibility and help us understand how we could bridge individual and social theories of intelligence. Second, intelligence occurs in time as opposed to over time, and this is naturally incorporated by dynamical systems. Third, embodiment has been demonstrated to provide more sophisticated array of communicative signals. To conclude, we discuss the example of active inference, which offers powerful insights for developing agents that possess biological realism, can self-organize in time, and are socially embodied.

Behavioral Strategies Shift Information From Single Neurons to Populations in Prefrontal Cortex

Advanced cognitive abilities, such as planning and problem solving, rely on working memory (WM) to hold and manipulate information online. Because WM capacity is limited, we enlist cognitive strategies that organize information and overcome this constraint. Here we assessed the neural mechanisms by which mnemonic strategies improve WM.

The urgency of the multi-model approach in learning environmental physics to achieve learning goals

Some learning models that can improve creative thinking skills are CPS (Creative Problem Solving), IBL (Inquiry-Based Learning), JUCAMA (Problem Submission and Solving), PBL (Problem Based Learning), SSCS (Search, Solve, Create, Share), Quantum Learning, PjBL (Project Based Learning) and PQ4R (Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, Review). However, the combination of IBL, PBL, and PjBL models in one teaching activity is essential to create exciting and dynamic learning conditions. These three models have a more structured learning syntax than the other models. The IBL learning model has advantages in cognitive aspects, helping students develop advanced cognitive abilities such as creative thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills. The PBL model has advantages in the affective part, namely, making students active in learning. The PBL learning model has advantages in the psychomotor aspect, namely being able to assist students in improving the skills of the questioning process and communicating their knowledge. By applying these three models in learning, it is hoped that a model can be realized to improve students' creative thinking skills more optimally in order to achieve learning goals.

Studying stimuli and smoking behaviors among self-identified gifted smokers and strategies for customizing cessation support.

INTRODUCTIONThe aim of the study was to examine smoking habits and triggers among self-identified gifted (inner experiences and awareness qualitatively different from the norm in terms of asynchronous development, advanced cognitive abilities, and heightened intensity) adults in order to customize smoking cessation support.METHODSA total of 123 participants were enrolled through Facility-Based and Snowball Sampling. Quantitative analysis focused on the relationship between overexcitabilities, nicotine dependence, motivation to quit, and smoking triggers, using the following questionnaires: the Overexcitability Questionnaire (OEQ-II) an indicator of areas of overexcitability, a heightened response and lowered threshold to stimuli; the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence; a Cessation Motivation Questionnaire; and a Smoking Triggers Questionnaire. Qualitative analysis drew on six semi-structured interviews. Participant experiences of the relationship between smoking behaviors and experiences of multiple areas of overexcitability were analyzed using process coding.RESULTSThe quantitative data indicate that self-identified gifted smokers who rate themselves as having 3–5 ‘High’ or ‘High Average’ overexcitabilities (OEs), are less likely to smoke in response to pattern, social, and addiction focused triggers than those self-reporting as having 0–2 OEs (Fisher’s exact test, p<0.1). In the interviews, we observed a high level of complexity in stimulation and smoking behavior, with all interviewees explicitly connecting their smoking habits with experiences of overexcitability. Two interviewees had given up smoking prior to the research and of the four who still smoked, three quit within a few days of the interview.CONCLUSIONSWe found that psychometric testing and interviews designed to increase self-knowledge about the relationship between overexcitabilities and triggers for smoking have the potential to improve outcomes for smoking cessation among the gifted.

Meeting the needs of highly able readers in the primary classroom: teachers’ perceptions in China and Scotland

ABSTRACT This study explored regular classroom teachers’ perceptions of highly able readers and their actual practice of gifted education in the educational contexts of China and Scotland. This study is qualitative in nature and questionnaires and interviews were used to gather data in Chinese and Scottish public primary schools. The analysis indicated that many teachers in both countries believed that compared to their similar-aged peers, highly able readers could demonstrate advanced linguistic, cognitive and socioemotional abilities, and additional support was needed to develop reading ability. However, divergence emerged in terms of the role of school education. While Scottish teachers believed that highly able readers could be developed by school education, Chinese teachers believed that the role of school education was to provide basic education rather than enriched and additional education for highly able students. Chinese teachers regarded family education as the main source to extend highly able children’s learning experience. A concern for lacking professional knowledge for properly identifying and addressing the needs of highly able children was revealed between Chinese and Scottish teachers. The findings suggest that teacher training for gifted education and the flexibility for planning differentiated instruction should be provided to teachers in both countries.

Childhood in social learning models with changing environments: Implications for human evolution

Childhood is a time of learning, both individually and through social interactions. But the vulnerability inherent in childhood represents a fitness cost: individuals do not have progeny during childhood, and childhood is a net drain of familial or group resources. In this study we model childhood in resource acquisition scenarios where social learning through observation competes with learning through innovation across multiple generations in a variety of environments. In general, observing others allows useful knowledge to be gained more efficiently than self-exploration and may result in significantly greater resource acquisition. However, social learning needing a lengthy childhood to develop advanced cognitive ability may offset the net fitness advantage that might otherwise be gained. Through simulations we demonstrate that individuals with a substantial childhood burden acquire more lifetime resources by observing others than do individuals with negligible childhood costs using self-exploration, as long as the environment is fairly stable. This advantage decreases as the environment becomes less predictable, and reverses in rapidly changing environments where knowledge is unreliable. These results suggest that hominid evolution, with vastly growing cognitive abilities and a longer, more vulnerable childhood, may have been facilitated in similarly stable environments. On the other hand, hominid populations may have been particularly vulnerable to environmental instability. We apply this insight to the Out of Africa Homo sapiens migration roughly 50,000 years ago and show consistency with the serial founder model that best fits current archeological and genetic evidence. Our findings are important for models of social learning, especially those that describe the emergence and spread of Homo sapiens.

Natural and Artificial Intelligence: A brief introduction to the interplay between AI and neuroscience research

Neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI) share a long history of collaboration. Advances in neuroscience, alongside huge leaps in computer processing power over the last few decades, have given rise to a new generation of in silico neural networks inspired by the architecture of the brain. These AI systems are now capable of many of the advanced perceptual and cognitive abilities of biological systems, including object recognition and decision making. Moreover, AI is now increasingly being employed as a tool for neuroscience research and is transforming our understanding of brain functions. In particular, deep learning has been used to model how convolutional layers and recurrent connections in the brain’s cerebral cortex control important functions, including visual processing, memory, and motor control. Excitingly, the use of neuroscience-inspired AI also holds great promise for understanding how changes in brain networks result in psychopathologies, and could even be utilized in treatment regimes. Here we discuss recent advancements in four areas in which the relationship between neuroscience and AI has led to major advancements in the field; (1) AI models of working memory, (2) AI visual processing, (3) AI analysis of big neuroscience datasets, and (4) computational psychiatry.

A Preliminary Report on Prehistoric Investigation in the Middle Ong River Basin with Particular Reference to the Uttali and the Ghensali Stream, Southern Bargarh Upland, Odisha

The paper presents a preliminary report on the systematic surface exploration conducted in the Middle Ong basin with particular focus on the northern tributaries, viz. the Uttali, Ghensali and Mongragod stream in the southern Bargarh Upland of Western Odisha. The investigations have resulted in the discovery of 43 new prehistoric sites in the area with predominance of microlithic components. These sites are observed in different geomorphological contexts, such as, in the cliff surface of riverbanks, hillslope, foothills and rocky outcrops. Abundant availability of raw materials, mainly chert of different colors and vein quartz in the area seem to have attracted the prehistoric communities for intensive settlements in the area. while sporadic acheulian artifacts have been found scattered here and there, most of the documented sites are dominated by microlithic components, some of which have also been associated with used/unused red ochre minerals, suggesting advanced cognitive abilities and symbolic behavior of the microlith using communities in the area of investigation.

Genetically identified neurons in avian auditory pallium mirror core principles of their mammalian counterparts

In vertebrates, advanced cognitive abilities are typically associated with the telencephalic pallium. In mammals, the pallium is a layered mixture of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal populations with distinct molecular, physiological, and network phenotypes. This cortical architecture is proposed to support efficient, high-level information processing. Comparative perspectives across vertebrates provide a lens to understand the common features of pallium that are important for advanced cognition. Studies in songbirds have established strikingly parallel features of neuronal types between mammalian and avian pallium. However, lack of genetic access to defined pallial cell types in non-mammalian vertebrates has hindered progress in resolving connections between molecular and physiological phenotypes. A definitive mapping of the physiology of pallial cells onto their molecular identities in birds is critical for understanding how synaptic and computational properties depend on underlying molecular phenotypes. Using viral tools to target excitatory versus inhibitory neurons in the zebra finch auditory association pallium (calmodulin-dependent kinase alpha [CaMKIIα] and glutamate decarboxylase 1 [GAD1] promoters, respectively), we systematically tested predictions derived from mammalian pallium. We identified two genetically distinct neuronal populations that exhibit profound physiological and computational similarities with mammalian excitatory and inhibitory pallial cells, definitively aligning putative cell types in avian caudal nidopallium with these molecular identities. Specifically, genetically identified CaMKIIα and GAD1 cell types in avian auditory association pallium exhibit distinct intrinsic physiological parameters, distinct auditory coding principles, and inhibitory-dependent pallial synchrony, gamma oscillations, and local suppression. The retention, or convergence, of these molecular and physiological features in both birds and mammals clarifies the characteristics of pallial circuits for advanced cognitive abilities.

Cleaner fish and other wrasse match primates in their ability to delay gratification

Humans are outstanding in their ability to achieve mutual cooperation for direct benefits. One often-quoted factor driving our unique cooperation skills is our ability to delay gratification for future benefits, which is supposedly linked to our advanced cognitive abilities relative to other species. The established experimental paradigm used to test delayed gratification in primates and birds is to give subjects access to a small food reward, which can be exchanged for a larger (quantitative task) or better quality (qualitative task) food reward after a time delay. Here we used this paradigm to test primarily the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus for its ability to delay gratification. The specific ecology of cleaners makes them ideal candidates for this task: cleaners remove ectoparasites from visiting ‘client’ reef fish although they prefer to eat client mucus. This eating against preference is equivalent to delayed gratification as clients that have their ectoparasites removed (as opposed to their mucus) will both stay longer with a specific cleaner and return to it for later inspection. Cleaners performed very well in the quantitative task, i.e. similarly to monkeys. In contrast, they performed poorly if the delayed reward was of higher quality. Using the quantitative task to test other wrasse species, we found that another cleaner species and noncleaner wrasse also performed well, the latter despite no evidence that they need such ability to cooperate in nature. However, only the two cleaner species showed evidence for making decisions early on about whether to wait or to directly eat the immediate reward. We conclude that the ability to delay gratification does not warrant advanced cognitive abilities that require endotherm-specific brain morphology, although the underlying mechanisms vary between species. • Ability to delay gratification supposedly indicates advanced cognitive capacities. • Wrasse performed similarly to monkeys in a quantitative delayed reward task. • Cleaner fish showed evidence for anticipation as few primates do. • Ectotherms may have a different perception of time compared to endotherms.