Formation Of Representations Research Articles

Vividness as the similarity between generated imagery and an internal model

Vividness in visual mental imagery has been relatively under-explored compared to imagery’s representational format and neural mechanisms. In this paper, we take a deeper look at vividness and suggest that in re-framing it, we can potentially reconcile disparate findings regarding visual cortex activation during imagery. Unlike traditional views of vividness that define the concept in terms of perception, we frame vividness in terms of imagery’s relation to an internal model; the closer the generated imagery is to this model, the more vivid it is. This view is considered alongside existing neuroscientific, psychological, and philosophical research, as well as directions for future research.

Distinct encoding and post-encoding representational formats contribute to episodic sequence memory formation.

In episodic encoding, an unfolding experience is rapidly transformed into a memory representation that binds separate episodic elements into a memory form to be later recollected. However, it is unclear how brain activity changes over time to accommodate the encoding of incoming information. This study aimed to investigate the dynamics of the representational format that contributed to memory formation of sequential episodes. We combined representational similarity analysis and multivariate decoding approaches on EEG data to compare whether "category-level" or "item-level" representations supported memory formation during the online encoding of a picture triplet sequence and offline, in the period that immediately followed encoding. The findings revealed a gradual integration of category-level representation during the online encoding of the picture sequence and a rapid item-based neural reactivation of the encoded sequence at the episodic offset. However, we found that only memory reinstatement at episodic offset was associated with successful memory retrieval from long-term memory. These results suggest that post-encoding memory reinstatement is crucial for the rapid formation of unique memory for episodes that unfold over time. Overall, the study sheds light on the dynamics of representational format changes that take place during the formation of episodic memories.

Formation of Scottish Ethnic Identity through the Historical and Social Events

The present article represents the process of formation and development of the Scottish identity through the events that have been occurring since IIIrd century. The aim of the research is the study of the ethnic identity development as emotional and cognitive process of identification with the ethnos. The article is based on the foreign and Russian researchers’ studies covering issues about Scottish history, ethnic identities, text pertaining to the important historic events that influenced the ethnic identity formation and articles written by Scottish sociologists as members of the ethnic group. On the basis of definitional, conceptual and event history analyses sphere of concepts SCOTTISH IDENTITY is formulated. The conclusion about the existence of two types of identity (ethnic and national) in the Scots consciousness is formulated. Event history analysis shows the emergence of the ethnic identity, that is changes in the identifications in the course of historical events and life conditions. The relevance in the research is in the formation of the ethnic identity representation in the Scots consciousness in the frame of its long period of formation and development. This article is of interest because of the second referendum on Scottish independence that is planned to be held in autumn 2023.

Age differences in effectiveness of encoding techniques on memory

ABSTRACT We compared the effectiveness of different encoding techniques across the adult age range. Three hundred participants: 100 younger, 100 middle-aged, and 100 older adults, were asked to encode a set of visually presented concrete and abstract words. Participants were shown target words one at a time, along with prompts (randomly and intermixed, within-subject) to either silently read, read aloud, write, or draw a picture of the target, for a duration of 10-seconds each. On a later free recall test, participants were given 2-minutes to type all the words they could remember from the encoding phase. Across age groups, we showed that drawing, writing, and reading aloud as encoding techniques yielded better memory than silently reading words, with drawing leading to the largest boost. While memory performance did decrease as age increased, it interacted with the encoding technique. Of note, there were no differences in memory performance in middle-aged compared to young adults. Importantly, age differences in memory emerged only when drawing was used as the encoding strategy, in line with previously reported age-related deficits in generating imagery, or integrating it with motoric processes. Despite this, concrete relative to abstract words that were drawn or written during encoding were better retained, regardless of age, suggesting these techniques facilitate formation of age-invariant visuo-spatial representations. Our findings suggest that whether age differences in memory emerge depends on the strategy used at encoding, and the type of information being encoded.

Teaching schoolchildren in the basics of artificial intelligence technologies in conditions of additional education

The article is devoted to the description of methodological approaches to teaching schoolchildren the basics of artificial intelligence based on the technology of organizing project and educational and research activities to achieve meta-subject results of education, the formation of systemic representations and the experience of their application in real life. The experience of organizing courses within the framework of additional education for students of 10–11th grades of secondary school on the use of neural networks in solving practice-oriented problems is presented. The block structure of the content of the courses is given, which is based on the phased implementation of the idea of the future project. A detailed description of the content of each block is given with a demonstration of a presentation of complex theoretical material that is accessible to the understanding of schoolchildren. In particular, recommendations are given for the study of sequential and recurrent models of artificial neural networks, fully connected and convolutional layers, object detectors, as well as an algorithm for training neural networks by backpropagation of errors. Data acquisition tools for training artificial neural networks are described. An algorithm for writing a program for training a neural network to recognize handwritten digits of the MNIST set is characterized. Examples of projects for the use of neural networks, carried out by students together with the teacher as part of the study of the proposed courses, are given.The article is addressed to teachers of additional education, informatics teachers, teachers and students of universities — everyone who is interested in the use of artificial neural networks in solving practical problems and methods of teaching schoolchildren in project activity.

Timing-specific patterns of cerebral activations during motor imagery: A case study of the expert brain signature

Brain activations elicited during motor imagery (MI) in experts are typically reduced compared to novices, which is interpreted as a neurophysiological correlate of increased neural efficiency. However, the modulatory effects of MI speed on expertise-related differences in brain activation remains largely unknown. In the present pilot study, we compared the magnetoencephalographic (MEG) correlates of MI in an Olympic medallist and an amateur athlete under conditions of slow, real-time and fast MI. Data revealed event-related changes in the time course of alpha (8–12 Hz) power of MEG oscillations, for all timing conditions. We found that slow MI was associated with a corollary increase in neural synchronization, in both participants. Sensor-level and source-level analyses however disclosed differences between the two expertise levels. The Olympic medallist achieved greater activation of cortical sensorimotor networks than the amateur athlete, particularly during fast MI. Fast MI elicited the strongest event-related desynchronization of alpha oscillations, which was generated from cortical sensorimotor sources in the Olympic medallist, but not in the amateur athlete. Taken together, data suggest that fast MI is a particularly demanding form of motor cognition, putting a specific emphasis on cortical sensorimotor networks to achieve the formation of accurate motor representations under demanding timing constraints.

A Role of the Hippocampus in Perception and Memory of Odors. Hypothetical Neural Mechanism

Abstract—A mechanism for the interdependent functioning of the olfactory and hippocampal neural networks has been proposed. In this functioning, a significant role belongs to the long-term changes in the efficacy of connections between neurons from these networks, as well as from the ventral part of the basal ganglia, the frontal neocortical areas, the reuniens and mediodorsal thalamic nuclei. Odors are involved in spatial mapping and navigation since these two kinds of information are processed simultaneously and interdependently. The proposed mechanism for the formation of representations of “odor–object–place” associations in the activity of neurons from different hippocampal fields may underlie the participation of odors in the definition of “place fields”. The CA2 hippocampal field makes an important contribution to this process, facilitating the memorization and retrieval of information related to odors and their location. Due to hippocampal projections to olfactory structures, a spatial mapping of the environment is also formed in the activity of neurons in the piriform cortex. According to the proposed mechanism, damage to various parts of the analyzed chains, as well as weakening of neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus and olfactory bulb, should impair odor perception and memory for odors. This consequence is consistent with olfactory deficits in various neurodegenerative and viral diseases, as well as in aging.

Development of myelin in fetal and postnatal neocortex of the pig, the European wild boar Sus scrofa

Myelination of the neocortex of altricial species is mostly a postnatal event, and the appearance of myelin has been associated with the end of the critical period for ocular dominance plasticity in rodent visual cortex. Due to their precocality, ungulates may tell a different story. Here, we analyzed the development of PDGFRα positive oligodendrocyte precursor cells and expression of myelin proteins in the laminar compartments of fetal and postnatal porcine cortex from E45 onwards. Precursor cell density initially increased and then decreased but remained present at P90. MAG and MBP staining were detectable at E70 in subventricular zone and deep white matter, ascending into gyral white matter at E85, and into the gray matter and marginal zone at E100 (birth in pig at E114). Protein blots confirmed the declining expression of PDGFRα from E65 onwards, and the increase of MBP and MAG expression from E80 onwards. Somatosensory input elicited by spontaneous activity is considered important for the formation of the body representation. Indeed, PDGFRα, MBP and MAG expression started earlier in somatosensory than in visual cortex. Taken together, myelination proceeded in white and gray matter and marginal zone of pig cortex before birth with an areal-specific time course, and an almost mature pattern was present at P5 in visual cortex.

Педагогический аспект изучения агиографической литературы

The article actualizes the problem of registration in a separate scientific field of teaching the bases of the Orthodox Faith, and as part of it - the methodology of working with hagiographic literature. The purpose of the proposed article is the justification of the pedagogical aspect of working with hagiographic literature, with its emphasis on the semantic, ideological framework of hagiography to solve problems of spiritual and moral development and education of students in the lessons of the basics of the Orthodox Faith. Materials and methods. The leading research methods were the analysis and synthesis of information from contemporary scientific articles, historical and pedagogical literature, normative documents in the field of education, school textbooks; comparison of scientific ideas and concepts, pedagogical experience of the past and the present. Results. The article substantiates the importance of hagiographic literature for solving the problem of spiritual and moral development and education of schoolchildren. The authors of the article proceed from the fact that the task requires at the first stage of its solution the formation of value representations of students, which have a high degree of abstraction, uncertainty in the wording of the relevant concepts. These problems can be solved by hagiographic literature, illustrating in visual and verbal form spiritual and moral qualities of personality, values which are difficult to define precisely, but whose manifestations can be observed through thoughtful reading and analysis of hagiographic literature. The authors of the article offer readers an analysis of pre-revolutionary editions of hagiographic literature for children and focus on the diversity of modern books on the lives of saints, as well as features of the modern presentation of hagiographic text that complicates the work of the teacher and requires him to carefully select books in accordance with the tasks, age and individual characteristics of children. Also the authors offer a sequence and the maintenance of stages of work with hagiographic literature at a lesson with the purpose of realization of a knowledge component, the emphasis on relevance and simultaneously complexity of work on a conclusion of a moral conclusion from the read hagiography is made. Conclusions. The proposed ideas about the importance of hagiographic literature for the formation of ideas about the spiritual and moral qualities of personality and the value foundations of Christianity can be put into the development of a separate topic of scientific research related to the study of hagiographic literature in the pedagogical aspect. To do this you must, firstly, to explore the moral meanings, worldview framework of the lives of saints, and secondly, to develop a method to work with these meanings and worldview attitudes consistent with age, social experience of children and their experience of church life, establishing interdisciplinary links and rationally linking the study of hagiography with other subjects of the school curriculum

Commodity market profiling methodology

The article considers the methodology of commodity markets research, which includes the assessment of the volume and structure of supply and demand according to a wide range of indicators. The information on formation of system representations of markets on the basis of segmentation of markets, marketing profiling of markets and their clients is generalized. The market profiling approach is discussed in depth. This approach consists in the representation of the market as a multidimensional array of data on the type of goods, price ranges, the distribution of buyers and sellers by region, industry and other characteristics on the basis of available reliable, but incomplete data. The article considers the problem of obtaining reliable data to determine their reliable sources and organization of data collection in the framework of consulting services. The relevance of the task of forming the correct sample for consulting markets research, which provides in conjunction with data from public sources, a representative representation of the commodity market. Specific features of commodity markets, which causes the variability of approaches to the market dependence on imports, the share of direct deliveries, transport channels of supply and other factors have been considered; features of profiling in the express-analysis of commodity markets have been determined. As an example of practical realization of commodity markets profiling methodology, the market of hot-rolled stainless steel sheets with thickness of 2.0–13.0 mm and width up to 1600 mm is considered. This market is characterized by high import dependence and, therefore, the Federal Customs Service database was used as a source of information for it. Market profiling, performed in accordance with the proposed methodology, provided detailed information on the distribution of imports and consumption of individual groups of stainless steel sheets. Estimates of the commodity market obtained as a result of the study using market profiling have been verified by independent consulting studies.

Danish, Estonian, English: Variations on a theme

Danish stød (a laryngealisation) is usually said to signal the second mora in odd-numbered syllables, counting from the right (Basbøll 1985; 1988; 2005). While descriptively adequate (with appropriate qualifications), such a statement leaves several questions unaddressed: Is that distribution an idiosyncratic quirk of Danish? What is special about the second mora? Why should ordinal numbering of syllables matter? This paper argues that the distributional pattern is neither restricted to Danish nor to stød. The same format of representation that can explain the distribution of length in Estonian and English lends itself to the analysis of the seemingly unrelated phenomenon of stød. Where the languages differ is in the exact nature of the relations contracted within those representations. This not only positions Danish within the larger context of phonological theory, but also explains why the distribution takes the form it does.

Difficulty limits of visual mental imagery

While past work has focused on the representational format of mental imagery, and the similarities of its operation and neural substrate to online perception, surprisingly little has tested the boundaries of the level of detail that mental imagery can generate. To answer this question, we take inspiration from the visual short-term memory literature, a related field which has found that memory capacity is affected by the number of items, whether they are unique, and whether and how they move. We test these factors of set size, color heterogeneity, and transformation in mental imagery through both subjective (Exp 1; Exp 2) and objective (Exp 2) measures – difficulty ratings and a change detection task, respectively – to determine the capacity limits of our mental imagery, and find that limits on mental imagery are similar to those for visual short-term memory. In Experiment 1, participants rated the difficulty of imagining 1–4 colored items as subjectively more difficult when there were more items, when the items had unique colors instead of an identical color, and when they scaled or rotated instead of merely linearly translating. Experiment 2 isolated these subjective difficulty ratings of rotation for uniquely colored items, and added a rotation distance manipulation (10° to 110°), again finding higher subjective difficulty for more items, and for when those items rotated farther; the objective measure showed a decrease in performance for more items, but not for rotational degree. Congruities between the subjective and objective results suggest similar costs, but some incongruities suggest that subjective reports can be overly optimistic, likely because they are biased by an illusion of detail.

Geometric transformation of cognitive maps for generalization across hippocampal-prefrontal circuits

The ability to abstract information to guide decisions during navigation across changing environments is essential for adaptation and requires the integrity of the hippocampal-prefrontal circuitry. The hippocampus encodes navigational information in a cognitive map, but it remains unclear how cognitive maps are transformed across hippocampal-prefrontal circuits to support abstraction and generalization. Here, we simultaneously record hippocampal-prefrontal ensembles as rats generalize navigational rules across distinct environments. We find that, whereas hippocampal representational maps maintain specificity of separate environments, prefrontal maps generalize across environments. Furthermore, while both maps are structured within a neural manifold of population activity, they have distinct representational geometries. Prefrontal geometry enables abstraction of rule-informative variables, a representational format that generalizes to novel conditions of existing variable classes. Hippocampal geometry lacks such abstraction. Together, these findings elucidate how cognitive maps are structured into distinct geometric representations to support abstraction and generalization while maintaining memory specificity.

THE CONTENT OF MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOLERS

This topic deals with the problem of mathematical education of pre-schoolers. The content of mathematical development of children, its structure and approaches to the development of the content of mathematical development is given on the basis of program documents "From birth to school", "Childhood". Here is the implementation of the principles of mathematics, a personality-oriented approach, developing learning in the formation of mathematical representations of preschool children of older groups.

THE USE OF GAME METHODS AND TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS TO PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The article gives a definition of the concept of “plot-didactic game”, characterizes such games, taking into account their use in the process of forming elementary mathematical representations, provides a brief description of games aimed at mastering the program material in the section “Formation of elementary mathematical representations”. In addition, the role of such games in the acquisition of mathematical concepts by preschool children is revealed.

Object Relations–Informed Psychotherapy: Introduction to Festschrift Honoring Otto F. Kernberg, M.D.

Object Relations–Informed Psychotherapy: Introduction to Festschrift Honoring Otto F. Kernberg, M.D.

Diminished Repetition Suppression Reveals Selective and Systems-Level Face Processing Differences in ASD.

Repeated exposure to a stimulus results in reduced neural response, or repetition suppression, in brain regions responsible for processing that stimulus. This rapid accommodation to repetition is thought to underlie learning, stimulus selectivity, and strengthening of perceptual expectations. Importantly, reduced sensitivity to repetition has been identified in several neurodevelopmental, learning, and psychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by challenges in social communication and repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Reduced ability to exploit or learn from repetition in ASD is hypothesized to contribute to sensory hypersensitivities, and parallels several theoretical frameworks claiming that ASD individuals show difficulty using regularities in the environment to facilitate behavior. Using fMRI in autistic and neurotypical human adults (females and males), we assessed the status of repetition suppression across two modalities (vision, audition) and with four stimulus categories (faces, objects, printed words, and spoken words). ASD individuals showed domain-specific reductions in repetition suppression for face stimuli only, but not for objects, printed words, or spoken words. Reduced repetition suppression for faces was associated with greater challenges in social communication in ASD. We also found altered functional connectivity between atypically adapting cortical regions and higher-order face recognition regions, and microstructural differences in related white matter tracts in ASD. These results suggest that fundamental neural mechanisms and system-wide circuits are selectively altered for face processing in ASD and enhance our understanding of how disruptions in the formation of stable face representations may relate to higher-order social communication processes.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A common finding in neuroscience is that repetition results in plasticity in stimulus-specific processing regions, reflecting selectivity and adaptation (repetition suppression [RS]). RS is reduced in several neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Theoretical frameworks of ASD posit that reduced adaptation may contribute to associated challenges in social communication and sensory processing. However, the scope of RS differences in ASD is unknown. We examined RS for multiple categories across visual and auditory domains (faces, objects, printed words, spoken words) in autistic and neurotypical individuals. We found reduced RS in ASD for face stimuli only and altered functional connectivity and white matter microstructure between cortical face-recognition areas. RS magnitude correlated with social communication challenges among autistic individuals.

Spatial coupling mechanism of biocultural diversity: case of Beichuan-River-Source National Nature Reserve, Qinghai, China

ABSTRACT Biocultural diversity is an important result and outstanding representation of human-land relationship. This study established a novel framework for evaluating the coupling mechanism of biocultural diversity beyond the nature-culture dualism. Taking the Beichuan-River-Source National Nature Reserve (BRSNNR) as an example, combined with regional characteristics, Coupling Coordination Degree Model (CCDM) and Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) were used to explore the correlation mechanism between natural systems and cultural systems in protected areas. The research results indicated that BRSNNR had five types of landscape character areas with outstanding natural and cultural characteristics; the spatial distribution of biodiversity and cultural diversity was highly overlapping, forming a ‘high-medium-low’ three-level biocultural diversity area. Analysis demonstrated that positive or negative feedback patterns between natural and cultural systems contributed to the formation of representations of biocultural diversity. Altitude, animals, and traffic conditions are important drivers for the biological and cultural diversity in protected areas. At the same time, residents’ emotions and behaviors have a direct impact on the formation of biocultural diversity. The research suggests that the priority protection areas and functional divisions of protected areas should be delineated according to the evaluation results of biocultural diversity, and thresholds should be calculated and set for the constraints. This method is conducive to the improvement of the system’s ability to deal with risks and the formation of the action mechanism of ‘factor interaction-system interaction-biocultural diversity representation’ in protected areas.

Canonical template tracking: Measuring the activation state of specific neural representations.

Multivariate analyses of neural data have become increasingly influential in cognitive neuroscience since they allow to address questions about the representational signatures of neurocognitive phenomena. Here, we describe Canonical Template Tracking: a multivariate approach that employs independent localizer tasks to assess the activation state of specific representations during the execution of cognitive paradigms. We illustrate the benefits of this methodology in characterizing the particular content and format of task-induced representations, comparing it with standard (cross-)decoding and representational similarity analyses. Then, we discuss relevant design decisions for experiments using this analysis approach, focusing on the nature of the localizer tasks from which the canonical templates are derived. We further provide a step-by-step tutorial of this method, stressing the relevant analysis choices for functional magnetic resonance imaging and magneto/electroencephalography data. Importantly, we point out the potential pitfalls linked to canonical template tracking implementation and interpretation of the results, together with recommendations to mitigate them. To conclude, we provide some examples from previous literature that highlight the potential of this analysis to address relevant theoretical questions in cognitive neuroscience.

Evidence for LoTH: Slim pickings.

In this commentary, I contend that a representative sample of the arguments in the target article miss the mark. In particular, the interface problem provides no warrant for positing similarities between representational formats, and the evidence from neurocognitive, animal, and behavioral studies is inconclusive at best. Finally, I raise doubts about whether the authors' central hypothesis is falsifiable.