Cognitive Neuroscience

Cognitive scientists typically classify cognitive processes as either controlled or automatic. Whereas controlled processes are slow and effortful, automatic processes are fast and involuntary. Over the past decade, we have propelled a research trajectory investigating how top-down influence in the form of suggestion can allow individuals to modulate the automaticity of cognitive processes. Here we present an overarching array of converging findings that collectively indicate that certain individuals can derail involuntary processes, such as reading, by " unringing " the proverbial bell. We examine replications of these effects from both our own laboratory and independent groups, and extend our Stroop findings to several other well-established automatic paradigms, including the McGurk effect. We thus demonstrate how, in the case of highly suggestible individuals, suggestion seems to wield control over a process that is likely even more automatic than the Stroop effect. Finally, we present findings from two novel experimental paradigms exploring the potential of shifting automaticity in the opposite direction e i.e., transforming, without practice, a controlled task into one that is automatic. Drawing on related evidence from the neuroscience of contemplative practices, we discuss how these findings pave the road to a more scientific understanding of voluntary control and automaticity, and expound on their possible experimental and therapeutic applications.

The rostral brainstem receives both “bottom-up” input from the ascending auditory system and “top-down” descending corticofugal connections. Speech information passing through the inferior colliculus of elderly listeners reflects the periodicity envelope of a speech syllable. This information arguably also reflects a composite of temporal-fine-structure (TFS) information from the higher frequency vowel harmonics of that repeated syllable. The amplitude of those higher frequency harmonics, bearing even higher frequency TFS information, correlates positively with the word recognition ability of elderly listeners under reverberatory conditions. Also relevant is that working memory capacity (WMC), which is subject to age-related decline, constrains the processing of sounds at the level of the brainstem. Turning to the effects of a visually presented sensory or memory load on auditory processes, there is a load-dependent reduction of that processing, as manifest in the auditory brainstem responses (ABR) evoked by to-be-ignored clicks. Wave V decreases in amplitude with increases in the visually presented memory load. A visually presented sensory load also produces a load-dependent reduction of a slightly different sort: The sensory load of visually presented information limits the disruptive effects of background sound upon working memory performance. A new early filter model is thus advanced whereby systems within the frontal lobe (affected by sensory or memory load) cholinergically influence top-down corticofugal connections. Those corticofugal connections constrain the processing of complex sounds such as speech at the level of the brainstem. Selective attention thereby limits the distracting effects of background sound entering the higher auditory system via the inferior colliculus. Processing TFS in the brainstem relates to perception of speech under adverse conditions. Attentional selectivity is crucial when the signal heard is degraded or masked: e.g., speech in noise, speech in reverberatory environments. The assumptions of a new early filter model are consistent with these findings: A subcortical early filter, with a predictive selectivity based on acoustical (linguistic) context and foreknowledge, is under cholinergic top-down control. A prefrontal capacity limitation constrains this top-down control as is guided by the cholinergic processing of contextual information in working memory.

Social skills refer to a wide group of abilities that allow us to interact and communicate with others. Children learn how to solve social situations by predicting and understanding other’s behaviors. The way in which humans learn to interact successfully with others encompasses a complex interaction between neural, behavioral, and environmental elements. These have a role in the accomplishment of positive developmental outcomes, including peer acceptance, academic achievement, and mental health. All these social abilities depend on widespread brain networks that are recently being studied by neuroscience. In this paper, we will first review the studies on this topic, aiming to clarify the behavioral and neural mechanisms related to the acquisition of social skills during infancy and their appearance in time. Second, we will briefly describe how developmental diseases like Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) can inform about the neurobiological mechanisms of social skills.We finally sketch a general framework for the elaboration of cognitive models in order to facilitate the comprehension of human social development.

Also See:
The Star Gate Operational Remote Viewing Program A Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Collection Platform. (From Volume 4: Operational Remote Viewing: Memorandums and Reports. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2019)

The Star Gate Program Over the Years (1972–1995): A Synopsis. (From Volume 4: Operational Remote Viewing: Memorandums and Reports. (pp. 60-75). Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2019)

Abstract
The year 1972 saw the beginnings of the SRI program in psi research under the stewardship of physicists Dr. Harold E. Puthoff and Mr. Russell Targ. As a result of Army counterintelligence interest, what started as funding for a single research project by a government agency, went on to become the largest, sustained research program in the history of psi research, spanning a period of 22 years, eventually closing in 1995. Best known by its last nickname Star Gate, the program was funded by a variety of executive branches, agencies, and the military and intelligence communities of the US Government, for a total of $19.993 M. The program focused on the application of, and investigation into psi phenomena—both informational, that is passively gathering information (precognition and real-time remote viewing) and causal (psychokinesis), that is, interacting with the physical world by mental means alone. About 11067 documents—approximately 82518 pages—related to this formerly classified program were declassified since 2000 and have been available for review by researchers and the general audience. In the professional psi literature, generally, the Star Gate program is sometimes passed off in a couple of sentences. Beginning 2012, we started the task of putting together the SRI-SAIC research effort, which have been recently released as The Star Gate Archives: Reports of the US Government Sponsored Psi Program –1972-1995 (McFarland). It comprises four volumes titled:
• Volume 1: Remote Viewing, 1972-1984 (2018)
• Volume 2: Remote Viewing, 1985-1995 (2018)
• Volume 3: Psychokinesis (2019)
• Volume 4: Operational Remote viewing: Government Memorandums and Reports (2019)
In this article, we present an overview of the Star Gate program, focusing on what I have learned from the massive exercise of looking into these archives. Needless to add, this four-volume series is the final word on Star Gate, as it is (1) based entirely on the complete set of documents released, including some unclassified documents not available in the government released archives, (2) prepared under the scrutiny of Dr. Edwin C. May, who joined the SRI program in 1976, was the director of the program since late 1985, to its closure in 1995 at SAIC, (3) has the stamp of approval from Dr. Jack Vorona, Deputy Director Science and Technology, Defense Intelligence Agency, and (4), the former Secretary of Defense, William S. Cohen has written a foreword for the series.

Neurofeedback is emerging as a promising technique that enables self-regulation of ongoing brain oscillations. However, despite a rise in empirical evidence attesting to its clinical benefits, a solid theoretical basis is still lacking on the manner in which neurofeedback is able to achieve these outcomes. The present work attempts to bring together various concepts from neurobiology, engineering, and dynamical systems so as to propose a contemporary theoretical framework for the mechanistic effects of neurofeedback. The objective is to provide a firmly neurophysiological account of neurofeedback, which goes beyond traditional behaviorist interpretations that attempt to explain psychological processes solely from a descriptive standpoint whilst treating the brain as a ‘black box’. To this end, we interlink evidence from experimental findings that encompass a broad range of intrinsic brain phenomena: starting from ‘bottom-up’ mechanisms of neural synchronization, followed by ‘top-down’ regulation of internal brain states, moving to dynamical systems plus control-theoretic principles, and concluding with activity-dependent as well as homeostatic forms of brain plasticity. In support of our framework, we examine the effects of neurofeedback in several brain disorders, including attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The central thesis put forward is that neurofeedback tunes brain oscillations toward a homeostatic set-point which maintains optimal network flexibility and stability (i.e. self-organized criticality).

The current study illustrated the possible positive effects of flavonoids present in the leaves of Mespilus germanica on cognitive performance, learning and memory function in an intra-cerebroventricular streptozotocin-induced Alzheimer’s disease model in male Wistar rats. Five groups (saline-saline control, streptozotocin-saline, and streptozotocin with different doses of flavonoids, 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg) of rats were examined. Rats received different doses of Mespilus germanica flavonoids or saline over three weeks starting one day before surgery. Next, they were assessed using a learning and memory test. After subjected to the behavioral test, the animals were perfused and their brains were fixed with paraformaldehyde 4 % and the tissue was further processed. Finally, the density of intact neurons in the hippocampal CA1 area in all groups was investigated. The results revealed that injection of streptozotocin significantly reduced cognitive function, memory retention as well as CA1 intact neurons compared to the control group. Flavonoids extracted by Mespilus germanica considerably eradicated the negative effects of streptozotocin. Accordingly, Mespilus germanica leaf flavonoids can improve cognitive deficits resulted from injection of streptozotocin.