Models Of Information Processing In The Basal Ganglia

This book brings together the biology and computational features of the basal ganglia and their related cortical areas along with select examples of how this knowledge can be integrated into neural network models. Recent years have seen a remarkable expansion of knowledge about the anatomical organization of the part of the brain known as the basal ganglia, the signal processing that occurs in these structures, and the many relations both to molecular mechanisms and to cognitive functions. This book brings together the biology and computational features of the basal ganglia and their related cortical areas along with select examples of how this knowledge can be integrated into neural network models. Organized in four parts - fundamentals, motor functions and working memories, reward mechanisms, and cognitive and memory operations - the chapters present a unique admixture of theory, cognitive psychology, anatomy, and both cellular- and systems- level physiology written by experts in each of these areas. The editors have provided commentaries as a helpful guide to each part. Many new discoveries about the biology of the basal ganglia are summarized, and their impact on the computational role of the forebrain in the planning and control of complex motor behaviors discussed. The various findings point toward an unexpected role for the basal ganglia in the contextual analysis of the environment and in the adaptive use of this information for the planning and execution of intelligent behaviors. Parallels are explored between these findings and new connectionist approaches to difficult control problems in robotics and engineering. Contributors James L. Adams, P. Apicella, Michael Arbib, Dana H. Ballard, Andrew G. Barto, J. Brian Burns, Christopher I. Connolly, Peter F. Dominey, Richard P. Dum, John Gabrieli, M. Garcia-Munoz, Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic, Ann M. Graybiel, P. M. Groves, Mary M. Hayhoe, J. R. Hollerman, George Houghton, James C. Houk, Stephen Jackson, Minoru Kimura, A. B. Kirillov, Rolf Kotter, J. C. Linder, T. Ljungberg, M. S. Manley, M. E. Martone, J. Mirenowicz, C. D. Myre, Jeff Pelz, Nathalie Picard, R. Romo, S. F. Sawyer, E Scarnat, Wolfram Schultz, Peter L. Strick, Charles J. Wilson, Jeff Wickens, Donald J. Woodward, S. J. Young

The book is a compendium of the aforementioned subclass of models of Basal Ganglia, which presents some the key existent theories of Basal Ganglia function. The book presents computational models of basal ganglia-related disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and addiction. Importantly, it highlights the applications of understanding the role of the basal ganglia to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. The purpose of the present book is to amend and expand on James Houk’s book (MIT press; ASIN: B010BF4U9K) by providing a comprehensive overview on computational models of the basal ganglia. This book caters to researchers and academics from the area of computational cognitive neuroscience.

Formal study of neuroscience (broadly defined) has been underway for millennia. For example, writing 2,350 years ago, Aristotle! asserted that association - of which he defined three specific varieties - lies at the center of human cognition. Over the past two centuries, the simultaneous rapid advancements of technology and (conse quently) per capita economic output have fueled an exponentially increasing effort in neuroscience research. Today, thanks to the accumulated efforts of hundreds of thousands of scientists, we possess an enormous body of knowledge about the mind and brain. Unfortunately, much of this knowledge is in the form of isolated factoids. In terms of "big picture" understanding, surprisingly little progress has been made since Aristotle. In some arenas we have probably suffered negative progress because certain neuroscience and neurophilosophy precepts have clouded our self-knowledge; causing us to become largely oblivious to some of the most profound and fundamental aspects of our nature (such as the highly distinctive propensity of all higher mammals to automatically seg ment all aspects of the world into distinct holistic objects and the massive reorganiza tion of large portions of our brains that ensues when we encounter completely new environments and life situations). At this epoch, neuroscience is like a huge collection of small, jagged, jigsaw puz zle pieces piled in a mound in a large warehouse (with neuroscientists going in and tossing more pieces onto the mound every month).

This groundbreaking text takes current knowledge of the basal ganglia far from well-known motor-based models to a more inclusive understanding of deep-brain structure and function. Synthesizing diverse perspectives from across the brain-behavioral sciences, it tours the neuroanatomy and circuitry of the basal ganglia, linking their organization to their controlling functions in core cognitive, behavioral, and motor areas, both normative and disordered. Interactions between the basal ganglia and major structures of the brain are identified in their contributions to a diverse range of processes, from language processing to decision-making, emotion to visual perception, motivation to intent. And the basal ganglia are intimately involved in the mechanisms of dysfunction, as evinced by chapters on dyskinesia, Parkinson’s disease, neuropsychiatric conditions, and addictions. Included in the coverage: Limbic-basal ganglia circuits: parallel and integrative aspects. Dopamine and its actions in the basal ganglia system. Cerebellar-basal ganglia interactions. The basal ganglia contribution to controlled and automatic processing. The basal ganglia and decision making in neuropsychiatric disorders. The circuitry underlying the reinstatement of cocaine seeking: modulation by deep brain stimulation. The basal ganglia and hierarchical control in voluntary behavior. Its breadth and depth of scholarship and data should make The Basal Ganglia a work of great interest to cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, neurologists, neuropsychiatrists, and speech-language pathologists.

Our motor skills determine how well we perform in athletics, dance, music, and in carrying out countless daily chores. While our proficiency at performing individual actions and synthesizing them into seamless sequences limits our athletic and artistic talents, we are not perpetually bound by such limitations. The nervous system can acquire new, and modify old, motor behaviors through experience and practice. That is motor learning.The Acquisition of Motor Behavior in Vertebratesprovides a broad, multidisciplinary survey of recent research on the brain systems and mechanisms underlying motor learning. Following the editors' introduction, nineteen contributions report on the neurobiology of these higher brain functions and on diverse types of motor learning such as reflex adaptation, conditioned and instrumental reflex learning, visually guided actions, and complex sequences and skills.

The annual conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) is the flagship conference on neural computation. It draws preeminent academic researchers from around the world and is widely considered to be a showcase conference for new developments in network algorithms and architectures. The broad range of interdisciplinary research areas represented includes neural networks and genetic algorithms, cognitive science, neuroscience and biology, computer science, AI, applied mathematics, physics, and many branches of engineering. Only about 30% of the papers submitted are accepted for presentation at NIPS, so the quality is exceptionally high. All of the papers presented appear in these proceedings.