Neuronal Bases And Psychological Aspects Of Consciousness Proceedings Of The International School Of Biocybernetics

For a few decades, the puzzle of consciousness, which for centuries was analysed by philosophers, has been finding a wide interest in the scientific field, where previously it was not entitled to be a member. It has become one of the most-debated problems in the cognitive sciences. The anatomical bases, neurophysiological correlates and elementary mechanisms underlying complex processes arising with consciousness have been compared with the psychological (perceptive, cognitive, volitive, emotional) aspects of conscious expressions, in normal and pathological conditions. Various theories, which attempt to fit systematically and coherently neural and psychological data, have been debated, proving the emergence of the phenomenon of consciousness.

This book deals primarily with the role of emotions in the mechanisms of memory. It is a compilation of the lectures given at a course conducted at the International School of Biocybernetics.

Perception is the first step in the whole of the cognitive processes (attention, learning, memory, categorization, imagery, intuition, inference, comprehension, thought, judgement, expression) which culminate in the reasoning activity and to which emotions make a contribution. The production of perception representations is correlated with the perception events. Such perception representations occur by means of the contribution of two kinds of factors: sensory signals which reproduce the spatio-temporal characteristics of the receptor modifications, and interpretation of the intrinsic ambiguity of such signals by means of unconscious inferences. Various interactions intervene between bottom-up signals from peripheral receptors and top-down signals from higher centres.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Evaluation of Systems’ Irregularity and Complexity: Sample Entropy, Its Derivatives, and Their Applications across Scales and Disciplines" that was published in Entropy

Searle's theory of social reality is increasingly meeting with worldwide recognition, and is undoubtedly the most prominent theory of social ontology (at least in the post-analytical tradition), even if actual research in this domain is engaged in critical confrontation with it. Searle's approach continues to shape the debate, but his construction is more and more sharply dissected, both in its details and in its general assumptions. Furthermore, new perspectives, not rooted in the analytical...

Memory Mass Storage describes the fundamental storage technologies, like Semiconductor, Magnetic, Optical and Uncommon, detailing the main technical characteristics of the storage devices. It deals not only with semiconductor and hard disk memory, but also with different ways to manufacture and assembly them, and with their application to meet market requirements. It also provides an introduction to the epistemological issues arising in defining the process of remembering, as well as an overview on human memory, and an interesting excursus about biological memories and their organization, to better understand how the best memory we have, our brain, is able to imagine and design memory.

This book provides a most complete overview of physiological and psychophysical properties of perceptual systems in man and animals. The information processing chains are described step-by-step from the stimuli of the respective environments, via the perceptual neuronal coding networks to conscious sensations and behaviour. Articles by W G K Backhaus, A G Clark, B Hiley, A Iznak, M Kavaliers, B Kramer, A Michelsen, C Neumeyer, G A Orban, T Radil, D G Stavenga, M Stengl, U Thurm, R L DeValois, R Wehner, J S Werner, W Wiltschko, and related short articles. Contents:PrefaceIntroductory LectureNeuronal Coding:Vision: Neuronal Coding of Colour, Space, Form, Motion, and Polarised Light PerceptionHearing and Touch: Neuronal Coding of Auditory and Mechano PerceptionTaste and Smell: Neuronal Coding of Chemical PerceptionNeuronal Coding of Temperature, Electro, Magneto, and Pain PerceptionNeuronal Network SimulationsInternal Representations:Neuronal Coding, Qualia, and Sensations (Consciousness)Participants Readership: Students and researchers in biophysics, neurosciences and physiology. Keywords:Neuronal Coding;Perceptual Systems;Biophysics;Biocybernetics;Physiology;Psychology

The light sense is conceivably the key sense in both the animal and the plant kingdom. Vision research, undoubtedly a fast-growing field, is providing impressive results — thanks to modern theoretical and methodological advances. The approach of biophysics and neuroscience seems to be of great benefit and, for this reason, the present book gives an outline of recent acquisitions and updated advanced methods concerning this approach. Visual mechanisms and processes are analysed at several (molecular, cellular, integrative, computational and cognitive) levels by different methodologies (from molecular biology to computation) applied to different living models (from protists to humans, via invertebrates and lower vertebrates).