Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Neuroscience'
To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Neuroscience.
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Neuroscience.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Ginley, Meredith K. "Neuroscience of Addiction." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2020. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/8882.
Full text
2
Owen, Matthew. "Neuroscience, consciousness and neurofiction." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/63969.
Full textAbstract:
This study undertakes a comprehensive examination of neurofiction – a genre of literary fiction which has emerged in response to what scholars have termed neuroculture. Neuroculture refers to the cultural ascendancy of neuroscience witnessed by Anglo- American society over approximately the past thirty years, and the associated predominance of materialist conceptions of consciousness.
By examining works from four authors – Oblivion (2004), by David Foster Wallace; The Echo Maker (2006), by Richard Powers; Enduring Love (1997) and Saturday (2005), by Ian McEwan; and The Sorrows of an American (2008), by Siri Hustvedt – this work of contemporary cognitive historicism establishes and explores three grounding themes of neurofiction: pessimistic biologism, neuro-introspection, and neuro-intersubjectivity. Pessimistic biologism refers to a demoralizing view of human existence as dispiritingly mechanistic and existentially isolated; neuro-introspection refers to the the capacity for individual minds/brains to perceive and observe themselves; and neuro-intersubjectivity refers to the capacity for individual minds/brains to engage in forms of communication or empathy with their analogs.
This study demonstrates how these three overarching themes frame and motivate the neurofictional works of my four authors, and how my conception of neurofiction brings into sharper focus other concerns of the genre. These other concerns include the so-called Hard Problem (the disconnect between, and irreconcilability of, objective and subjective accounts of consciousness); the Two Cultures (a perceived epistemological and philosophical clash between scientific and humanistic forms of enquiry); forms of obscured mysticism or spirituality; and the question of the value of fiction in the neurocultural era.Arts, Faculty of
English, Department of
Graduate
3
Rohenkohl, Gustavo. "Cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychology." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.547508.
Full text
4
Chinellato, Eris. "Visual neuroscience of robotic grasping." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Jaume I, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/669156.
Full textAbstract:
En esta tesis se define e implementa un modelo funcional de las áreas del cerebro involucradas en las acciones de agarre basadas en visión que incluye todos los pasos requeridos para la ejecución de un agarre satisfactorio. El modelo es fiel a la realidad biológica, pero también apropiado para su implementación en un entorno robótico real. Por tanto, siguiendo este modelo, se ha desarrollado un sistema completo de agarre robótico capaz de estimar la forma, tamaño y posición de un objeto desconocido usando datos visuales, planificar y ejecutar una acción de agarre integrando tales datos con la información proprioceptiva del estado del brazo y de la mano. Los resultados experimentales confirman que la nueva línea de investigación propuesta por esta tesis es significativa y prometedora para el agarre robótico. Además, tanto el modelado computacional como los experimentos robóticos ayudan a validar teorías sobre los mecanismos empleados por las áreas del cerebro involucradas en las acciones de agarre. Esta tesis ofrece nuevas ideas e hipótesis de investigación relacionadas con dichos mecanismos, y ayuda a establecer un marco de trabajo común para neurocientíficos y robóticos en el estudio de los mecanismos cerebrales.
5
Persson, Björn. "Personality Neuroscience and Dark Values." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för biovetenskap, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-10480.
Full textAbstract:
Personality neuroscience offers a new theory of the biological basis of personality traits. It involves the use of neuroscientific methodologies to study individual differences in behavior, motivation, emotion, and cognition. Personality psychology has contributed much in identifying the important dimensions of personality, but relatively little to understanding the biological sources of those dimensions. In recent years, personality psychology has become the foundation for the study of personality disorders, and by extension, neuroscience. First, I provide a theoretical foundation for the neuroscience of normal and abnormal personality traits. Second, I conduct two empirical studies on deviant personality traits captured by the Dark Triad (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and relate them to universal human values. Study I shows that darker personalities endorse values that are self-enhancing, and that justify self-serving behavior. Study II investigates the relationship between the aforementioned constructs and empathy based on the idea that empathy is an important moderating factor of dark traits. In the discussion, suggestions for future studies in neuroscience are presented, as well as some limitations relating to the constructs.
6
Chumbley, J. R. "Inference methods in imaging neuroscience." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2010. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/19196/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis concerns the statistical characterisation of neuroimaging data; namely the detection of statistically surprising (significant) responses in measured brain activity that is continuous in space and time. It illustrates the application of these precedures developed using functional magnetic resonance time series of blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signals. The spatio-temporal dynamics of BOLD reflects brain metabolism via the neurovascular coupling, and is therefore of interest to neuroscience. This coupling ensures that local use of oxygen relates to local supply, largely via the inflow of blood. As a physical measure of these fluid dynamics, BOLD unfolds in continuous space-time. In practice however, assessing experimental effects on BOLD requires statistical inference, which is not practical for continuous four-dimensional representations. This thesis contributes four ideas for statistical inference on the neuronal causes of BOLD. Each retains some reduced notion of continuity (in either space or time). The first three Chapters consider ‘spatial’ and ‘topological’ inference on atemporal transformations of the original four-dimensional data. Here, we assume measurements have already been collapsed over time at each sampled point of space via inversion of a General Linear Model; the resulting ‘SPM’ estimates the true field of parameters governing experimentally-induced BOLD. Chapters 2-3 concern topological inference on this true underlying field. The aim is to decide on the occurrence of discrete topological features (e.g. the existence of local maxima) using procedures whose error-rate is known/controlled. Chapter 4 aims to infer experimentally induced patterning in the spatial organisation of topological events (clusters or peaks) in an SPM. Chapter 5 then revisits the temporal dynamics between neuronal populations, whose spatial locations have been determined in advance, and attempts to understand their structure. Chapter 6 concludes this thesis. It summarizes the limitations of our proposed methods and explores their future extension and generalisation.
7
Higgins, Irina. "Computational neuroscience of speech recognition." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:daa8d096-6534-4174-b63e-cc4161291c90.
Full textAbstract:
Physical variability of speech combined with its perceptual constancy make speech recognition a challenging task. The human auditory brain, however, is able to perform speech recognition effortlessly. This thesis aims to understand the precise computational mechanisms that allow the auditory brain to do so. In particular, we look for the minimal subset of sub-cortical auditory brain areas that allow the primary auditory cortex to learn 'good representations' of speech-like auditory objects through spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) learning mechanisms as described by Bi & Poo (1998). A 'good representation' is defined as that which is informative of the stimulus class regardless of the variability in the raw input, while being less redundant and more compressed than the representations within the auditory nerve, which provides the firing inputs to the rest of the auditory brain hierarchy (Barlow 1961). Neurophysiological studies have provided insights into the architecture and response properties of different areas within the auditory brain hierarchy. We use these insights to guide the development of an unsupervised spiking neural network grounded in the neurophysiology of the auditory brain and equipped with spike-time dependent plasticity (STDP) learning (Bi & Poo 1998). The model was exposed to simple controlled speech- like stimuli (artificially synthesised phonemes and naturally spoken words) to investigate how stable representations that are invariant to the within- and between-speaker differences can emerge in the output area of the model. The output of the model is roughly equivalent to the primary auditory cortex. The aim of the first part of the thesis was to investigate what was the minimal taxonomy necessary for such representations to emerge through the interactions of spiking dynamics of the network neurons, their ability to learn through STDP learning and the statistics of the auditory input stimuli. It was found that sub-cortical pre-processing within the ventral cochlear nucleus and inferior colliculus was necessary to remove jitter inherent to the auditory nerve spike rasters, which would disrupt STDP learning in the primary auditory cortex otherwise. The second half of the thesis investigated the nature of neural encoding used within the primary auditory cortex stage of the model to represent the learnt auditory object categories. It was found that single cell binary encoding (DeWeese & Zador 2003) was sufficient to represent two synthesised vowel classes, however more complex population encoding using precisely timed spikes within polychronous chains (Izhikevich 2006) represented more complex naturally spoken words in speaker-invariant manner.
8
Blum, Bridget E. "Consumer Neuroscience: A Multi-disciplinary Approach to Marketing Leveraging Advances in Neuroscience, Psychology and Economics." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2016. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1414.
Full textAbstract:
For decades, neuroscience has greatly contributed to our foundational understanding of human behavior. More recently, the findings and methods of neuroscience have been applied to study the process of decision-making in order to offer advanced insights into the neural mechanisms that influence economic and consumer choices. In this thesis, I will address how customized marketing strategies can be enriched through the integration of consumer neuroscience, an integrative field anchored in the biological, cognitive and affective mechanisms of consumer behavior. By recognizing and utilizing these multidisciplinary interdependencies, marketers can enhance their advertising and promotional mix to elicit desired neural and affective consumer responses and measure these reactions in order to enhance purchasing decisions. The principal objective of this thesis is to present a comprehensive review of consumer neuroscience and to elucidate why it is an increasingly important area of study within the framework of human behavior. I will also describe how the insights gained from this emerging field can be leveraged to optimize marketing activities. Finally, I propose an experiment that illuminates key research questions, which may have considerable impact on the discipline of consumer neuroscience as well as the marketing industry.
9
Rey, Stéphanie. "Physiological involvement of presynaptic L-type voltage dependent calcium channels in GABA release of cerebellar molecular layer interneurons." Thesis, Paris 5, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013PA05T096/document.
Full textAbstract:
La libération de neurotransmetteur est provoquée par la dépolarisation de la terminaison présynaptique et l’entrée de calcium à travers les canaux calciques voltagedépendants (VDCCs). Les VDCCs à haut seuil de type-P/Q et de type-N sont classiquement impliqués dans la libération de neurotransmetteurs et sont localisés dans la terminaison axonale près de la zone active. Deux membres de la famille des VDCCs de type-L, Cav1.2 et Cav1.3 sont connus pour être exprimés dans le système nerveux central. Dans le cortex cérébelleux, les propriétés pharmacologiques des VDCCs présynaptiques ont été examinées aux synapses GABAergiques entre les interneurones de la couche moléculaire (MLIs) et entre les MLIs et les cellules de Purkinje. Bien qu’il n’y ait aucun doute que les VDCCs de type- P/Q et de type-N sont les principaux acteurs de l’entrée de calcium présynaptique et de la libération de GABA par les MLIs, l’absence d’effet des dihydropyrines antagonistes a exclut le potentiel rôle des VDCCs de type-L (Forti et al., 2000; Stephens et al., 2001). Il est intéressant de noter que les dihydropyrines antagonistes sont très peu efficaces sur les courants calciques de type-L activés par un potentiel d’action (Helton et al., 2005), ce qui suggère que l’implication des VDCCs de type-L dans la libération de neurotransmetteur a été largement négligée. Dans cette étude, nous avons montré que le BayK8644 (une dihydropyridine agoniste) augmente fortement la fréquence des mIPSCs enregistrés dans les MLIs et dans les cellules de Purkinje suggérant que les VDCCs de type-L peuvent être présents dans les terminaisons axonales des MLIs. Ce résultat a été confirmé par des expériences d’immunohistochimie utilisant la microscopie confocale et électronique ainsi que par des expériences d’imagerie calcique. Nos résultats démontrent que les VDCCs de type-L, souvent négligés dans les terminaisons axonales, ont un rôle crucial dans la libération de GABA par les MLIsPhysiological involvement of presynaptic L-type voltage dependent calcium channels in GABA release of cerebellar molecular layer interneurons
10
Norberg, Joakim. "Prediction of Future Development of MCI patients Based on Cognitive Function." Thesis, Stockholm University, Department of Psychology, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-6823.
Full textAbstract:
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) refers to a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia. The purpose of this study was to predict the development of MCI patients based on cognitive function. 222 MCI patients were studied at baseline and at a follow-up of 2 years. Using discriminant analysis, they were predicted into four diagnostic groups: Improved, Stable MCI, Dementia of the Alzheimer’s Type (AD) and Other Dementia. Using four tests - Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test recall, Auditory-Verbal Learning Test recall, TMTB time and Digit Symbol – overall 62.6% of cases were correctly classified after cross-validation. The rate of prediction in this study was 1.8 times better than chance, which is better than reported in most other studies. The model did best for the AD group with 80% of cases correctly classified. However, most cases in the Other Dementia group were also classified as AD.
11
Howard, Newton. "The brain language : psychotrauma spectrum disorder and cybernetics detection of disease conditions and comorbidities." Thesis, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015PA05T023.
Full textAbstract:
Pas de résumé en françaisPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly heterogeneous condition, ranging from individual traumatic incidents such as car accidents to national tragedies such as natural disasters. Every individual has a different depending on their personality and past experiences, especially regarding their tendency to depression. Hence the condition is better termed psychotrauma spectrum disorder (PSD). Its heterogeneity hinders reliable diagnosis, as detection is entirely dependent upon a clinician’s subjective impression and sensitivity to comorbidities and there is always the possibility of concealment. Yet early diagnosis is essential, as the earlier PSD is detected the more likely treatment will be successful. Furthermore, reliable biomarkers of PSD would allow for much more accurate detection and monitoring of progression. Here we propose a new computational approach building on our prior work on the early detection of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and depression. We will use a new analysis tool, called the Brain Code (BC). This concept was developed to integrate many different kinds of data, for e.g. the often fragmented and incomplete outputs from body sensors that record balance, dexterity, postural, facial and vocal movements combined together with cognitive or clinical outputs such as the intentional or emotive content of speech. The Brain Code allows us to fit all these different data streams together in such a way as to compensate for the deficiencies of each individually. It can put disparate physiological and cognitive data into the same ‘coordinate system’, so that we will be able to develop a reliable quantitative ‘signature’ of PSD. These quantitative biomarkers will be designed so that they are useful for both physicians in a clinical setting and for communities affected by a large-scale traumatic event
12
Flobakk, Fride Røe. "Educational Neuroscience - A Critical Discourse Analysis." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Pedagogisk institutt, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-13057.
Full text
13
Lymperopoulou, Ioana Anca. "A cognitive neuroscience perspective of emotions." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för biovetenskap, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-11364.
Full textAbstract:
Emotions have a remarkable capacity to mobilize an individual and shape a person’s behavior in order to ultimately lead to a higher wellbeing. The importance of emotions is further emphasized by pathological cases of people who suffer from an inability to normally regulate their emotional life, such as people who suffer from major depression disorder (MDD), eating disorders, or borderline personality disorder. Given the central role emotions play in our lives, it is very easy to understand the great interest cognitive neuroscientists have in this research field. Emotions have been approached in the last decades from different angles and as such, distinct theories arose. The goal of this study is to give a comprehensive overview of the emotion theories that exist, with a focus on three of the fastest developing cognitive theories of emotions: Frijda’s action-readiness, Russell’s core affect and the communicative theory. Additionally, the neural correlates of emotions will be discussed, focusing on the role of amygdala in the negative emotion of fear. Neuroimaging studies that reveal a correlation between the amygdala and emotions, fear in particular, will be described. Given that the ability of self-regulation is crucial for the achievements of our aims and goals, fMRI studies designed to investigate neural the underpinnings of emotion regulation will be presented. The process of cognitive reappraisal will be used to point towards the brain regions that act as down-regulators for the activity of amygdala while processing negatively valenced stimuli.
14
Contreras, Juan Manuel. "A Cognitive Neuroscience of Social Groups." Thesis, Harvard University, 2013. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10882.
Full textAbstract:
We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how the human brain processes information about social groups in three domains. Study 1: Semantic knowledge. Participants were scanned while they answered questions about their knowledge of both social categories and non-social categories like object groups and species of nonhuman animals. Brain regions previously identified in processing semantic information are more robustly engaged by nonsocial semantics than stereotypes. In contrast, stereotypes elicit greater activity in brain regions implicated in social cognition. These results suggest that stereotypes should be considered distinct from other forms of semantic knowledge. Study 2: Theory of mind. Participants were scanned while they answered questions about the mental states and physical attributes of individual people and groups. Regions previously associated with mentalizing about individuals were also robustly responsive to judgments of groups. However, multivariate searchlight analysis revealed that several of these regions showed distinct multivoxel patterns of response to groups and individual people. These findings suggest that perceivers mentalize about groups in a manner qualitatively similar to mentalizing about individual people, but that the brain nevertheless maintains important distinctions between the representations of such entities. Study 3: Social categorization. Participants were scanned while they categorized the sex and race of unfamiliar Black men, Black women, White men, and White women. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed that multivoxel patterns in FFA--but not other face-selective brain regions, other category-selective brain regions, or early visual cortex--differentiated faces by sex and race. Specifically, patterns of voxel-based responses were more similar between individuals of the same sex than between men and women, and between individuals of the same race than between Black and White individuals. These results suggest that FFA represents the sex and race of faces. Together, these three studies contribute to a growing cognitive neuroscience of social groups.Psychology
15
Jhuang, Hueihan. "Dorsal stream : from algorithm to neuroscience." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66007.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-195).
The dorsal stream in the primate visual cortex is involved in the perception of motion and the recognition of actions. The two topics, motion processing in the brain, and action recognition in videos, have been developed independently in the field of neuroscience and computer vision. We present a dorsal stream model that can be used for the recognition of actions as well as explaining neurophysiology in the dorsal stream. The model consists of a spatio-temporal feature detectors of increasing complexity: an input image sequence is first analyzed by an array of motion sensitive units which, through a hierarchy of processing stages, lead to position and scale invariant representation of motion in a video sequence. The model outperforms or on par with the state-of-the-art computer vision algorithms on a range of human action datasets. We then describe the extension of the model into a high-throughput system for the recognition of mouse behaviors in their homecage. We provide software and a very large manually annotated video database used for training and testing the system. Our system outperforms a commercial software and performs on par with human scoring, as measured from the ground-truth manual annotations of more than 10 hours of videos of freely behaving mice. We complete the neurobiological side of the model by showing it could explain the motion processing as well as action selectivity in the dorsal stream, based on comparisons between model outputs and the neuronal responses in the dorsal stream. Specifically, the model could explain pattern and component sensitivity and distribution [161], local motion integration [97], and speed-tuning [144] of MT cells. The model, when combining with the ventral stream model [173], could also explain the action and actor selectivity in the STP area. There exists only a few models for the motion processing in the dorsal stream, and these models were not be applied to the real-world computer vision tasks. Our model is one that agrees with (or processes) data at different levels: from computer vision algorithm, practical software, to neuroscience.
by Hueihan Jhuang.
Ph.D.
16
Buda, Marie. "The cognitive neuroscience of reality monitoring." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.648292.
Full text
17
Carlsson, Veronica. "Emotional attention : A cognitive neuroscience perspective." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för biovetenskap, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-16258.
Full textAbstract:
Attention is a cognitive mechanism that guides our perception in order to prioritize the limited resources to the most relevant information while ignoring distracting information. Attention can be voluntarily deployed to stimuli during tasks or goals, or the features of the stimulus can capture our attention either by being salient or being emotionally induced. Emotions affect multiple different cognitive processes such as attention because emotional stimuli can be relevant for defending or sustain life. This relationship between attention and emotion indicates that there should be interactive but distinct networks between these cognitive mechanisms as well as a modulative effect on perceptional and attentional systems. Emotions were in general demonstrating a facilitation affect on attentional and saccadic processes as well as broadening or narrowing the scope of attention. The reason behind emotions impact on attention was proposed to be for eliciting a change in the application of resources in order to solve the limited capacity problem and possibly to protect and sustain life. Inconsistent findings as well as limitations for emotional attention studies are discussed.
18
Leigh, Andrew. "Well-being in clinical neuroscience settings." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2013. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/wellbeing-in-clinical-neuroscience-settings(f591bee1-729b-4e68-86cc-b5880a873c6f).html.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of this thesis was to investigate the well-being of patients in clinical neuroscience settings. Both the systematic review and research paper are being prepared for submission to the journal of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, the guidelines of which are included in the appendices (Appendix 1).Paper one is a systematic review of the literature investigating the prevalence of depression following traumatic brain injury (TBI). 26 papers were reviewed with 15 meeting quality assessment criteria and were described in further detail. The prevalence of depression following TBI, reported in the reviewed studies, varied between 19% and 46%.The quality of the methodology of the studies is evaluated and discussed.The research paper (paper two) investigated the relationship between well-being, cognitive impairment and dependency using care mapping - neurorehabilitation (DCM-NR) as a measure of well-being. This study applied DCM-NR in a range of clinical neuroscience settings. Participants considered to have severe cognitive impairment were found to have significantly lower well-being (as measured by DCM-NR), and to be more dependent than participants with moderate, mild or no cognitive impairment. Overall level of dependency and cognitive impairment accounted for 23.9% of the variance in well-being scores from the DCM-NR.Paper three is a critical appraisal of the systematic review and research paper. Pertinent issues, including methodological limitations, relevant to the two papers are discussed in addition to clinical and research considerations.
19
Morgan, Robbi Jo. "Understanding Educational Neuroscience| A Teacher's Perspective." Thesis, Minot State University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10267692.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this project was to determine what teachers know and what they need to know about neuro-education applications in the classroom. Teachers in grades kindergarten through eighth grade from a Midwestern community of approximately 45,000 people. There were sixty-nine respondents with 7.2% of them being male. The question regarding their level of education resulted in 59.4% having their master’s degree. It was interesting to note that 40.6% of the teachers responding were between the ages of 51-65 and had been teaching for more than 21 years were asked to complete a survey about their understanding of neuro-myths that effect classroom performance. These implications focus on neuro-myths. The resulting list is to provide possible professional development opportunities for the teachers. This survey was conducted for three weeks. There were a total of forty-five statements that asked the respondent to rank on a 5-point scale whether they disagreed or agreed. There were also four open-ended questions. The results indicated teachers were not correct or not confident in their responses regarding the importance of movement in the classroom, good nutrition, proper amount of sleep, and the importance of a positive relationship between the teacher and student. Some of the neuro-myths that teachers were unsure about were learning with only one hemisphere of the brain, synaptic pruning and learning, students’ misbehavior changing with conversation, and regenerating brain cells.
20
Doublet, Thomas. "Neuroscience applications of organic electronic devices." Thesis, Aix-Marseille, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013AIXM5076.
Full textAbstract:
Les enregistrements életrophysiologiques ont apporté des informations considérables sur le fonctionnement et le dysfonctionnement du cerveau. Améliorer les dispositifs d'enregistrement permettrait d'approfondir les connaissances au niveau de la science fondamentale et serait bénéfique pour les patients. Les principales limitations des électrodes en contact direct avec le cerveau comprennent leur invasivité, leur biocompatibilité et leur SNR. Il serait aussi souhaitable de mesurer simultanément les signaux électriques et moléculaires. Le couplage entre l'activité électrique et métabolic est encore mal comprise. Le but de ce travail était de fournir des solutions technologiques à ces défis dans le contexte de l’épilepsie.Nous avons développé des grilles flexibles de 4 µm d’épaisseur résolvant les problèmes d’invasivité, de rigidité et de biocompatibilité. Afin d’améliorer le SNR, des sites d'enregistrement en polymère hautement conducteur PEDOT: PSS ont été faits. La qualité des signaux enregistrés in vivo était meilleure que celui obtenu avec de l’or. Puis nous avons validé des sites d'enregistrement en transistors électrochimiques organiques, permettant l'amplification locale des signaux. Les grilles ont été testées in vivo et le SNR a été multiplié par 10. Enfin, nous avons fonctionnalisé les sites avec une enzyme pour mesurer le glucose. Par rapport aux dispositifs classiques, le capteur de glucose a montré une stabilité et une sensibilité inégalée in vitro.En conclusion, l'électronique organique semble être une solution technologique prometteuse pour les limitations des systèmes actuels visant à enregistrer l'activité électrique et moléculaire du cerveauElectrophysiological recordings brought considerable information about brain function and dysfunction. Improving recording devices would further our understanding at the basic science level and would be beneficial to patients. Major limitations of current electrodes that are in direct contact with brain tissue include their invasiveness, their poor biocompatibility, their rigidity and a suboptimal signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, it would be desirable to measure simultaneously molecular signals. The coupling between the electrical activity of neurons and metabolism is still poorly understood in vivo. The goal of this work was to provide technological solutions to such challenges in the context of epilepsy. We generate 4 µm thick, totally flexible but resilient grids, thus solving the challenge of invasiveness, rigidity and biocompatibility. In order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, recording sites were made of the highly conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS. The quality of the in vivo signals recorded was better than that obtained with conventional gold contacts. Going a step further, we made the recording site as an organic electrochemical transistor, which enables local amplification of signals. The grid was tested in vivo and the SNR was increased by a factor of 10. Finally, we functionalized PEDOT:PSS sites with glucose oxidase to measure glucose. Compared to conventional devices, the glucose sensor showed unsurpassed stability and sensitivity in vitro. In conclusion, organic electronics appears to be a promising technological solution to the limitations of current systems designed to record the electrical and molecular activity of the brain
21
Wu, Jin S. M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Odor mapping in neuroscience and design." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122564.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, System Design and Management Program, Engineering and Management Program, 2019.Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2019.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 120-122).
The olfactory system remains one of the least well understood out of the five senses. In this thesis we examined the mappings of the odors to pathways in the brain as an initial assessment for the feasibility of digital odor. The results confirmed previous findings that each odor activated 1-6 neurons. Next, we looked at a controversial theory of odor detection using vibrations popularized recently by Luca Turin and its implications using Human Centered Design (HCD). We analyze the viability of products that could result from synthesizing digital smell using frequencies in the infrared range produced by vibrations and the general public's perceptions of these products. The results show that the technology is not readily accepted by users at the present time.
by Jun Wu.
S.M. in Engineering and Management
S.M.
S.M.inEngineeringandManagement Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, System Design and Management Program, Engineering and Management Program
S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering
22
Touboul, Jonathan. "Modèles nonlinéaires et stochastiques en neuroscience." Palaiseau, Ecole polytechnique, 2008. http://www.theses.fr/2008EPXX0028.
Full textAbstract:
De nombreuses nouvelles questions mathématiques sont posées par les neurosciences actuelles. Dans cette thèse, nous avons tenté d'appliquer des outils avancés d'analyse mathématique à des problèmes importants dans le domaine des neurosciences, avec un intérêt particulier pour les phénomènes non-linéaires ou aléatoires. Ainsi, l'excitabilité des cellules nerveuses et la nature binaire des signaux échangés nous a conduit à étudier des systèmes dynamiques hybrides décrits à la fois une équation différentielle non-linéaire ordinaire reproduisant la dynamique du potentiel de membrane de la cellule et un système dynamique discret modélisant l'émission d'un potentiel d'action. Ces systèmes dynamiques hybrides sont très intéressants d'un point de vue mathématique puisqu'ils allient les capacités des deux types de dynamiques. Par ailleurs, l'effet du bruit sur les neurones influence la façon dont les signaux sont traités, et a des implications importantes en termes de codage neuronal. L'étude de ce problème nous a mené à étudier en profondeur le problème des premiers temps d'atteinte de processus stochastiques. Les problèmes les plus simples peuvent être traités en utilisant les outils mathématiques existants, mais dès que la description du neurone et de son activité devient un peu plus précise, l'analyse mathématique usuelle échoue. Nous avons généralisé les resultats mathématiques existants afin de prendre en compte l'intégration synaptique pour un modèle simple de neurone et de synapse. Enfin, le cerveau est un système très complexe, puisqu'il est composé d'un trés grand nombre de neurones qui sont eux-même des entités complexes, interagissant de façon non-linéaire et compliquée à travers un réseau à la connectivité très spécifique et labyrinthique. La question de la modélisation d'une population de neurones, de la réduction de leur complexité, de fournir et d'étudier des modèles accessibles à l'analyse mathématique est discutée dans ma thèse, à travers des modélisations événenementielles, champs-moyen et par l'étude de cycles de certaines équations différentielles ordinaires à l'origine de phénomènes oscillatoires de type épileptique.
23
Daudin, Rachel. "Analyse d’un nouveau modèle transgénique murin d’Alzheimer à début tardif basé sur la surexpression de BIN1 et induisant des endophénotypes précliniques de la maladie." Thesis, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016USPCB034/document.
Full textAbstract:
La Maladie d’Alzheimer Sporadique (MAS) est à ce jour la cause majoritaire de démence à travers le monde. Cette pathologie est aujourd’hui une question de santé publique avec des conséquences économiques et sociales du fait du vieillissement de la population et du coût de la prise en charge des patients. Les études visant à élucider les mécanismes moléculaires de cette maladie se basent pourtant majoritairement sur des modèles animaux de la forme familiale, qui ne représente que 2% des cas de Maladie d’Alzheimer. La première partie de cette thèse de doctorat a eu pour objectif d’explorer de nouvelles voies de signalisation neuronales pouvant être impliquées dans la MAS. Elle a permis l’identification de nouveaux partenaires synaptiques de la protéine BIN1, dont le gène représente le second locus de susceptibilité pour la MAS après APOE. Dans un second temps, les travaux de cette thèse ont consisté en la caractérisation d’un nouveau modèle murin de cette maladie, après les modèles APOE : une souris mimant la surexpression du gène BIN1 mise en évidence chez les patients. Il a été possible d’inclure la protéine BIN1 dans un interactome synaptique impliqué dans la régulation de deux marqueurs majeurs de la physiopathologie de la MAS : la morphologie des épines dendritiques et la régulation du peptide amyloïde β, et de les relier à une atteinte du cortex entorhinal latéral, la première structure impactée chez les patients. Au total, cette thèse a permis de mettre en évidence des voies de signalisation impliquées dans les phases pré-symptomatiques de la maladie. Ces voies de signalisation sont des cibles thérapeutiques potentielles pour le traitement de la Maladie d’Alzheimer SporadiqueLate-onset Alzheimer’s Disease (LOAD) is the most common form of dementia and one of the most challenging disease of modern society. Although familial Alzheimer’s Disease (FAD) only account for 2% of the cases, research on the molecular basis of this pathology has mostly been performed on animal models of FAD. The first objective of this doctoral thesis was to identify new pathways involved in LOAD physiopathology. New synaptic partners of BIN1, the second most associated locus with LOAD after APOE, have been characterized. The second objective of this thesis was to study a new mouse model of LOAD, after APOE models: a mouse mimicking the overexpression of BIN1 found in patients. Together, the results place BIN1 in a synaptic interactome involved in the regulation of two major hallmarks of LOAD: dendritic spine morphology and amyloid β peptide regulation. They also link BIN1 with an alteration of the Lateral Entorhinal Cortex, which is the first brain structure affected in patients. Altogether, this doctoral thesis gives new insights on molecular pathways involved in early pathologic features of LOAD, at early presymptomatic stages of the disease, attainable by new therapeutic strategies
24
Costemale-Lacoste, Jean-François. "Rôle central de l'insomnie dans la dépression caractérisée : lien avec les polymorphismes de GSK3B et le métabolisme glucido-lipidique Glycogen synthase kinase-3β genetic polymorphisms and insomnia in depressed patients: A prospective study Severe insomnia is associated with hypertriglyceridemia in women with major depression treated in psychiatry settings." Thesis, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 2019. https://wo.app.u-paris.fr/cgi-bin/WebObjects/TheseWeb.woa/wa/show?t=2691&f=22603.
Full textAbstract:
Introduction : l’insomnie dans l’épisode dépressif caractérisé (EDC) est un symptôme central présent chez 80 à 90% des patients. Il existe une association entre EDC et une élévation de la morbi-mortalité cardiovasculaire. L’insomnie en population générale semble, elle aussi, liée à cette surmortalité. Glycogène Synthase Kinase-3 Beta (GSK3B) est un enzyme cellulaire ubiquitaire qui a été découvert pour son effet sur le métabolisme glucidique. De plus, il a été montré sur divers modèles cellulaires et animaux qu’il interagissait avec les protéines de l’horloge biologique influençant ainsi les rythmes circadiens et par conséquent le sommeil. GSK3B étant une protéine candidate dans les troubles de l’humeur nous avons étudié l’association entre 5 polymorphismes nucléotidiques simples (SNP) de cette protéine, l’insomnie et les facteurs de risque cardio-vasculaires durant l’EDC. Méthodes : ce travail est basé sur les données issues de la cohorte METADAP. Il s’agit d’une cohorte prospective de 624 patients en EDC dans le cadre d’un trouble dépressif caractérisé suivis sur 6 mois et évalués à 4 temps (M0, M1, M3, M6). Ces 4 temps ont permis la constitution d’une séroplasmathèque dont sont extraits nos 5 SNPs de GSK3B. Les patients avaient également été évalués pour le syndrome métabolique (objectif principal de l’étude METADAP). L’évaluation clinique a permis d’extraire les données d’insomnie à partir de l’échelle de dépression de Hamilton (HDRS). A partir de ces données, 2 marqueurs cliniques ont été confrontés à nos variables génétiques et métaboliques : l’insomnie totale et l’insomnie sévère. Ce travail a recherché des associations statistiques entre SNPs de GSK3B, insomnie et métabolisme glucido-lipidique des patients. Puis, nous avons recherché un lien entre insomnie et métabolisme glucido-lipidique à chacun des temps de l’étude. Résultats : 1) Nous avons retrouvé une association entre le polymorphisme rs334558 (SNP du promoteur) et une plus grande fréquence d’insomnie sévère pour les porteurs de l’allèle mineur (C+). 2) Il existe une amélioration de l’insomnie significativement plus élevée à M6 chez les patients porteurs de l’allèle mineur du polymorphisme rs334558. 3) L’étude de l’association des SNPs de GSK3B avec le métabolisme glucido-lipidique n’a pas été concluante. 4) Nous retrouvons une association entre insomnie sévère et triglycéridémie à jeun spécifiquement chez les femmes. 5) Nous retrouvons une association entre insomnie sévère et syndrome métabolique spécifiquement chez les femmes. Conclusion : Nos travaux ont permis de mieux caractériser les liens entre SNPs de GSK3B, insomnie et métabolisme glucido-lipidique. En partant de découvertes biologiques sur la protéine GSK3B, nous avons mis en évidence et défini un marqueur clinique simple, l’insomnie sévère, qui pourrait rendre compte de risques cardiovasculaires particulièrement importants chez les femmes en EDC. Ce marqueur est également associé à un polymorphisme génétique particulier de GSK3B (rs334558) du fait qu’il est situé en région promotrice du gène et pourrait avoir un effet sur la transcription de la protéine. L’insomnie sévère pourrait servir de marqueur endophénotypique d’intérêt dans l’EDC. L’analyse de données de métabolomique et de biologie cellulaire à disposition au sein de notre équipe pourrait permettre de répliquer nos résultats et d’aller plus loin dans les explications mécanistiques de ces observationsNo abstract
25
Runyan, Jason D. "The compatibility between a theologically relevant libertarian notion of freewill and contemporary neuroscience research : God, freewill and neuroscience." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2009. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:cb895aa4-16e3-4bce-8feb-e93ab217207a.
Full textAbstract:
The notion that we are voluntary agents who exercise power to choose and, in doing so, determine some of what happens in the world has been an important notion in certain theological accounts concerning our relationship with God (e.g. 'the freewill defence' for God's goodness and omnipotence in light of moral evil and accounts of human moral responsibility in relation to God). However, it has been claimed that the physicalism supported by contemporary neuroscience research calls into question human voluntary agency and, with it, human power to choose. Emergentist (or non-reductive physicalist) accounts of psychological phenomena have been presented as a way of reconciling the physicalism supported by contemporary neuroscience and the theologically important notion of human power to choose. But there are several issues that remain for the plausibility of the required kind of emergentist account; namely - Does recent neuroscience research show that voluntary agency is an illusion? and Is there evidence for neurophysiological causes which, along with neurophysiological conditions, determine all we do? In this dissertation I set out to address these issues and, in doing so, present an account of voluntary agency as power to choose in the state of being aware of alternatives. I argue that this account allows for the notion that human beings determine some of what happens in a way that is consistent with what contemporary neuroscience shows. Thus, contemporary neuroscience does not undermine this notion of human voluntary agency; or, then, the predominant theological view that we are morally responsible in our relationship with God.
26
Humbert, Pierre. "Multivariate analysis with tensors and graphs – application to neuroscience." Thesis, université Paris-Saclay, 2020. http://www.theses.fr/2020UPASM029.
Full textAbstract:
Comment extraire l’information contenue dans des données multivariées est devenue une question fondamentale ces dernières années. En effet, leur disponibilité croissante a mis en évidence les limites des modèles standards et la nécessité d’évoluer vers des méthodes plus polyvalentes. L’objectif principal de cette thèse est de fournir des méthodes et des algorithmes prenant en compte la structure des signaux multivariés. Des exemples bien connus de tels signaux sont les images, les signaux audios stéréo, et les signaux d’électroencéphalographie multicanaux. Parmi les approches existantes, nous nous concentrons spécifiquement sur celles basées sur la structure induite par les graphes ou les tenseurs qui ont déjà attiré une attention croissante en raison de leur capacité à mieux exploiter l’aspect multivarié des données et leur structure sous-jacente. Bien que cette thèse prenne l’étude de l’anesthésie générale comme contexte applicatif privilégié, les méthodes développées sont adaptées à un large spectre de données structurées multivariéesHow to extract knowledge from multivariate data has emerged as a fundamental question in recent years. Indeed, their increasing availability has highlighted the limitations of standard models and the need to move towards more versatile methods. The main objective of this thesis is to provide methods and algorithms taking into account the structure of multivariate signals. Well-known examples of such signals are images, stereo audio signals, and multichannel electroencephalography signals. Among the existing approaches, we specifically focus on those based on graph or tensor-induced structure which have already attracted increasing attention because of their ability to better exploit the multivariate aspect of data and their underlying structure. Although this thesis takes the study of patients under general anesthesia as a privileged applicative context, methods developed are also adapted to a wide range of multivariate structured data
27
Saunders, Kirk Damond. "An overview and introduction : neuroscience for counselors /." Full-text of dissertation on the Internet (223.66 KB), 2010. http://www.lib.jmu.edu/general/etd/2010/masters/saundekd/saundekd_masters_04-17-2010.pdf.
Full text
28
Endres, Dominik M. "Bayesian and information-theoretic tools for neuroscience." Thesis, St Andrews, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/162.
Full text
29
Hermann, Geoffroy. "Quelques équations de champ moyen en neuroscience." Phd thesis, Ecole Polytechnique X, 2011. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00850271.
Full textAbstract:
La thèse porte sur l'étude des propriétés dynamiques de grands réseaux de neurones. Nous étudions des neurones à taux de décharge, dotés d'une dynamique intrinsèque linéaire, et prenons en compte différents types de bruit microscopique affectant le comportement des neurones individuels. L'approche "champ moyen" consiste à étudier la limite du système d'équations différentielles stochastiques décrivant le réseau, lorsque le nombre de neurones tend vers l'infini. Le bruit est soit additif, soit multiplicatif s'il affecte les poids synaptiques, et ceux-ci sont soit figés au début de l'évolution, soit dynamiques. Nous obtenons donc trois types d'équations qui sont étudiées dans cette thèse. Un résultat important est qu'à chaque fois la propriété de propagation du chaos est vérifiée. Nous analysons tout particulièrement l'influence du bruit sur la dynamique (en montrant par exemple le role de celui-ci dans la création de cycles) et discutons des implications en neurosciences.
30
Tamir, Diana Ilse. "A Social Neuroscience Perspective on Egocentric Influence." Thesis, Harvard University, 2014. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:11523.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation explores the cognitive mechanisms and motivations that guide two aspects of human social behavior: thinking about other's experiences and communicating with others. In both cases, studies investigated the possibility that self-referential thought guides our social behavior. First, Paper 1 and 2 investigated how people come to understand other's thoughts and experiences by suggesting that people may use their own self-knowledge as a starting point for making inferences about others. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral measures, these studies tested whether individuals make social inferences using the cognitive process of egocentric anchoring-and-adjustment, whereby individuals first anchor on self-knowledge, and then serially adjust away from these anchors in order to correct for differences between the self and other. Results provided evidence consistent with egocentric anchoring-and-adjustment: increases in self-other discrepancy corresponded to both increases in activity in the MPFC (Paper 1), a neural region associated with both self-referential thought and social cognition, as well as increases in response time (Paper 2), though only for targets where self-knowledge is particularly relevant. Paper 3 then investigated a prominent social behavior, self-disclosure--the act of sharing information about the self with others--which comprises 30- 40% of human conversation. Using both functional magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral economics methodology, five studies tested whether people communicate their thoughts and feelings to others because they are intrinsically motivated to do so. Results supported the hypothesis that individuals experience sharing their thoughts with others as subjectively rewarding: self-disclosure was associated with increased activation in brain regions that form the mesolimbic dopamine reward system; and individuals were willing to forgo money to self- disclose. Moreover, both the self and the disclosure aspects of self-disclosure independently contributed to its value. Together these Papers contribute to our understanding of the ways in which our internal world grounds elements of our external social acts.Psychology
31
CASTRO, FABIANO DOS SANTOS. "INVISIBLE MARKS: THINKING ABOUT NEUROSCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2013. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=28971@1.
Full textAbstract:
PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIROCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO
O presente trabalho tem por finalidade observar as relações existentes entre psicologia e neurociência. A partir da Teoria Ator-Rede (TAR), especificamente, o trabalho de Bruno Latour, observa-se as redes sociotécnicas que formam o campo da neurociência. Munido de alguns conceitos fundamentais tais como fe(i)tiche, caixa-preta e rede sociotécnica, aponta-se os agenciamentos feitos a partir da rede formada, tendo os trabalhos científicos sobre o cérebro como ponto de entrada. Atribui-se um valor específico ao cérebro, que produz um agenciamento em uma série de actantes. Essa rede de actantes constituiria o campo neurocientífico, no qual a psicologia passa a se articular de determinada maneira. Essas articulações produzem interesses a determinadas práticas psi, que se apresentam dispostas a lidar com uma naturalização do pensamento. Ao mesmo tempo, observa-se que, desde suas elaborações, tais práticas psi possuem uma pretensão cientificista, o que encontra grande consonância nos trabalhos neurocientíficos.
The present study seeks to evaluate the relationship between psychology and neuroscience. Therefore, taking the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Bruno Latour s work, specifically, it can be noticed the socio-technical networks that trace the field of neuroscience. Armed with some basic concepts such as factishes, black box and sociotechnical network, pointing up the assemblages made from the network formed, and scientific work on the brain as the entry point. It has assigned a specific value to the brain that produces an assemblage of a series of actants. This network of actants constitute the field of neuroscience, in which psychology articulates in a certain way. When psychology articulates with neurosciences, there are some interests to certain psi practices, disposed with a naturalization of thought. At the same time, we observe that, since its elaborations, such practices have a scientific claim, which is great harmony in the work neuroscience.
32
Pak, Nikita. "Automation and scalability of in vivo neuroscience." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119094.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2018.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 121-124).
Many in vivo neuroscience techniques are limited in terms of scale and suffer from inconsistencies because of the reliance on human operators for critical tasks. Ideally, automation would yield repeatable and reliable experimental procedures. Precision engineering would also allow us to perform more complex experiments by allowing us to take novel approaches to existing problems. Two such tasks that would see great improvement through automation and scalability are accessibility to the brain as well as neuronal activity imaging. In this thesis, I will describe the development of two novel tools that increase the precision, repeatability, and scale of in vivo neural experimentation. The first tool is a robot that automatically performs craniotomies in mice and other mammals by sending an electrical signal through a drill and measuring the voltage drop across the animal. A well-characterized increase in conductance occurs after skull breakthrough due to the lower impedance of the meninges compared to the bone of the skull. This robot allows us access to the brain without damaging the tissue, a critical step in many neuroscience experiments. The second tool is a new type of microscope that can capture high resolution three-dimensional volumes at the speed of the camera frame rate, with isotropic resolution. This microscope is novel in that it uses two orthogonal views of the sample to create a higher resolution image than is possible with just a single view. Increased resolution will potentially allow us to record neuronal activity that we would otherwise miss because of the inability to distinguish two nearby neurons.
by Nikita Pak.
Ph. D.
33
Javor, Andrija, Monika Koller, Nick Lee, Laura Chamberlain, and Gerhard Ransmayr. "Neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience: contributions to neurology." BioMed Central Ltd, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-13-13.
Full textAbstract:
Background: 'Neuromarketing' is a term that has often been used in the media in recent years. These public discussions have generally centered around potential ethical aspects and the public fear of negative consequences for society in general, and consumers in particular. However, positive contributions to the scientific discourse from developing a biological model that tries to explain context-situated human behavior such as consumption have often been neglected. We argue for a differentiated terminology, naming commercial applications of neuroscientific methods 'neuromarketing' and scientific ones 'consumer neuroscience'. While marketing scholars have eagerly integrated neuroscientific evidence into their theoretical framework, neurology has only recently started to draw its attention to the results of consumer neuroscience.
Discussion: In this paper we address key research topics of consumer neuroscience that we think are of interest for neurologists; namely the reward system, trust and ethical issues. We argue that there are overlapping research topics in neurology and consumer neuroscience where both sides can profit from collaboration. Further, neurologists joining the public discussion of ethical issues surrounding neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience could contribute standards and experience gained in clinical research.
Summary: We identify the following areas where consumer neuroscience could contribute to the field of neurology:
First, studies using game paradigms could help to gain further insights into the underlying pathophysiology of pathological gambling in Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia, epilepsy, and Huntington's disease.
Second, we identify compulsive buying as a common interest in neurology and consumer neuroscience. Paradigms commonly used in consumer neuroscience could be applied to patients suffering from Parkinson's disease and frontotemporal dementia to advance knowledge of this important behavioral symptom. Third, trust research in the medical context lacks empirical behavioral and neuroscientific evidence. Neurologists entering this field of research could profit from the extensive knowledge of the biological foundation of trust that scientists in economically-orientated neurosciences have gained. Fourth, neurologists could contribute significantly to the ethical debate about invasive methods in neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience. Further, neurologists should investigate biological and behavioral reactions of neurological patients to marketing and advertising measures, as they could show special consumer vulnerability and be subject to target marketing. (authors' abstract)
34
Lai, Yi Ming. "Stochastic population oscillators in ecology and neuroscience." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2012. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f12697fb-23fa-4817-974e-6e188b9ecb38.
Full textAbstract:
In this thesis we discuss the synchronization of stochastic population oscillators in ecology and neuroscience. Traditionally, the synchronization of oscillators has been studied in deterministic systems with various modes of synchrony induced by coupling between the oscillators. However, recent developments have shown that an ensemble of uncoupled oscillators can be synchronized by a common noise source alone. By considering the effects of noise-induced synchronization on biological oscillators, we are able to explain various biological phenomena in ecological and neurobiological contexts - most importantly, the long-observed Moran effect. Our formulation of the systems as limit cycle oscillators arising from populations of individuals, each with a random element to its behaviour, also allows us to examine the interaction between an external noise source and this intrinsic stochasticity. This provides possible explanations as to why in ecological systems large-amplitude cycles may not be observed in the wild. In neural population oscillators, we were able to observe not just synchronization, but also clustering in some pa- rameter regimes. Finally, we are also able to extend our methods to include coupling in our models. In particular, we examine the competing effects of dispersal and extrinsic noise on the synchronization of a pair of Rosenzweig-Macarthur predator-prey systems. We discover that common environmental noise will ultimately synchronize the oscillators, but that the approach to synchrony depends on whether or not dispersal in the absence of noise supports any stable asynchronous states. We also show how the combination of correlated (shared) and uncorrelated (unshared) noise with dispersal can lead to a multistable steady-state probability density. Similar analysis on a coupled system of neural oscillators would be an interesting project for future work, which, among other future directions of research, is discussed in the concluding section of this thesis.
35
Lindblom, Jon. "Technihil : the cultural import of cognitive neuroscience." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2016. http://research.gold.ac.uk/19472/.
Full textAbstract:
The thesis aims to speculate on the implications of neuroscientific resources on aesthetics and cultural production by drawing upon conceptual material provided by ‘90s and recent accelerationist theory and speculative philosophy. Following the work of Ray Brassier, it sees a plethora of untapped potencies in the objective image of cognition unveiled by modern neuroscience – which is contrasted with the anti-scientific stance concomitant with much Continental philosophy and critical theory. Focusing primarily on the registers of embodiment and experience in recent forms of corporeal phenomenology and affect theory, it is argued that their intellectual advocates generally share a commitment to the unobjectifiable nature of so-called ‘embodied’, or ‘lived’, experience which does not sit well with the neuroscientific project of objectification. Instead, the thesis utilizes Thomas Metzinger’s PSM-theory of selfhood and Brassier’s work on the speculative implications of nihilism, science, and technology in order to outline an alternative account of embodiment and experience compatible with the natural sciences. The intention is to create a form of critical theory which it is argued not only is better equipped for addressing modes of power and exploitation in the present, but also for constructing alternate scenarios of the future. These twin issues are addressed on the one hand through an engagement with Mark Fisher’s and Simon Reynolds’ work on ‘90s rave culture and its mutation into present forms of postmodern cultural and psychosocial malaise, and on the other hand through recent accelerationist attempts to rethink the program of acceleration according to revisionary modernist and post-capitalist ends. It is argued that a cognitive reformatting grounded in the revision and remaking of the human on the basis of an updated model of digital psychedelia and a popular modernist aesthetic of cognitive mapping is crucial for overcoming the cognitive lacuna that Fredric Jameson characterizes in terms of a late capitalist discontinuity between structure and experience – and which the thesis suggests currently stifles the ambitions of critical theory on the one hand and cultural production on the other – and thereby realizes the transformative potentials of techno-scientific objectification by augmenting and transforming the parameters of the human.
36
Atanasova, Nina A. "Animal Models and the Unity of Neuroscience." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406820028.
Full text
37
Bentley, Vanessa A. "Building a Feminist Philosophy of Cognitive Neuroscience." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1447691278.
Full text
38
Lindqvist, Erik. "Creating a streamlinedmanual fluorescent stainingmethod for neuroscience." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för maskinteknik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-21659.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis will conduct an attempt of simplifying the currently used stainingmethod of the protein profiling group at The Karolinska Institute led by Jan Mulder. By utilizing iterative product development several prototypes were created to first fit the criteria’s specified and secondly best retain and evenly spread a solution across the tissue sections. A realization made early on was that to be able to create the correct spreading of such a small volume of a solution one must make use of the capillary effect created in narrow spaces. From numerous of iterations of design and testing a product that outperformed the rest was found. That product was the prototype Quadlane leaf drain. The product needs to be stored in specific climates to ensure proper functionality during staining. To fulfil that need a storage system based on inserts were invented that can be placed inside of a contained area with saturated air to ensure sufficient hydration.Denna avhandling kommer att göra ett försök att förenkla den för närvarande använda färgningsmetoden för proteinprofileringsgruppen vid Karolinska Institutet ledd av Jan Mulder. Genom att använda sig utav Iterativproduktutveckling kunde flera prototyper skapas för att uppfylla kriterierna specificerade och för att bäst behålla och jämnt sprida vätska över vävnadssnitten. En tidig insikt var att för att kunna skapa en korrekt spridningav en så liten volym vätska måste kapilläreffekten som skapas i trånga utrymmen utnyttjas. Efter flertalet iterationer av design och test av olika prototyper visade sig en lösning vara bättre. Denna lösning var prototypen Quadlane leaf drain. Utöver den framtagna produkten behövdes även ett ställe att förvara produkten vid inkubationer. Detta görs med ett framtaget förvarings system som är uppbyggt av insatser som seden kan bli placerade i ett förslutet område med mättad luft för att försäkra ett väl hydrerat system.
39
Walters, Daniel Matthew. "The computational neuroscience of head direction cells." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d4afe06a-d44f-4a24-99a3-d0e0a2911459.
Full textAbstract:
Head direction cells signal the orientation of the head in the horizontal plane. This thesis shows how some of the known head direction cell response properties might develop through learning. The research methodology employed is the computer simulation of neural network models of head direction cells that self-organize through learning. The preferred firing directions of head direction cells will change in response to the manipulation of distal visual cues, but not in response to the manipulation of proximal visual cues. Simulation results are presented of neural network models that learn to form separate representations of distal and proximal visual cues that are presented simultaneously as visual input to the network. These results demonstrate the computation required for a subpopulation of head direction cells to learn to preferentially respond to distal visual cues. Within a population of head direction cells, the angular distance between the preferred firing directions of any two cells is maintained across different environments. It is shown how a neural network model can learn to maintain the angular distance between the learned preferred firing directions of head direction cells across two different visual training environments. A population of head direction cells can update the population representation of the current head direction, in the absence of visual input, using internal idiothetic (self-generated) motion signals alone. This is called the path integration of head direction. It is important that the head direction cell system updates its internal representation of head direction at the same speed as the animal is rotating its head. Neural network models are simulated that learn to perform the path integration of head direction, using solely idiothetic signals, at the same speed as the head is rotating.
40
Denham, Benjiman. "Gestural sense : art, neuroscience and linguistic embodiment." Thesis, View thesis, 2009. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/46121.
Full textAbstract:
In introducing this work it’s useful to consider both the thematic threads that link the following chapters and the question of why an artist might choose to engage with the type of critical theoretical writing that is exemplified here. I will start by considering some of the threads that can be used to connect an eight year old reading Wittgenstein, “gesture-haptic writing”, freestyle poetry, and unaided human flight. Two questions can help in identifying those threads. Firstly, what can each of these subjects tell us about the ways in which language acts-on and alters bodies? And secondly what are the implications of those alterations for the process of speculating on how language and the body might continue in a particularly productive and creative relationship of co-evolution? Or, to put it in a slightly more linear fashion, how might various language-based creative practices be employed as agents in the continued evolution of the body.
41
Denham, Benjiman. "Gestural sense art, neuroscience and linguistic embodiment /." View thesis, 2009. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/46121.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2009.A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, School of Humanities and Languages, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosphy. Includes bibliographies.
42
PREMOLI, MARIKA. "Ultrasonic communication in mice: relevance in neuroscience." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Brescia, 2022. https://hdl.handle.net/11379/567424.
Full textAbstract:
I topi emettono le vocalizzazioni ultrasoniche per comunicare tra di loro in diversi contesti sociali: la separazione materna per i cuccioli, il gioco per i topi adolescenti, accoppiamento e interazione sociale per i topi adulti. Le vocalizzazioni ultrasoniche possono essere acquisite grazie a strumenti specifici e analizzate sulla base dei parametri quantitativi e qualitativi utilizzando sistemi manuali o automatizzati di classificazione. Negli ultimi anni, l'importanza delle vocalizzazioni ultrasoniche è stata consolidata come un valido strumento per l'analisi comportamentale dei topi sia nel contesto degli studi etologici che nell'ambito medico, specialmente per lo studio di patologie caratterizzate da deficit nella comunicazione come i disordini del neurosviluppo e in particolare i disturbi dello spettro autistico. Infatti, è stato dimostrato che vi è una comunicazione ultrasonica alterata in diversi modelli murini di disordini del neurosviluppo e attualmente è emersa l'evidenza che lo studio delle vocalizzazioni ultrasoniche può fornire un valore aggiuntivo ai modelli dei disturbi del neurosviluppo. Inoltre, alterazioni nello schema della comunicazione ultrasonica sono state rilevate nei topi anche dopo trattamenti farmacologici, sempre nel contesto dei disturbi del neurosviluppo.
Questa tesi comprende lo studio dei seguenti aspetti: le caratteristiche delle vocalizzazioni ultrasoniche dei topi, i contesti dove vengono emesse le vocalizzazioni e i fattori che ne modulano l'espressione. Un focus particolare sarà dedicato all'analisi delle vocalizzazioni ultrasoniche nel contesto dei modelli murini dei disturbi del neurosviluppo (es. i topi Fmr1 knock-out e i topi CB1 knock-out).Mice emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) to communicate each other in different social conditions: pups maternal separation, juveniles play, adults mating and social investigation. USVs can be acquired by means of specific tools and later analyzed on the base of both quantitative and qualitative parameters using manual or automated systems of calls classification. In recent years, the relevance of USVs has been consolidated as a valid tool for behavioral analysis of mice in both the context of ethological studies and in the field of studies of pathologies, expecially those characterized by deficits in communication as neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and autism spectrum disorders. Indeed, altered ultrasonic communication is found in several mouse models of NDDs and currently it is emerged the evidence that the study of USVs can provide additional value to NDDs models. In addition, alterations in USV pattern are detected in mice also after pharmacological treatments in NDDs context. This thesis covers the topics of USVs features in mice, contexts for USVs emission and factors that modulate their expression. A particular focus will be devoted to analysis of USVs in the context of NDDs murine models (e.g. Fmr1 knock-out mice, CB1 knock-out mice).
43
POZZI, PAOLO. "Multiphoton multifocal methods for neuroscience and hemodynamics." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10281/54636.
Full textAbstract:
La microscopia di fluorescenza è una tecnica molto usata in ricerca e sviluppo in campo biomedico, grazie alla sua versatilità, al suo alto contrasto, e alla sua compatibilità con l’utilizzo in campioni biologici attivi. Recentemente, numerose varianti della microscopia di fluorescenza sono state sviluppate per migliorare la selettività e la qualità delle informzioni acquisite.
Dal momento che la maggioranza dei sistemi biologici evolve su scale temporali lente (secondi), la risoluzione temporale è spesso sacrificata per migliorare altri parametri dell’acquisizione. Alcuni importanti processi biologici, come per esempio l’attività neurale, la diffusione molecolare e la circolazione sanguigna, agiscono su scale temporali del millisecondo.
Questa tesi illustra due tecniche di microscopia di fluorescenza appositamente sviluppate per lo studio di fenomeni veloci in organismi viventi, e riporta risultati sperimentali inediti ottenuti ottenuti osservando il flusso sanguino in embrioni di zebrafish, e l’attività neuronale in tessuto cerebellare di ratto Wistar.
Per studiare il flusso sanguigno in modelli animali (embrioni di zebrafish) è stata utilizzata la cross correlazione spaziale di fluorescenza (sFCCS), una variante della spettroscopia di correlazione della fluorescenza classica, basata sullo studio statistico delle fluttuazioni delsegnale di fluorescenza acquisito in due punti distinti nel campo visivo del microscopio. La teoria dell’ sFCCS è riportata in letteratura, ma il suo utilizzo pratico è sempre stato limitato all’uso in semplici sistemi “in vitro”, in quanto il setup sperimentale classico, basato sull’uso di beam splitter fissi e di un doppio fotodiodio, è di complessa realizzazione e allineamento, e non permette di realizzare un’immagine del campione, né di posizionare con precisione i due volumi di eccitazione.
Il setup alternativo presntto in questa tesi, basato sull’uso di un electron multiplying charged couple device (EMCCD), un interferometro modificato per il posizionamento dei punti focali, e uno scanner galvanometrico per l’imaging, è più versatile e di più semplice realizzazione, e permette di acquisire un’immagine confocale del campione, e di scegliere su di essa le posizioni dei due volumi di eccitazione. Tale setup è stato utilizzato per misure su embrioni di zebrafish, misurando le dinamiche del moto cardiaco, le velocità di flussi, e fornendo stime dello shear stress nei vasi sanguigni.
Per lo studio delle reti neuronali cerebellari, invece, questa tesi descrive un metodo originale ed estremamente innovativo, per il calcium imaging a due fotoni ad alta velocità.
Il calcium imaging è una tecnica basata sulla colorazione dei tessuti con coloranti fluorescenti che cambiano la loro emissione dipendentemente dalla concentrazione di calcio intracellulare; nella sua forma classica il calcium imaging a due fotoni richiede l’us di uno scanner galvanometrico, la cui limitata velocità di movimento costringe a scegliere fra l’acquisizione di segnali ad alta velocità su singole linee, oppure l’acquisizione su grandi campi visivi a non più di qualche immagine al secondo.
La tecnica riportata in questa tesi è basata sull’uso di un sensore sCMOS ad alta velocità e su un modulatore spaziale di luce, strumento olografico che permette di creare un numero arbitrario di volumi di eccitazione in qualsiasi posizione all’interno del campo visivo. Mediante questo sistema è possibile acquisire un’immagine confocale del campione, selezionare alcuni punti di interesse, ed acquisire segnali di calcio da tali punti simultaneamente e su scale temporali del millisecondo. Il sistema è stato utilizzato con successo per studiare l’organizzazione spaziale dei segnali, del bilanciamento fra eccitazione ed inibizione, e della plasticità sinaptica.
44
Pidoux, Ludivine. "Contributions du cervelet à l'apprentissage sensorimoteur : études anatomiques, fonctionelles et comportementales des voies cérébello-thalamo-corticale et cérébello-thalamo-ganglions de la base chez l'oiseau chanteur." Thesis, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017USPCB115/document.
Full text
45
Ibarra, Yessenia Michelle. "Characterization of human TRPA1 and TRPV1 channels in response to naturally occurring defensive compounds." Thesis, Harvard University, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3566933.
Full textAbstract:
The transient receptor potential channels, ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) and vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), are non-selective cation-permeable channels that have retained their function as chemical sensors since their first appearance in metazoan species several hundred million years ago. In vertebrates, TRP channels have evolved multiple functions which make it difficult to understand exactly how they transmit signals to the brain that are interpreted very differently. For example, TRPA1 and TRPV1 are sensitive to various chemicals and activation of these channels produce sensations with opposing effects. Pain is felt when TRPV1 is activated by spider toxins, but activation by plant cannabidiol results in a pain-relieving sensation. Similarly, TRPA1 activation by delta-tetrahydrocannabinol is reported to relieve symptoms of pain, but TRPA1 activation by the active ingredient in wasabi results in a repulsive or noxious sensation. Much of what we know about TRPA1 and TRPV1 comes from the use of plant products or exposure to substances that cause or alleviate pain and inflammation. In this study, whole-cell voltage clamp recordings of heterologously expressed human TRPA1 and human TRPV1 were tested for sensitivity to a hallucinogenic plant compound, salvinorin A and an arthropod-defensive compound, para-benzoquinone. Neither compound has yet been reported to activate TRP channels but both are known to be involved in pain and inflammation signaling in humans. I show that the arthropod compound, para-benzoquinone, activates and desensitizes TRPA1 in a cysteine-dependent manner, but activation of TRPV1 is not dependent on cysteine reactivity. Although salvinorin A is known to be a potent agonist of the kappa-opioid and cannabinoid receptors, here I show that it also acts as a highly potent agonist of both TRPA1 and TRPV1. Its interaction with TRP channels may contribute to its antinociceptive effects in behavioral studies with animals that are reported to be independent of opioid signaling.
46
Nyqvist, Ghashghaian Simon. "The Neurobiology of Ketamine and Addiction." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för biovetenskap, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-15610.
Full textAbstract:
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic prescription drug and has been used for general anesthesia. The research surrounding this chemical compound has revealed conflicting evidence of its potential use in health care and addiction treatment. On one side, ketamine is a widespread drug of abuse associated with neurocognitive deficits and neurotoxicity, on the other side ketamine has recently been found to have a variety of potential uses, including but not limited to; antidepressant effects, reconsolidation of drug-related memories and disrupting maladaptive rumination. Ketamine’s ability to induce psychedelic and mystic experiences, reconsolidation of memories, antidepressant effects, and its ability to reduce cue-induced drug craving makes it a potentially useful tool in drug abuse therapy. Most of the negative side-effects of ketamine seem to be apparent at high doses and in frequent use but low doses and non-frequent use has a low risk of harm, therefore, careful consideration and extensive research are required before ketamine can be widely used in the public and in health care for treatment strategies. This thesis aims to explore the role of ketamine and its neurobiological effects in the treatment of addiction and depression.
47
Hoertel, Nicolas. "Effets des pathologies psychiatriques sur le risque de tentative de suicide : similitudes et différences selon l’âge au sein d’une cohorte en population générale Mental disorders and risk of suicide attempt: a national prospective study A dimensional liability model of age differences in mental disorder prevalence: evidence from a national sample Effects of psychiatric disorders on suicide attempt: similarities and differences between older and younger adults in a national cohort study A comprehensive model of predictors of suicide attempt in depressed individuals and effect of treatment-seeking behavior: results from a national 3-year prospective study." Thesis, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018USPCB007.
Full textAbstract:
Les troubles mentaux sont associés à un risque accru de tentative de suicide. Or, la comorbidité entre les troubles psychiatriques est fréquente et peut être expliquée par des modèles où ces troubles sont appréhendés comme des manifestations de dimensions latentes de psychopathologie. Nous avons cherché à évaluer si le risque de tentative de suicide est dû à certains troubles psychiatriques ou à certaines dimensions de psychopathologie (internalisée ou externalisée) ou à un facteur de psychopathologie générale. Au sein d’une cohorte en population générale suivie sur une période de trois ans, nous avons utilisé des modèles d’équation structurelle afin de distinguer les effets spécifiques des effets partagés des différents troubles mentaux sur le risque de tentative de suicide. La structure dimensionnelle globale des troubles psychiatriques était invariante selon l'âge et leurs effets sur le risque de tentative de suicide étaient médiés principalement par une dimension de psychopathologie générale représentant un effet commun partagé, quel que soit le groupe d'âge. Cet effet était significativement plus faible chez les adultes d’au moins 50 ans comparativement aux sujets les plus jeunes. Les résultats étaient similaires en utilisant différentes approches de modélisation de la comorbidité psychiatrique, ainsi que dans un modèle incluant la plupart des facteurs de risque cliniques de tentative de suicide dans le sous-groupe de sujets présentant un épisode dépressif caractérisé. Nos résultats suggèrent que le facteur de psychopathologie générale a un rôle majeur et devrait être considéré comme une cible thérapeutique privilégiée afin de permettre une meilleure prévention du suicidePas de résumé
48
Chamorro, Emilia. "Theories of Nightmares in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för biovetenskap, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-11496.
Full textAbstract:
Dreaming is a complex, multimodal and sequentially organized model of the waking world (Metzinger, 2003). Nightmares are a category of dreams involving threatening scenarios, anxiety and other negative emotions (Hartmann, 1998; Nielsen & Levin, 2007). Dreams and nightmares are explored in this present thesis in the light of psychology and modern cognitive neuroscience as to their nature, function and neural correlates. The three main dream theories and their leading investigations are reviewed to evaluate their evidence and overall explanatory power to account for the function of dreams and nightmares. Random Activation Theories (RATs) claim dreams are biological epiphenomena and by-products of sleep underlying mechanisms (Crick & Mitchison, 1983; Flanagan, 1995, 2000a, 2000b, Hobson & McCarley, 1997). Mood regulation theories consider that the psychological function of dreams is to regulate mood and help with the adaptation of individuals to their current environment such as solving daily concerns and recovery after trauma exposure (Hartmann, 1996; Levin, 1998; Stickgold, 2008; Kramer, 1991a, 1991b, 2014). Threat Simulation Theories of dreams present the evolutionary function for dreaming as a simulating off-line model of the world used to rehearse threatening events encountered in the human ancestral environment (Revonsuo, 2000a). With the threat-simulation system, threats were likely to be recognized and avoidance skills developed to guarantee reproductive success. TST consider nightmares to reflect the threat-simulation system fully activated (Revonsuo, 2000a). Supported by a robust body of evidence TST is concluded to be the most plausible theory at the moment to account as a theoretical explanation of dreams and nightmares
49
Roy, Silvian. "An Exploration of Psychopathy as a Neuroscience Construct." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37221.
Full textAbstract:
Hare’s psychopathy construct as defined by the Psychopathy Checklist- Revised has been utilized internationally as a risk assessment instrument for quite some time. Despite this, since its inception it has and continues to raise criticism from the academic community. There is ongoing debate over what the construct entails and how it should be used. Most recent developments in the construct revolve around it being defined as a neurological manifestation. To explore the psychopathy construct’s connection with neuroscience, this thesis focusses on one foundational experiment by the most prominent team of researchers in the field. The exploration borrows from Science and Technology Studies, more specifically Actor-Network Theory and the semiotic of scientific texts. The goal of this analysis is not to criticize nor defend the psychopathy construct, but rather explore the facticity of psychopathy as a neuroscientific fact. Considering the widespread use of the construct across criminal justice systems and mental health practices, understanding the facticity of psychopathy is imperative. Our contention is that psychopathy as defined by neuroscience was not merely a pre-discovered fact of nature, but rather it is a fact that is hybrid; it is both built by researchers and a part of our natural world, social and real. Our findings reveal that the facticity of psychopathy as a neuroscience construct is reliant on it being a Boundary Object: a scientific object that is able to intersect multiple social worlds through its adaptability (Star & Griesemer, 1989). We show how the construct is a boundary object by detailing the many translations it undergoes while it connects with a variety of heterogeneous actors. For each translation, the construct is rendered qualitatively different, yet it proves to be robust enough to maintain the identity of psychopathy and transform it into a neuroscientific fact.
50
Schroeter, Matthias. "Enlightening the brain : optical imaging in cognitive neuroscience /." Leipzig ; München : MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 2006. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&doc_number=014995433&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA.
Full text