Cortex and mind : unifying cognition / Joaquín M. Fuster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fuster, Joaquin M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cognition.

Cerebral cortex.

Cerebral Cortex--physiology.

Cognition--physiology.

Medical Subjects:

Cerebral Cortex--physiology.

Cognition--physiology.

Physical Description:

xvi, 294 pages, 2 pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.

Summary:

This book presents a unique synthesis of the current neuroscience of cognition by one of the world's authorities in the field. The guiding principle to this synthesis is the tenet that the entirety of our knowledge is encoded by relations, and thus by connections, in neuronal networks of our cerebral cortex. Cognitive networks develop by experience on a base of widely dispersed modular cell assemblies representing elementary sensations and movements. As they develop, cognitive networks organize themselves hierarchically by order of complexity or abstraction of their content. Because networks intersect profusely, sharing common nodes, a neuronal assembly anywhere in the cortex can be part of many networks, and therefore many items of knowledge. All cognitive functions consist of neural transactions within and between cognitive networks. After reviewing the neurobiology and architecture of cortical networks (also named cognits), the author undertakes a systematic study of cortical dynamics in each of the major cognitive functions -- perception, memory, attention, language, and intelligence. In this study, he makes use of a large body of evidence from a variety of methodologies, in the brain of the human as well as the nonhuman primate. The outcome of his inter-disciplinary endeavor is the emergence of a structural and dynamic order in the cerebral cortex that, though still sketchy and fragmentary, mirrors with remarkable fidelity the order in the human mind.

The audience for this book consists of cognitive neuroscientists, neurophysiologists, neurobiologists, neuroimaging experts, neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychiatrists, cognitive psychologists, and linguists. The book will also interest students in all the disciplines of neuroscience and can be used as a text or collateral reading in courses on systems neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, cognitive science, network modeling, physiological psychology, and linguistics.

Contents:

The Problem 3

Cognitive Networks: Theory 4

Cognitive Networks: Neuroscience 11

The Cognit 14

2 Neurobiology of Cortical Networks 17

Phylogeny of the Cortex 18

Ontogeny of the Cortex 24

Cognitive Network Formation 36

Extracortical Factors 45

Basic Structure of Cognitive Networks 49

3 Functional Architecture of the Cognit 55

Structure of Knowledge in Connectionist Models 56

Categories of Knowledge 59

Cortical Modularity 62

Cortical Hierarchy of Perceptual Networks 67

Cortical Hierarchy of Executive Networks 74

Heterarchical Representation in Association Cortex 80

4 Perception 83

Perceptual Categorization 84

Gestalt 87

Cortical Dynamics of Perception 91

Perceptual Binding 99

Perception-Action Cycle 106

5 Memory 111

Formation of Memory 112

Short-Term Memory 117

Perceptual Memory 121

Executive Memory 127

Retrieval of Memory 132

6 Attention 143

Biological Roots of Attention 144

Perceptual Attention 149

Working Memory 155

Executive Attention 164

Set and Expectancy 167

Execution and Monitoring 172

7 Language 177

Neurobiology of Language 178

Hemispheric Lateralization 184

Neuropsychology of Language 190

Functional Architecture of Semantics 195

Cortical Dynamics of Syntax 206

8 Intelligence 213

Development of Intelligence 214

Anatomy of Intelligence 220

Reasoning 224

Problem Solving 231

Decision Making 236

Creative Intelligence 242

9 Epilogue on Consciousness 249.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-284) and index.

ISBN:

0195147529

OCLC:

48958614