tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post1631251970559799824..comments2023-10-07T07:20:25.103-07:00Comments on Turing Consciousness 2012: Luiz Pessoa: Cognitive-Emotional InteractionsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-21735763188677321772012-08-04T18:36:27.922-07:002012-08-04T18:36:27.922-07:00I forgot to mention something:
My point is that d...I forgot to mention something:<br /><br />My point is that decomposition and localization are (at least according to Bechtel and Richardson 2010) basic and extremely useful research heuristics. <br /><br />Even if we decompose the brain in a set of interconnected networks of areas, we're still decomposing a system. The difference is that this particular decomposition strategy might be more fruitful than previous ones because it rests on a more accurate view of the brain.<br /><br />Of course, calling attention to a faulty decomposition hypothesis is an important step in brain research!Frédéric Banvillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01671471026861346529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-75616246447806150342012-08-04T16:17:39.055-07:002012-08-04T16:17:39.055-07:00Of course, the process by which we get to such an ...Of course, the process by which we get to such an integrated perspective is by positing functional specializations that turn out to be false.<br /><br />Localization (and decomposition) as a standalone explanatory strategy can obviously be tremendously naive. But, if we regard it as a research heuristic, then its value becomes quite clear. Localization and decomposition often yield overly simplistic views of how a given system works, but even those failed hypotheses are informative.Frédéric Banvillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01671471026861346529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-85429836675811724432012-08-02T18:39:49.902-07:002012-08-02T18:39:49.902-07:00Logically inferring from P->Q and P that Q is d...Logically inferring from <strong>P->Q</strong> and <strong>P</strong> that <strong>Q</strong> is <i>doing</i> (computation); but understanding that it is true is <i>feeling</i> -- just as Searle's understanding of English and non-understanding of Chinese are both feeling, not just doing (saying).Instructorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08246824164400922565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-49210378320847682302012-07-31T23:53:25.197-07:002012-07-31T23:53:25.197-07:00I came across an interesting article that explores...I came across an interesting article that explores the link between abnormally high emotional load (nightmares) and cognitive performance (as assessed though neuropsychological tasks). In support of Dr. Pessoa's theories, those with nightmares performed more poorly on cognitive tests. The findings could not entirely be explained through concomitant sleep deprivation or waking anxiety. Moreover, nightmares were associated with abnormal prefrontal and fronto-limbic activity during REM sleep.<br /><br />Simor 2012. Impaired executive functions in subjects with frequent nightmares as reflected by performance in different neuropsychological tasks. Brain and Cognition.<br /><br />I thought Dr. Pessoa might be interested since this slightly different approach to similar questions yielded corroborating evidence!Nico Sheppard-Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06708998539468230469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-37229690132226166812012-07-31T17:47:24.010-07:002012-07-31T17:47:24.010-07:00Through the conference I've been wondering if ...Through the conference I've been wondering if our trouble with researching consciousness isn't something basic to the way we study things: we analyze, separate, distinguish, analyze. <br />If consciousness is supposed to be an integrative process, we may run into trouble simply by the way we study things.<br /><br />Pessoa's perspective in seeing emotion and cognition as inseparable, takes a step towards this integrative perspective that may help us elucidate the processes of consciousness. <br />Perhaps other processes are interlinked similarly and using this approach will allow us to make several steps further in our understanding of the brain.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16849170399668500419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-1872317856819570682012-07-31T17:14:27.520-07:002012-07-31T17:14:27.520-07:00I really enjoyed Dr Pessoa's view of the way w...I really enjoyed Dr Pessoa's view of the way we should understand the brain. During my undergrad degree in psychology, I always have been skeptical towards neuroscience, since I always found it to be a new version of phrenology. Yet, I find myself in this field because of researchers like him, who encourage us to think outside the box and to challenge the generally accepted visions.Laurencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03381937899666817761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-6363623862559399522012-07-31T11:56:54.577-07:002012-07-31T11:56:54.577-07:00Xavier Dery @XavierDery
Pessoa found that monito...Xavier Dery @XavierDery<br /><br />Pessoa found that monitoring paired brain structures helps to predict behavior more accurately than checking single regions. Nice! #TuringC<br /><br />12:36 PM - 7 Jul 12 via Twicca Twitter appXavier Déryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06524854063079690566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-72603438387370374672012-07-25T06:29:05.757-07:002012-07-25T06:29:05.757-07:00At the end of his talk, Dr. Pessoa claims that it ...At the end of his talk, Dr. Pessoa claims that it is not possible to identify certain areas of the brain as pertaining to solely to emotions or as pertaining solely to perception/cognition. The empirical evidence he gives for this view is very persuasive, but he sometimes seem to defend a stronger view, namely that there are no psychological mechanisms that are purely emotional or purely cognitive. (That is how I interpret his claim that emotions and perception/cognition are highly integrated and not decomposable.) On the stronger view, logical reasoning, for instance, would have both an emotional and a cognitive component and it would be impossible even in principle to take these two components apart. I wonder if this is plausible. Is there any empirical evidence supporting the stronger view? Or I have misunderstood Pessoa?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747519028502353388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-73501121947772733432012-07-09T06:06:04.148-07:002012-07-09T06:06:04.148-07:00I have problems that residual vision goes via the ...I have problems that residual vision goes via the pathway that you are indicating; see a summary in a blog that I have not updated much lately: http://cognitionemotion.wordpress.com/<br /><br />But there are lots of other pathways that could support those abilities.Luiz Pessoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13556206238893136782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-22172288931385372822012-07-08T19:44:11.077-07:002012-07-08T19:44:11.077-07:00Great talk, and your ideas on global consciousness...Great talk, and your ideas on global consciousness networks were, I think, some of the most compelling we've heard at the conference so far!<br />There was some discussion on the relevance of the more primitive retina--> superior colliculus --amygdala path - Maybe I missed this point, if it was addressed, but is it possible for blind patients to undergo unconscious visual fear conditioning via blindsight mechanisms?<br />If so, Dr. Pessoa and Dr. Lau could come up with some excellent collaborative workATuffordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00412746101592413773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-24255715633807357172012-07-08T19:41:53.308-07:002012-07-08T19:41:53.308-07:00Indeed my question was not focused on reward. Howe...Indeed my question was not focused on reward. However, thank you for the reference. This is very interesting.<br /><br />Audrey DoualotADPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10509534981609338477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-22763499665840705412012-07-08T13:24:34.899-07:002012-07-08T13:24:34.899-07:00sorry, I have no idea about this one!sorry, I have no idea about this one!Luiz Pessoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13556206238893136782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-71458332863971576322012-07-08T10:34:43.204-07:002012-07-08T10:34:43.204-07:00Pessoa proposes that emotion and perception are hi...Pessoa proposes that emotion and perception are highly-integrated and non-dissociable. I'm interested to see how this perspective translates into other cognitive functions are are difficult to separate from consciousness, like language or decision-making.Martha Shiellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15327296650316006983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-33097335760864825032012-07-08T07:48:31.150-07:002012-07-08T07:48:31.150-07:00Thanks! It is really great to read this encouragin...Thanks! It is really great to read this encouraging comments on learning new skills at any point of live!Ana Pesquitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08630232445538455180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-24690165670471214652012-07-08T06:00:31.622-07:002012-07-08T06:00:31.622-07:00yes, we will be starting that soon. I have a coupl...yes, we will be starting that soon. I have a couple of EEG/MEG studies but they don't address the integration part which is something that I want to focus on.<br /><br />Here are the links:<br />http://lce.umd.edu/publications_files/Hsu_CABN_2008.pdf<br /><br />This one is not online for some reason (I can send you if you'd like):<br />Japee S, Crocker L, Carver F, Pessoa L, Ungerleider LG. Individual differences in valence modulation of face-selective M170 response. Emotion 2009 Feb;9(1):59-69.Luiz Pessoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13556206238893136782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-3320310525912125162012-07-08T05:55:43.179-07:002012-07-08T05:55:43.179-07:00I haven't read it yet, but should do that soon...I haven't read it yet, but should do that soon!Luiz Pessoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13556206238893136782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-28254714603337857492012-07-08T05:53:51.506-07:002012-07-08T05:53:51.506-07:00You can find my papers at emotioncognition.org. Se...You can find my papers at emotioncognition.org. Several are conceptual papers that summarize many of the issues. One possible entry point is the one with Ralph Adolphs in Nat Rev Neurosci. You can just skip or skim the more anatomical parts, but the argument is made there in a pretty complete fashion. <br /><br />I had a blog that I need to start updating again that makes the points in summarized fashion:<br />http://cognitionemotion.wordpress.com/<br /><br />Another paper is on the amygdala itself, which does a lot more than just "fear":<br />http://lce.umd.edu/publications_files/Pessoa_Neuropsychologia_2010.pdfLuiz Pessoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13556206238893136782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-86211320763995223262012-07-07T22:45:43.032-07:002012-07-07T22:45:43.032-07:00Dr. Pessoa, do you have any plans to do MEG or EEG...Dr. Pessoa, do you have any plans to do MEG or EEG concurrently with your fMRI studies? It will be interesting to know how functional connectivity measured using these methods with greater temporal resolutions match up with your results from fMRI? (I know your fMRI analysis is already a lot and quite informative but just curious what is in the works for your lab!).Carey Huhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15488816230321828569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-16226880679775589182012-07-07T20:08:49.860-07:002012-07-07T20:08:49.860-07:00Luiz, what do you think of Damasio's integrati...Luiz, what do you think of Damasio's integration of emotions in his last book "Self comes to Mind"?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16207920104245170860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-36057434624134350202012-07-07T19:33:16.081-07:002012-07-07T19:33:16.081-07:00Thank you! I clearly had misunderstood! I will mak...Thank you! I clearly had misunderstood! I will make further reading on this subject, it is very interesting since for now I had learn that we had a "reflex-style" reaction to an aversive stimulus and then modulate our reaction with the context (like "oh my a snake! Oh it's in a cage"). Thank you again for your answer!Marjorie Morinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18128987553493264083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-30314426593346042142012-07-07T19:13:30.479-07:002012-07-07T19:13:30.479-07:00I agree that emotion is quite central to conscious...I agree that emotion is quite central to consciousness and that it is relatively neglected!Luiz Pessoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13556206238893136782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-10371426010698406942012-07-07T19:12:17.607-07:002012-07-07T19:12:17.607-07:00Hi Marjorie,
you say: "When perceiving an av...Hi Marjorie,<br /><br />you say: "When perceiving an aversive stimulus our body is already preparing to react even wiithout being truly conscious of what we are dealing with so the valence is present."<br /><br />That's exactly what my research is challenging. I don't see that in my experiments. When I say that attention is required for the expression I mean that attention is required for the valence effect (fearful > neutral) to be observed. Otherwise, there was *no* difference between the conditions. This is what my research and many other follow up studies show.Luiz Pessoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13556206238893136782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-16051758895987752422012-07-07T19:09:40.126-07:002012-07-07T19:09:40.126-07:00Hi Audrey,
I'm not aware of anything that loo...Hi Audrey,<br /><br />I'm not aware of anything that looks into that the way you ask. People (and my lab) have looked at connectivity with reward, but that's a little bit different and not what you are thinking about, right?<br /><br />In any case, check this paper if you are interested:<br />http://lce.umd.edu/publications_files/Network%20Analysis%20Reveals%20Increased%20Integration%20during%20Emotional%20and%20Motivational%20Processing.pdfLuiz Pessoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13556206238893136782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-37139429284733626482012-07-07T18:34:35.573-07:002012-07-07T18:34:35.573-07:00Emotions have been quite neglected so far in the d...Emotions have been quite neglected so far in the different talks. However, as Luiz Pessoa showed, it seems to be quite central with the notion of feelings and consciousness. What is it to feel if not telling us that something "feels" good and has to be done again or that something "feels" bad and don't have to be done again. And what about memory? also neglected so far. If no record of the feeling of the outcome is done, how consciousness can even exist?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16207920104245170860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2234592903154254594.post-76377826547859102592012-07-07T16:21:44.835-07:002012-07-07T16:21:44.835-07:00I'm a bit confuse about what Dr. Pessoa said: ...I'm a bit confuse about what Dr. Pessoa said: "attention is required for the expression of valence". I'm not sure what he means by that. When perceiving an aversive stimulus our body is already preparing to react even wiithout being truly conscious of what we are dealing with so the valence is present. Maybe I misunderstood something? (sorry I had published this comment on Dr. Lau's abstract page by mistake)Marjorie Morinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18128987553493264083noreply@blogger.com