Ebook: The Cognitive Brain

The Cognitive Brain provides an original account of many aspects of cognition. It explains, in terms of specified neuronal mechanisms and systems, how the human brain does its cognitive work.

Most current neurally-based models of human cognition focus on a single narrow domain, such as visual pattern recognition; The Cognitive Brain proposes a theoretical model of integrated mechanisms that can account for human cognitive competence on many basic tasks in visual-cognitive and lexical-semantic domains. Trehub's detailed and biologically plausible model of the cognitive brain covers functions such as learning, imagery, stereopsis, pattern recognition, scene assembly, analysis of spatial relations, object search, semantic processing, narrative comprehension, planning, and motivation. A diverse body of neurophysiological, psychological, and clinical findings is presented in support of the model, and a variety of computer simulation tests demonstrate its competence.

Contents: Introduction. Neuronal Properties. Learning, Imagery, Tokens, and Types: The Synaptic Matrix. Modeling the World, Locating the Self, Selective Attention: The Retinoid System. Accessory Circuits. Building a Semantic Network. Analysis and Representation of Object Relations. ,Composing Behavior: Registers for Plans and Actions. Set Point and Motive: The Formation and Resolution of Goals. Learning and Recalling Canonical Visual Patterns. Learning and Recalling Objects with Naturally Varying Shapes. Self-Directed Learning in a Complex Environment. Narrative Comprehension and Other Aspects of the Semantic Network. Illusions and Ambiguous Shapes: Epiphenomena of Brain Mechanisms. Other Experimental and Clinical Evidence. Overview and Reflections

A Bradford Book