81 research outputs found
Levels of categorization in visual recognition studied with functional MRI
No full textto conceptual categories, and our results also establish the importance of manipulating task requirements when evaluating a `neural module' hypothesis. Addresses: *Psychology, Yale University, PO Box 208205, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8205, USA. + Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, PO Box 208042, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8042, USA. # Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University, Box 1978, Providence, RI 02912, USA. Correspondence: Isabel Gauthier E-mail: [email protected] Current Biology 1997, 7: 645-651. Background The neural processes that underlie recognition of a face, rather than another object, could be special in at least two ways: they may require unique perceptual processing and/or engage a specific region of the brain [1-2]. Several behavioral studies suggest, however, that a common mechanism is used to process faces and non-face objects when experimental condition
Can smartphones and tablets improve the management of childhood illness in Tanzania? A qualitative study from a primary health care worker’s perspective
Get PDFThe impact of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy has been less than anticipated because of poor uptake. Electronic algorithms have the potential to improve quality of health care in children. However, feasibility studies about the use of electronic protocols on mobile devices over time are limited. This study investigated constraining as well as facilitating factors that influence the uptake of a new electronic Algorithm for Management of Childhood Illness (ALMANACH) among primary health workers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.; A qualitative approach was applied using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with altogether 40 primary health care workers from 6 public primary health facilities in the three municipalities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Health worker's perceptions related to factors facilitating or constraining the uptake of the electronic ALMANACH were identified.; In general, the ALMANACH was assessed positively. The majority of the respondents felt comfortable to use the devices and stated that patient's trust was not affected. Most health workers said that the ALMANACH simplified their work, reduced antibiotic prescription and gave correct classification and treatment for common causes of childhood illnesses. Few HWs reported technical challenges using the devices and complained about having had difficulties in typing. Majority of the respondents stated that the devices increased the consultation duration compared to routine practice. In addition, health system barriers such as lack of staff, lack of medicine and lack of financial motivation were identified as key reasons for the low uptake of the devices.; The ALMANACH built on electronic devices was perceived to be a powerful and useful tool. However, health system challenges influenced the uptake of the devices in the selected health facilities
Over‐Interpreting Functional Neuroimages
Get PDFCognitive neuroscientists use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure properties of a participant’s brain during a cognitive task. These imaging results are transformed into compelling pictures of brain activity using statistical models. I will argue that, for a broad class of experiments, neuroimaging experts have a tendency to over‐interpret the functional significance of their data. This over‐interpretation appears to follow from contentious theoretical assumptions about the mind‐brain connection, and from a propensity to conflate the anatomical location of a statistically‐significant correlation with knowledge of the mechanistic functioning at that location
Does visual subordinate-level categorisation engage the functionally defined fusiform face area?
No full textFunctional magnetic resonance imaging was used to compare brain activation associated with basiclevel (e.g. bird) and subordinate-level (e.g. eagle) processing for both visual and semantic judgements. We localised the putative face area for 11 subjects, who also performed visual matching judgements for pictures and aurally presented words. The middle fusiform and occipital gyri were recruited for subordinate minus basic visual judgements, reflecting additional perceptual processing. When the face area was localised individually for each subject, analyses in the middle fusiform gyri revealed that subordinatelevel processing activated the individuals face area. We propose that what is unique about the way faces engage this region is the focal spatial distribution of the activation rather than the recruitment of the face per se. Eight subjects also performed semantic judgements on aurally presented basic-and subordinate-level words. The parahippocampal gyri were more activated for subordinate-level than basic-level semantic judgements. Finally, the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus was activated for subordinatelevel judgements, both visual and semantic, as well as during passive viewing of faces
Activation of the middle fusiform 'face area' increases with expertise in recognizing novel objects
No full textLevels of categorization in visual recognition studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging
No full textAbstractBackground: Recent functional neuroimaging results implicate part of the ventral temporal lobe of the brain in face recognition, and have, together with neurophysiological findings, been used as evidence for a face-specific neural module in the brain. Experimental designs, however, have often failed to distinguish between the class of the object used as the stimulus (face or non-face) and the level of categorization at which the stimulus is recognized (the ‘basic’ level, such as ‘bird’, at which familiar objects are first recognized, or more subordinate levels – ‘sparrow’, for example – which require additional perceptual processing). We have used echo-planar functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare brain activation for the matching of non-face objects with subordinate-level and basic-level descriptors.Results: The additional visual processing required to verify the subordinate level of a picture over its basic level was associated with activation of the fusiform and inferior temporal gyri (FIT) as well as the temporal poles. These areas correspond closely to those previously implicated in the processing of facial images.Conclusions: Our results indicate that areas of the ventral visual pathway that have been associated with face recognition are sensitive to manipulations of the categorization level of non-face objects. This idea offers an alternative to the dominant view that FIT may be organized according to conceptual categories, and our results establish the importance of manipulating task requirements when evaluating a ‘neural module’ hypothesis
Contextualizing recent increases in Canadian boreal wildfire activity: decadal burn rates still within historical variability of the two past centuries
Get PDFWith approximately 15 million hectares burned, the 2023 wildfire season in Canada was exceptional. However, it remains unclear whether such recent increases in burned areas exceed the range of variability observed over past centuries. The objective of this study was to leverage available dendrochronological reconstructions of decadal burn rates to contextualize their recent increase within their historical variability over the past two centuries. We compared decadal burn rate reconstructions based on dendrochronological data (1800s–2023) for five large eastern and western Canadian boreal forest zones to those of recent decades up to 2023. The area burned in 2023 ranged from 0.76% to 32.5% among the five zones, which is unprecedented compared to the proportion recorded since 1972 for four of the five zones analyzed. In contrast, the burn rates of the decade ending in 2023 (i.e., 2014–2023) generally remained within the natural range of variability of the last two centuries. However, burn rates in two zones were close to the highest decadal burn rates observed since the 1800s and exceeded historical variability in one zone in western Canada. We discuss the historical and current trends in burn rates, their drivers and implications.The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author
A parallel interface for language and cognition: theory, method, and experimental evidence
No full textThe debate about the place of linguistic theory in cognitive science encouraged by The Linguistic Review is a good example of communication between different research communities. In this follow-up paper we (1) clarify our theoretical and methodological positions, (2) propose a theoretical model for language production similar to Jackendoff's Parallel Architecture, and (2) discuss emerging empirical evidence for this model. Our data suggest that perceptual, semantic, and syntactic information becomes available to the speaker in parallel providing competing production cues. Main architectural parameters of the proposed model are similar to Parallel Architecture, but we put a greater focus on the interface between language-specific and general cognitive domains. We view such interface as a regular mapping mechanism between the grammatical constraints imposed by the language system and the perceptual, semantic, and grammatical priming parameters available in the communicative environment
Abnormal Ventral Temporal Cortical Activity During Face Discrimination Among Individuals With Autism and Asperger Syndrome
No full texte for processing faces than the control groups, but for these analyses, the effect was now on the left side. Greater ITG activation was the pattern found in both control groups during object processing. Conclusions: Individuals with autism spectrum disorders demonstrate a pattern of brain activity during face discrimination that is consistent with featurebased strategies that are more typical of nonface object perception. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2000;57:331-340 T HE SYMPTOMS of autism spectrum disorders, such as a preference for inanimate objects and lack of interest in the human face, are evident as early as the first year of life. 1-3 Abnormalities in face-recognition skills are of particular interest, as they may provide clues about the developmental mechanisms involved in the pathobiology of autism and Asperger syndrome (AS). Recognition of individual faces is necessary for successful interpersonal rela
"Seize the state, seize the day": state capture, corruption, and influence in transition
Get PDFThe main challenge of the transition has been to redefine how the state interacts with firms, but little attention has been paid to the flip side of the relationship : how firms influence the state - especially how they exert influence on, and collude with public officials to extract advantages. Some firms in transition economies have been able to shape the rules of the game to their own advantage, at considerable social cost, creating what the authors call a"capture economy"in many countries. In the capture economy, public officials, and politicians privately sell under-provided public goods, and a range of rent-generating advantages"a la carte"to individual firms. The authors empirically investigate the dynamics of the capture economy, on the basis of new firm-level data from the 1999 Business Environment and enterprise performance survey (BEEPS), which permits the unbundling of corruption into meaningful, and measurable components. they contrast state capture (firms shaping, and affecting formulation of the rules of the game through private payments to public officials, and politicians) with influence (doing the same without recourse to payments), and with administrative corruption ("petty"forms of bribery in connection with the implementation of laws, rules, and regulations). They develop economy-wide measures for these phenomena, which are then subject to empirical measurement utilizing the BEEPS data. State capture, influence, and administrative corruption are all shown to have distinct causes, and consequences. Large incumbent firms with formal ties to the state tend to inherit influence as a legacy of the past, and tend to enjoy more secure property, and contractual rights, and higher growth rates. To compete against these influential incumbents, new entrants turn to state capture as a strategic choice - not as a substitute for innovation, but to compensate for weaknesses in the legal, and regulatory framework. When the state under-provides the public goods needed for entry and competition,"captor"firms purchase directly from the state, such private benefits as secure property rights, and removal of obstacles to improved performance - but only in a capture economy. Consistent with empirical findings in previous research on petty corruption, administrative corruption - unlike both capture and influence - is not associated with specific benefits for the firm. The focus of reform should be shifted toward channeling firms'strategies in the direction of more legitimate forms of influence, involving societal"voice", transparency reform, political accountability, and economic competition, Where state capture has distorted reform to create (or preserve) monopolistic structures, supported by powerful political interests, the challenge is particularly daunting.Roads&Highways,Corruption&Anitcorruption Law,Decentralization,Economic Theory&Research,National Governance,National Governance,Governance Indicators,Economic Theory&Research,Corruption&Anitcorruption Law,Microfinance
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