Originally published in 1991, this title was the result of a symposium held at Harvard University. It presents some of the exciting interdisciplinary developments of the time that clarify how animals and people learn to behave adaptively in a rapidly changing environment. The contributors focus on aspects of how recognition learning, reinforcement learning, and motor learning interact to generate adaptive goal-oriented behaviours that can satisfy internal needs – an area of inquiry as important for understanding brain function as it is for designing new types of freely moving autonomous robots. Since the authors agree that a dynamic analysis of system interactions is needed to understand these challenging phenomena – and neural network models provide a natural framework for representing and analysing such interactions – all the articles either develop neural network models or provide biological constraints for guiding and testing their design.

This internationally authored volume presents major findings, concepts, and methods of behavioral neuroscience coordinated with their simulation via neural networks. A central theme is that biobehaviorally constrained simulations provide a rigorous means to explore the implications of relatively simple processes for the understanding of cognition (complex behavior). Neural networks are held to serve the same function for behavioral neuroscience as population genetics for evolutionary science. The volume is divided into six sections, each of which includes both experimental and simulation research: (1) neurodevelopment and genetic algorithms, (2) synaptic plasticity (LTP), (3) sensory/hippocampal systems, (4) motor systems, (5) plasticity in large neural systems (reinforcement learning), and (6) neural imaging and language. The volume also includes an integrated reference section and a comprehensive index.

Provides an introduction to the neural network modeling of complex cognitive and neuropsychological processes. Over the past few years, computer modeling has become more prevalent in the clinical sciences as an alternative to traditional symbol-processing models. This book provides an introduction to the neural network modeling of complex cognitive and neuropsychological processes. It is intended to make the neural network approach accessible to practicing neuropsychologists, psychologists, neurologists, and psychiatrists. It will also be a useful resource for computer scientists, mathematicians, and interdisciplinary cognitive neuroscientists. The editors (in their introduction) and contributors explain the basic concepts behind modeling and avoid the use of high-level mathematics. The book is divided into four parts. Part I provides an extensive but basic overview of neural network modeling, including its history, present, and future trends. It also includes chapters on attention, memory, and primate studies. Part II discusses neural network models of behavioral states such as alcohol dependence, learned helplessness, depression, and waking and sleeping. Part III presents neural network models of neuropsychological tests such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, the Tower of Hanoi, and the Stroop Test. Finally, part IV describes the application of neural network models to dementia: models of acetycholine and memory, verbal fluency, Parkinsons disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Contributors J. Wesson Ashford, Rajendra D. Badgaiyan, Jean P. Banquet, Yves Burnod, Nelson Butters, John Cardoso, Agnes S. Chan, Jean-Pierre Changeux, Kerry L. Coburn, Jonathan D. Cohen, Laurent Cohen, Jose L. Contreras-Vidal, Antonio R. Damasio, Hanna Damasio, Stanislas Dehaene, Martha J. Farah, Joaquin M. Fuster, Philippe Gaussier, Angelika Gissler, Dylan G. Harwood, Michael E. Hasselmo, J, Allan Hobson, Sam Leven, Daniel S. Levine, Debra L. Long, Roderick K. Mahurin, Raymond L. Ownby, Randolph W. Parks, Michael I. Posner, David P. Salmon, David Servan-Schreiber, Chantal E. Stern, Jeffrey P. Sutton, Lynette J. Tippett, Daniel Tranel, Bradley Wyble

The second published collection based on a conference sponsored by the Metroplex Institute for Neural Dynamics -- the first is Motivation, Emotion, and Goal Direction in Neural Networks (LEA, 1992) -- this book addresses the controversy between symbolicist artificial intelligence and neural network theory. A particular issue is how well neural networks -- well established for statistical pattern matching -- can perform the higher cognitive functions that are more often associated with symbolic approaches. This controversy has a long history, but recently erupted with arguments against the abilities of renewed neural network developments. More broadly than other attempts, the diverse contributions presented here not only address the theory and implementation of artificial neural networks for higher cognitive functions, but also critique the history of assumed epistemologies -- both neural networks and AI -- and include several neurobiological studies of human cognition as a real system to guide the further development of artificial ones. Organized into four major sections, this volume: * outlines the history of the AI/neural network controversy, the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches, and shows the various capabilities such as generalization and discreetness as being along a broad but common continuum; * introduces several explicit, theoretical structures demonstrating the functional equivalences of neurocomputing with the staple objects of computer science and AI, such as sets and graphs; * shows variants on these types of networks that are applied in a variety of spheres, including reasoning from a geographic database, legal decision making, story comprehension, and performing arithmetic operations; * discusses knowledge representation process in living organisms, including evidence from experimental psychology, behavioral neurobiology, and electroencephalographic responses to sensory stimuli.

This thoroughly, thoughtfully revised edition of a very successful textbook makes the principles and the details of neural network modeling accessible to cognitive scientists of all varieties as well as to others interested in these models. Research since the publication of the first edition has been systematically incorporated into a framework of proven pedagogical value. Features of the second edition include: * A new section on spatiotemporal pattern processing * Coverage of ARTMAP networks (the supervised version of adaptive resonance networks) and recurrent back-propagation networks * A vastly expanded section on models of specific brain areas, such as the cerebellum, hippocampus, basal ganglia, and visual and motor cortex * Up-to-date coverage of applications of neural networks in areas such as combinatorial optimization and knowledge representation As in the first edition, the text includes extensive introductions to neuroscience and to differential and difference equations as appendices for students without the requisite background in these areas. As graphically revealed in the flowchart in the front of the book, the text begins with simpler processes and builds up to more complex multilevel functional systems. For more information visit the author's personal Web site at www.uta.edu/psychology/faculty/levine/

Classical conditioning (CC) refers to the general paradigm for scientific studies of learning and memory, as initiated by Pavlov and his followers. Despite the current high level of interest in CC within neuroscience there is presently no single source that provides up-to-date comprehensive coverage of core topics. CC is a very large field. Nevertheless, some organisms and behaviors have dominated the neuroscience scene. Foremost of these are classical eyeblink conditioning (rats, cats, rabbits, and humans) and ear'conditioning. This handbook of CC focuses on these systems. It will be particularly appealing to the growing amount of scientists and medical specialists who employ CC methods.'

This second edition presents the enormous progress made in recent years in the many subfields related to the two great questions : how does the brain work? and, How can we build intelligent machines? This second edition greatly increases the coverage of models of fundamental neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, and neural network approaches to language. (Midwest).

"This book argues that computational models in behavioral neuroscience must be taken with caution, and advocates for the study of mathematical models of existing theories as complementary to neuro-psychological models and computational models"--

In this advanced text, the author, starting with the simple assumption that psychological associations are represented by the strength of synaptic connections, details several mechanistic descriptions of complex cognitive behaviors. Part I presents neural network theories of classical conditioning; Part II describes neural networks of operant conditioning, and animal communication; Part III discusses spatial and cognitive mapping, and finally, Part IV shows how neural network models permit one to simultaneously develop psychological theories and models of the brain. The book includes computer software that allows the computer simulation of classical conditioning and the effect of different brain lesions on many classical paradigms. All those people interested in neural networks, from psychologists, through neuroscientists to computer scientists working on artificial intelligence and robotics, will find this book an excellent advanced guide to the subject.