Narco Analysis, Compusense and BPS certification

1.Narco Analysis
In criminal psychology, these exists one area which uses so-called truth drug to elicit true answer from criminals. And administration of such drugs are called narco analysis( narco analysis method of interrogation, in chinese it's called"
麻醉分析讯问法"）
. For more info, go to wikipedia.

2.Compusense sense labratory solution
According to one job description at 51job, Compusense is a commercial software needed while establishing labratories of taste. In google scholar, I've found no psychological researcher with compusense specialty. Interesting.

3.BPS certification
British Psychological Society may be as large as the renowned American Psychological Association. It has a variety of certifications of psychological assessments(level A, level B).Among psychological best practices, SHL specialises psychological assessment. In fact, SHL is a UK-based company. So this fact tells me that if you want to join SHL, you must first get certification from BPS. It's the same to engineering psychology and user centered design. Human Factors International(HFI) is a best practice in this field and it business is mainly focused on certification and training.

Google's Adsense and Psycholinguistics

Adsense is one of google's profitable tools. Its tech is based on Applied Semantics acquired（Chinese：收购） by Google in 2003. Applied Semantics uses a tech called CIRCA(patented information maybe seen at here and here). In its tech's introduction, it tells it's based on Cognitive Psychologist George Miller's Wordnet. This person may be called the founder or key role in modern cognitive perspective to human psy. His main contribution is in language and semantics(psycholinguistics, which uses cognitive perspective to study language).
Today, Wordnet has been used widely in Natural Language Processing(NLP). Other important resources for NLP(English) maybe British National Corpus. As for Chinese, it's Penn Treebank Project. Tks for Alex00zee at douban for directions.


This phenomenon is very surprising cauz google's horizon on science from several cutting edge and well flourished scientific disciplines. Why not to study the spread of science and decide your next M&A(merge and acquisition, in fact large companies often buys tech advanced small companies to keep their competence)?

Next phase, I will cover human 2.0 and one of google's geek ambition: technology singularity, transhumanism.

Indeed, with NBIC convergence and neuroengineering(neuroinformatics), I feel I've become a transhumanist. Maybe one day I'll join transhumanism.org.

Robot solves puzzles with Nokia N95 camera

乐高机器人（乐高这个著名的模型制造商有可能是高端机械发烧友的主要供应商）、机器视觉（N95手机）、问题解决（人工智能）、还有一个莫名的ARM架构。

Robot solves puzzles with Nokia N95 camera.

Seems very interesting.



http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTQ5NzQxODAw.html

BCI X prize

X prize foundation is a non-profit organization which promote technology innovation including commercial space flight capsule.

Now it has established a Brain Computer Interface X prize to promote BCI and maybe larger distributive human machine interface.

More could be seen below.

http://singularityhub.com/2010/01/21/igniting-a-brain-computer-interface-revolution-bci-x-prize/

&

Igniting a Brain-Computer Interface Revolution – BCI X PRIZE

Cold spring harbour asia conference center

Suzhou

Cold Spring Harbor Asia conferences will be held at Suzhou Dushu Lake Conference Center in Suzhou, China, sixty miles west of Shanghai and in easy reach of international and domestic airports. Suzhou is an ancient city known as the Venice of China, famous for its canals and private gardens and home to scholars for more than two millenia. Symposia, conferences and summer schools follow the Cold Spring Harbor tradition in showcasing merit-based scientific advances in an informal but intense atmosphere.

To encourage participation by significant international participation from throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas, the language of all programs will be English.

-----------------

And this place intends to cooperate with Shanghai neuroscience insitute, Chinese academy of sciences according to MumingPU at here（Chinese）

What's Neurotech?

I created this blog about 1 year ago, and today it's almost one year(01/31/09-01/23/10, GMT+8). Cauz this anniversary, I've recently read about IC(Intelligence Community)'s report on neurotech from emerging cognitive neuroscience(uploaded in Google group) and will tell readers briefly what neurotech will cover according to it.

The report offered a complete framework on cognitive neuroscience fields including:

-Detection of deception tech with the help of neuroimaging

-Neuroimaging systems with real time brain activity measurement and implications for coaching and mind control esp. for military purpose

-Neuropsychopharmacology and nanobiomedicine tech to develop enhancers like cognitive, affective and sensory

-Computational biological models and artificial intelligence which work hard to replicate "mind" outside human body

-Distributed human machine system
-Brain computer interface
-Cyborg which means part of human body (usually motor system) is replaced by machine
-Cognitive Cyborg which means part of human advanced brain function is replaced
-Intelligent robot assistant

And within those tech, drug enhancers and distributed human machine system are predicted to be closest to reality and maybe societal change.

Neuroengineering institute in China

Neuroengineering is the subfield of biomedical engineering. It seems more related to NBIC and Psychology.

Here is the list without institute ranking information:

1.Tianjin Neural Engineering Research Center, TNERC
2.Institute of Neural Engineering, TsingHua University
3.Research Center of Neural Engineering, Shenzheng Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
4.Wuhan Insitute of Neuroscience & Neuroengineering, South Central University of Nationalities
5.Research Center of Neuroscience & Neuroengineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University Med-X Institute

==========

East China Normal University also has an institute named nbic.ecnu.edu.cn(only a mail server, but offers a lot).

“纳米机器人面面观”与“机器视觉”

howstaffworks.com is a world leading DIY website. It can be frequently seen in douban as website recommendations.

Its chinese version (science.bowenwang.com.cn) offers a lot about advanced techs. Recently I saw two of them related to Brain Science.

One talks about nano machine by Jonathan Strickland. As in everyday experience, robots have some human like functions such as manufacturing, moving. So it has already been used at least in auto manufacture industry. Nano robot uses nano tech to produce robot that can reproduce itself using resources from the enviroment, like virus, and can move or repair some microstructures in human body, like cell. Most importantly, it can also be navigated/controlled using tracking tech like MRI outside human body.

However, what kind of material this little robot is made of is still unknown as I know. Possibly it is made by nano silicon tech or synthetic biology tech. Both have the chance to revolutionize what we call human. If you have played game Metal Gear Solid(TM) 4, you will see nano robots' function. In it, soldiers are controlled by it and become emotional modifiable, cognitive enchanced, and psychotelepathy among a group of soldiers because of communication ablity between nano robots.

Another article talks about computer vision. Here I will not cover the details because I don't know much about it. This tech may be useful in neuroscience/psychology simulation. Computerized human sense is the next frontier in computational neuroscience. Today's neurosciences related to cognitive function, and those done by neuroscientists, mostly cover topics like vision, memory. In engineering, those field will soon become computer X like topics.

Human v2.0和盲人用导航帽

就像web2.0如火如荼一样，human2.0也是如此。人工耳蜗在上个世纪得到成功后，现代利用电子技术开发出来的机械假肢、机械手、机械眼球甚至大脑等成果使得一些科学家声称，human2.0到来了。

什么是human2.0呢？网上查了下没有明确的定义，但BBC有个报道说是2029年人工智能可以代替人类了。结合上面的技术，我觉得可能是这样的：人类由于装上了很多原本属于机器的部件（例如机械手臂、机械脚），人类已经不完全是单纯的生物体。而机器装上了很多原本属于人类的生物器官（为什么机器人就不能用人类的眼球来看东西呢），他们也不再是单纯的机械体。这也就意味着：人类和机器人的界限变得模糊不清。

给人类安装机械部件最重要的学科是生物医学工程，和神经科学心理学相关的话，脑机接口、植入性神经芯片都属于这些技术。对于机器安装生物部件最重要的学科是合成生物学。细节不清楚，不过前提是这些器官能在体外合成吧，合成生物学就能做到这一点。

之后会不会出现animal2.0、plant2.0呢，因为MIT techonology review09年将昆虫机器人列为重要的技术进展哦：）拭目以待。

参考来源：livescience

附：关注google的我了解到google似乎对technology singularity非常热衷，这个概念所指的含义和Human v2.0差不多ms。
------------------

盲人导航帽不算什么特别的新玩意儿。就是给盲人安装一个帽子，可以将各种视觉上的障碍转换成声音的导航地图放给盲人听。有导航犬的话这是不是多此一举呢？时间会告诉我们一切吧。

此仪器由英国Bristol大学开发而成，尚处于实验室测试阶段。

source: popular science

A Robot That's Learning to Smile

via MIT technology review editor's blog

The UCSD robot watches itself to learn how to pull new facial expressions.

By Kristina Grifantini

Courtesy of UCSD

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), who demoed a realistic-looking robot Einstein at the TED Conference last February, have now gone a step farther, infusing the robot with the ability to improve its own expressions through learning.

Previously, the head of the robot--designed by Hanson Robotics--could only respond to the people around it using a variety of preprogrammed expressions. With 31 motors and a realistic skinlike material called Frubber, the head delighted and surprised TED conference goers last winter.

Inspired by how babies babble to learn words and expressions, the UCSD researchers have now given the Einstein-bot its own learning ability. Instead of being preprogrammed to make certain facial expressions, the UCSD robot experiments in front of a mirror, gradually learning how its motors control its facial expressions. In this way, it learns to re-create particular expressions. The group presented its paper last month at the 2009 IEEE Conference on Development and Learning.

According to a press release from the university,

Once the robot learned the relationship between facial expressions and the muscle movements required to make them, the robot learned to make facial expressions it had never encountered.

Such an expressive robot could be useful as an assistant or teacher, or just as a means of learning more about how humans develop expressions. But a robot that watches itself in a mirror, practicing and improving how it looks, seems like another step into uncanny valley.

日本科学家正在研制机械-昆虫混合体

"警察放出一群蛾子去查找远处隐藏的毒品，蜜蜂在地震的废墟里寻找幸存者，这些象是科幻小说的情节正是一群日本科学家的努力方向。他们希望能理解昆虫的大脑并为其编程，让昆虫执行人类要求的特别任务。

东京大学教授RyoheiKanzaki研究虫 脑30年，现在是昆虫-机械混合体领域的先锋人物。他的终极目标是理解人脑并重建因伤病而损害的连接，为此先仔细研究了神经元较少的虫脑。经过百万年的进 化，虫脑可控制复杂的动作，比如在飞行中捕食一只甲虫。RyoheiKanzaki希望能人工重现虫脑。他说，如果能用电路重现虫脑，那么就可以通过调节 大脑回路去控制一只真脑。
雄蚕蛾可以根据气味或体外激素追踪雌性蚕蛾一公里，Kanzaki小组已经成功地“重写”了一些蚕蛾的脑回路，用修改基因的方法让它们对光反应而不是气味，或者对其它蛾类的气味产生反应。在另一项实验中，一只雄蚕蛾被绑在类似玩具电动汽车的装置上，研究人员用雌性体味诱导它向左或右拐弯。他们发现，蛾子可以控制汽车，并可以很快适应汽车控制方式的变化。Kanzaki说昆虫或许有象人那样驾驶汽车的潜能。
建造一只比真的蠕虫爬得慢的虫子是没有意义的，他希望造出比昆虫活体强大得多的虫-机混合体。"

来源：solidot


按：脑机接口的技术看来有两类：一类是人的脑机接口（主要通过ERP、NIRS等技术）。这种技术通常都只能用在残障人士、玩游戏、意念控制家电上。还有一类是动物脑机接口，似乎这类比上一类更有应用前景，因为昆虫、老鼠等可以到达人类到达不了的区域。MIT技术评论曾把这类技术评为2009年十大技术（insect-machine hybrids）。

当然上面都是通过机器控制脑去间接控制生物体，看上去没有多少技术的想象力。还有一类会发生伦理问题，就是通过生物大脑去控制机器，或者把人脑的某个组织替换成机器。为什么这两个没有多少媒体报道呢？看起来这与国防有关系，相对机密。毕竟DARPA的人很聪明，为什么要把这两个违反伦理（可能也违反法律）的技术公之于众呢。但无论如何，这都会使得一个国家的军队力量提升。

A Robot That Reads Your Mind?

source

Date:6/12/2009

Researchers program automatons to anticipate human needs

FRIDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- European researchers say they have developed a robot that anticipates a human's needs.

The robots, built by members of the European Commission's Joint-Action Science and Technology project, were programmed to help a person put together a complicated toy. Because the robot knows the toy-building process, it observes the person's actions, such as what part the person is holding, and deduces what it can do to help, such as locating the proper tool needed for assembly.

"The robots observe behavior, map it against the task and quickly learn to anticipate [partner actions] or spot errors when the partner does not follow the correct or expected procedure," one of the researchers, Wolfram Erlhagen of the University of Minho in Portugal, said in a news release from the commission.

This development could lead to robots that act more like human companions -- making decisions by anticipating or questioning actions rather than just mimicking or repeating pre-programmed instructions.

The scientists relied on previous research that found people have "mirror neurons" in the brain that try to understand an activity when observing someone doing it. During this process, the brain actually records what another person is doing so it can repeat it or find a complementary action.

"Our tests were to see whether the human and robot could coordinate their work," Erlhagen said. "Would the robot know what to do next without being told?"

The scientists programmed the robots to deal with possible mistakes by asking their human partners to clarify their intentions if their actions might have multiple conclusions. For example, if a particular toy piece could be used in several ways, the robot would ask what the partner planned to construct.

"Our robot has a neural architecture that mimics the resonance processing that our human studies showed take place during joint actions," Erlhagen said. "The link between the human psychology, experimentation and the robotics is very close."

More information

The JAST project has more about its robotics projects.

SOURCE: European Commission, news release, June 5, 2009
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美《大众科学》评出2009年度发明

来源

04“喉语”翻译器

名称：Audeo

研发成本：33万美元

耗时：5年

迈克尔·卡拉汉17岁时，不小心把头磕在滑板上，丧失了短时记忆。“神经通路全出毛病 了，”他说。几周后他恢复正常，但事故令他陷入深思：如何帮助那些永久失去了部分日常行为能力的人？五年后，他拿出了Audeo，这个小小的装置可以探测 并捕捉到大脑和声带之间交换的电子信号，并把它转换成人们听得懂的语言。

我们说话时涉及到三个最基本的步骤：肺部输送空气，声带震动，张嘴说话。Audeo意在帮助那些因为运动神经元疾病、创伤性脑损伤或其他问题出现言语障碍的人，他们大脑和声带完好，但肺部和嘴巴无法动作。

Audeo是这样工作的：三个药片大小的电极贴在喉部，捕捉大脑和声带之间发出的信号。 电极内一个处理器可以过滤或者放大这些信号，然后将它们传输至附带的电脑上，电脑软件将这些信号解码，转换成单词，通过扬声器读出来。使用者通过声带运动 静静“说话”，以足够的神经活动触发这一系列过程。

早在伊利诺斯大学读书时，卡拉汉就开始研制Audeo。他努力学习信号处理和神经学知识，整整花了四年功夫，才确定以何种方式过滤来自环境和身体中的不必要电噪(比如心跳)，并只捕捉语言合成所需要的信号。

美国宇航局的艾姆斯研究中心也在研发类似装置，以控制漫游器，帮助宇航员在相距甚远或很嘈杂的情况下交流。然而，他们使用的是模式识别技术，只能辨出程序预设的词语。Audeo却允许使用所有英语音素，用户想说什么就说什么，没有限制。

当然，这种技术仍有改进空间。现在使用Audeo每分钟最多只能说30个单词，大概是正 常说话速度的五分之一。而且，要学会用音素“说话”还需要数日练习。但熟练掌握之后，Audeo可以达到非常优雅的效果，戴上它后，用户可以自如地打电 话。卡拉汉成立的Am-bient公司正在开发一种手机界面，希望能让Audeo完全摆脱电脑，并降低售价，“我们希望它能像蓝牙耳机一样价廉物美。”

05“第六感”界面

名称：SixthSense

研发成本：350美元

耗时：8个月

戴上由迷你投影机、摄像头和笔记本电脑组合而成的“第六感”(SixthSense)， 普拉纳夫·米斯特仅做一个手势，就能拍摄照片；他将手机键盘投影到掌心，点着这些虚拟号码，就能拨出电话；他指指一本书，SixthSense就会到在线 书店上把它的评论和报价表调出来，投影到书的封面上。看着麻省理工研究生米斯特展示这套设备，就像在欣赏魔术表演。但他和顾问、麻省理工媒体实验室的数字 交互专家帕蒂·梅恩斯希望SixthSense能召唤来更多奇迹，让人们以无缝方式操作智能数字设备，提供科幻作品中想像的交互体验。

去年10月，与人讨论科幻电影《交互报告》时，梅恩斯有了创造交互界面的想法。她喜欢电影中用手势控制数字内容的点子，但希望设备更便宜，能为大众接受，并随时随地都能投射内容，实现交互。昵称“僵尸”的米斯特听完她的构想，三周之内就做出了样品。

尽管这套设备后来改进很大，但基本思路没变：一个便携式投影机和摄像头吊在米斯特胸前， 两者都与他背着的手提电脑相连，他的拇指和食指上缠着四种不同颜色的记号或胶带。当系统接通，摄像头就开始捕捉影像，传送回电脑，后者的视觉运算模块随即 开始工作。这套模块是设计精髓，它会过滤背景影像，识别哪种颜色的记号往哪个方向移动，即时跟踪各种手势，最终启动各种功能。比如米斯特想知道时间，就用 食指在腕部画个圈，电脑接收到这个手势后，就会指令投影仪把一块表的影像投射到他的手腕上。

今年夏天，米斯特将与韩国三星公司工程师合作，将整个系统缩小，装到该公司生产的一款内置投影仪的智能手机上。随着产品的改进，最后连手指上的记号和胶带也可以不要，设备只需追踪手指活动，你走到哪里都可以进行交互体验。

VR Game cogntive finess?

虚拟现实技术在心理学里正越来越多地被使用。我还清楚记得自己第一次接触学校刚买来的VR机器时的兴奋，呵呵，新技术总是能给某些人带来愉悦感，不是么？

2002年Psychological Inquiry上，有出过专刊讨论VR技术在社会心理学实验中的应用。相比传统实验心理学呆板的刺激来说，VR技术增加了研究刺激的生态效度。在记忆心理学中，我也有看到过文献用它研究前瞻记忆。它的另一个好处是因变量多了，可以测手部动作。我差点被它测量手部的6个坐标给弄昏了。。。好像也有听说德国马普研究所利用它结合fMRI+ERP来做实验，好牛啊，还有好有钱啊。

VR很贵，这个仪器仅仅用来做实验未免太浪费了。于是我们是不是可以设计出一些虚拟现实3D游戏（是游戏哦，不是普通的场景）来治疗疾病？哪怕仅仅是心理疾病和认知锻炼？

第5届健康游戏软件（game for health）会议马上要在波士顿召开了。有关的讨论早就开始了。Healthcare IT guy博客写了篇推广文章，我研究了下，有关VR Game cogntive finess的论点很有趣。

通过3D游戏（例如HopeLab的产品Re-Mission，主角扮演纳米机器人在人体内游走，很有趣，说不定海盗湾上有）训练，一些癌症病人似乎比控制组在某些方面（例如血压）有所好转。

至于说通过类似的东西来增加cognitive fitness（这是对心理学重要的领域），他并没有说太多，但是言辞之间也透露出这个领域正在发展中。

VR的应用相信会进一步地发展，并不只包括现在心理学研究的简单场景，而是一个类似于魔兽世界/第二人生的游戏世界，在心理学的基础研究和应用领域都得到广泛应用。

不说了，去找Re-Mission了，看看能不能下了。

BTW
1. 纳米机器人是很神奇的技术，早就被我盯上了，可惜现在的新闻稿里也没类似的新技术了，可能过段时间就早先的稿子来写点东西吧，主要是targeted drug delivery。

2.严肃游戏组织或许有更多这方面的信息，网址https://www.seriousgames.org/（穿墙）

附：Re-Mission图片

图片地址

SenseCam：研究自传体记忆的利器

欢迎到Neurosociety论坛讨论相关话题。

自传体记忆（似乎另一种说法是情景记忆）是关于人们where do what的记忆，类似于过去的生活体验。它与语义记忆相对，后者是关于知识的记忆。经常提取自传体记忆中存储的内容能使得它向语义记忆转变。显然，由于人们生活的琐碎性，研究自传体记忆只是利用实验室范式会不会缺乏真实性（学术语言：生态效度）。

Science报道了利用叫做SenseCam的仪器来研究这类记忆的方法。

先简单介绍仪器，顺便说下这个仪器是微软研究院开发的，主页介绍。这个仪器由照相机、几个传感器组成。传感器包括感光(光强，light intensity）、感色（light color）、皮肤温度红外感应、温度感应、坐标运动感应（似乎用来感知被试的移动）。利用这六组传感器，对被试的一些行动（比如旁边有个人经过、从一间房间到另一间房间）进行监控，一旦出现一些变动，立即启动照相机在被试不知道的情况下（也就是说不干扰被试）拍照。这些照片就作为数据为研究者所用。

神经心理学家 Georgina Brown领导的一个研究团队追踪5个具有记忆问题的人，让他们对SenseCam记录的事情每天都记日记。经过2个星期后，让他们进行同一事件回忆。此时会让他们看一下之前的日记，还被要求通过sensecam看同一天发生的另一件事。1个月后和3个月后分别再次回忆，此时不让他们看日记，也不看sensecam。

初步结果发现，使用sensecam能比看日记更好地增强他们对相关事件的记忆。呵呵，多么有趣的结果。

Memory杂志马上就会出一期特刊刊载有关于Sensecam的论文。

最后，是这个仪器拍下的照片及一些内部构造。

上面为仪器和使用时的样子，下面为拍下的照片（从微软研究院上下载来）
内部构造（来源同上一幅图）

人工意识

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source

Discover杂志对1972诺贝尔奖获得者Gerald Edelman进行了访谈，透露了他对人类意识的研究，以及正在进行的人工意识体的项目。

仔细看完这篇报道后，个人以为老头子（:)，请允许我这样叫，哈哈）的研究没有走出联结主义认知心理学的范畴，即将人工神经网络模型纳入到心理过程的研究中。只是他的工作尽量将神经网络的细节模拟得更清楚了（例如离子的流动）。

但是，他有提到在Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency（即研究机器人军队的组织DARPA，这里还有个报道）上举行的足球赛（BTW，这项赛事似乎制度化了，名叫Segway Soccer）中，他研究所生产出的机器人完败了（一共5局5胜）卡内基米隆大学基于抽象AI（应该是基于序列加工范式下设计的）的机器人。

那什么是人工意识体呢？就他而言，就是这种机器人，学名叫Brain Based Device。能回忆过去预测未来，未来或许能掌握言语能力。来张特写照。

图片地址

学术资料地址

PNAS (2008) 105:3593-3598

Eugene M. Izhikevich and Gerald M. Edelman

The Neurosciences Institute,
10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive,
San Diego, CA, 92121.

Abstract. The understanding of the structural and dynamic complexity of mammalian brains is greatly facilitated by computer simulations. We present here a detailed large-scale thalamocortical model based on experimental measures in several mammalian species. The model spans three anatomical scales. (i) It is based on global (white-matter) thalamocortical anatomy obtained by means of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of a human brain. (ii) It includes multiple thalamic nuclei and six-layered cortical microcircuitry based on in vitro labeling and three-dimensional reconstruction of single neurons of cat visual cortex. (iii) It has 22 basic types of neurons with appropriate laminar distribution of their branching dendritic trees. The model simulates one million multicompartmental spiking neurons calibrated to reproduce known types of responses recorded in vitro in rats. It has almost half a billion synapses with appropriate receptor kinetics, short-term plasticity, and long-term dendritic spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity (dendritic STDP). The model exhibits behavioral regimes of normal brain activity that were not explicitly built-in but emerged spontaneously as the result of interactions among anatomical and dynamic processes. We describe spontaneous activity, sensitivity to changes in individual neurons, emergence of waves and rhythms, and functional connectivity on different scales.

对认知建模的努力与产生式系统

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国内的教科书大多数对联结主义模型的认知模型、ACT-R这种基于产生式的计算机模型的细节讲解不深。一半的原因可能是上一辈心理学家没有接受过编程的训练（这是情有可原的）；另一半的原因是这类模型确实比较复杂，从对心理学家忙碌的工作而言可操作性较差，一般全天忙碌的科学家很少有时间去学一些基础的知识进而去基于接受新的技术（例如编程）开发出来的理论模型与研究范式。现在这个现象继续上演着，认知神经科学需要生物医学工程的训练（比编程还要要求高了），我们该怎么办呢？我相信总有速成的办法。

产生式系统基于上一代认知心理学对程序性记忆的研究，似乎挺好用。西蒙的逻辑理论家曾成功解决过传教士-野人问题。这是值得纪念的成就。

Coggr博客回顾了这些研究，提出产生式系统的模型没有涉及到脑神经层面的事实（例如脑区的联系）。一些基于类似事实的神经模型（计算神经科学嘛，这个应该比认知更加火）产生的结果也能让科学家满意，这说明什么呢？我们需要在产生式系统模型中加入脑神经的建模假设或者变量吗？

至少那位博主认为，这个是有必要的，但这不会影响产生式系统已经做出的贡献。

附些参考文献（source：Coggr）：

References

Anderson, J. R. (1983). The architecture of cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Anderson, J. R. (2007). Using brain imaging to guide the development of a cognitive architecture. In W. D. Gray (Ed.), Integrated models of cognitive systems (pp. 49-62). New York: Oxford University Press.

Anderson, J. R., & Lebiere, C. (1998). The atomic components of thought. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Gray, W. D. (Ed.). (2007). Integrated models of cognitive systems. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hamker, F. H. (2005). The reentry hypothesis: The putative interaction of the frontal eye field, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and areas V4, IT for attention and eye movement. Cerebral Cortex, 15, 431-447.

Itti, L., & Koch, C. (2001). Computational modelling of visual attention. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2, 194-203.

Lanyon, L. J., & Denham, S. L. (2009). Modelling attention in individual cells leads to a system with realistic saccade behaviors. Cognitive Neurodynamics.

Lovett, M. C., & Anderson, J. R. (2005). Thinking as a production system Cambridge handbook of thinking and reasoning, 401-430 DOI: 10.2277/0521531012

Post, E. L. (1943). Formal reductions of the general combinatorial decision problem. American Journal of Mathematics, 65, 197-268.

实验与统计：思路整理

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对于心理（科）学来说，实验方法与统计学历来是非常重要的基础。最近20-30年心理学的这两个基础发展也是异常迅猛。现在我把我所知的的内容进展与大家进行分享，看看能引发什么讨论。

从基础方向认知神经科学来看，对于大脑脑区网络动态变化的关注可能非常重要。毕竟心理过程这个东西本质上很可能就是一些脑结构组成的网络的动态变化。从这一点出发，任何过程都必须有一个诱发源（ERP中的偶极子dipole，即source localization分析），有了这个诱发源，将会诱发一系列脑区网络动态响应，这方面的方法包括结构方程模型建模与动态网络模型（就我所知，国内唯一介绍这两种模型细节的只有唐一源编的《神经信息学》了）。

由于心理过程不能够直接观察到，需要通过各种物理化学生理信号去推测，结构方程模型的潜变量概念用在脑区建模上就像找到了东家。结构方程模型的特点是它可以做路径分析模型。通常认知神经科学中用来确定脑区与脑区之间互相联系的因果逻辑granger causation（即A变量对B变量具有预测力但相反不是）只是简单的双变量模型，而路径分析可以处理非常复杂的多变量模型。从这一点上来说，结构方程模型非常有用。

然而，结构方程模型容易忽略脑区之间的解剖基础，即结构连接性(structural connectivity)，而只关注功能连接性（functional connectivity),而且在时间性（动态）方面没有描述。个人以为，动态网络模型（dynamic network analysis）可以弥补这一点，网络概念直接可以对应脑区之间的解剖联系，并进行动态建模。当然细节我就不深究了，因为实在没有这方面的时间和精力，我也没有足够的数学基础。

如是，我每次看到我fMRI的同学拿着SPM在那里对脑成像数据做t检验，就感到不快，我们的落后已经不是一点半点了。

另外，提供一个有趣的建议，由于脑袋具有层次性，社会科学统计模型中的多层线性模型可以为具有层次性的脑袋建模提供严谨的基础，目前2层、3层的建模手段已经成熟了。

附，这里给个连接，是心心水滴论坛上看到的，看看生物工程的人是怎么处理脑成像数据的吧。

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心理测量学一直是心理学引以为傲的基础之一。更多的，它是从认知神经科学建模更抽象的方法论上为心理学提供了严谨的基础。近来比较火的模型就是项目反映理论（IRT）了，但是可能各位不知道，它的一个别名叫做潜在特质（latent aptitude)模型，即显变量为类别变量、潜变量为连续变量的统计模型。如果按照后一种方式去理解，这个模型其实就是结构方程模型在显变量的测量层次上变一变。那么，有没有其他情况。事实上，确实有。当显变量为类别变量、潜变量为类别变量时，这种模型叫做潜在类别模型（latent class)；当显变量为连续变量、潜变量为类别变量时，叫做潜在剖面模型（latent profile)。

比所有4个模型更抽象（即融合了这4个模型的大一统范式）的模型叫做混合模型（mixed model），拥有了这个模型，心理学的力量就非常强大了。

这方面相关介绍教育科学出版社已经出了一本《潜在类别模型的原理和技术》，我就是看了第一章才认识到原来这个领域已经那么牛了。

另外，对于心理学通常无法处理的语言文字，内容分析（content analysis，用统计模型去分析文本）可以作为参考，国内目前还没有这样的书，当然，如果各位感兴趣，不妨搜搜网络，内容非常多。

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对于实验方法学，心理学其实没有多少贡献，就目前看来，比较流行的趋势是减少被试量，单被试多因素设计可能会越来越流行。

神经修复学中值得注意的两个技术

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这次带来的是比较NB的生物医学工程技术。人工耳蜗（cochlear implant）是上个世纪生物医学工程的一个很重要的进步（下一步会不会出现人工海马体），但是诞生之后却花了很长时间才被广泛应用。下面的文章对两种技术表达了相同的观点。一个是仿生触觉传感（biomimetic tactile sensing），另一个是植入式神经刺激器（injectable neurostimulator）。前者用来复制人类的触觉，让机器人拥有触觉的同时或许可以治疗某些疾病。后者（是块芯片）除了可以刺激有神经损伤的肌肉，或许未来还可以直接植入鼠脑（人脑？）代替生物微电极。

News source

从 DeviceTalk 作者：sherrie

I had the pleasure of hearing industry pioneer Gerald Loeb, MD, speak last night about the future of prosthetics and robotics. He spoke at Stuart Karten Design in Marina del Rey, CA. Loeb, who is a professor of biomedical engineering at USC, is one of the original developers of the cochlear implant.

“I have no patience with technology that isn’t well designed, and I’ve seen a lot of medical technology that is badly designed,” he said. The desire of designers to solve the big problems can get in the way of, he said. Those problems—make the deaf hear, make the blind see, and make the lame walk—are all loft goals. “Making the deaf hear—we’ve done that. Making the blind see—that may or may not be feasible. Making the lame walk? That may be the wrong goal,” he said.

What is possible, he said, is working with the upper extremities using tiny injectable neurostimulators to activate weak and paralyzed muscles. “We needed to get rid of the wires,”he said. The BIONs, which Loeb invented, can create functional movement. To do this, he said, you need to coordinate a feedback system and you need signal processing. Applications include stroke patients, flexural contractures, and osteoarthritis.

Loeb also talked about some exciting advances in biomimetic tactile sensing, replicating the skin’s ability to feel in the fingers of prosthetic hands. Using an array that consists of a rigid core surrounded by a salt water, a sensor in the finger pad becomes part of the transduction process.

Like the cochlear implant, Loeb said it may take years before people really start to notice these breakthroughs, but one day I suspect that a tactile sensing prosthetic will be the norm for patients who have lost their arms.

Neurowarfare

Does the U.S. Need a Neurowarfare Strategy?

Posted by Zack Lynch

I took part in a several hour group discussion at the Decade of Mind conference back in January on neurotech and national security. Chris Forsythe of Sandia National Laboratories & James Giordano of Georgetown University & Potomac Institute for Policy Studies wrote up this nice synopsis of the discussion.

"We are approaching a time when brain science will be critical to our national security. Whether the basis for enhanced human performance or more intelligent machines, the impacts will be broad, motivating innovations in technologies, policies and practices. The prospects are similar to an earlier time ( i.e.- the 19th century) when advances in scientific understanding of the chemistry of explosives revolutionized weaponry, and the ways in which war was conducted. Brain science is poised to incur similarly far-reaching changes. There is need for a coordinated strategy as brain science becomes an increasingly important component of, and the basis for potential threats to, our national security. This strategy should provide a roadmap for translating advances, bolstered by initiatives such as the proposed Decade of the Mind and National Neurotechnology Initiative, to the national security domain. This strategy should also assure safeguards and governance, promoting U.S. leadership in establishing standards for the application of brain science to military, intelligence and other security domains. At the Fourth Decade of the Mind Conference, January 13-15, 2009, four areas were identified wherein national security will be impacted by advances in brain science.

1. Adversarial Application of Brain Science exemplified by: (a) nanoparticles engineered to affect specific brain processes, (b) “super soldiers” created through pharmaceuticals and/or brain stimulation enabling troops to think/react more quickly, exert greater concentration, etc. (c) brain imaging for interrogation/lie detection, and (d) intelligent machines replicating the mechanisms by which humans and other animals perform signal detection, information processing, etc.
2. Expanding the Limits of Human-Machine Systems Performance through technologies overcoming human perceptual and cognitive constraints limiting today’s technological solutions.
3. “Learner Specific” Education and Training - customized to the variable strengths and weaknesses of learners minimizing knowledge acquisition time and maximizing outcomes.
4. Brain Injuries and Disorders - treatments curtailing and reversing brain damage with understanding of mechanisms underlying psychological resilience suggesting techniques for assessing susceptibility, protecting against and treating stress-related pathologies.

It is reasonable to assume other nations have focused research and development on each of these areas. We assert that the U.S. should not engage in compensatory, “catch-up” research programs, as this will be costly to our national security from both an economic and pragmatic perspective. There are few fields that are as rapidly advancing as brain science. Combined with innovations in nanotechnology, genetics, microelectronics, etc., advances in brain science will only accelerate, and it is probable that major breakthroughs relevant to national security are both viable and imminently achievable. Consequently, we argue that there is need for a coordinated, strategic effort to address the ramifications of brain science in the interest of our national security."

Note: For more about the legalities of neurowarfare I recommend this paper written by Cornell Law School student Stephen White.

source: brainwaves

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评价：不管具有国防意义的可用于战争的神经技术，从这里面我们可以看到一些有用技术的总结。