Undergraduate Specializations: Mathematics and Psychology. - - - In addition to completing Shimer College's core expanded Western Canon, I focused my undergraduate work on understanding how to apply material and mathematical methods to the study of language, especially in the context of neuroscience. Supervisors: Daniela Barberis, Changiz Geula, and Jim Donovan
This account aims to examine the neurolinguistic approach most often taken towards modeling the b... more This account aims to examine the neurolinguistic approach most often taken towards modeling the brain-language relationship, in hopes of remedying a near century-long stagnation in broader theory. I conclude that some failures of Cartesian linguistics and Localist neurology can be solved by shifting analysis into what I coin the Anatomic-Performance Analysis Network (APAN). The APAN arises out of re-assembled modern approaches as well as several alternative viewpoints, collectively comprising Concomitant-Actor-Network Theory. This aggregate approach address the challenges posed by level-differences, feed-back, and feed-forward in analyzing correlations between performance (language) and anatomy in manners the contemporary Cartesian-Localist paradigm simply cannot.
" A wide variety of claims, both scientific and philosophical, have come from the results of what... more " A wide variety of claims, both scientific and philosophical, have come from the results of what has come to be known as “Mirror Self Recognition” tests/tasks. Examining the claims regarding MRS researchers' "object of study", it is concluded that, though a truly unique behavioural evaluation method, the conclusions drawn from MSR tests are hasty at best."
The most difficult question with respect to the study of “the self” is; “What is being studied?”.... more The most difficult question with respect to the study of “the self” is; “What is being studied?”. What the self is cannot be simply stated. Is the self an object and if it is, does it actually participate in physical or logical nature in the way that sub-atomic particles or mathematical systems do?
To investigate quantitative regional distribution and hemispheric asymmetry of TDP-43 (TAR DNA-bi... more To investigate quantitative regional distribution and hemispheric asymmetry of TDP-43 (TAR DNA-binding protein 43) inclusions, neurons, and activated microglia in primary progressive aphasia (PPA) with progranulin (GRN) mutations, and to determine concordance between distribution of pathology, clinical phenotype, and known atrophy patterns. Antibodies to phospho-TDP-43, NeuN (neuronal nuclei), and HLA-DR were used to visualize inclusions, neurons, and activated microglia in paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 4 participants with PPA: 2 of the agrammatic and 2 of the logopenic subtype. Unbiased stereological counting techniques were used for quantitation of immunoreactive profiles in language- and memory-related cortical areas bilaterally. Patterns of pathology across cortical areas and hemispheres were compared and their relationships with known patterns of atrophy investigated. Numerical densities of TDP-43 inclusions, and less so of activated microglia, were greater in language...
Throughout the history of both linguistic and the psychic concepts, there have been points o... more Throughout the history of both linguistic and the psychic concepts, there have been points of extreme proximity, and points of departure. The history of “madness”, particularly those events which brought forth language's own pathology, exposes a unique aspect of this relationship. In the
pages following, I discuss linguistic pathology, particularly aphasia, utilizing the image of madness (psychopathology) Foucault presents in Madness and Civilization as a point of comparison (Foucault, 1988).
A summary of the time I spent working under the SIM grant (Summer 2014) at the Cognitive Neurolog... more A summary of the time I spent working under the SIM grant (Summer 2014) at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine
Heidegger's theory of art is applied to the process of learning how to operate a user-demanding o... more Heidegger's theory of art is applied to the process of learning how to operate a user-demanding operating system.
This account aims to examine the neurolinguistic approach most often taken towards modeling the b... more This account aims to examine the neurolinguistic approach most often taken towards modeling the brain-language relationship, in hopes of remedying a near century-long stagnation in broader theory. I conclude that some failures of Cartesian linguistics and Localist neurology can be solved by shifting analysis into what I coin the Anatomic-Performance Analysis Network (APAN). The APAN arises out of re-assembled modern approaches as well as several alternative viewpoints, collectively comprising Concomitant-Actor-Network Theory. This aggregate approach address the challenges posed by level-differences, feed-back, and feed-forward in analyzing correlations between performance (language) and anatomy in manners the contemporary Cartesian-Localist paradigm simply cannot.
" A wide variety of claims, both scientific and philosophical, have come from the results of what... more " A wide variety of claims, both scientific and philosophical, have come from the results of what has come to be known as “Mirror Self Recognition” tests/tasks. Examining the claims regarding MRS researchers' "object of study", it is concluded that, though a truly unique behavioural evaluation method, the conclusions drawn from MSR tests are hasty at best."
The most difficult question with respect to the study of “the self” is; “What is being studied?”.... more The most difficult question with respect to the study of “the self” is; “What is being studied?”. What the self is cannot be simply stated. Is the self an object and if it is, does it actually participate in physical or logical nature in the way that sub-atomic particles or mathematical systems do?
To investigate quantitative regional distribution and hemispheric asymmetry of TDP-43 (TAR DNA-bi... more To investigate quantitative regional distribution and hemispheric asymmetry of TDP-43 (TAR DNA-binding protein 43) inclusions, neurons, and activated microglia in primary progressive aphasia (PPA) with progranulin (GRN) mutations, and to determine concordance between distribution of pathology, clinical phenotype, and known atrophy patterns. Antibodies to phospho-TDP-43, NeuN (neuronal nuclei), and HLA-DR were used to visualize inclusions, neurons, and activated microglia in paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 4 participants with PPA: 2 of the agrammatic and 2 of the logopenic subtype. Unbiased stereological counting techniques were used for quantitation of immunoreactive profiles in language- and memory-related cortical areas bilaterally. Patterns of pathology across cortical areas and hemispheres were compared and their relationships with known patterns of atrophy investigated. Numerical densities of TDP-43 inclusions, and less so of activated microglia, were greater in language...
Throughout the history of both linguistic and the psychic concepts, there have been points o... more Throughout the history of both linguistic and the psychic concepts, there have been points of extreme proximity, and points of departure. The history of “madness”, particularly those events which brought forth language's own pathology, exposes a unique aspect of this relationship. In the
pages following, I discuss linguistic pathology, particularly aphasia, utilizing the image of madness (psychopathology) Foucault presents in Madness and Civilization as a point of comparison (Foucault, 1988).
A summary of the time I spent working under the SIM grant (Summer 2014) at the Cognitive Neurolog... more A summary of the time I spent working under the SIM grant (Summer 2014) at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine
Heidegger's theory of art is applied to the process of learning how to operate a user-demanding o... more Heidegger's theory of art is applied to the process of learning how to operate a user-demanding operating system.
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Please note: This text is under revision.
pages following, I discuss linguistic pathology, particularly aphasia, utilizing the image of madness (psychopathology) Foucault presents in Madness and Civilization as a point of comparison (Foucault, 1988).
Please note: This text is under revision.
pages following, I discuss linguistic pathology, particularly aphasia, utilizing the image of madness (psychopathology) Foucault presents in Madness and Civilization as a point of comparison (Foucault, 1988).