It is widely believed that neural elements interact by communicating messages. Neurons, or groups of neurons, are supposed to send packages of data with informational content to other neurons or to the body. Thus, behavior is... more
It is widely believed that neural elements interact by communicating messages. Neurons, or groups of neurons, are supposed to send packages of data with informational content to other neurons or to the body. Thus, behavior is traditionally taken to consist in the execution of commands or instructions sent by the nervous system. As a consequence, neural elements and their organization are conceived as literally embodying and transmitting representations that other elements must in some way read and conform to. In opposition to this conception, growing approaches such as enactivism and ecological psychology hold that neurons are not in the business of representing. However, by insisting that neural causation is not of a representational kind, these anti-representationalist approaches seem to be left with only one rather implausible alternative, viz. that behavior is the result of nothing but basic physical causation such as push-pull forces. In this paper it is argued that a third form of causation—termed “modulation”—exists and is at work in the coordination of animal behavior. Modulation is the quasi-direct guidance of dynamical systems through specific yet emerging trajectories. By setting the constraints that coordinate the free interaction of multi-element systems, modulation influences without forcing nor representing goal states. The basic properties of modulatory causation are analyzed and shown to be present in some fundamental aspects of neural and bodily interaction.
Abstract- In this paper, we study the global stability, periodicity character and some other properties of solutions of the rational dynamic equation on discrete time scales
This work is focused on a project that integrates the curriculum such as thermodynamic, chemical reactor engineering, linear algebra, differential equations and computer programming. The purpose is that students implement the most... more
This work is focused on a project that integrates the curriculum such as thermodynamic, chemical reactor engineering, linear algebra, differential equations and computer programming. The purpose is that students implement the most knowledge and tools to analyse the stirred tank chemical reactor as a simple dynamic system. When the students finished this practice they should have learned about analysis of dynamic system through bifurcation analysis, hysteresis phenomena, find equilibrium points, stability type, and phase portrait. Once the steps were accomplished, we concluded that the purpose was satisfactorily reached with an increment in creative ability. The student showed a bigger interesting in this practice, since they worked in group. The most important fact is that the percentage of failure among students was 10%. Finally, using alternative teaching-learning process improves the Mexican system education.
In this paper, we study the global stability, periodicity character and some other properties of solutions of the rational dynamic equation on discrete time scales
Interest in a better understanding of mechanical vestibular stimulation and its effect on changing the muscle tone in individuals with Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the motivation of this study. Stimulation to the otoliths has shown a reduction... more
Interest in a better understanding of mechanical vestibular stimulation and its effect on changing the muscle tone in individuals with Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the motivation of this study. Stimulation to the otoliths has shown a reduction in the degree of spasticity in population with neuromuscular disabilities. Three children with CP were involved in this study of whom two are twins (12 year-old, female) and the third is a 14-year old, male. The pendulum knee drop (PKD) test was used to evaluate the degree of subject’s spasticity. The vestibular stimulation consisted of vertical oscillation with 3 inches of amplitude, a frequency of 2 Hz and a 15 minute duration. This form of stimulation targets the saccule organ in the vestibular system, which results in alteration of the descending signals of the vestibular system responsible for setting tone of the antigravity muscles. Electromyography (EMG) is simultaneously recorded from the quadriceps (Vastus Lateralis) and hamstring (Biceps Femoris) muscles along with the PKD test. The activation of EMG during PKD can be understood in relationship to the flexion and extension of the lower leg. It is interesting that EMG activity for quadriceps is seen at every flexion cycle in the post stimulation data, while on the other hand EMG activity is nearly continuous in the initial cycles of PKD in the pre stimulation. This may be an indication of a change in the activation pattern of EMG from the agonist and antagonist muscles as a result of the vestibular stimulation, which causes neural changes in the vestibular descending signal. In all three subjects of this study, the knee stiffness and damping parameters show a dramatic decrease post vestibular stimulation, and a smaller change is also noticed in the parameter describing virtual trajectory.
