Centrencephalic Theory, the General Learning System, and Subcortical Dementia

Thompson, Robert

doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1993.tb17249.x

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 107 publications

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“…Most cerebrocortical processing is concerned with sensory processing limited to a single modality (Kaas 1987;Thompson 1993). Within these single-modality systems there are different areas specialised for different aspects, features or components of information (Mishkin 1972;Ungerleider and Mishkin 1982).…”

Section: Cerebrum: General Structural Properties and Information Reprmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The prevailing view in contemporary brain research is that cognitive functions are mediated almost exclusively by the cerebral cortex (Thompson 1993). Recently, however, several publications have suggested that the cerebellum is involved in a range of cognitive processes (Botez et al 1989;Bracke-Tolkmitt et al 1989;Leiner et al 1989Leiner et al , 1991Levinson 1989aLevinson , 1990Decety et al 1990;Ito 1990aIto , 1993Lalonde and Botez 1990;Parkins 1990;Schmahmann 1991Schmahmann , 1992Akshoomof and Courchesne 1992;Botez 1992;Ivry and Baldo 1992;Daum et al 1993), including what has been described as 'pure mental activity' (Decety et al 1990) and 'pure cognitive activity' (Roland 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cerebellum and cerebrum in adaptive control and cognition: a review

Parkins

1997

Biological Cybernetics

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There have been various descriptions of cerebellar function in terms of adaptive control. However, a number of recent publications have indicated that the cerebellum is involved in a range of cognitive processes including pure cognitive activity. This review paper relates the concept of cerebellar adaptive control to cerebellar cognition, and explores the relative roles of the cerebrum and cerebellum by considering the issue of representation and processing of information in a systematic manner. It is suggested that the cerebellar cortex and cerebral cortex facilitate two fundamentally different types of information representation and processing which are complementary and which should be able to reciprocally evaluate and correct each other, thereby providing the basis for a self-correcting adaptive control system.

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Section: Cerebrum: General Structural Properties and Information Reprmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cerebellum and cerebrum in adaptive control and cognition: a review

Parkins

1997

Biological Cybernetics

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“…The model, never detailed precisely in anatomic terms, strongly emphasized the role of mesodiencephalic structures-specifically, the thalamic ILN and the adjacent MRF. The theory was criticized strongly, but nonscientifically, by conflating the hypothetical system with a locus (a "centrencephalon") in which such an integration underlying consciousness would be achieved (Penfield, 1958;Walshe, 1957; see also Thompson [1993]). A close reading of Penfield's (1958) writings, however, clearly indicates his concept that these mesodiencephalic structures organized a process that enabled a "synchronous central and cortical activity, activity in the brainstem and in those areas of the cortex of either hemisphere whose function is suited to the changing requirements of the moment" (p. 4) (Jasper, 1991).…”

Section: N D Schiff and F Plummentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Arousal and “Gating” Systems in the Neurology of Impaired Consciousness

Schiff

Plum

2000

Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology

164

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Summary:A brief taxonomy of neurologic disorders resulting in global impairments of consciousness is presented. Particular emphasis is placed on focal injuries of subcortical structures that may produce disorders that are otherwise associated to large bilateral cortical injuries. A distinction between subcortical arousal and "gating" systems is developed. Both clinical and experimental studies are reviewed in the context of these disorders and their possible underlying mechanisms. Key Words: Awareness-Persistent vegetative state-Intralaminar thalamic nuclei-Akinetic mutism-Reticular formation.Understanding the disorders of human consciousness provides an empirical first step toward understanding mechanisms underlying human awareness. The neurologist's view of consciousness is derived from reliable observations of brain structure and function that lead to implicit hypotheses. These hypotheses represent implied models that may be examined in light of many recent advances in clinical and experimental neuroscience. Impaired consciousness of a variety of kinds may result from focal brain injuries that induce widespread functional changes. Differences in the clinical features of these human disabilities illustrate the interdependent relationships of brain mechanisms underlying arousal, gating, and expression of several specific neuropsychologic traits. In many cases, brain damage is too severe to permit meaningful recovery, as exemplified by the vegetative state. In others, transient or permanent behavioral abnormalities precipitated by focal lesions may reveal the contribution of specific brain systems to the overall conscious state. Global disorders of consciousness include stupor and coma, vegetative states, akinetic mutism, absence and partial complex seizures, hyperkinetic mutism, and others. These disturbances can be acute, and relatively brief, or may persist as protracted states. The authors explore the neurology of impaired consciousness, developing a brief taxonomy of global disorders of consciousness, and placing these neurologic diseases in the context of the underlying anatomy and physiology of arousal and "gating" systems. Definition of consciousness: A definition closely following that of James (1890) is offered for the psychological dimension of consciousness:At its least, normal human consciousness consists of a serially time-ordered, organized, restricted and reflective awareness of self and the environment. Moreover, it is an experience of graded complexity and quantity.

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“…The evidence for a "general learning system" (which includes the superior colliculus: Thompson 1993), mentioned in the introduction to section 3, would seem to bear on this proposal, as well. In fact, the severe capacity limitations of so called working memory (Baddeley 1992;Cowan 2001;Mandler 1975) are likely to derive in large part from the mesodiencephalic bottleneck which all attended (i.e., conscious) information must access according to the present proposal, just at the point where the parallel distributed data format of the forebrain requires conversion to a serial, limited capacity format to serve behavior.…”

Section: Including the Forebrainmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…With some notable exceptions (e.g., Bogen 1995;Brown 1989;Panksepp 1982;Parvizi & Damasio 2001;Scheibel & Scheibel 1977;Sewards & Sewards 2000;Thompson 1993;Watt 2000), brainstem mechanisms have not figured prominently in the upsurge of interest in the nature and organization of consciousness that was ushered in with cognitivism in psychology and neuroscience (Baars 1988;Mandler 1975;Miller 1986). Few cognitivists or neuroscientists would today object to the assertion that "cortex is the organ of consciousness."…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consciousness, cortical function, and pain perception in nonverbal humans

Anand

2007

Behav Brain Sci

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A broad range of evidence regarding the functional organization of the vertebrate brain -spanning from comparative neurology to experimental psychology and neurophysiology to clinical data -is reviewed for its bearing on conceptions of the neural organization of consciousness. A novel principle relating target selection, action selection, and motivation to one another, as a means to optimize integration for action in real time, is introduced. With its help, the principal macrosystems of the vertebrate brain can be seen to form a centralized functional design in which an upper brain stem system organized for conscious function performs a penultimate step in action control. This upper brain stem system retained a key role throughout the evolutionary process by which an expanding forebrain -culminating in the cerebral cortex of mammals -came to serve as a medium for the elaboration of conscious contents. This highly conserved upper brainstem system, which extends from the roof of the midbrain to the basal diencephalon, integrates the massively parallel and distributed information capacity of the cerebral hemispheres into the limited-capacity, sequential mode of operation required for coherent behavior. It maintains special connective relations with cortical territories implicated in attentional and conscious functions, but is not rendered nonfunctional in the absence of cortical input. This helps explain the purposive, goal-directed behavior exhibited by mammals after experimental decortication, as well as the evidence that children born without a cortex are conscious. Taken together these circumstances suggest that brainstem mechanisms are integral to the constitution of the conscious state, and that an adequate account of neural mechanisms of conscious function cannot be confined to the thalamocortical complex alone.Abstract: Merker suggests that the thalamocortical system is not an essential system for consciousness, but, instead, that the midbrain reticular system is responsible for consciousness. Indeed, the latter is a crucial system for consciousness, when consciousness is regarded as the waking state. However, when consciousness is regarded as phenomenal consciousness, for which experience and perception are essential elements, the thalamocortical system seems to be indispensable.

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Centrencephalic Theory, the General Learning System, and Subcortical Dementia

Cited by 13 publications

References 107 publications

Cerebellum and cerebrum in adaptive control and cognition: a review

Cerebellum and cerebrum in adaptive control and cognition: a review

The Role of Arousal and “Gating” Systems in the Neurology of Impaired Consciousness

Consciousness, cortical function, and pain perception in nonverbal humans

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