This essay summarized the human mind and how it can be mapped to the brain. It's called the MA (Memory Activation) Model. It features the mind's "parts" or cognitive ontology, and how these act (and interact) through space and time, within the brain. The model is based on a new cognitive neuroscience theoretical framework. Both the model and underlying framework enable practical insight and analysis that can improve nearly any applied neuroscience project, value that can be clearly demonstrated. 1. The mind exists. Clearly, mental states and processes exist as subjective phenomena. Every waking moment we sense and perceive, (including sight, sound, somatosensation -- pain/pleasure, temperature, hunger, fatigue...), recognize, identify, create meaning, engage in thought, think (compare & contrast, analyze, explore possibilities, evaluate...), and experience and direct emotion, motivation, imagination, belief, executive control, the self, goals, attention, prediction,...
John Harmon
Mind and Brain
The idea the subjective or experiential mind and the physical brain are closely related is well-established. In fact, the whole point of having a brain — other than to regulate the body — is to create our mental states and processes. These include sensation and perception…
Protected: The MA Model: A Second Summary
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Protected: Brain Signal Decoding and Classification
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Protected: Empowering the BCI User
A BCI user is empowered by a BCI device whenever it improves their quality of life in some way. But how else might the user be empowered? I argue there are a number of ways that center around the user’s mind. The user’s mind includes an intention or mental command within a larger context of mind (perception, thought, emotion, executive control, goals, imagination, inner speech…) and context (environment, situation, recent performance…)…
Protected: Beyond Task-Based, to Mind-Based Neuroimaging
Task-based functional neuroimaging has been a highly effective tool for advancing neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience and brain science generally. It’s generated a vast amount of valuable experimental data. And it continues to illuminate not only on how brains function in relation to tasks, but the mental states and processes which these tasks presumably elicit…
Protected: Re-thinking the Mind
The subjective mind is not taken very seriously by brain science. It often views mental states, at least their immaterial aspect (perception, thought, feeling, meaning…), as a kind of pseudo-phenomenon. Consciousness is even said to be an illusion or hallucination; or an epiphenomenon (having no affect on the physical brain).
There are actually good reasons for this. First, no one knows what the mind is. No precise, agreed upon definition of it exists (Poldrack & Yarkoni, 2016)…
BCI Brain Signal Classifiers: Part I
The ability to control an external device via thought has the potential to enhance humanity greatly. Applications nearing commercial viability include control of neuroprosthetics, computers (for spelling, research, communication…), phones, drones and VR worlds. Despite great progress however much work remains…
Brain Myth #2: Study the Physical Only to Understand the Brain
Brain knowledge is essential to its understanding. This includes the structure and function of neurons, neurochemicals, dendrites, synapses, neural networks and ensembles, large scale neural synchrony, and coordinated neural oscillation. But the physical is only half the story…
Learning a New Paradigm
Historically, new paradigms in science have been slow to gain traction. Einstein’s relativity for example was a radical new view of how the universe operates — fundamentally different from Newton’s. It was largely ignored by the physics community for decades. Why are new paradigms slow to catch on? Because a new paradigm is an entirely new system of thought…