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Leonardis EJ, Breston L, Lucero-Moore R, Sena L, Kohli R, Schuster L, Barton-Gluzman L, Quinn LK, Wiles J, Chiba AA. Interactive neurorobotics: Behavioral and neural dynamics of agent interactions. Front Psychol 2022; 13:897603. [PMID: 36059768 PMCID: PMC9431369 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.897603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Interactive neurorobotics is a subfield which characterizes brain responses evoked during interaction with a robot, and their relationship with the behavioral responses. Gathering rich neural and behavioral data from humans or animals responding to agents can act as a scaffold for the design process of future social robots. This research seeks to study how organisms respond to artificial agents in contrast to biological or inanimate ones. This experiment uses the novel affordances of the robotic platforms to investigate complex dynamics during minimally structured interactions that would be difficult to capture with classical experimental setups. We then propose a general framework for such experiments that emphasizes naturalistic interactions combined with multimodal observations and complementary analysis pipelines that are necessary to render a holistic picture of the data for the purpose of informing robotic design principles. Finally, we demonstrate this approach with an exemplar rat-robot social interaction task which included simultaneous multi-agent tracking and neural recordings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric J. Leonardis
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Leo Breston
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
- Program in Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Rhiannon Lucero-Moore
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Leigh Sena
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Raunit Kohli
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Luisa Schuster
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Lacha Barton-Gluzman
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Laleh K. Quinn
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Janet Wiles
- School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Andrea A. Chiba
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
- Program in Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
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Raithel CU, Gottfried JA. Using your nose to find your way: Ethological comparisons between human and non-human species. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 128:766-779. [PMID: 34214515 PMCID: PMC8359807 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.06.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2020] [Revised: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Olfaction is arguably the least valued among our sensory systems, and its significance for human behavior is often neglected. Spatial navigation represents no exception to the rule: humans are often characterized as purely visual navigators, a view that undermines the contribution of olfactory cues. Accordingly, research investigating whether and how humans use olfaction to navigate space is rare. In comparison, research on olfactory navigation in non-human species is abundant, and identifies behavioral strategies along with neural mechanisms characterizing the use of olfactory cues during spatial tasks. Using an ethological approach, our review draws from studies on olfactory navigation across species to describe the adaptation of strategies under the influence of selective pressure. Mammals interact with spatial environments by abstracting multisensory information into cognitive maps. We thus argue that olfactory cues, alongside inputs from other sensory modalities, play a crucial role in spatial navigation for mammalian species, including humans; that is, odors constitute one of the many building blocks in the formation of cognitive maps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara U Raithel
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Hamilton Walk, Stemmler Hall, Room G10, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, 425 S. University Avenue, Stephen A. Levin Building, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Jay A Gottfried
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Hamilton Walk, Stemmler Hall, Room G10, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, 425 S. University Avenue, Stephen A. Levin Building, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
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Long X, Zhang SJ. A novel somatosensory spatial navigation system outside the hippocampal formation. Cell Res 2021; 31:649-663. [PMID: 33462427 PMCID: PMC8169756 DOI: 10.1038/s41422-020-00448-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2018] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Spatially selective firing of place cells, grid cells, boundary vector/border cells and head direction cells constitutes the basic building blocks of a canonical spatial navigation system centered on the hippocampal-entorhinal complex. While head direction cells can be found throughout the brain, spatial tuning outside the hippocampal formation is often non-specific or conjunctive to other representations such as a reward. Although the precise mechanism of spatially selective firing activity is not understood, various studies show sensory inputs, particularly vision, heavily modulate spatial representation in the hippocampal-entorhinal circuit. To better understand the contribution of other sensory inputs in shaping spatial representation in the brain, we performed recording from the primary somatosensory cortex in foraging rats. To our surprise, we were able to detect the full complement of spatially selective firing patterns similar to that reported in the hippocampal-entorhinal network, namely, place cells, head direction cells, boundary vector/border cells, grid cells and conjunctive cells, in the somatosensory cortex. These newly identified somatosensory spatial cells form a spatial map outside the hippocampal formation and support the hypothesis that location information modulates body representation in the somatosensory cortex. Our findings provide transformative insights into our understanding of how spatial information is processed and integrated in the brain, as well as functional operations of the somatosensory cortex in the context of rehabilitation with brain-machine interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyang Long
- grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Department of Neurosurgery, Xinqiao Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, 400037 China
| | - Sheng-Jia Zhang
- grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Department of Neurosurgery, Xinqiao Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, 400037 China
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Marin AC, Schaefer AT, Ackels T. Spatial information from the odour environment in mammalian olfaction. Cell Tissue Res 2021; 383:473-483. [PMID: 33515294 PMCID: PMC7872987 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-020-03395-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The sense of smell is an essential modality for many species, in particular nocturnal and crepuscular mammals, to gather information about their environment. Olfactory cues provide information over a large range of distances, allowing behaviours ranging from simple detection and recognition of objects, to tracking trails and navigating using odour plumes from afar. In this review, we discuss the features of the natural olfactory environment and provide a brief overview of how odour information can be sampled and might be represented and processed by the mammalian olfactory system. Finally, we discuss recent behavioural approaches that address how mammals extract spatial information from the environment in three different contexts: odour trail tracking, odour plume tracking and, more general, olfactory-guided navigation. Recent technological developments have seen the spatiotemporal aspect of mammalian olfaction gain significant attention, and we discuss both the promising aspects of rapidly developing paradigms and stimulus control technologies as well as their limitations. We conclude that, while still in its beginnings, research on the odour environment offers an entry point into understanding the mechanisms how mammals extract information about space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alina Cristina Marin
- Sensory Circuits and Neurotechnology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Andreas T Schaefer
- Sensory Circuits and Neurotechnology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Tobias Ackels
- Sensory Circuits and Neurotechnology Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK.
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Abstract
Many animals manipulate their environments in ways that appear to augment cognitive processing. Adult humans show remarkable flexibility in this domain, typically relying on internal cognitive processing when adequate but turning to external support in situations of high internal demand. We use calendars, calculators, navigational aids and other external means to compensate for our natural cognitive shortcomings and achieve otherwise unattainable feats of intelligence. As yet, however, the developmental origins of this fundamental capacity for cognitive offloading remain largely unknown. In two studies, children aged 4-11 years (n = 258) were given an opportunity to manually rotate a turntable to eliminate the internal demands of mental rotation--to solve the problem in the world rather than in their heads. In study 1, even the youngest children showed a linear relationship between mental rotation demand and likelihood of using the external strategy, paralleling the classic relationship between angle of mental rotation and reaction time. In study 2, children were introduced to a version of the task where manually rotating inverted stimuli was sometimes beneficial to performance and other times redundant. With increasing age, children were significantly more likely to manually rotate the turntable only when it would benefit them. These results show how humans gradually calibrate their cognitive offloading strategies throughout childhood and thereby uncover the developmental origins of this central facet of intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Adam Bulley
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.,Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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Corcoran AW, Pezzulo G, Hohwy J. Commentary: Respiration-Entrained Brain Rhythms Are Global but Often Overlooked. Front Syst Neurosci 2018; 12:25. [PMID: 29937718 PMCID: PMC6003246 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2018.00025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2018] [Accepted: 05/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew W. Corcoran
- Cognition and Philosophy Laboratory, School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Giovanni Pezzulo
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy
| | - Jakob Hohwy
- Cognition and Philosophy Laboratory, School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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