On causal closure and life as an emergent phenomenon.

One of the first things we do when designing the methods of a study is exclude confounding variables if we can. We attempt to close the system from the interference of extraneous agency and events.

Causal closure of the physical prohibits agency to be able to interfere with measurements done of a closed system. Roughly speaking, it means that certain reproducible forms of human telekinesis must be false, nothing else.

Calculating all the influences on the net electrical field in which an electron within the body of a living human moves requires the "closed" system to be so large it is _totally incalculable_ if we include the person's body and environs within the system (just closing it within a couple of meters of the mat where the person under study is lying down, for example).

As a result, the only way causal closure could ever be shown in practice requires that we exclude people and society from our measurements. If a person messes with our equipment from the outside, say by waving a magnet near the chamber, we discard the artifactual changes.

Causal closure could in principle be falsified (reproducible telekinesis would do it), but it cannot actually (empirically) be proven.

Causal closure is thus a philosophical extension of a simplifying method, and the idea is not entailed by the method at all. In fact, as discussed in the paper below, even sub-cellular level biological systems are incalculable within the bounds of the physical universe, and as such may show properties that are non-predictable by the micro-physical laws because those laws require we calculate mathematically the behavior of the biological system, and that is in principle impossible within the bounds of the universe!

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ABSTRACT

Emergent biological principles and the computational properties of the universe

P.C.W. Davies

The claim that life is an emergent phenomenon exhibiting novel properties and principles is often criticized for being in conflict with causal closure at the microscopic level. I argue that advances in cosmological theory suggesting an upper bound on the information processing capacity of the universe may resolve this conflict for systems exceeding a certain threshold of complexity. A numerical estimate of the threshold places it at the level of a small protein. The calculation supports the contention that life is an emergent phenomenon.

Comments: 9 pages. no figures, research paper

Subjects: Astrophysics (astro-ph)

Journal reference: Complexity 10 (2004) 1

Cite as: arXiv:astro-ph/0408014

(or arXiv:astro-ph/0408014v1 for this version)

Predictive Coding and the Sense of Self

So far, we have restricted ourselves to perceptual synthesis in the exteroceptive (i.e., visual) domain. However, exactly the same arguments may apply to perceptual inference and ensuing consciousness of the physiologic state of the body (interoception). Crucially, interoceptive inference may underlie emotions and feelings: our “sentient self” (the material me) would therefore be constituted by successive interoceptive predictions, which are thought to be updated within the insula (and anterior cingulate cortex).14 This model of interoception as a predictive process reconciles the James-Lange/Damasio somatic marker model of consciousness and models involving cortical influences. The James-Lange/Damasio somatic marker model argues that the mental self is anchored in the internal state of the body and that emotions arise from the (continuous) perceptions of changes in the body.

--from Fabienne Picard, MD and Karl Friston, PhD: Predictions, perception, and a sense of self, in press in Neurology for this year.

Astrocytes and Attention to the New

One of the many simplifying assumptions proposed for the brain simulations being attempted by just-starting, very large research programs in Europe and North America is that neural networks can be simulated as networks of neurons alone, abstracting away the influences of supporting cells such as oligodendrocytes and astrocytes, which account for a large portion of normal brain. Astrocytes, for example, make up about 50% of brain cellular mass.

Why might we assume that supporting glial cells like astrocytes can be ignored in simulation brain function, including components of cognition? The feeling has been that such cells are needed for the network of neurons to function at all, but that they did not determine particular aspects of cognition and so their influence could be safely averaged out of the network.

Unfortunately, there is increasing evidence that ignoring, or averaging out, the influence of astrocytes in simulating cognition may not be possible if we want to properly simulate some aspects of attention and memory, at least in mice. The article below, from PNAS this month, documents an influence of astrocytes on the gamma oscillation-dependent behavioral response to novelty in mice.

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ABSTRACT

Astrocytes contribute to gamma oscillations and recognition memory

Hosuk Sean Leea,b,1, Andrea Ghettia,2, António Pinto-Duartec,d,e, Xin Wangc, Gustavo Dziewczapolskia, Francesco Galimif,g, Salvador Huitron-Resendizh, Juan C. Piña-Crespoa,3, Amanda J. Robertsh, Inder M. Vermaf, Terrence J. Sejnowskic,i, and Stephen F. Heinemanna,1

Significance

Astrocytes are well placed to modulate neural activity. However, the functions typically attributed to astrocytes are associated with a temporal dimension significantly slower than the timescale of synaptic transmission of neurons. Consequently, it has been assumed that astrocytes do not play a major role in modulating fast neural network dynamics known to underlie cognitive behavior. By creating a transgenic mouse in which vesicular release from astrocytes can be reversibly blocked, we found that astrocytes are necessary for novel object recognition behavior and to maintain functional gamma oscillations both in vitro and in awake-behaving animals. Our findings reveal an unexpected role for astrocytes in neural information processing and cognition.

Abstract

Glial cells are an integral part of functional communication in the brain. Here we show that astrocytes contribute to the fast dynamics of neural circuits that underlie normal cognitive behaviors. In particular, we found that the selective expression of tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT) in astrocytes significantly reduced the duration of carbachol-induced gamma oscillations in hippocampal slices. These data prompted us to develop a novel transgenic mouse model, specifically with inducible tetanus toxin expression in astrocytes. In this in vivo model, we found evidence of a marked decrease in electroencephalographic (EEG) power in the gamma frequency range in awake-behaving mice, whereas neuronal synaptic activity remained intact. The reduction in cortical gamma oscillations was accompanied by impaired behavioral performance in the novel object recognition test, whereas other forms of memory, including working memory and fear conditioning, remained unchanged. These results support a key role for gamma oscillations in recognition memory. Both EEG alterations and behavioral deficits in novel object recognition were reversed by suppression of tetanus toxin expression. These data reveal an unexpected role for astrocytes as essential contributors to information processing and cognitive behavior.

Hosuk Sean Lee, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1410893111

Brain Metabolism and Training Effects

Here is brain metabolism in Tetris, reported in Wired in 1993:

In Tetris, Haier sees "a tremendous learning curve. The question became: When the stimuli are faster and the decision making is harder, does the brain require more energy?" Haier found, as he suspected, that the brain requires less energy to play higher levels of Tetris. This is "counterintuitive," he says, "but consistent with a brain efficiency idea."

In first-time users, Tetris significantly raises cerebral glucose metabolic rates (GMRs), meaning brain energy consumption soars. Yet, after four to eight weeks of daily doses, GMRs sink to normal, while performance increases seven-fold, on average. Tetris trains your brain to stop using inefficient gray matter, perhaps a key cognitive strategy for learning. In fact, the lowest final GMRs are found in the best players' brains, the ones most efficient at dealing with Tetris's Daedalian geometry.

Here is Yahoo Sports on soccer players and brain metabolism, 2014:

Tokyo (AFP) - Brazilian superstar Neymar's brain activity while dancing past opponents is less than 10 percent the level of amateur players, suggesting he plays as if on auto-pilot, according to Japanese neurologists.

Results of brain scans conducted on Neymar in February this year indicated minimal cerebral function when he rotated his ankle and point to the Barcelona striker's wizardry being uncannily natural.

"From MRI images we discovered Neymar's brain activity to be less than 10 percent of an amateur player," researcher Eiichi Naito told AFP on Friday.

"It is possible genetics is a factor, aided by the type of training he does."

I think genetics is what makes Neymar capable of becoming the great player he is, with training, but the training effect (pros train more and better than amateurs, I believe) is common to all of our genes and brains. Training decreases the brain metabolism requirements for the same amount of work, and that work becomes more effective with that training as well.

Efficiency. A very good thing about the brain.

Some tongue-in-cheek comments about the Arizona execution process.

Here's Yahoo on the Arizona botched execution.

First of all, the fact that the executed man had loud breathing for about two hours after his lethal injection simply means the drug put him to sleep, hypnotic OD style, for a while before he died.  This is slow, but hardly inhumane.  The man did not suffer while asleep, after all, no matter the loud breathing. Snoring and snorting is not suffering. Gasping while asleep from such an OD is not gasping from pain, but from disordered breathing.

It's not being put to sleep and having some sleep apnea that's objected to as inhumane, it's the killing part, right?

Second, as long as we are treating murderers like dogs, here's an answer to the problem of lack of human death drugs:

EUTHASOL® (pentobarbital sodium and phenytoin sodium) Solution

For use in dogs for humane, painless, and rapid euthanasia.

Active ingredients pentobarbital sodium and phenytoin sodium result in humane, painless, and rapid euthanasia.

• Indicated for use in dogs to induce painless, humane, and rapid euthanasia resulting from cerebral death triggered by active ingredients pentobarbital sodium and phenytoin sodium.
• Intravenous (IV) administration produces rapid anesthetic action and smooth, quick onset of unconsciousness.
• Dosage is 1 mL per 10 lb of body weight.
• IV administration is preferred. Intracardiac injection is also possible.
• Available in 100 mL, multiple-dose vials.

Environmental Hazard

This product is toxic to wildlife. Birds and mammals feeding on treated animals may be killed. Euthanized animals must be properly disposed of by deep burial, incineration, or other method in compliance with state and local laws, to prevent consumption of carcass material by scavenging wildlife.

WARNING: For canine euthanasia only. Must not be used for therapeutic purposes. Do not use in animals intended for food.

CAUTION: Caution should be exercised to avoid contact of the drug with open wounds or accidental self-inflicted injections. Keep out of reach of children. If eye contact, flush with water and seek medical advice/attention.

Federal law restricts this drug to use by or on the order of a licensed veterinarian.

Click image to enlarge

Lucy's Myth: But it's 92%, Not 10%

Sci-Fi myth: In the movie Lucy: Humans use only 10% of their brain capacity. Thus, a drug may give humans like Lucy superpowered brain function by allowing them to use more! It's amazing!

Reality: We use essentially all of our brain capacity. Some studies have shown that loss of 50 to 100 ml of brain out of about 1130 ml total brain volume is enough to cause cognitive impairment. So normal function would require that we use at minimum 92% of our brain capacity. Furthermore, it's likely that impairment sometimes happens even with less than an 8% volume loss. At least, the patients notice it.

Of course, a drug that made Lucy a mere 8% smarter, enough to perhaps, with the right help, defeat her opponents using ordinary means, would not make much of a movie.

Gotta love those scfi-fi movies though. Great entertainment, just misleading pseudoscience in their premisses (and on their premises).

Aloha Friday: Eddie Kamae

Linked here is the NEA's page on Eddie Kamae, a composer, one of the founders of the Sons of Hawaii music group and documentary filmmaker.

Check out the love song "Morning Dew" linked to on the audio page. Here is the full song on video: