CNS Meeting 2008: Development of Cognitive Control

I just got back from CNS a few days ago. I thought I’d write a quick summary of one of the more interesting symposia at the conference. Taking place Monday (4/14) afternoon, The rise and fall of cognitive control: Lifespan development covered how executive brain functions develop and peak in the 20s and 30s, falling …

History’s Top Brain Computation Insights: Day 19

19) Neural networks can self-organize via competition (Grossberg – 1978, Kohonen – 1981) Hubel and Wiesel's work with the development  of cortical columns (see previous post) hinted at it, but it wasn't until Grossberg and Kohonen built computational architectures explicitly exploring competition that its importance was made clear. Grossberg was the first to illustrate the …

History’s Top Brain Computation Insights: Day 16

16) Critical periods of cortical development via competition (Hubel & Wiesel – 1970) Hubel & Wiesel showed that the ocular dominance columns they had discovered in cortex (see previous post) are organized during a critical period of development. Keeping one eye of an animal shut during the first few months of life made that animal …