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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

In Situ Muscle Power Differs Without Varying In Vitro Mechanical Properties In Two Insect Leg Muscles Innervated By The Same Motor Neuron, Anna N. Ahn, Kenneth Meijer, Robert J. Full Sep 2006

In Situ Muscle Power Differs Without Varying In Vitro Mechanical Properties In Two Insect Leg Muscles Innervated By The Same Motor Neuron, Anna N. Ahn, Kenneth Meijer, Robert J. Full

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

The mechanical behavior of muscle during locomotion is often predicted by its anatomy, kinematics, activation pattern and contractile properties. The neuromuscular design of the cockroach leg provides a model system to examine these assumptions, because a single motor neuron innervates two extensor muscles operating at a single joint. Comparisons of the in situ measurements under in vivo running conditions of muscle 178 to a previously examined muscle (179) demonstrate that the same inputs (e.g. neural signal and kinematics) can result in different mechanical outputs. The same neural signal and kinematics, as determined during running, can result in different mechanical functions, …


An Optimal Brain Can Be Composed Of Conflicting Agents, Adi Livnat, Nicholas Pippenger Jan 2006

An Optimal Brain Can Be Composed Of Conflicting Agents, Adi Livnat, Nicholas Pippenger

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Many behaviors have been attributed to internal conflict within the animal and human mind. However, internal conflict has not been reconciled with evolutionary principles, in that it appears maladaptive relative to a seamless decision-making process. We study this problem through a mathematical analysis of decision-making structures. We find that, under natural physiological limitations, an optimal decision-making system can involve “selfish” agents that are in conflict with one another, even though the system is designed for a single purpose. It follows that conflict can emerge within a collective even when natural selection acts on the level of the collective only.


Word Association Tests Of Associative Memory And Implicit Processes: Theoretical And Assessment Issues, Alan W. Stacy, Susan L. Ames, Jerry L. Grenard Jan 2006

Word Association Tests Of Associative Memory And Implicit Processes: Theoretical And Assessment Issues, Alan W. Stacy, Susan L. Ames, Jerry L. Grenard

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Word association is one of the most commonly used measures of association in cognitive science. These tests have been used to infer association parameters in normative studies, to derive cues and primes used in diverse paradigms (semantic priming, cued recall, illusory memory), to test implicit memory in experimental studies, and to suggest the operation of implicit processes in nonexperimental work. This chapter briefly outlines some of the historical routes and current controversies about association and summarizes basic cognitive research applying associative tests. The authors then describe benefits and limitations of the tests, as well as implications for theory and interventions …