“With the advent of multi-level findings demonstrating neuroplasticity in the adult brain, neuroscience is currently undergoing a decisive paradigm change. Although Ramón y Cajal, the father of the neuron doctrine, first speculated that synaptic neuroplasticity might be the fundamental mechanism of learning, neurogenesis has remained a controversial hypothesis. Recent multi-method research has overturned this dogma, finding dramatic plasticity at cellular, cognitive, developmental, and axonal levels. I review these findings, arguing that neuroplasticity challenges traditional understandings of the mind and cognition while presenting an upcoming fMRI project investigating social-media, cognitive augmentation, and neuroplasticity.”

1. The Collaborative Mind
Neuroplasticity and Cybernetic Social Cognition.
December 5th, 2009
Micah Allen, PhD Student: Micah@cfin.dk

2. Overview

3. Overview
✤
Part 1: Defining Neuroplasticity: Limitations and
Possibilities

4. Overview
✤
Part 1: Defining Neuroplasticity: Limitations and
Possibilities
✤
What is Neuroplasticity?
✤
Neurobiology
✤
Development
✤
Cognitive-Behavioral Learning

5. Overview
✤
Part 1: Defining Neuroplasticity: Limitations and
Possibilities
✤
What is Neuroplasticity?
✤
Neurobiology
✤
Development
✤
Cognitive-Behavioral Learning
✤
Part 2: Cyborg Cognition: The Mind Extended and
Interacted
✤
Relevant Research
✤
Neuroplasticity and Cyborg Cognition
✤
Social Cognition and Social Media

6. Defining Neuroplasticity

7. Defining Neuroplasticity
✤ Three complementary ways
to discuss and investigate
neuroplasticity:

8. Defining Neuroplasticity
✤ Three complementary ways
to discuss and investigate
neuroplasticity:
✤ Neurobiology
✤ Development
✤ Cognition and Learning

9. Neurobiological Plasticity
LTP and LTD at the Synapse
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

10. Neurobiological Plasticity
LTP and LTD at the Synapse
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

11. Neurobiological Plasticity
LTP and LTD at the Synapse
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

12. Neurobiological Plasticity
LTP and LTD at the Synapse
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

15. Neurobiological Plasticity
System level impacts on single cells
✤ Neuroplasticity often depends on interactions between brain
regions.
✤ Motivation and Reward
✤ “There is a wealth of evidence in the neurophysiology literature demonstrating that the
brain systems thought to convey the utility of reward, such as the ventral tegmental area
(VTA) and the nucleus basilis (NB), play a large role in producing plastic changes in
sensory areas. In particular, when specific auditory tones are paired with stimulation of
either the VTA (dopaminergic) or the NB (cholinergic), the area of primary auditory cortex
that represents the given tone increases dramatically (Green & Bavelier, 2008)”
✤ LTP more common in areas that mediate learning and forgetting;
neural association requires statistically flexible models (i.e.
hippocampus and cerebellum). Deeper cross-network
physiological processes (i.e. depth perception, motion detection,
or object identification) require encapsulation from plasticity
(Wandell & Smirnakis, 2009).
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

16. Neurobiological Plasticity
Adapation vs Plasticity
✤
Not all changes are long term- a neuron (or neural network) can change it’s
processing of an input without any long-term alteration of structure
✤ “A prototypical example is the change in
the cone photocurrent after exposure to a
bright light (light adaptation). This change
reverses in minutes after some time in the
dark (dark adaptation). In this case, it is not
thought that the neural circuits are
transformed by the light or dark exposures
(Wandell & Smirnakis, 2009). ”
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

17. Neurobiological Plasticity
Adapation vs Plasticity
✤
Not all changes are long term- a neuron (or neural network) can change it’s
processing of an input without any long-term alteration of structure
✤ “A prototypical example is the change in
the cone photocurrent after exposure to a
bright light (light adaptation). This change
reverses in minutes after some time in the
dark (dark adaptation). In this case, it is not
thought that the neural circuits are
transformed by the light or dark exposures
(Wandell & Smirnakis, 2009). ”
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

18. Neurobiological Plasticity
Dendritic and Axonal Turn-Over
✤ While recent studies of synaptic stability in adult cerebral cortex have focused on dendrites, how much axons change is unknown. We
have used advances in axon labeling by viruses and in vivo two-photon microscopy to investigate axon branching and bouton
dynamics in primary visual cortex (V1) of adult Macaque monkeys. A nonreplicative adeno-associated virus bearing the gene for
enhanced green fluorescent protein (AAV.EGFP) provided persistent labeling of axons, and a custom-designed two-photon
microscope enabled repeated imaging of the intact brain over several weeks. We found that large-scale branching patterns were
stable but that a subset of small branches associated with terminaux boutons, as well as a subset of en passant boutons, appeared
and disappeared every week. Bouton losses and gains were both approximately 7% of the total population per week, with no net change
in the overall density. These results suggest ongoing processes of synaptogenesis and elimination in adult V1.
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

19. Dendritic and Axonal Turn-Over
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

20. Dendritic and Axonal Turn-Over
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

21. Neurobiological Plasticity
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

22. Neurobiological
Plasticity
✤ Bouton Dynamics in Adult Cortex
“Depending on whether the population of boutons
is homogeneous or not, the amount of bouton
turnover (7% per week) has different implications
for the stability of the synaptic connection
network. If all boutons have the same
replacement probability per unit time, synaptic
connectivity would become largely remodeled
after about 14 weeks.”
“Alternatively, there may be a subpopulation
of connections that are highly dynamic, with
the rest remaining stable. The doubling of the
total turnover observed with a doubling of the
interval from 1 to 2 weeks is consistent with a
uniform probability. However, so far only a limited
number of boutons have been imaged at longer
periods and more than two time points. Additional
observations over longer periods and multiple
time points will be necessary to resolve this issue
conclusively.”

23. Neurobiological Plasticity
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

24. Neurobiological Plasticity
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

25. Developmental
Neuroplasticity
✤ Neurogenesis
✤ LTP
✤ Synaptic and Somatic
Pruning and Growth

26. Developmental Neuroplasticity
Neurogenesis:
The formation of new
neurons (neural cell bodies, or
somas). Neurogenesis results in
increased gray matter and can be
detected via Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI).
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

27. Developmental
Neuroplasticity

28. Developmental
Neuroplasticity
✤ Neurogenesis
✤ Primarily characterizes pre-natal
neurodevelopment.
✤ Also occurs in developing (child and
adolescent) brains
✤ Orderly- specific developmental and
hormonal processes lead to site-specific
neurogenesis.
✤ Example: Release of sex hormone in
puberty results in sexual differentiation
of the thalamus, hypothalamus, and
pre-frontal sexual regions.

29. Developmental
Neuroplasticity
✤ Neurogenesis
✤ Primarily characterizes pre-natal
neurodevelopment.
✤ Also occurs in developing (child and
adolescent) brains
✤ Orderly- specific developmental and
hormonal processes lead to site-specific
neurogenesis.
✤ Example: Release of sex hormone in
puberty results in sexual differentiation
of the thalamus, hypothalamus, and
pre-frontal sexual regions.
✤ New research indicates adult neurogenesis in
areas responsible for memory and learning
(hippocampus and cerebellum).

30. Developmental
Neuroplasticity
✤ Neurogenesis
✤ Primarily characterizes pre-natal
neurodevelopment.
✤ Also occurs in developing (child and
adolescent) brains
✤ Orderly- specific developmental and
hormonal processes lead to site-specific
neurogenesis.
✤ Example: Release of sex hormone in
puberty results in sexual differentiation
of the thalamus, hypothalamus, and
pre-frontal sexual regions.
✤ New research indicates adult neurogenesis in
areas responsible for memory and learning
(hippocampus and cerebellum).
✤ Adult neurogenesis remains controversial,
however...

31. Developmental
Neuroplasticity

32. Developmental Neuroplasticity
✤ LTP
✤ Functional and structural
alterations of individual
synapses change network
weights, subserving
memory and learning
functions.
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

33. Developmental Neuroplasticity
✤ LTP
✤ Functional and structural
alterations of individual
synapses change network
weights, subserving
memory and learning
functions.
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

34. Developmental
Neuroplasticity

35. Developmental
Neuroplasticity
✤ Synaptic and Somatic Pruning
✤ Primary mechanism of 0-25
neurodevelopment
✤ Total number of neurons drops rapidly
from birth onward- we start with
billions more than we need

36. Developmental
Neuroplasticity
✤ Synaptic and Somatic Pruning
✤ Primary mechanism of 0-25
neurodevelopment
✤ Total number of neurons drops rapidly
from birth onward- we start with
billions more than we need
✤ Unused neurons self-eliminate via
apoptosis
✤ Apoptosis prevented by
neurotransmission; lack of
activity leads to build up of
signal chemicals that trigger
neural suicide.
✤ Good for overall conductivity of
neurons- leads to faster, more
specialized neural networks.

45. “The prefrontal cortex shows relatively late
structural and metabolic maturation, and the
prolonged phase of prefrontal cortical gain in the
most intelligent might afford an even more
extended ‘critical’ period for the development of
high-level cognitive cortical circuits.”
“‘Brainy’ children are not cleverer solely by virtue
of having more or less grey matter at any one age.
Rather, intelligence is related to dynamic
properties of cortical maturation.”

46. Cognition, Learning, and Plasticity
✤ Functional
✤ (A-B) > (B-A) following training.
✤ Network
✤ Alterations in cross-region
connectivity.
✤ Structural
✤ Increases in gray or white matter
following treatment.
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

47. Cognition, Learning, and Plasticity
✤ Functional
✤ (A-B) > (B-A) following training.
✤ Network
✤ Alterations in cross-region
connectivity.
✤ Structural
✤ Increases in gray or white matter
following treatment.
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

48. Cross-Modal
Peripersonal Plasticity
✤ Ego-centric coding of arm position
within somatosensory cortex remaps
to include tools within moments
✤ Visual Receptive Fields in Macaque
Monkeys expands when using tools
to manipulate objects
✤ Peripersonal space dynamically
alters; includes visual, tactile, and
auditory modalities.

49. Functional Plasticity in Self-Regulatory
and Emotive Brain Networks
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

50. Functional Plasticity in Self-Regulatory
and Emotive Brain Networks
Brief training in
meditation alters
function in the
fronto-limbic
network
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

51. Plasticity in Network Connectivity
Prior to meditation training, NF
and EF networks exhibit strong
connectivity; 8 weeks of
meditation training not only
alters area-specific activations,
but decouples these networks,
increasing functional
individuation
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

52. Structural and Connective Plasticity in Adult
Cognition
-Recent studies demonstrate
radical plasticity in the adult
human brain.
-High-impact findings have
implicated; meditation,
learning to juggle, playing
tetris, stress, and others in the
increase of grey and white
matter.
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

53. Driving a Taxi
Findings: group
differences, up and
down regulations of
task-specific brain areas,
non-correlation with
stress and anxiety
indices.
Raises the possibility of
neural cannibalization.
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

54. Playing Tetris
“Using a 3 T MRI, we obtained structural and functional images in
adolescent girls before and after practice on a visual-spatial problem-
solving computer game, Tetris. After three months of practice,
compared to the structural scans of controls, the group with Tetris
practice showed thicker cortex, primarily in two areas: left BAs 6 and
22/38. “
“Based on fMRI BOLD signals, the Tetris group showed cortical
activations throughout the brain while playing Tetris, but significant
BOLD decreases, mostly in frontal areas, were observed after practice.
None of these BOLD decreases, however, overlapped with the cortical
thickness changes.”
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

55. Adept Contemplation
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

56. Ritalin: Social Cognitive Augmentation?
Evidence from rats
and humans reveals
strong neuroplasticity
in areas related to
social cognition when
under the influence of
methylphenidate
(ritalin)
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

57. Cyborgs and Social Cognition 2.0
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

58. A thought experiment
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

59. Constrains on Cognitive Extension
Three constraints for the parity principle
1. “...the resource must be available and
typically invoked” (Clark, 2006).[Availability
Criterion]
The Parity Principle:
2. “...any information...retrieved from [the
non-biological resource must] be more-or-
“If, as we confront some task, a part of the world less automatically endorsed. It should not
functions as a process which, were it to go on in usually be subject to critical scrutiny (unlike
the opinions of other people, for example).
the head, we would have no hesitation in It should be deemed about as trustworthy as
recognizing as part of the cognitive process, then something retrieved clearly from biological
that part of the world is (so we claim) part of the memory” (Clark, 2006). [Epistemic
Criterion]
cognitive process. Cognitive processes ain’t (all)
in the head! (Clark and Chalmers 1998, p. 8)” 3.
“...information contained in the resource
should be easily accessible as and when
required” (Clark, 2006). [Accessibility
Criterion]
(Smart et al, 2008)
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

60. Social Cognition
Three primary views:
Theory of Mind Mentalistic Schemas:
(e.g. Frith & Frith, If you desire x, and believe Y,
then ceteris paribus, you will Z.
Blakemore, Meltzoff)
‘Embodied Resonance’:
Simulation Theory If I desire X, then I
(e.g. Gallese, Goldman, usually intend Y- you
Gazzaniga) desire X, therefor you
must intend Y
Interaction Theory ‘Enactive Social Cognition’:
(e.g. Gallagher, Hutto, Di Interaction and social
Paolo, and Zahavi) cognition outside of the
head
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

61. Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

62. Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

63. Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

64. Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

65. Cybernetic Social Cognition?
We now know that the
brain is highly plastic,
adapting to culture
and environment in a
dynamic fashion.
So what about Web 2.0?
Further, we can
understand the unique
2-way relationship
between tool use and
cognition
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

66. Social Cognition 2.0
Social media is "an umbrella term that defines the various activities that
integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words,
pictures, videos, and audio."
- http://wikipedia.org
Facts:
3/4 of Americans use social technology
-Forrester, 2008
2/3 of the global internet population use social net works
-Nielsen, 2009
Visiting SNSs is the 4th most popular online activity- more than email!
-Nielsen, 2009
As of 12/2/2009 350,000,000 people use Facebook worldwide
-Facebook.com
Time spent on SNS is growing 3X the overall internet rate, accounting
for roughly 10% of all internet time
-Nielsen, 2009
“What the F**K is social media, Kagan 2009”
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

67. Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

68. The social web provides expanded
opportunities to flex our cognitive muscles
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

69. Social Cognition 2.0
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

70. Dense streams of multi-modal
data provide opportunities to
enrich our mental
representations, opening the
window for prolonged social
self-stimulation in ways that
The web has thus become the
transcend traditional dogma and
ultimate social laboratory- a place
social normativity.
rich in intersubjective data providing
endlessly inter-layered surveys of
the opinions, beliefs, motivations
and desires that make up our
collective social fabric
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

71. Not only does social
media potentially
strengthen our inner
Further, Web 2.0 extends the traditional
social mechanisms;
routines to this rich tapestry- like the notepad
social media reshapes
or calculator for arithmetic, I can now offload
knowledge itself,
my sense-making of others, objects, and
establishing a variety
events to the digital intersubjective.
of collective,
collaborative sense-
making narratives.
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

72. Social Cognition 2.0
This offloading to the collective
democratizes information sharing,
contextualizing events in ways
that defy cultural and political
boundaries.
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

73. Social Cognition 2.0
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

74. This is true extended cognition- the cognitive loop is
completed in digitally mediated worlds- social
technology makes information social- lending it
immediacy, Accessibility, and distributed epistemic
viability.
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

75. Social media extracts Turning this:
the meaningful from
the noise, increasing
interdependency
between information
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

76. Into this:
Research 2.0
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

77. But what about the brain?
My hypothesis:
Culture
Mind
Brain Technology
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

78. Testing the Hypothesis
Digital
Close Far Group
R
e Close +,+ +,- Hi
a
l Far -,+ -,- Lo
“Brain’s adaptation to the emergence of collective identity: effects of Facebook proximity on ‘like me’ brain networks.”
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

79. Testing the Hypothesis
Future studies using behavioral, functional,
and anatomical methods:
-Testing social cognition differences in high
and low users
-Longitudinal investigations to establish
causality.
-Specification of usage patterns; how do
different social media strategies impact the
brain, self, and mind?
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

80. Conclusion and Summary
-Brain is highly plastic at all levels
-Connectivity and Plasticity may be
central for cognition, computation, and
intelligence, rather than absolute
features
-Mind and Cognition are extensible-
technology enhances and reshapes the
brain-mind-culture loop
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk

81. Thank you!
Micah Allen: Micah@cfin.dk