Ervin Laszlo, widely regarded as the founder of systems philosophy and general evolution theory, introduces the foundations of a genuine unified theory of the world in this pioneering treatise on the new sciences. In contrast to other unified theories that center mainly on physics, Laszlo's embraces quantum, cosmos, life, as well as consciousness. He delineates the principles of a new physics of universal connectivity and puts forth the corresponding metaphysics, discussing the implications for such philosophical issues as the nature of matter and mind, freedom and morality, and design versus evolution. This landmark book lays the groundwork for the non-materialist and non-reductionist yet rigorous paradigm that is likely to signal the next revolution in science: the "paradigm of universal connectivity."
Fundamentals of Brain Network Analysis is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to methods for unraveling the extraordinary complexity of neuronal connectivity. From the perspective of graph theory and network science, this book introduces, motivates and explains techniques for modeling brain networks as graphs of nodes connected by edges, and covers a diverse array of measures for quantifying their topological and spatial organization. It builds intuition for key concepts and methods by illustrating how they can be practically applied in diverse areas of neuroscience, ranging from the analysis of synaptic networks in the nematode worm to the characterization of large-scale human brain networks constructed with magnetic resonance imaging. This text is ideally suited to neuroscientists wanting to develop expertise in the rapidly developing field of neural connectomics, and to physical and computational scientists wanting to understand how these quantitative methods can be used to understand brain organization. - Winner of the 2017 PROSE Award in Biomedicine & Neuroscience and the 2017 British Medical Association (BMA) Award in Neurology - Extensively illustrated throughout by graphical representations of key mathematical concepts and their practical applications to analyses of nervous systems - Comprehensively covers graph theoretical analyses of structural and functional brain networks, from microscopic to macroscopic scales, using examples based on a wide variety of experimental methods in neuroscience - Designed to inform and empower scientists at all levels of experience, and from any specialist background, wanting to use modern methods of network science to understand the organization of the brain
The brain's ability to process information crucially relies on connectivity. Understanding how the brain processes complex information and how such abilities are disrupted in individuals with neuropsychological disorders will require an improved understanding of brain connectivity. Autism is an intriguingly complex neurodevelopmental disorder with multidimensional symptoms and cognitive characteristics. A biological origin for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) had been proposed even in the earliest published accounts (Kanner, 1943; Asperger, 1944). Despite decades of research, a focal neurobiological marker for autism has been elusive. Nevertheless, disruptions in interregional and functional and anatomical connectivity have been a hallmark of neural functioning in ASD. Theoretical accounts of connectivity perceive ASD as a cognitive and neurobiological disorder associated with altered functioning of integrative circuitry. Neuroimaging studies have reported disruptions in functional connectivity (synchronization of activated brain areas) during cognitive tasks and during task-free resting states. While these insights are valuable, they do not address the time-lagged causality and directionality of such correlations. Despite the general promise of the connectivity account of ASD, inconsistencies and methodological differences among studies call for more thorough investigations. A comprehensive neurological account of ASD should incorporate functional, effective, and anatomical connectivity measures and test the diagnostic utility of such measures. In addition, questions pertaining to how cognitive and behavioral intervention can target connection abnormalities in ASD should be addressed. This research topic of the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience addresses “Brain Connectivity in Autism” primarily from cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging perspectives.
This handbook describes methods for processing and analyzing functional connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fcMRI) data using the CONN toolbox, a popular freely-available functional connectivity analysis software. Content description [excerpt from introduction] The first section (fMRI minimal preprocessing pipeline) describes standard and advanced preprocessing steps in fcMRI. These steps are aimed at correcting or minimizing the influence of well-known factors affecting the quality of functional and anatomical MRI data, including effects arising from subject motion within the scanner, temporal and spatial image distortions due to the sequential nature of the scanning acquisition protocol, and inhomogeneities in the scanner magnetic field, as well as anatomical differences among subjects. Even after these conventional preprocessing steps, the measured blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal often still contains a considerable amount of noise from a combination of physiological effects, outliers, and residual subject-motion factors. If unaccounted for, these factors would introduce very strong and noticeable biases in all functional connectivity measures. The second section (fMRI denoising pipeline) describes standard and advanced denoising procedures in CONN that are used to characterize and remove the effect of these residual non-neural noise sources. Functional connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging studies attempt to quantify the level of functional integration across different brain areas. The third section (functional connectivity measures) describes a representative set of functional connectivity measures available in CONN, each focusing on different indicators of functional integration, including seed-based connectivity measures, ROI-to-ROI measures, graph theoretical approaches, network-based measures, and dynamic connectivity measures. Second-level analyses allow researchers to make inferences about properties of groups or populations, by generalizing from the observations of only a subset of subjects in a study. The fourth section (General Linear Model) describes the mathematics behind the General Linear Model (GLM), the approach used in CONN for all second-level analyses of functional connectivity measures. The description includes GLM model definition, parameter estimation, and hypothesis testing framework, as well as several practical examples and general guidelines aimed at helping researchers use this method to answer their specific research questions. The last section (cluster-level inferences) details several approaches implemented in CONN that allow researchers to make meaningful inferences from their second-level analysis results while providing appropriate family-wise error control (FWEC), whether in the context of voxel-based measures, such as when studying properties of seed-based maps across multiple subjects, or in the context of ROI-to-ROI measures, such as when studying properties of ROI-to-ROI connectivity matrices across multiple subjects.
Autism is a complex multifaceted disorder affecting neurodevelopment during the early years of life and, for many, throughout the life span. Inherent features include difficulties or deficits in communication, social interaction, cognition, and interpersonal behavioral coordination, to name just a few. Autism profoundly impacts the affected individual, the family, and, in many cases, the localized communities. The increased prevalence of childhood autism has resulted in rapid developments in a wide range of disciplines in recent years. Nevertheless, despite intensive research, the cause(s) remain unresolved and no single treatment strategy is employed. To address these issues, Comprehensive Guide to Autism is an all-embracing reference that offers analyses and discussions of contemporary issues in the field of autism. The work brings together scientific material from leading experts in the field relating to a wide range of important current topics, such as the early identification and treatment of children with autism, pertinent social and behavioral studies, recent developments in genetics and immunology, the influence of diet, models of autism, and future treatment prospects. Comprehensive Guide to Autism contains essential readings for behavioral science researchers, psychologists, physicians, social workers, parents, and caregivers.
This book has brought together leading investigators who work in the new arena of brain connectomics. This includes ‘macro-connectome’ efforts to comprehensively chart long-distance pathways and functional networks; ‘micro-connectome’ efforts to identify every neuron, axon, dendrite, synapse, and glial process within restricted brain regions; and ‘meso-connectome’ efforts to systematically map both local and long-distance connections using anatomical tracers. This book highlights cutting-edge methods that can accelerate progress in elucidating static ‘hard-wired’ circuits of the brain as well as dynamic interactions that are vital for brain function. The power of connectomic approaches in characterizing abnormal circuits in the many brain disorders that afflict humankind is considered. Experts in computational neuroscience and network theory provide perspectives needed for synthesizing across different scales in space and time. Altogether, this book provides an integrated view of the challenges and opportunities in deciphering brain circuits in health and disease.
Presents the unifying world-concept long sought by scientists, mystics, and sages: an Integral Theory of Everything • Explains how modern science has rediscovered the Akashic Field of perennial philosophy • New edition updates ongoing scientific studies, presents new research inspired by the first edition, and includes new case studies and a section on animal telepathy Mystics and sages have long maintained that there exists an interconnecting cosmic field at the roots of reality that conserves and conveys information, a field known as the Akashic record. Recent discoveries in vacuum physics show that this Akashic Field is real and has its equivalent in science’s zero-point field that underlies space itself. This field consists of a subtle sea of fluctuating energies from which all things arise: atoms and galaxies, stars and planets, living beings, and even consciousness. This zero-point Akashic Field is the constant and enduring memory of the universe. It holds the record of all that has happened on Earth and in the cosmos and relates it to all that is yet to happen. In Science and the Akashic Field, philosopher and scientist Ervin Laszlo conveys the essential element of this information field in language that is accessible and clear. From the world of science he confirms our deepest intuitions of the oneness of creation in the Integral Theory of Everything. We discover that, as philosopher William James stated, “We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”
A groundbreaking argument about the link between autism and ingenuity. Why can humans alone invent? In The Pattern Seekers, Cambridge University psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen makes a case that autism is as crucial to our creative and cultural history as the mastery of fire. Indeed, Baron-Cohen argues that autistic people have played a key role in human progress for seventy thousand years, from the first tools to the digital revolution. How? Because the same genes that cause autism enable the pattern seeking that is essential to our species's inventiveness. However, these abilities exact a great cost on autistic people, including social and often medical challenges, so Baron-Cohen calls on us to support and celebrate autistic people in both their disabilities and their triumphs. Ultimately, The Pattern Seekers isn't just a new theory of human civilization, but a call to consider anew how society treats those who think differently.
The amount of patients surviving severe brain injury has gradually increased over these last decades thanks to the development of intensive care. These patients either recover quickly from coma or go through prolonged disorders of consciousness such as vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS) or minimally conscious state (MCS). While patients in a minimally conscious state are to some extent aware of themselves and the environment, and show fluctuating but reproducible signs of consciousness, patients in a vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome are awake but only show reflexive behaviors. These patients are unable to communicate and present vigilance fluctuation, sensory deficits as well as severe motor and language impairments. Even though behavioral assessment currently remains the gold standard for diagnosis, a number of studies highlights the difficulty in making the distinction between conscious and unconscious patients based on clinical examinations and show a misdiagnosis rate as high as 40%. Misdiagnosis can nevertheless have serious consequences on patient’s management, medically but also ethically (i.e., regarding end-of-life decision). The emergence of functional neuroimaging techniques (such as positron emission tomography – PET and functional magnetic resonance imaging – fMRI) opened new opportunities to study brain activity in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). Recent neuroimaging tools have brought new understandings on how the brain functions after coma, and how these tools can complement bedside assessment by improving diagnosis and prognosis of DOC patients. Indeed, we know now that most patients in VS/UWS present partial activation of sensory networks and impaired functional connectivity contrary to patients in MCS. The reemergence of thalamo-cortical connections has also been associated with recovery of consciousness; whereas, thalamic atrophy has been associated to chronic DOC. Recent findings have also stressed the interest of neuroimaging in the management and the treatment of these patients. fMRI has been used as brain computer interfaces to detect consciousness in unresponsive patients and to allow basic communication in minimally conscious patients. Neuroimaging techniques are also currently being used to examine the effects of potential therapy such as pharmacological medications (e.g., Amantadine or Zolpidem) and brain stimulations (e.g., transcranial direct current stimulation or repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation).
A journey from Burning Man to the Akashic Field that suggest how 5-MeO-DMT triggers the human capacity for higher knowledge through direct contact with the zero-point field • Examines Bufo alvarius toad venom, which contains the potent natural psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT, and explores its entheogenic use • Proposes a new connection between the findings of modern physics and the knowledge held by shamans and religious sages for millennia The venom from Bufo alvarius, an unusual toad found in the Sonoran desert, contains 5-MeO-DMT, a potent natural chemical similar in effect to the more common entheogen DMT. The venom can be dried into a powder, which some researchers speculate was used ceremonially by Amerindian shamans. When smoked it prompts an instantaneous break with the physical world that causes out-of-body experiences completely removed from the conventional dimensions of reality. In Tryptamine Palace, James Oroc shares his personal experiences with 5-MeODMT, which led to a complete transformation of his understanding of himself and of the very fabric of reality. Driven to comprehend the transformational properties of this substance, Oroc combined extensive studies of physics and philosophy with the epiphanies he gained from his time at Burning Man. He discovered that ingesting tryptamines unlocked a fundamental human capacity for higher knowledge through direct contact with the zero-point field of modern physics, known to the ancients as the Akashic Field. In the quantum world of nonlocal interactions, the line between the physical and the mental dissolves. 5-MeO-DMT, Oroc argues, can act as a means to awaken the remarkable capacities of the human soul as well as restore experiential mystical spirituality to Western civilization.
