{"title":"Disentangled representations for causal cognition","authors":"Filippo Torresan , Manuel Baltieri","doi":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Complex adaptive agents consistently achieve their goals by solving problems that seem to require an understanding of causal information, information pertaining to the causal relationships that exist among elements of combined agent-environment systems. Causal cognition studies and describes the main characteristics of causal learning and reasoning in human and non-human animals, offering a conceptual framework to discuss cognitive performances based on the level of apparent causal understanding of a task. Despite the use of formal intervention-based models of causality, including causal Bayesian networks, psychological and behavioural research on causal cognition does not yet offer a computational account that operationalises how agents acquire a causal understanding of the world seemingly from scratch, i.e. without a-priori knowledge of relevant features of the environment. Research on causality in machine and reinforcement learning, especially involving disentanglement as a candidate process to build causal representations, represents on the other hand a concrete attempt at designing artificial agents that can learn about causality, shedding light on the inner workings of natural causal cognition. In this work, we connect these two areas of research to build a unifying framework for causal cognition that will offer a computational perspective on studies of animal cognition, and provide insights in the development of new algorithms for causal reinforcement learning in AI.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":403,"journal":{"name":"Physics of Life Reviews","volume":"51 ","pages":"Pages 343-381"},"PeriodicalIF":13.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142577929","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The sound of thought: Form matters–The prosody of inner speech","authors":"Hamutal Kreiner , Zohar Eviatar","doi":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper offers a new perspective on inner speech based on the theoretical framework of embodiment, focusing on the embodiment of structure rather than content. We argue that inner speech is used to simulate the acoustic aspects of overt speech including prosody. Prosody refers to the rhythm, intonation, and stress of spoken language, which is closely related to structural aspects of phrases, sentences, and larger language contexts such as discourse and narrative. We propose that inner speech gives form and structure to thought, and that this form is a necessary component of mental life. Thus, our paper opens with a review of the varieties of inner speech, followed by evidence concerning the form of inner speech, and finally, we discuss the functionality of inner speech. We consider cognitive and socio-emotional functions in which inner speech is involved and posit that inner speech serves as a simulation that maintains form and that this form serves different aspects of thought – attention, memory, emotion and self- regulation, social conceptualization, and narrative of self. In concluding, we address future research asking how inner speech contributes to making mental processes accessible to conscious thought, and whether accessibility to consciousness is related to form and structure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":403,"journal":{"name":"Physics of Life Reviews","volume":"51 ","pages":"Pages 231-242"},"PeriodicalIF":13.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142492308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"More than one effect in every affect","authors":"Antonino Costanzo , Alessandro Musetti , Rodolfo Rossi , Adriano Schimmenti","doi":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.008","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":403,"journal":{"name":"Physics of Life Reviews","volume":"51 ","pages":"Pages 273-280"},"PeriodicalIF":13.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142534623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Raffaele Saladino, Bruno Mattia Bizzarri, Ernesto Di Mauro
{"title":"Determinism of formamide-based biogenic prebiotic reactions","authors":"Raffaele Saladino, Bruno Mattia Bizzarri, Ernesto Di Mauro","doi":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Formamide reacted in the presence of a catalyst and of a source of energy affords a rich and complex panel of compounds, including amino acids, amino sugars, nucleic bases, nucleosides, carboxylic acids, aliphatic chains, and more. Nor the source of energy nor the type of catalyst are fastidious. All the catalysts tested have activity; each catalyst affords its own specific set of products, although the panels of products of each catalyst largely overlap. Potentially biogenic compounds form in reasonable conditions and the chemistry that determines the initial syntheses is facile. Hence, Darwins <em>warm little pond</em> did not rely on exotic environments nor on magic tricks. The type of molecules resulting from a mixture of formamide and of two selected products of its initial reactions hint that the initial prebiotic soup was deterministic and oriented towards life-as-we-know-it.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":403,"journal":{"name":"Physics of Life Reviews","volume":"51 ","pages":"Pages 243-251"},"PeriodicalIF":13.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142492307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Leonard Faul, Jaclyn H. Ford, Elizabeth A. Kensinger
{"title":"Update on “Emotion and autobiographical memory”: 14 years of advances in understanding functions, constructions, and consequences","authors":"Leonard Faul, Jaclyn H. Ford, Elizabeth A. Kensinger","doi":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Holland and Kensinger (2010) reviewed the literature on “Emotion and autobiographical memory.” They focused on two broad ways that emotions influence memory: (1) emotion during an event influences how the event is remembered, and (2) emotion and emotional goals during memory retrieval influence how past events are remembered. We begin by providing a brief update on the key points from that review. Holland and Kensinger (2010) also had noted a number of important avenues for future work. Here, we describe what has been learned about the functions of autobiographical memory and their reconstructive nature. Relatedly, we review more recent research on memory reconstruction in the context of visual perspective shifts, counterfactual thinking, nostalgia, and morality. This research has emphasized the reciprocal nature of the interactions between emotion and autobiographical memory: Not only do emotions influence memory, memories influence emotions. Next, we discuss advances that have been made in understanding the reciprocal relations between stress, mood, and autobiographical memory. Finally, we discuss the research that is situating emotional autobiographical memories within a social framework, providing a bedrock for collective memories. Despite the many advances of the past 14 years, many open questions remain; throughout the review we note domains in which we hope to see advances over the next decades.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":403,"journal":{"name":"Physics of Life Reviews","volume":"51 ","pages":"Pages 255-272"},"PeriodicalIF":13.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142534622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A technical comment on “A decade of thermostatted kinetic theory models for complex active matter living systems”. New fascinating perspectives of research","authors":"Massimiliano Ferrara","doi":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":403,"journal":{"name":"Physics of Life Reviews","volume":"51 ","pages":"Pages 108-110"},"PeriodicalIF":13.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142441184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The emotional grounds of existence: A phenomenologist's view. Commentary to “The affective grounds of the mind. The affective pertinentization (APER) model” by Salvatore et al.","authors":"Giovanni Stanghellini","doi":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":403,"journal":{"name":"Physics of Life Reviews","volume":"51 ","pages":"Pages 111-113"},"PeriodicalIF":13.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142444619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ant colony optimization: A bibliometric review","authors":"Christian Blum","doi":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.09.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.09.014","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper is a follow-up of one of the most-cited articles published in the first 20 years of the existence of <em>Physics of Life Reviews</em>. The specific topic is “ant colony optimization”, which is a metaheuristic for solving challenging optimization problems. Due to its inspiration from natural ant colonies' shortest path-finding behavior, this optimization technique forms part of a larger field known as swarm intelligence. After a short introduction to ant colony optimization, we first provide a chronology focusing on algorithmic developments rather than applications. The main part of the paper deals with a bibliometric study of the ant colony optimization literature. Interesting trends concerning, for example, the geographic origin of publications and the change in research focus over time, can be learned from the presented graphs and numbers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":403,"journal":{"name":"Physics of Life Reviews","volume":"51 ","pages":"Pages 87-95"},"PeriodicalIF":13.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142326680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Since Feeling is First: Comment on “The affective grounds of the mind. The Affective Pertinentization (APER) Model” by Sergio Salvatore, Arianna Palmieri, Raffaele De Luca Picione, Vincenzo Bochicchio, Mateo Reho, Maria Rita Serio, Giampaolo Salvatore","authors":"Jose' A. Saporta","doi":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.09.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.09.013","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":403,"journal":{"name":"Physics of Life Reviews","volume":"51 ","pages":"Pages 229-230"},"PeriodicalIF":13.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142455013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Surveying the neuroimager's connectivity toolbox: Comment on “Connectivity analyses for task-based fMRI” by Huang, De Brigard, Cabeza, & Davis","authors":"N. Ladyka-Wojcik, M. Ritchey","doi":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.09.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plrev.2024.09.012","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":403,"journal":{"name":"Physics of Life Reviews","volume":"51 ","pages":"Pages 101-103"},"PeriodicalIF":13.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142379794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}