Cognitive Archaeology, Body Cognition, and the Evolution of Visuospatial Perception

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Cognitive Archaeology, Body Cognition, and the Evolution of Visuospatial Perception offers a multidisciplinary and comprehensive perspective on the evolution of the visuospatial ability in the human genus. It presents current topics in cognitive sciences and prehistoric archaeology, to provide a bridge between evolutionary anthropology and neurobiology.

This book explores how body perception and spatial sensing may have evolved in humans, as to enhance a “prosthetic capacity” able to integrate the brain, body, and technological elements into a single functional system. It includes chapters on touch and haptics, peripersonal space, parietal lobe evolution, somatosensory integration, neuroarchaeology, visual behavior, attention, and psychometrics.

Cognitive Archaeology, Body Cognition, and the Evolution of Visuospatial Perception represents an essential resource for evolutionary biologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, and neuroscientists who are interested in the role of body perception and spatial ability in human cognition.

  • Addresses the role of body perception and sensing in human evolution
  • Supplies a comprehensive overview on the cognitive mechanisms associated with the integration between brain, body and tools
  • Offers a bridge between evolutionary anthropology, archaeology, and cognitive sciences

Author(s): Emiliano Bruner
Publisher: Academic Press
Year: 2023

Language: English
Pages: 324
City: London

Front Cover
COGNITIVE ARCHAEOLOGY, BODY COGNITION, AND THE EVOLUTION OF VISUOSPATIAL PERCEPTION
COGNITIVE ARCHAEOLOGY, BODY COGNITION, AND THE EVOLUTION OF VISUOSPATIAL PERCEPTIONEDITED BYEMILIANO BRUNERRESEARCH GROUP L ...
Contents
Contributors
Biography
Preface
Touching minds: body, tools, and the evolution of a prosthetic consciousness
1 -
Visuospatial cognition and evolution
1 - Somatosensation and body perception: the integration of afferent signals in multisensory cognitive processes
The sensory origin of body perception
Somatosensation from the skin
Internal somatosensory sensing: muscles, joints, and viscera
Central processing and integration of somatosensory signals
Classic central pathways activated by somatosensory afference
Integration of somatosensory signals with other senses and with internal mechanisms
Conclusion and future perspectives
References
2 - Perception by effortful touch and a lawful approach to (the evolution of) perceiving and acting
A (the) predominant approach to understanding how perceiving occurs
Assumption 1: The fundamental separation of animal and environment
Assumption 2: The primacy of animal-independent variables
Evolutionary puzzles and paradoxes and (brief) hints at resolutions
An ecological account of perceiving of, and behavior in, the surroundings
The ecological approach to perceiving by touch
Task-specificity and anatomical independence in perceiving properties of wielded objects
Task specificity
Anatomical independence
Task-specificity and anatomical independence in perception by means of wielded objects
What function(s) has the touch system evolved to serve?
Synergies as task-specific control units
Smart perceptual devices as task-specific detection units
What architectural configuration of the touch system coevolved to support this function?
Biotensegrity and the misfit nature of the touch system
Biotensegrity and the ecological approach to perception by touch
Concluding thoughts: what to make of (the evolution of) tool use?
References
3 - Evolutionary perspective on peripersonal space and perception
Introduction
Functions and definition of the peripersonal space
Peripersonal space as a common function in the animal world
Behavioral evidence
Neural bases
Peripersonal space in humans and nonhuman primates
Neural bases and cortical networks
First parietofrontal network: VIP-F4
Second parietofrontal network: AIP/7b-F5
Subcortical areas
Brain expansion and evolution
Posture
Development of the peripersonal space
Evolution of emotions linked to PPS
Tool-use
Plasticity of peripersonal space with tool use
Tool use and PPS in handicap
Body illusion and self-representation
PPS and new types of virtual technological tools
Social and cultural societies
Culture
Social PPS, when your PPS become my PPS
Peripersonal space within a world pandemic
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
4 - The body in the world: tools and somato-centric maps in the primate brain
Introduction
The evolution of a biological substrate conducive to tool usage
Tool representation in the brain
Mapping the tool-usage space
Cognitive components of tool use
The tool with the body and the body in the world
Conclusion
Funding
References
5 - Parietal cortex and cumulative technological culture
Introduction
Motor control
Function
From object manipulation to object–object manipulation
Tool use and CTC
Visuospatial skills
Function
Visuospatial transformations
Visuospatial skills and CTC
Technical reasoning
Function
Neurocognitive bases
Technical reasoning and CTC
Evolution of the parietal cortex and technical reasoning
An evolutionary scenario
Palaeoneurology and cognitive neuroscience
Conclusion
References
6 - Body-tool integration: past, present, and future
Introduction
Body-tool integration during motor control
Effects of tool use on reaching behavior
Effects of tool use on tactile object perception
Emergence and development of sensorimotor plasticity during tool use
Drivers of this plasticity
Neural evidence of sensorimotor plasticity
Body-tool integration during sensing
Localizing touch on the surface of a tool
Neural processes underlying body-tool integration
Future of integrated technology
Body restoration: prosthetics and brain–machine interfaces
Robotic body augmentation
Conclusion
References
2 -
Visuospatial behaviour and cognitive archaeology
7 - The evolution of the parietal lobes in the genus Homo: the fossil evidence
Paleoneurology and functional craniology
Skulls and endocasts
Parietal endocasts
The fossil evidence on parietal lobe evolution in the human genus
Early and archaic humans
Neanderthals
Modern humans
Parietal lobes and brain globularity
Deep parietal
More on parietal vascularization
Anatomy, cognition, and behavior
Acknowledgments
References
8 - Parietal lobe expansion, its consequences for working memory, and the evolution of modern thinking
Working memory
Regions of the parietal lobes
Intraparietal sulcus (IPS)
Intraparietal sulcus (IPS)
Superior parietal lobule (SPL)
Intraparietal sulcus (IPS)
Precuneus
Inferior Parietal Lobule (IPL)
Supramarginal gyrus (SMG)
Angular gyrus (AG)
Retrosplenial cortex (RSC)
The SMG, phonological storage, and the evolution of language
The parietal lobes and the default mode network of the brain
Egocentric and allocentric frames of reference and emotional regulation
The episodic buffer and the evolution of modern thinking
Do future simulations enhance prospective memory?
References
9 - Experimental neuroarchaeology of visuospatial behavior
Introduction
Neuroarchaeology as evolutionary neuroscience
Comparative evidence
Experimental evidence
Evolutionary interpretation
Conclusion
References
10 - Cognitive archaeology, attention, and visual behavior
Vision, attention, and human evolution
Eye tracking technology
Visual attention in cognitive archaeology
Visual perception and prehistory
Saliency and affordances
Visual exploration of stone tools
Visual attention during stone tool manipulation
Sex differences in visual perception
Differences between technologies
The role of archaeological knowledge in visual attention
Visual attention during tool-making
Vision and cognition in prehistory
Acknowledgments
References
11 - Handling prehistory: tools, electrophysiology, and haptics
A brain at hand: from haptics to cognition
Minds, hands, and stone tools
Lower Paleolithic stone tools
Perceiving tools: biomechanical aspects of tool manipulation
Perceiving tools: attention, activation, and emotional reaction
Detecting emotions
Recognizing emotions
Recording emotions
Electrodermal responses to Lower Paleolithic stone tool manipulation
Final considerations
Acknowledgments
References
12 - A comparative approach to evaluating the biomechanical complexity of the freehand knapping swing
Introduction
Mechanics of the freehand Oldowan knapping swing
Nut-cracking mechanics in bearded capuchins
Discussion
Behavioral divergences
Behavioral similarities but task constraint distinctions
Brief considerations beyond biomechanics
Conclusions
References
13 - Psychometrics, visuospatial abilities, and cognitive archaeology
Psychometrics and cognition
Measuring minds
A multivariate cognitive space
Limitations of psychometric tests
Psychometrics and visuospatial ability
Body and perception
Visuospatial integration, working memory, and brain development
Psychometrics and archaeology
Visuospatial functions and experimental archaeology
Example 1: paleolithic tool grasping
Example 2: visual attention and tool affordances
The issue of modern humans
Human evolution: the body and beyond
Acknowledgments
References
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
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Back Cover