Clinical and experimental research over the last decade has implicated neuroanatomic loops connecting the frontal cortex to the basal ganglia and thalamus in various aspects of planning and memory. We report on computational model whose central aspects are (1) a model of cortical-striatal-thalamic loops in planning and executive control, and (2) a fine-grained model of basal-ganglia function th...

Planning and control are two basic components of autonomous robot systems. In recent years, significant advances have been made in both these areas. However, these developments have continued to be carried out in isolation, and the gap between planning and control remains an important one. This article discusses the ongoing effort at Stanford University for the extension of real-time robot cont...

Although the performance of simple cognitive tasks can be enhanced if an incentive is provided, the mechanisms enabling such motivational control are not known. This study sought to uncover how mechanisms of attention and readiness are altered by reward-associated incentive stimuli. We measured EEG/ERP activity as human adults viewed a high- or low-incentive cue, experienced a short preparation...

Preference handling is a problem of much theoretical and practical interest. In planning, preferences arises naturally when one considers richer notions of goals, as well as oversubscribed planning problems. In knowledge representation, it is a core issue with much recent work on preference languages and algorithms. In system design, preferences can be used to control choices and provide a pers...

Over the years increasing sophisticated planning algorithms have been developed. These have made for more efficient planners. However, current state of the art planners still suffer from severe complexity problems, problems that can surface even in domains in which good plans are easy to generate, like the blocks world. Planners generally employ search to find plans, and planning research has i...

the objective of this study was to assess the magnitude of the cutaneous leishmaniasis (cl) disease and identification of the causative agent by nested-pcr for current control strategy.this study was carried out as descriptive house-to-house visits in orzoieh district in kerman province, south-east iran, during 2011-2012. a questionnaire was completed for each individual consisting of demograph...

This study examined the effects of L-dopa medication in patients with Parkinson's disease on cortical and subcortical blood flow changes during two tasks known to involve frontostriatal circuitry. Eleven patients with Parkinson's disease were scanned on two occasions, one ON L-dopa medication and one OFF L-dopa medication, during performance of the Tower of London planning task and a related te...