🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Jul31.232606.5964@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu>,
rwmurphr@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Robert W Murphree) writes:
 >But my opinion is they don't really understand the brain, bugs or humans
 >very well anyway.

But this begs the question: Why, then, would one expect to find a
"neurobiology of arthropods for roboticists" textbook?

 >Bug behavior is simple enough that it seems to be
 >simulatable by modern control theory and computer hardware.

Without a clear view of the neural substrates of insect behavior, what
are you really simulating?  The most you can say is "See, my robot
acts a bit like a cockroach." -- not a very impressive statement.  My
opinion is that before one can say things like "robotic insect", one
is obligated to provide some sort of clear model which explains *why*
the thing should be regarded as insect-like.

 >The same cannot, in my opinion be said about anything vaguely
 >mammalian that has to do with the brain...

Can you clarify this?  I can think of several researchers who have
fairly specific things to say about mammalian behavior and its neural
origins [1-3].  Alexander & co. at Emory have an interesting "multiple
motor loops" picture of cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus in mammals
[4] that could provide fuel for a robotic analogue.

I don't dispute the notion that mammals are murky, but they're not so
baffling as to warrant our complete neglect! (and I think this echoes
the view that Ron Arkin posted here not too long ago.)

 >A detailed model of cockroach neurons has already been used ...

Sounds vaguely familiar.  Do you have a reference for this?


----References:

[1] Kalaska JF, Crammond DJ, (1992) "Cerebral cortical mechanisms of
reaching movements", Science 255:1517-1523.

[2] Diamond A, ed., (1990) The Development and Neural Bases of Higher
Cognitive Functions, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences v.
608.  Diamond is a psychologist, but both she and Patricia
Goldman-Rakic are particularly good about tying primate behavior down
to its neural bases.

[3] Moll L, Kuypers HGJM, (1977), "Premotor cortical ablations in
monkeys: contralateral changes in visually guided reaching behavior",
Science, 198:317-319.

[4] Alexander GE, Crutcher MD, (1990), "Functional architecture of
basal ganglia circuits: neural substrates of parallel processing",
Trends in Neurosciences 13(7):266-271.
-- 
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Christopher Ian Connolly			connolly@cs.umass.edu
Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics		wa2ifi
University of Massachusetts at Amherst		Amherst, MA 01003