How activity shapes spines

How Inhibition Shapes Cortical Activity

Cortical processing reflects the interplay of synaptic excitation and synaptic inhibition. Rapidly accumulating evidence is highlighting the crucial role of inhibition in shaping spontaneous and sensory-evoked cortical activity and thus underscores how a better knowledge of inhibitory circuits is necessary for our understanding of cortical function. We discuss current views of how inhibition re...

How Experience Shapes Vision

Michael J. Tarr received his PhD from M.I.T. in 1989. He is currently the Fox Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and a Professor of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences at Brown University. He is the recipient of the 1997 APA Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in the Area of Cognition/Human Learning and the 2003 Troland Research Award from the Na...

How Similarity Shapes Diagrams

Most diagrams communicate effectively despite the fact that diagrams as a group have a minium of conventions and a high tolerance for novelty. This paper proposes that the diversity and felicity of diagrammatic representation is based on three kinds of similarity between semantic propositions and spatial representations that allow people to interpret diagrams consistently with a minimum of effo...

How Communication Shapes Culture

How Nonconsumption Shapes Desire

How does nonconsumption shape desire? The proposed model suggests that desire depends on the length of nonconsumption of a good and the presence of salient alternatives, and that desire is at least partially constructed. In the absence of salient alternatives, a longer nonconsumption period results in stronger desire for the unconsumed good. However, in the presence of salient alternatives, ind...