An Embodied Brain Model of the Human Foetus.
Cortical learning via sensorimotor experiences evoked by bodily movements begins as early as the foetal period. However, the learning mechanisms by which sensorimotor experiences guide cortical learning remain unknown owing to technical and ethical difficulties. To bridge this gap, we present an embodied brain model of a human foetus as a coupled brain-body-environment system by integrating anatomical/physiological data. Using this model, we show how intrauterine sensorimotor experiences related to bodily movements induce specific statistical regularities in somatosensory feedback that facilitate cortical learning of body representations and subsequent visual-somatosensory integration. We also show how extrauterine sensorimotor experiences affect these processes. Our embodied brain model can provide a novel computational approach to the mechanistic understanding of cortical learning based on sensorimotor experiences mediated by complex interactions between the body, environment and nervous system.
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Yasunori
Y
Yamada
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Hoshinori
H
Kanazawa
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Sho
S
Iwasaki
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Yuki
Y
Tsukahara
Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
Osuke
O
Iwata
Congenital Anomaly Research Center, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Shigehito
S
Yamada
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Yasuo
Y
Kuniyoshi
D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009142:Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D055698:Touch Perception