This thesis deals with the analysis of brain function in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) using two sequences: BOLD functional MRI (fMRI) and Arterial Spin Labelling (ASL). In this context, group statistical analyses are of great importance in order to understand the general mechanisms underlying a pathology, but there is also an increasing interest towards patient-specific analyses that draw conclusions at the patient level. Both group and patient-specific analyses are studied in this thesis. We first introduce a group analysis in BOLD fMRI for the study of specific language impairment, a pathology that was very little investigated in neuroimaging. We outline atypical patterns of functional activity and lateralisation in language regions. Then, we move forward to patient-specific analysis. We propose the use of robust estimators to compute cerebral blood flow maps in ASL. Then, we analyse the validity of the assumptions underlying standard statistical analyses in the context of ASL. Finally, we propose a new locally multivariate statistical method based on an a contrario approach and apply it to the detection of atypical patterns of perfusion in ASL and to activation detection in BOLD functional MRI.

This dissertation is a multi-disciplinary study, which integrates a software engineering approach with instructional factors in the decision-making, analysis, design and development processes of instructional software. Software engineering models, tools and representations are used in the process of software construction. With reference to the fundamental characteristics of the software product, several disciplines and factors, from both instructional and computing perspectives are considered, and the most appropriate approach/es selected. Software engineering, instructional design and instructional theory are considered as pillars of courseware engineering. The object-oriented design paradigm and a prototyping life-cycle model are found to be most suitable for development of computer-aided instruction. The conceptual study is illustrated by prototype development of a component-based multi-activity practice environment in theoretical Computer Science. It offers perusal or practice, in various instructional modes, according to the user's preferred learning style or need. / Computing / M. Sc. (Information Systems)

Varje år drabbas 30 000 svenskar av stroke, vilket innebär stora personliga omställningar och stora kostnader för samhället. Den mest effektiva behandlingen, trombolys, måste ges så snart som möjligt för att ha god effekt.  Samtidigt som det är av största vikt att ta reda på om patienten har några differentialdiagnoser som gör behandlingen riskfylld. Den här studien undersöker hur strokekedjan går till och vilka faktorer som påverkar beslutsfattandet. Studien är baserad på etnografiska fältstudier på fyra svenska sjukhus och materialet är analyserat med metoder från sammansatta kognitiva system och målorienterad design. Resultaten visar att trots olika organiserade strokekedjor på de olika sjukhusen är processerna desamma och direkt kommunikation är mest framgångsrik för att effektivt sprida information mellan dem. Neurologjouren är viktig roll som, liksom resten av aktörerna i strokekedjan, ständigt balanserar sitt beslutsfattande mellan effektivitet och grundlighet. Kombinationen av analyser ger resultat både på system- och individnivå. Möjligheter för förbättrade strokekedjor ges i termer av logistiska, tekniska och organisatoriska förslag. / 30 000 people in Sweden get a stroke every year. This leads to large personal adaptions as well as high costs for the society. The most efficient treatment, thrombolysis, must be given as soon as possible to have a good effect. At the same time it is very important to find out if the patient has any differential diagnosis that can make the treatment hazardous. This study investigates how the course ov events around acute stroke patients take place and important factors for the decision making. The studiy is based on ethnographic field studys on four swedish hospitals. The material is analysed with methods from joint cognitive systems and goal-oriented design. The results show that in spite of different organisation of the course  of events around acute stroke patients are the processes and direct communication most successful for effective spread of information between the processes. The neurologist on call is an important roll who, as well as the rest of the participants in the course of events, balances the decision making between efficiency and thoroughness. The combination of analysis gives results on both system- and individual levels. Possibilites for improvents are given in three categories: logistic, technological and organizational.

Le syndrome de l'intestin irritable (SII) touche près de 10% de la population. Nous avons utilisé un modèle animal de SII induit par le butyrate développé au laboratoire afin de décortiquer les mécanismes de l'hypersensibilité colique (HSC) dans le SII. Le blocage du NGF par des anticorps anti-NGF prévient l'HSC induite par le butyrate, évaluée par le test de distension colorectale. Le NGF, quantifié par immunohistochimie (IHC), est surexprimé dans les ganglions rachidiens dorsaux (GRD) innervant le côlon des rats butyrate. Le blocage des canaux ASIC par amiloride prévient l'HSC induite par le butyrate. L'expression des ARNm ASIC1a et ASIC1b, évaluée par RT-PCR, est augmentée dans les GDR des rats butyrate. Cette augmentation est corrélée à une augmentation de l'expression de la protéine ASIC1A dans les neurones nociceptifs, quantifiée par IHC. Le blocage du NGF par des anticorps anti-NGF prévient la surexpression de ASIC1A dans les GRD. L'absence de variation d'expression du NGF et de ASIC1A au niveau colique suggère que ces moléciles ont une implication dans l'élément présynaptique plutôt que dans les terminaisons libres coliques. L'étude de l'expression spinale de la protéine Fos après stimulation des fibres coliques a montré que l'HSC induite par le butyrate est associée à une activation spécifique des segments thoraciques T10-T11-T12 de la moëlle épinière (MEp). Le blocage spinal du canal ASIC1A par la PcTx1 prévient l'HSC induite par le butyrate. L'expression de ASIC1a, évaluée par RT-PCR et Western blot, est augmentée dans la MEp des rats butyrate. Comme à la périphérie, l'expression de ASIC1a est modulée par le NGF puisque le blocage du NGF prévient la surexpression des ARNm et de la protéine ASIC1A dans la MEp des rats butyrate. En conclusion, ce travail de thèse suggère que le NGF et le canal ASIC1A jouent un rôle critique dans le développement de douleurs viscérales en contribuant à la fois à la sensibilisation périphérique et centrale.

Les patients schizophrènes ont des difficultés à décoder les états mentaux et anticiper le comportement d'autrui. Nous avons montré que ces difficultés s'étendaient à la détection de mouvements intentionnels élémentaires comme le mouvement de poursuite. L'origine de ce déficit est mixte, à la fois perceptive, en lien avec des anomalies oculomotrices mais aussi cognitive. A l'aide d'un paradigme de translocation d'objets, nous avons mis en évidence chez les mêmes patients une difficulté à inférer les croyances et les buts d'autrui qui était expliquée par une moindre attention visuelle dédiée au visage d'autrui. A partir des animations de Frith-Happé, nous avons développé chez des sujets sains des mesures oculaires qui attestent d'une attraction de l'attention visuelle par le mouvement intentionnel. Nous avons enfin démontré chez d'autres sujets sains que le raisonnement intentionnel sur des bandes dessinées était associé à une stratégie de scrutation visuelle plus intense que pour le raisonnement mécaniste. Ces deux derniers paradigmes pourraient être particulièrement utiles pour confirmer l'hypothèse d'un défaut d'attention visuelle dédiée aux informations mentalistes dans la schizophrénie. Les résultats invitent à développer des stratégies de remédiation des anomalies de l'exploration visuelle des stimuli mentalistes dans la schizophrénie.

This thesis is on Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) and its relevance for the rationality of religious beliefs. An epistemical model for rationality is developed according to which: a person (or group of persons) is rational to hold a certain belief a) if this belief can be assumed to have been generated by one or more reliable cognitive mechanisms, b) applies whether or not she is aware of what these mechanisms are, but c) only as long as it does not exist or arise some reasons (defeaters) to question the belief; if they occur, she must d) reflect on it and find other reasons or grounds to hold the belief in question.      Two different positions are examined, namely: 1) negative relevance: the findings and theories in CSR undermines the rationality of religious beliefs; 2) positive relevance: religious beliefs need not be irrational in the light of CSR, in fact CSR may actually support the rationality of religious beliefs.      Two lines of argument can be distinguished among those who argue for a negative relevance: a) the natural explanations that are provided by CSR are preferable; and b) religious beliefs are irrational because they are caused by unreliable cognitive mechanisms.      Among those who argue for positive relevance two arguments can be distinguised: a) religious beliefs seem to come naturally to humans and therefore are probably true; and b) CSR confirms empirically that we are equipped with a "divine mechanism" that there are reasons to believe is reliable.      The conclusions are: CSR has negative relevance to beliefs in "finite supernatural agency", but not for the faith of "infinite supernatural agency". First, the first type of beliefs is easier to explain by being generated by unreliable cognitive mechanisms; secondly they are difficult to integrate with what we otherwise know about the world. A category that falls outside the scope of CSR and thus not even potentially can be affected, is beliefs in "supernatural non-agency". / The Impact of Religion – Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy

Pinker et Bloom (1990), deux représentants de la psychologie évolutionniste, soutiennent que le langage est une adaptation biologique ayant pour fonction la communication. Ils prétendent ainsi jeter un éclairage sur l’origine et l’évolution du langage. Le présent mémoire propose une analyse critique de leur argumentation, et ce, du point de vue de la philosophie de la biologie. D’une part, il tente de dissiper la confusion entourant la conception du langage adoptée par Pinker et Bloom, afin de mieux définir le trait censé constituer une adaptation biologique. Ce faisant, ce mémoire fait ressortir certains présupposés de leur conception du langage et en souligne l’aspect problématique. En ce sens, les concepts d’innéité, de modularité, de grammaire universelle et de systématicité sont abordés de façon critique. D’autre part, ce travail entend expliciter un concept clé de l’argumentation de Pinker et Bloom : celui d’adaptation. L’analyse montre que l’opposition entre adaptationnisme et anti-adaptationnisme tient, dans le cas présent, à une divergence quant à la façon de définir l’adaptation biologique. Une distinction importante doit être faite entre une adaptation résultant exclusivement de la sélection naturelle dans un contexte fonctionnel particulier et une adaptation qui n’exclut pas a priori d’autres facteurs évolutifs, dont l’exaptation. Dans la mesure où l’argumentation de Pinker et Bloom conduit à affirmer que le langage constitue une adaptation seulement au deuxième sens du terme, ce mémoire montre qu’ils ne sont pas à même de rendre compte de l’origine du langage. / Pinker and Bloom (1990), two proponents of evolutionary psychology, argue that language has evolved as a biological adaptation for the function of communication. In doing so, they claim to shed light on the origin and evolution of language. This paper proposes a critical analysis of their argument from the point of view of the philosophy of biology. On the one hand, it attempts to clarify Pinker and Bloom’s conception of language in order to better define the trait that is regarded as an adaptation. Thus, this paper brings to the fore several problematic assumptions underlying their conception of language. In this context, the concepts of innateness, modularity, universal grammar and systematicity are addressed in a critical manner. On the other hand, this paper aims to make explicit a key concept of their argument: the concept of adaptation. The analysis shows that the opposition between adaptationism and anti-adaptationism is due, in the present instance, to a divergence in the way biological adaptation is defined. An important distinction has to be drawn between an adaptation resulting exclusively from natural selection in a particular functional context and an adaptation that does not a priori exclude other evolutionary factors such as exaptation. In so far as Pinker and Bloom’s argument allows them to conclude that language is an adaptation only in the second meaning of the term, this paper shows that they are not in a position to provide an account of the origin of language.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

The dissertation is following both theoretical and practical sides of Victor Burgin's early work. The structure of this thesis mainly reflects a hybrid attitude of the artist/theorist - the text digress from theoretical comments to related art works which are arranged chronologically. The principal focus lies in Burgin's concers for ideological, social and cultural impacts of photographic advertising practice in Great Britain during the 1970s which he assesed through theories derived from marxism, semiology and psychoanalysis. Keywords: Victor Burgin, photography theory, minimal art, conceptual art, cognitive science, semiotics, modernism, postmodernism, LEF (Left Front of the Arts), marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism

<div>Vehicle automation is developing at a rapid rate worldwide. However, even lower levels of automation, such as SAE Level-1, are expected to reduce drivers’ workload by controlling either speed or lane position. At the same time, however, drivers’ engagement in secondary tasks may make up for this difference in workload displaced by automation. Previous research has investigated the effects of adaptive cruise control (ACC) on driving performance and workload, but little attention has been devoted to Lane Keeping Systems (LKS). In addition, the influence of secondary cognitive tasks on Level-1 driving performance is also not well understood.</div><div><br></div><div>The first goal of this thesis study was to examine the effects of secondary cognitive tasks and driving condition on driving performance. The second goal was to examine the effects of secondary cognitive tasks and driving condition on heart rate related measurements that reflect changes in workload. Both a novel nano-sensor and a commercial ECG sensor were used to measure heart rate. Thus, the third goal was to compare the capability of a nano-sensor in detecting changes in heart rate and heart rate variability with a commercially available ECG sensor. Twenty-five participants drove a simulated vehicle in manual, ACC and LKS driving conditions, while performing a secondary cognitive (N-back) task with varying levels of difficulty.</div><div><br></div><div>Results showed that more difficult cognitive secondary tasks were beneficial to driving performance in that a lower standard deviation of lane departure (SDLD) and a lower standard deviation of vehicle speed (SDVS) were both observed. Heart rate and NASA-TLX workload scores were significantly higher in the most difficult secondary task and in the manual driving conditions. However, heart rate variability measures (SDNN, RMSSD, pNN50, LF Power and HF Power) indicated lower variability under more difficult secondary tasks. This thesis suggests that nanotechnological devices may serve as a potential alternative to other heart rate measuring technology. Limitations in detecting minor heart rate changes between different driving conditions and in heart rate variability measuring were also acknowledged.</div>