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Purpose – To show that Hayek's prescient concepts on the cerebral cortex have received substantial support from modern neuroscience.

Methodology – Update the terminology of The Sensory Order to adjust it to prevalent concepts of cognitive network, plasticity, association, connectivity, and cortical dynamics. Extend his concepts of perception to other cognitive functions, notably memory. Reveal significance of modern methods to study the formation and organization of cognitive cortical networks (cognits), applying the same basic methodologies that he applied to perception. He also applied those methodologies to knowledge transactions in economics and the social order.

Findings – As Hayek proposed or assumed in his theoretical monograph:•Cognitive networks are spontaneously formed by associations (connections) between neuronal assemblies representing simultaneous elementary sensations.•Perceiving is classifying the world into categories of objects defined by those associations, in accord with a relational code.•Networks are hierarchically organized, with smaller networks constituting, and nested within, larger ones.•After formed and organized, a network becomes memory, which will make and shape future perception.•The interactions between the organism and its environment are governed by the perception/action (PA) cycle, a concept intuited by Hayek. This is the cybernetic interplay between the mammalian organism and its environment that courses through perceptual and executive networks of the cortex.•The dialog with an interlocutor epitomizes the PA cycle of language, unique to the human.

Social Implications – The brain embodies structure and dynamics similar to those relating the individual to society. They include a complex adaptive system, the cerebral cortex, which engages the brains of others through the PA cycle. Language is the highest operation of that cycle at interpersonal level. Transactions of knowledge within the cortex are similar to those of the market place, with their attributes of spontaneity, self-organization, and incompleteness.

Originality/Value of paper – This paper is unusual in that it highlights: (a) the insight of Hayek in cognitive neuroscience, anticipating by several decades the verification of his thinking on the role of the cerebral cortex in knowledge utilization and storage; and (b) the value for brain science of the principles of organization of knowledge that Hayek successfully applied to social sciences.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrative framework bringing together results from neuroplasticity and decision-making from a neuroscience perspective with those from market plasticity, i.e. with which practices market actors shape markets.

Provided that developments in neuroscience indicate that training the brain for orientation toward efficient decision-making processes under uncertainty is possible, an in-depth analysis can be conducted by using the integrative framework, which was set up by the authors for advancing research efforts in neuroeconomics and neurofinance on these lines.

Markets have a plastic character; they can change shape and form and remain in that way thereafter. The marketers have always been causing this change to succeed in their marketing strategies and efforts. Plasticity, hitherto considered by marketing, market sociology and evolutionary economics, has a potential in financial decision-making processes, especially regarding its role in training the brain for stable financial decisions.

The theoretical approach can be incorporated for delivering an alternative representation of the knowledge processes associated with financial decisions.

The practical approach can be used for improving the practical aspects of financial decision-making processes.

The contribution is the first of its kind which integrates neuroscience approaches of plasticity and decision-making with the concept of market plasticity from the literature on economics and management, showing their similarities and opening a new front of discussion on how these two approaches can learn from each other to increase the explanatory power of financial decision-making processes and to gain new insights for financial decision makers on how to make more efficient financial decisions in the times of uncertainty.

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is currently one of the recommended treatments for depression for the general population and guidance recommends that people with a learning disability should have access to the same treatments as people without a learning disability. The purpose of this paper is to identify, outline and evaluate current research on the effectiveness of CBT for depression for people with a learning disability. The clinical, service and research implications are considered.

A systematic search was conducted and five relevant articles were identified for critical review.

There is a limited but promising evidence base for the use of CBT for depression with people with learning disabilities.

The current review identified a number of methodological issues and future research should attempt to overcome these (e.g. small sample sizes and lack of controls). In particular, research should focus on determining the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioural techniques in producing a change in depressive symptoms.

Services (including those provided as part of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) should be offering CBT-based interventions for people with learning disabilities who are experiencing depression.

This paper provides a comprehensive and up to date review of the current literature regarding the use of CBT for depression for people with a learning disability. This will be of value to clinicians working with people with a learning disability as well as those commissioning services.

This paper conceives of Hayek's overall project as presenting a theory of sociocognition, explication of which has a two-fold purpose: (1) to locate Hayek within the non-Cartesian tradition of cognitive science, and (2) to show how Hayek's philosophical psychology infuses his social theory.

One limitation of research that assesses the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for people with dementia is that most do not describe the intervention in sufficient detail to ascertain a theoretical basis or mechanism of action that determines the effective components. This paper aims to identify studies which evaluate the mechanisms of action of physical activity interventions for people with dementia, to further inform effective intervention development.

Papers were screened for evidence of evaluation of specific forms of physical activity, using pre-defined inclusion criteria. Analysis was conducted to ascertain if mechanisms of action were corroborated by data within and between studies.

The authors identified 26 studies with a measured mechanism of action; these related to the effects of physical activity on either neurological structure or endocrinal markers, including hormones. Physical activity had potential to reduce hippocampal atrophy, increase neural recruitment, activate the noradrenergic system and improve anti-inflammatory responses. While individual studies were hampered by small sample sizes, the body of evidence indicated that physical activity may have potential to delay cognitive decline.

Mechanisms of action in relation to dementia and physical activity are likely to be multifaceted, and physical activity may be protective against progression in the early stages of cognitive decline. Physical activity may be of greatest benefit if incorporated into on-going lifestyle, rather than engaged in for short periods, and combined with social interaction.

This paper is unique in its focus on the mechanisms of action of physical activity interventions for people with dementia.