Cognitive Computations: A Network Perspective
Abstract
Cognitive Computations: A Network Perspective Danielle S. Bassett Skirkanich Assistant Professor of Innovation Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania Overview: A key feature shared by many “cognitive computations” is the coordination of neurophysiological processes across distributed brain areas. This coordination is facilitated by a network of anatomical pathways. The architecture of this network – the human connectome – has begun to be examined descriptively, yet its direct implications for cognitive computation are critically understudied. We suggest that the underlying network architecture linking brain areas has specific and quantifiable implications for cognitive computation. We make this claim based on mechanistic models of network control theory (traditionally exercised in the context of other complex systems) and supported by preliminary data in humans. As described herein, this approach will provide a new class of cognitive computations that depend on the organization of inter-area links, rather than on the activity of single brain areas. Moreover, it will allow a delineation of how these computations constrain the brain s movement through cognitive processes, and will establish that network architecture is a fundamental predictor of individual differences in cognitive function. Relevance: The proposal falls squarely under the auspices of the Computational Neuroscience program (PO: McKenna), by seeking to “elucidate the organization, structural bases and operational algorithms characterizing information-processing networks within neural systems.” In addition, our work has tangible relevance to the following: (i) Intelligent and Autonomous Systems, (ii) Machine Learning, Reasoning and Intelligence Program, (iii) Mathematical Data Science Program, (iv) Neural Computation, and (v) Perception - Metacognition and Control. Qualifications: PI Bassett graduated in 2004 with a B.S. in Physics from Penn State University, and in 2009 with a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Cambridge on a combination of a Churchill Scholarship, and an NIH-Cambridge Health Sciences scholarship. She was a postdoc from 2009–2011in the Department of Physics at UC Santa Barbara, and was named a Sage Junior Research Fellow from 2011–2013. In 2013, she accepted a position at the University of Pennsylvania as the Skirkanich Assistant Professor of Innovation in the Department of Bioengineering. In 2012, she was named a “Rising Star” by the American Psychological Society and was given the Alumni Achievement Award, from the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University for extraordinary professional accomplishment under 35 yr. of age. In 2014, she was named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow and was awarded the MacArthur Fellow Genius Grant. She is an active scientific leader as evidenced by her interdisciplinary groundbreaking research, academic peer review, academic and scientific leadership roles, and active workshop organization and participation. She is also committed to mentorship and outreach as evidenced by her extensive and broad work in founding the Penn Network Visualization Program, preschool outreach, highschool outreach, undergraduate and graduate education, mentoring undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs, and offering career mentorship to women and underrepresented minorities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512516
Entities
People
- Danielle Bassett
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Pennsylvania