The brain’s network switching stations for adaptive behavior

I’m excited to announce that my latest scientific publication – “Multi-task connectivity reveals flexible hubs for adaptive task control” – was just published in Nature Neuroscience. The paper reports on a project I (along with my co-authors) have been working on for over a year. The goal was to use network science to better understand how …

The evolutionary importance of rapid instructed task learning (RITL)

We are rarely alone when learning something for the first time. We are social creatures, and whether it’s a new technology or an ancient tradition, we typically benefit from instruction when learning new tasks. This form of learning–in which a task is rapidly (within seconds) learned from instruction–can be referred to as rapid instructed task …

Finding the most important brain regions

When you type a search into Google it figures out the most important websites based in part on how many links each has from other websites. Taking up precious website space with a link is costly, making each additional link to a page a good indicator of importance. We thought the same logic might apply …

Cingulate Cortex and the Evolution of Human Uniqueness

Figuring out how the brain decides between two options is difficult. This is especially true for the human brain, whose activity is typically accessible only via the small and occasionally distorted window provided by new imaging technologies (such as functional MRI (fMRI)). In contrast, it is typically more accurate to observe monkey brains since the …

A Meta-Meta-Analysis of Brain Functions

Thousands of brain imaging studies are published each year. A subset of these studies are replications, or slight variations, of previous studies. Attempting to come to a solid conclusion based on the complex brain activity patterns reported by all these replications can be daunting. Meta-analysis is one tool that has been used to make sense …

Measuring Innate Functional Brain Connectivity

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a method for safely measuring brain activity, has been around for about 15 years. Within the last 10 of those years a revolutionary, if mysterious, method has been developing using the technology. This method, resting state functional connectivity (rs-fcMRI), has recently gained popularity for its putative ability to measure how …

The Cognitive Control Network

I recently published my first primary-author research study (Cole & Schneider, 2007). The study used functional MRI to discover a network of brain regions responsible for conscious will (i.e., cognitive control). It also revealed the network’s specialized parts, which each uniquely contribute to creating the emergent property of conscious will. I believe this research contributes …

Magnetoencephalography

In the dark confines behind our eyes lies flesh full of mysterious patterns, constituting our hopes, desires, knowledge, and everything else fundamental to who we are. Since at least the time of Hippocrates we have wondered about the nature of this flesh and its functions. Finally, after thousands of years of wondering we are now …

History’s Top Brain Computation Insights: Hippocampus binds features

Hippocampus is involved in feature binding for novel stimuli (McClelland, McNaughton, & O'Reilly – 1995, Knight – 1996, Hasselmo – 2001, Ranganath & D'Esposito – 2001) It was demonstrated by McClelland et al.that, based on its role in episodic memory encoding, hippocampus can learn fast arbitrary association. This was in contrast to neocortex, which they …

Grand Challenges of Neuroscience: Day 2

Topic 2: Conflict and Cooperation Generally, cognitive neuroscience aims to explain how mental processes such as believing, knowing, and inferring arise in the brain and affect behavior.  Two behaviors that have important effects on the survival of humans are cooperation and conflict. According to the NSF committee convened last year, conflict and cooperation is an …

History’s Top Brain Computation Insights: Day 26

26) Some complex object categories, such as faces, have dedicated areas of cortex for processing them, but are also represented in a distributed fashion (Kanwisher – 1997, Haxby – 2001) Early in her career Nancy Kanwisher used functional MRI (fMRI) to seek modules for perceptual and semantic processing. She was fortunate enough to discover what …

History’s Top Brain Computation Insights: Day 24

24) Cognitive control processes are distributed within a network of distinct regions (Goldman-Rakic – 1988, Posner – 1990, Wager & Smith 2004, Cole & Schneider – 2007) Researchers investigating eye movements and attention recorded from different parts of the primate brain and found several regions showing very similar neural activity. Goldman-Rakic proposed the existence of …

Human Versus Non-Human Neuroscience

Most neuroscientists don't use human subjects, and many tend to forget this important point:  All neuroscience with non-human subjects is theoretical. If the brain of a mouse is understood in exquisite detail, it is only relevant (outside veterinary medicine) in so far as it is relevant to human brains. Similarly, if a computational model can …

Predicting Intentions: Implications for Free Will

News about a neuroimaging group's attempts to predict intentions hit the wire a few days ago. The major theme was how mindreading might be used for unethical purposes. What about its more profound implications? If your intentions can be predicted before you've even made a conscious decision, then your will must be determined by brain …

Eliminating Common Misconceptions About fMRI

Most researchers in neuroscience use animal models. Though most neuroscientists are interested in understanding the human brain, they can use more invasive techniques with animal brains. In exchange for these invasive abilities they must assume that other animals are similar enough to humans that they can actually learn something about humans in the process. Functional …