The purpose of this RCDA is to enable me to learn computational modelling of cognitive processes, with the goal of applying this method of understanding human spatial cognition in its normal state and after brain damage. This, in turn, will allow me to develop explicit, mechanistic accounts of spatial information processing in the brain, and of the underlying cognitive deficit in the different visual/spatial disorders that follow brain damage. Through a combination of courses, lab visits, and supervised modelling projects in the early years of the RCDA, I will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to begin modelling the neural bases of spatial cognition in earnest. During this time I will also be conducting neuropsychological research of spatial cognition, which will provide constraints for these computational models, addressing such issues as: the spatial reference frames used in coding location, allocating attention, and recognizing objects; the interface between the spatial structure of objects and their surrounding environment; and the format of supramodal representations of space. In the later years of the RCDA, I envision an ongoing interaction between the ideas and constraints uncovered through modelling (which will guide the neuropsychological research by providing hypotheses and predictions) and those emerging from the neuropsychological research (which will influence modelling strategy by providing empirical constraints for neurally plausible models). My long-term career goals are to understand the neural bases of human spatial cognition at a mechanistic level. Whereas the traditional 'box and arrow' models of cognitive psychology provide some insights into this matter, it is computational models that provide both a language for expressing models of mechanism and a methodology for testing their sufficiency. Learning to build and evaluate computational models is a time-consuming proposition; the RCDA would allow me to devote the time needed for this. At CMU I have many colleagues who are leaders in the field of computational modelling, from whom I can learn, and excellent computational facilities. My home department is planning to build in the area of cognitive neuroscience, further enriching the environment relative to this proposal.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 13 publications
