The goal of this project is to understand how the brain realizes the impressive flexibility that is a hallmark of human cognition. For example, adults can flexibly shift from conversing about current events, to feeding the cats, to cooking dinner, all without getting mixed up and cooking cat food as the main course. This ability is thought to rely on the actions and interactions of multiple brain areas. A central challenge in understanding cognitive flexibility is to understand how these brain networks change with learning and how they organize and re-organize "on-the-fly" depending on the situation. More generally, how does the brain keep track of events as they unfold but at the same time retain flexibility?
In this project, a multidisciplinary team of investigators will test a new theory of cognitive flexibility using computer modeling and functional neuroimaging data. The theory is implemented using dynamic neural fields -a specific type of neural network that can be simulated on a computer and that specifies how different areas of the cortex interact during complex tasks. Some cortical areas actively maintain neural patterns related to the lower-level details of what is happening, for instance, maintaining information about critical visual features of the pan, the items you are cooking for dinner, and so on. Other cortical areas modulate what these systems are up to. Critically, "higher-level" systems do not need to understand all the details of what is going on. They just need to help decide which general patterns of information are important in the context. It is the dialog between these different neural patterns that makes cognition flexible.
The success of this project would have far-reaching effects. The ability to modulate behavior in context-specific ways is a central achievement that impacts language skills, mathematical abilities, school and work performance, and IQ. Moreover, deficits in cognitive flexibility and so-called executive functions underlie different forms of psychopathology, such as schizophrenia, as well as many of the challenges faced by aging adults. The investigators have also established a collaboration with the Iowa Children's Museum where they will work with museum staff to design an interactive display around the theme of "Brain Play," in which children construct simple solar-powered robots that embody how the brain and body realize flexibility.
