Macroscale gradients of cortical organisation shape distributed cognitive computations

Recent advances in neuroimaging, anatomy and physiology make it possible to probe whole-brain mechanisms of cognition in unprecedented detail. However, as yet, few models in computational neuroscience have tackled the mechanisms underlying highly distributed neural activity during cognitive tasks. In this talk I will describe our anatomy-led approach to developing multiscale models of neural activity during cognitive tasks and our recent anatomical findings of gradients of neurotransmitter receptors in the cortex.  I will highlight our investigations into how inputs from neuromodulatory systems (e.g. dopamine, serotonin) may dynamically alter the connectome, shifting the cortical dynamical landscape, and how this can confer flexibility on distributed cognitive functions such as perception, working memory and decision-making.

Seán trained at Trinity College Dublin, King’s College London, Mount Sinai and New York University in Mathematics, Psychiatric research and Neuroscience. He has developed methods for computational modelling and integration of brain data across scales, and species. This work has led to discoveries of major axes of cortical receptor organisation and multi-scale computational models of cognitive functions including working memory and conscious perception. Since 2022, he leads the Cognition, Anatomy and Neural Networks (CANN) research group at the University of Bristol.