A framework for understanding human cognition, grounded in principles specifying the character of human cognitive processes, and constrained by properties, of the underlying neural mechanisms. The Center will exploit this framework to guide formulation of explicit, testable models of normal and disordered cognition, including models of the development of cognitive functions and of their disintegration as a result of brain damage or disease. This site is intended as a public service and as a focal point for exchange of ideas among the participants in the Interdisciplinary Behavioral Science Center (IBSC).

Public areas of the site provide information about the Center as a whole and about the various projects in the Center, as well as web-accessible documents and tools that we are making available as a public service.

A fundamental tenet is that cognition is an emergent phenomenon, arising from the interactions of cooperating processing elements organized into specialized populations. One aim of the center will be to investigate the utility of explicit models that are formulated in terms of this approach, addressing many aspects of cognition including semantic knowledge, language processing, cognitive control, perception, learning and memory. A second aim will also investigate the principles that are embodied in the models, including principles of learning, processing and representation. Learning will be a central focus, since it plays a crucial role in cognitive development, acquisition of skills, formation of memories, and remediation of cognitive functions. A third aim of the Center will be to incorporate constraints from neuroscience. Findings from neuroscience will guide the specification of the principles and the formulation of domain-specific details of particular models, and will provide target experimental observations against which to assess the adequacy of the models. In addition, the Center will make use of neurophysiological methods in animals and functional brain imaging in humans to test predictions and generate additional data needed to constrain and inform model development. The Center will provide training funds for interdisciplinary research fellowships, to train junior scientists in the convergent use of behavioral, computational, and neuroscience methodologies. The outcome of the Centers efforts will be a fuller characterization of the nature of human cognitive processes, a clearer formulation of the underlying principles, and a more complete understanding of normal and disordered functions across many domains of cognition.

This Center includes eight projects dedicated to various aspects of cognition and various general issues that arise in the effort to build explicit models that capture different aspects of cognition, and also includes an administrative core to help foster integration and provide computing resources.

• Project 1: Functional and Neural Organization of Semantic Memory
  
• Project 2: Interactive Processes in Language: Lexical Processing
  
• Project 3: Interactive Processes in Language: Sentence Processing
  
• Project 4: Mechanisms of Cognitive Control
  
• Project 5: Interactive Processes in Perception: Neurophysiology of Figure-Ground Organization
  
• Project 6: Basic Mechanisms and Cooperating Systems in Learning Memory
  
• Project 7: Age and Experience Dependent Processes in Learning
  
• Project 8: Theoretical Foundations
  
• Core: Integration, Computational Resources, and Administration
  tional Resources, and Administration