Olaf Sporns

Olaf Sporns
Olaf Sporns
Born	(1963-09-18) September 18, 1963 (age 61) Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
Nationality	German
Alma mater	University of Tübingen (B.A., 1986) Rockefeller University (Ph.D., 1990)
Scientific career
Fields	Neuroscience, Cognitive Science
Institutions	Indiana University
Thesis	Synthetic neural modeling: computer simulations of perceptual and motor systems (1990)
Doctoral advisor	Gerald Edelman

Olaf Sporns (born 18 September 1963) is Provost Professor in Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University and scientific co-director of the university's Network Science Institute.^[1] He is the founding editor of the academic journal Network Neuroscience, published by MIT Press.^{[citation needed][2]}

Sporns received his degree from University of Tübingen in Tübingen, West Germany, before going to New York to study at the Rockefeller University under Gerald Edelman. After receiving his doctorate, he followed Edelman to the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California.

His focus is in the area of computational cognitive neuroscience. His topics of study include functional integration and binding in the cerebral cortex, neural models of perception and action, network structure and dynamics, applications of information theory to the brain and embodied cognitive science using robotics.^[3] He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2011 in the Natural Sciences category.^{[citation needed]}

Research

Brain complexity

One of the core areas of research being conducted by Sporns is in the area of complexity of the brain. One aspect in particular is how small-world network effects are seen in the neural connections which are decentralized in the brain.^[4] Research in collaboration with scientists across the world has revealed that there are pathways in the brain that are very well connected.^[5] This is insightful for understanding how the architecture of the brain may relate to schizophrenia, autism and Alzheimer's disease.

Sporns is also interested in understanding the relationship between statistical properties of neuronal populations and perceptual data. How does an organism use and structure its environment in such a way as to achieve (statistically) complex input? To this end, he has run statistical analysis on movement patterns and input within simulations, videos and robotic devices.^{[citation needed]}

Reward systems

Sporns also has a research interest in reward models of the brain utilizing robots.^[6] The reward models have shown ways in which dopamine is onset by drug addiction.

Other

Though not directly related to his core research, in early 2000 Sporns was interested indeveloping robots with human-like qualities in their ability to learn.^[7]

Publications

Books

• Olaf Sporns (2010). Networks of the Brain. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-01469-4.
• Olaf Sporns (2012). Discovering the Human Connectome. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-01790-9.

See also

• Biologically inspired computing
• Connectome
• Parmenides Foundation
• The Mind's I

References

1. "Olaf Sporns". Indiana University Network Science Institute. Archived from the original on 23 July 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
2. "Network Neuroscience". MIT Press. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
3. "Psychology Faculty". Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
4. Robert Matthews (4 December 1999). "Get Connected". New Scientist. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
5. Emily Singer (August 2008). "Finding the Core of the Brain". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
6. Eugenie Samuel (6 July 2002). "Rewarding Robots for Good Behaviour". New Scientist. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
7. Olaf Sporns (July 2002). "Neuromodulation and plasticity in an autonomous robot". Neural Networks. 15 (4–6): 761–774. doi:10.1016/S0893-6080(02)00062-X. PMID 12371525. Retrieved 31 August 2023.

External links

• List of all publications