The remarkable depth and complexity of the human mind brings the mystery of our biological origins to life: How does the finite architecture of the brain produce the emergent flexibility and adaptability of human intelligence, enabling us to solve a seemingly infinite variety of novel and complex challenges? 

Since its inception, cognitive neuroscience has studied the brain’s architecture through the lens of functional localization, concluding that intelligence originates from a primary network of regions within the frontal and parietal cortex. However, by decomposing the brain into its parts, we are left without understanding the whole, without seeing how intelligence emerges from a global system of efficient and flexible networks that comprise the human connectome.

Rather than reducing the brain to a collection of functionally specialized parts, we need to understand its emergent complexity: How does the human connectome, with its billions of neurons and trillions of connections, generate the unparalleled creativity and adaptability that define human intelligence? We believe addressing this question is not only essential to understanding the true nature and origins of intelligence but for establishing scientific methods and technologies to optimize human performance and cultivate resilience throughout life.

Our research therefore aims to: (1) Elucidate the network topology and dynamics of human intelligence (Theme 1: Human Intelligence), (2) Uncover principles of network organization and plasticity in traumatic brain injury (Theme 2: Traumatic Brain Injury), and (3) Translate advances in network neuroscience into proactive and personalized interventions to promote network function in health, aging, and disease (Theme 3: Scientific Intervention).