Dean Buonomano

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Dean Vincent Buonomano (born 1965) is an American neuroscientist and author. [1] He is a professor at UCLA whose research focuses on neurocomputation and how the brain tells time. Buonomano has been described as one of the "first neuroscientists to begin to ask how the human brain encodes time" and has been published in various scientific journals. [1] He is the author of two books, Brain Bugs: How the Brain's Flaws Shape our Lives [2] and Your Brain is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time. [3] Buonomano's first book Brain Bugs examines the human brain's functional strengths and weaknesses, ultimately attributing some of the brain's 'bugs' (or flaws) to evolution.

Contents

Early life

Buonomano was born in Rhode Island in 1965 and lived in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada before moving to Brazil at the age of 7 in 1972. [1] Buonomano's younger sister was born in 1974 and he attributes her to being one of his first "test dummies" for his psychological experiments. [1] An interview conducted by Anna Azvolinsky from The Scientist reported Buonomano's recollection of his childhood exploration in science stating, "One of my initial interests in neurobiology was a result of my big-brother experience, of witnessing a young brain develop. I saw my sister go from a baby that's vulnerable and helpless to a child making sense of the buzzing, sometimes confusing sensory world we live in." This initial childhood interest sparked his lifelong career and interest in the field of psychology and neurobiology.

Education

After graduating from the State University of São Paulo, Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil, Buonomano attended graduate school at the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston, where he worked with John H. Byrne on synaptic plasticity and computational models of learning and memory. Buonomano's first published work was done with the help of Jack Byrne in 1990 "demonstrating that the synaptic plasticity of the pleural ganglion can be long-lived, lasting up to 24 hours." [1] Buonomano then went on to join the University of California, San Francisco as a postdoctoral fellow working with Beverly Wright in Michael Merzenich's lab. His mentor, Michael Merzenich, focused research on synaptic plasticity and computational models of timing. This led to Buonomano's second published work in 1995 once again focusing on synaptic plasticity. [1]

Career and research

Buonomano's research focuses on how the brain tells time and processes temporal information. As the proposed mission statement posted on Buonomano Lab's mainpage states, "The primary goal of my laboratory is to understand how functional computations emerge from networks of neurons". [4] He is a proponent of the theory that timing and temporal processing are so critical to brain function that most neural circuits are capable of telling time. He developed the influential theory that the brain tells time and processes temporal information not through an internal clock as scientists worldwide had previously theorized, but instead as a result of neural dynamics. [1]

Buonomano is identified as one of the developers of general neurocomputational framework that he refers to as state-dependent networks or dynamic attractors, and others refer to as liquid state machines or reservoir computing. [5] [6] [7] Buonomano Lab utilizes research methods such as computational modeling, in vitro electrophysiology, optogenetics, and human psychophysics to conduct research observing how individual neurons and the brain as a whole perceive and respond to time. [1] [7] Buonomano's research has led to a number of experimental and theoretical contributions to the field of timing in the brain. [6]

Buonomano joined the UCLA faculty in 1998 and has worked in the department of Behavioral Neuroscience there ever since. Buonomano is also a member of the Brain Research Institute at UCLA, [4] Integrative Center for Learning and Memory at UCLA, [8] Neuroengineering Training Program, and the current leading member of Buonomano Lab. [9] Buonomano attributes the success of his research to keeping his lab team relatively small. [1]

Books

Dean Buonomano's first book, Brain Bugs: How the brain's flaws shape our lives, was originally published in July 2011. [9] The book is written at a lower level and is part of the scientific genre. Buonomano's audience is mainly aimed at the general public for popular reads but also pulls in readers that are experts in the field of neuroscience. Brain Bugs has been widely reviewed in popular press such as Newsweek , Discover Magazine , Scientific American , The New Yorker , The Atlantic and Fresh Air (National Public Radio (NPR)). [10] Buonomano was interviewed on the NPR talk show Fresh Air [11] and participated in a dialogue about Brain Bugs at the Rubin Museum of Art with performance artist Laurie Anderson. [11] He gave a talk about brain bugs at TEDx Vienna in 2017. [12] Brain Bugs was also featured on The Wall Street Journal as a bestseller. Since its release, Brain Bugs is in libraries across the country and translated into three different languages. [13]

Brain Bugs: How the brain's flaws shape our lives discusses Buonomano's main field of research, temporal processing, attributing much of our temporal processing to our method of memory storage. The New York Times [14] Sunday Book Reviewer Christopher F. Chabris claimed although the idea of the brain having some major flaws was not necessarily a new finding, "Buonomano's focus on the mechanisms of memory, especially its 'associative architecture' as the main causes of the brain's bugs" is a new concept. Dean Buonomano illuminates the causes and consequences of these "bugs" in terms of the brain's innermost workings and their evolutionary purposes and ultimately both praises and criticizes the functions of the human brain arguing, "The human brain is the most complex device in the known universe, yet it is an imperfect one." [2]

Buonomano mostly focus' on the human brain's memory storage methods with many examples of our brain's shortcomings. Buonomano points out glitches of the human brain such as our inability for mental long division or larger multiplication and our unreliable memory, especially in times of crises. By the same reasoning, Buonomano argues many of our external differences we observe between others fuels tendencies of distrust for people due to neural coding. Buonomano also highlights advertising companies that depend on the human brain's shortcomings to influence its judgment. Summarizing his work's relevancy, Buonomano states, "ultimately, who we are as individuals and as a society is defined not only by the astonishing capabilities of the brain but also by its flaws and limitations." [2]

Buonomano's second book Your Brain is a Time Machine: The neuroscience and physics of time (Norton, 2017) was published in April 2017. [13] The publisher Norton's synopsis states that Buonomano examines temporal processing of the brain, but with a new added element to his argument. Buonomano argues that our brains are "complex system that not only tells time but creates it". [3]

Related Research Articles

Computational neuroscience is a branch of neuroscience which employs mathematics, computer science, theoretical analysis and abstractions of the brain to understand the principles that govern the development, structure, physiology and cognitive abilities of the nervous system.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to neuroscience:

In neuroscience, synaptic plasticity is the ability of synapses to strengthen or weaken over time, in response to increases or decreases in their activity. Since memories are postulated to be represented by vastly interconnected neural circuits in the brain, synaptic plasticity is one of the important neurochemical foundations of learning and memory.

Spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) is a biological process that adjusts the strength of connections between neurons in the brain. The process adjusts the connection strengths based on the relative timing of a particular neuron's output and input action potentials. The STDP process partially explains the activity-dependent development of nervous systems, especially with regard to long-term potentiation and long-term depression.

Cortical maps are collections (areas) of minicolumns in the brain cortex that have been identified as performing a specific information processing function.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neural circuit</span> Network or circuit of neurons

A neural circuit is a population of neurons interconnected by synapses to carry out a specific function when activated. Multiple neural circuits interconnect with one another to form large scale brain networks.

Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity, or brain plasticity, is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. It is when the brain is rewired to function in some way that differs from how it previously functioned. These changes range from individual neuron pathways making new connections, to systematic adjustments like cortical remapping or neural oscillation. Other forms of neuroplasticity include homologous area adaptation, cross modal reassignment, map expansion, and compensatory masquerade. Examples of neuroplasticity include circuit and network changes that result from learning a new ability, information acquisition, environmental influences, practice, and psychological stress.

Neuroconstructivism is a theory that states that phylogenetic developmental processes such as gene–gene interaction, gene–environment interaction and, crucially, ontogeny all play a vital role in how the brain progressively sculpts itself and how it gradually becomes specialized over developmental time.

Michael Matthias Merzenich is an American neuroscientist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco. He took the sensory cortex maps developed by his predecessors and refined them using dense micro-electrode mapping techniques. Using this, he definitively showed there to be multiple somatotopic maps of the body in the postcentral sulcus, and multiple tonotopic maps of the acoustic inputs in the superior temporal plane.

Denise Manahan-Vaughan is an Irish neuroscientist and neurophysiologist. She is head of the Department of Neurophysiology, dean of studies and director of the International Graduate School of Neuroscience and co-founder of the Research Department of Neuroscience of the Ruhr University Bochum. Her research focuses on elucidation of the cellular and synaptic mechanisms underlying the acquisition and long-term maintenance of associative memories. She uses a multidisciplinary approach to study how spatial experiences, sensory input, neuromodulation, or brain disease impacts on, and provide insight into, the function of the hippocampus in enabling long-term memory.

Pendleton Read Montague, Jr. is an American neuroscientist and popular science author. He is the director of the Human Neuroimaging Lab and Computational Psychiatry Unit at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in Roanoke, Virginia, where he also holds the title of the inaugural Virginia Tech Carilion Vernon Mountcastle Research Professor. Montague is also a professor in the department of physics at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia and professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.

Activity-dependent plasticity is a form of functional and structural neuroplasticity that arises from the use of cognitive functions and personal experience; hence, it is the biological basis for learning and the formation of new memories. Activity-dependent plasticity is a form of neuroplasticity that arises from intrinsic or endogenous activity, as opposed to forms of neuroplasticity that arise from extrinsic or exogenous factors, such as electrical brain stimulation- or drug-induced neuroplasticity. The brain's ability to remodel itself forms the basis of the brain's capacity to retain memories, improve motor function, and enhance comprehension and speech amongst other things. It is this trait to retain and form memories that is associated with neural plasticity and therefore many of the functions individuals perform on a daily basis. This plasticity occurs as a result of changes in gene expression which are triggered by signaling cascades that are activated by various signaling molecules during increased neuronal activity.

Malleability of intelligence describes the processes by which intelligence can increase or decrease over time and is not static. These changes may come as a result of genetics, pharmacological factors, psychological factors, behavior, or environmental conditions. Malleable intelligence may refer to changes in cognitive skills, memory, reasoning, or muscle memory related motor skills. In general, the majority of changes in human intelligence occur at either the onset of development, during the critical period, or during old age.

A Bayesian Confidence Propagation Neural Network (BCPNN) is an artificial neural network inspired by Bayes' theorem, which regards neural computation and processing as probabilistic inference. Neural unit activations represent probability ("confidence") in the presence of input features or categories, synaptic weights are based on estimated correlations and the spread of activation corresponds to calculating posterior probabilities. It was originally proposed by Anders Lansner and Örjan Ekeberg at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. This probabilistic neural network model can also be run in generative mode to produce spontaneous activations and temporal sequences.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Hausser</span>

Michael A. Häusser FRS FMedSci is professor of Neuroscience, based in the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research at University College London (UCL).

Claudia Clopath is a Professor of Computational Neuroscience at Imperial College London and research leader at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour. She develops mathematical models to predict synaptic plasticity for both medical applications and the design of human-like machines.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ila Fiete</span> American physicist

Ila Fiete is an Indian–American physicist and computational neuroscientist as well as a Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences within the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fiete builds theoretical models and analyses neural data and to uncover how neural circuits perform computations and how the brain represents and manipulates information involved in memory and reasoning.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Azvolinsky, Anna. "Profile: Dean Buonomano Studies How the Brain Encodes Time". The Scientist. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Buonomano, Dean (2011). "Brain Bugs: How the Brain's Flaws Shape our Lives". Norton. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 Buonomano, Dean (2017). "Your Brain is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time". Norton. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 "UCLA Brain Research Institute". www.bri.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  5. ↑ Buonomano, D. V.; Merzenich, M. M. (1995-02-17). "Temporal information transformed into a spatial code by a neural network with realistic properties". Science. 267 (5200): 1028–1030. doi:10.1126/science.7863330. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   7863330.
  6. ↑ Buonomano, Dean V.; Maass, Wolfgang (2009-02-01). "State-dependent computations: spatiotemporal processing in cortical networks". Nature Reviews. Neuroscience. 10 (2): 113–125. doi:10.1038/nrn2558. ISSN   1471-0048. PMID   19145235.
  7. 1 2 "Research | Buonomano Lab". www.buonomanolab.com. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  8. ↑ "Turing Symposium". turing.artscicenter.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  9. ↑ "People | Buonomano Lab". www.buonomanolab.com. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  10. ↑ "'Brain Bugs': Cognitive Flaws That 'Shape Our Lives'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  11. ↑ DeanBuonomano (2012-07-02), 1. Laurie Anderson + Dean Buonomano - Part1: Memory , retrieved 2016-12-14
  12. ↑ TEDx Talks (2017-12-06), Brain Bugs: How the Brain's Flaws Shape Society | Dean Buonomano | TEDxVienna , retrieved 2018-06-04
  13. 1 2 "Buonomano, Dean". WorldCat Identities. Online Computer Libraries Center . Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  14. ↑ Chabris, Christopher F. (2011-10-14). "Is the Brain Good at What It Does?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2016-12-14.
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