MetaConscious Group

The MetaConscious Group, directed by Professor Guangyu (Robert) Yang, studies how to build functional models of brains, with a particular interest in cognition. The group is .

The group aims to help understand the brain and mind by building computational models. Focus is on building artificial neural network models for cognition. The research style is influenced by neural circuit models from neuroscience, deep neural networks from machine learning, and normative models from cognitive science.

Work centers around higher cognitive capabilities that are difficult to study with hand-designed models. Focus is on scientific questions and insights, with a lesser emphasis on the usual machine learning benchmarks. By combining bottom-up and top-down modeling approaches, we can better integrate knowledge of the brain from different levels, e.g. molecular, cellular, circuit, system, and behavior.

The long-term goals are to:
(*) understand fundamental questions about the human brain and mind
(*) build better artificial intelligence and life using insights from the brain
(*) help develop treatment of psychiatric disorders based on multi-scale understanding of the brain