title: Dynamical bridge between brain and mind.
abstract: The bridge between brain structures as computational devices and the content of mental processes hinges on the solution of several problems: (i) inference of the cognitive brain networks from neurophysiological and imaging data; (ii) inference of cognitive mind networks - interactions between mental processes such as attention and working memory - based on cognitive and behavioral experiments; and (iii) the discovery of general dynamical principles for cognition based on dynamical models. In this opinion article, we focus on the third problem and discuss how it provides the bridge between the solutions to the first two problems. We consider the possibility of creating low-dimensional dynamical models from multidimensional spatiotemporal data and its application to robust sequential cognitive processes in the context of finite processing capacity of the mind.
authors.affiliation: BioCircuits Institute, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive 0328, La Jolla, CA 92093-0328, USA. Electronic address: mrabinovich@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mikhail I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Rabinovich
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive 0603, La Jolla, CA 92093-0603, USA; Center of Excellence in Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, CA 92161, USA.
authors.forename: Alan N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Neurocomputación Biológica, Departamento de Ingeniería Informática, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Varona
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology
keywords: cognitive dynamical principles; functional cognitive networks; robust cognitive processing; sequential stability and winnerless competition; stable heteroclinic channel; transient brain dynamics