title: Self-portraits of the brain: cognitive science, data visualization, and communicating brain structure and function.
abstract: With several large-scale human brain projects currently underway and a range of neuroimaging techniques growing in availability to researchers, the amount and diversity of data relevant for understanding the human brain is increasing rapidly. A complete understanding of the brain must incorporate information about 3D neural location, activity, timing, and task. Data mining, high-performance computing, and visualization can serve as tools that augment human intellect; however, the resulting visualizations must take into account human abilities and limitations to be effective tools for exploration and communication. In this feature review, we discuss key challenges and opportunities that arise when leveraging the sophisticated perceptual and conceptual processing of the human brain to help researchers understand brain structure, function, and behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA. Electronic address: rgoldsto@indiana.edu.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Goldstone
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Indiana University Network Science Institute, Bloomington, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pestilli
authors.affiliation: Department of Information and Library Science, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Indiana University Network Science Institute, Bloomington, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Katy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Börner
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
keywords: expertise; neuroimaging; neuroscience; perception; scientific understanding; visualization