Abstract: The brain’s ability to flexibly and adaptively engage different functional networks in the face of a changing environment is an important quality that enables a wide variety of behaviors. The goal of my research is to understand this neural flexibility, and how it is altered if healthy brain function is perturbed. I take advantage of functional connectivity and graph theory, both within specific networks and across the entire brain. I investigate how functional connections flexibly reconfigure to adapt to current demands both during an intrinsic, resting state and during the performance of cognitive tasks, and how that flexibility relates to individual differences in behavior. I further examine how dysfunction in neural flexibility contributes to disorders such as ADHD. My research provides evidence that the healthy brain systematically reconfigures to adapt to current demands, and that dysfunction in this flexible network behavior underlies ADHD.
Hosted by:
Russell A. Poldrack poldrack@stanford.edu
