D O Hebb Professor
Area: Cognitive

Contact information:
Email: just@cmu.edu
Psychology office: 327H Baker Hall
Psychology phone: 412-268-2791

Director,
Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging
Lab link: http://www.ccbi.cmu.edu

Research Interests:

My research uses fMRI and other technologies to uncover the architecture of human thought. The fMRI studies track the brain activity that occurs during a wide range of cognitive and social thought, such as language comprehension, visual thinking, problem-solving, working memory, social judgment, and multi-tasking.
One current interest is in identifying the neural basis of concept representations using fMRI in the new area of neurosemantics. In collaboration with colleagues in the School of Computer Science, we have developed experimental paradigms and machine-learning techniques (multi-voxel pattern analysis) that are being applied to the study of lexical, perceptual, and social concepts. This approach is capable of revealing the brain’s coding of certain types of concepts, and also enables us to accurately identify the object that a participant is thinking about based on their brain activation patterns (identifying the neural signature of that object).
Another important area of our research is in understanding the brain functioning in autism and relating it to the social and cognitive impairments that sometimes arise in the disorder. Our work has led to a new perspective, expressed as the underconnectivity theory of autism. This work uses fMRI and high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) to relate several levels of analysis: anatomical connectivity, informational (functional) connectivity, and behavioral performance. We are also starting to apply our neurosemantics (machine learning) methods to concept representations in autism.
A third area of current activity involves the use of fMRI concurrently with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to explore cortical dynamics of the brain and the neural basis of individual differences in cognition. These studies examine how various psychometric measures of cognitive abilities are related to brain function. In particular, the neural attributes being studied include efficient use of neural resources, degree of synchronization (coordination) between cortical centers, and adaptation of cortical networks in the face of changing demands.
The findings are being used to continuously develop a comprehensive theory of how brain function is related to thought, often expressed in terms of the 4CAPS computational theory.

 

Publications:

Click HERE for a Complete list of Publications
 

Assistants to Dr. Just:

Justin Abernethy,  jabernet@andrew.cmu.edu
Kara Cohen,  cohenk@andrew.cmu.edu

Current Graduate Students:

Kai-min Kevin Chang,  kaimin.chang@gmail.com
Akiko Mizuno,  amizuno@andrew.cmu.edu
Saudamini Roy,  saudamin@andrew.cmu.edu
Sarah Schipul,  ses@andrew.cmu.edu

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Related Links:

Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging

CMU Directory Information

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