Statistical physics of cognition
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Bioengineering
Abstract
This project asks how the statistical mechanics of critical processes such as avalanches underpin mammalian cognition. This is important because self-organising criticality has been proposed as a general explanation of the architecture and operating point of brain circuitry, however until now it has not been possible to relate it to cognitive function itself. We bring an inter-disciplinary approach to bear upon this problem, simulating neuronal mechanisms at scales from sub-cellular to brain-wide, and employing a new mesoscopic neuroimaging technology to detect avalanches and measure distance to criticality in very large (~10,000) populations of neurons during a cognitive task. This will bring new insight into system-wide brain function during health and disease states.
Publications
Arnaudon A
(2022)
Connecting Hodge and Sakaguchi-Kuramoto through a mathematical framework for coupled oscillators on simplicial complexes
in Communications Physics
Arnaudon A
(2024)
Algorithm 1044: PyGenStability, a Multiscale Community Detection Framework with Generalized Markov Stability
in ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software
August E
(2023)
Finding positively invariant sets and proving exponential stability of limit cycles using Sum-of-Squares decompositions
in Journal of Computational Dynamics
Dimmock S
(2024)
Hierarchical Bayesian modeling of multi-region brain cell count data
Dimmock S
(2024)
Hierarchical Bayesian modeling of multi-region brain cell count data
Garcia-Font N
(2022)
Ca2+ imaging of self and other in medial prefrontal cortex during social dominance interactions in a tube test.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Georgiev D
(2024)
Hyperspectral unmixing for Raman spectroscopy via physics-constrained autoencoders
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Gobbo F
(2022)
Neuronal signature of spatial decision-making during navigation by freely moving rats by using calcium imaging.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Gosztolai A
(2025)
MARBLE: interpretable representations of neural population dynamics using geometric deep learning.
in Nature methods
| Description | Imperial College strategic seed funding for international partnerships in biosciences and biotechnology: Imperial-RIKEN collaboration on the dynamic engram |
| Amount | £49,008 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2024 |
| End | 09/2025 |
| Description | International centre to centre research collaborations: UK Japan collaboration on mesoscopic multiphoton neuroimaging technology |
| Amount | £50,142 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/Y020316/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2024 |
| End | 12/2025 |
| Description | International collaboration on mesoscopic multiphoton brain imaging technology |
| Amount | £12,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | IEC\NSFC\242498 |
| Organisation | The Royal Society |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2025 |
| End | 01/2027 |
| Description | Neurodegeneration Challenge Network (NDCN) Collaborative Pairs Pilot Project Awards |
| Amount | $200,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | Chan Zuckerberg Initiative |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 03/2024 |
| End | 09/2025 |
| Title | Moore_Schultz_Sox14_expressing_neurons |
| Description | Sox14-expressing cell count data from ~50 brain regions in two groups of mice: Sox14/GFP heterozygotes and Sox14 null. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.12787287 |
| Title | Moore_Schultz_Sox14_expressing_neurons |
| Description | Sox14-expressing cell count data from ~50 brain regions in two groups of mice: Sox14/GFP heterozygotes and Sox14 null. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.12787286 |
| Description | Imperial-RIKEN collaboration on the dynamic engram |
| Organisation | RIKEN |
| Country | Japan |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | This is a new collaboration between Imperial College and the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Tokyo, triggered in part by results of the EPSRC/Wellcome project "Statistical Physics of Cognition" (SPC) as well as the NEURMOD+ project, and which provides one avenue for follow-on work from that grant. At Imperial we are collecting data based on a two-photon mesoscale that has been constructed as part of the SPC grant. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The RIKEN team (headed by Tom McHugh) are providing data and insight into how to apply the techniques developed in SPC to questions relating to the consolidation of memory from the hippocampus into the neocortex. |
| Impact | A new collaboration, so not yet. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | International collaboration on mesoscopic multiphoton brain imaging technology |
| Organisation | Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As a result of our work on two photon mesoscopic brain imaging, we were connected with an Institute in China (SIBET) which specialises in the design and fabrication of advanced optical components. They had constructed an instrument similar to the one we built, but in some respects better - with a wider field of view. However, they were not able to use it to perform neuroscience experiments. We brought a small team over there and set up to perform a variant of the same experiment we have been carrying out in London, with great success. This has lead to the generation of data that we are writing up for a paper to a high impact journal, and the award of a small grant from the Royal Society (£12000) for ongoing UK-China collaboration in this area. |
| Collaborator Contribution | SIBET provide expertise in optical design and manufacture of specific large lenses which we do not otherwise have access to. The lens employed in our construction of the Diesel2p mesoscale design was manufactured by a company in the US for $US 200,000, is inferior in design spec, and it was very difficult to persuade the company to manufacture it (at one point they tried to raise the price on us by $100,000 - after the award of our grant, when we had fixed funds). The Chinese design is much cheaper, and with overall better optical quality. This makes it possible for us to construct a next generation mesoscope that will image even larger neural populations at higher signal to noise ratio. The Chinese Academy of Sciences contributed a CAS PIFI Fellowship to Prof Schultz which covered the costs of a trip in 2024 to launch the collaboration. |
| Impact | A paper is currently being written. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Sharp-wave ripple triggered neuromodulation for memory enhancement. Simon Schultz, Hayriye Cagnan, Ashwini Oswal, David Dupret |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Department | Department of Bioengineering |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Neuromod+ feasibility study funding award of £78,890.00 granted |
| Collaborator Contribution | The team will conduct a feasibility study on Sharp-wave ripple triggered neuromodulation for memory enhancement, using funds from the network. Simon Schultz will lead the overall project, coordinating the individual research actions and leading efforts to leverage results into a larger-scale externally funded research programme. His group will develop the optogenetic mouse model of SWR-triggered neuromodulation. Hayriye Cagnan will provide expertise on human MEG imaging. Ashwini Oswal will provide clinical input on the treatment of memory disorders in human patients, as well as collaborating on the MEG imaging to take place in Oxford. David Dupret is an expert on the use of electrophysiological techniques to study memory in mice. He will provide specific guidance on the measurement of sharp-wave ripples in the optogenetic model. We will consult with potential users (patients, lay-people, clinicians, carers) to gather feedback on what type of noninvasive neuromodulation system subjects will be most comfortable with, and how studies using the equipment should be designed. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multidisciplinary and combines bioengineering, electrophysiology, clinical expertise. No outcomes yet. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Sharp-wave ripple triggered neuromodulation for memory enhancement. Simon Schultz, Hayriye Cagnan, Ashwini Oswal, David Dupret |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Department | MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit at the University of Oxford (BNDU) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Neuromod+ feasibility study funding award of £78,890.00 granted |
| Collaborator Contribution | The team will conduct a feasibility study on Sharp-wave ripple triggered neuromodulation for memory enhancement, using funds from the network. Simon Schultz will lead the overall project, coordinating the individual research actions and leading efforts to leverage results into a larger-scale externally funded research programme. His group will develop the optogenetic mouse model of SWR-triggered neuromodulation. Hayriye Cagnan will provide expertise on human MEG imaging. Ashwini Oswal will provide clinical input on the treatment of memory disorders in human patients, as well as collaborating on the MEG imaging to take place in Oxford. David Dupret is an expert on the use of electrophysiological techniques to study memory in mice. He will provide specific guidance on the measurement of sharp-wave ripples in the optogenetic model. We will consult with potential users (patients, lay-people, clinicians, carers) to gather feedback on what type of noninvasive neuromodulation system subjects will be most comfortable with, and how studies using the equipment should be designed. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multidisciplinary and combines bioengineering, electrophysiology, clinical expertise. No outcomes yet. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Public debate "can reductionism explain the mind" after the Statistical Physics of Cognition workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We organised and ran a 2-day workshop at the Institute of Physics, with the same title as our grant, "Statistical Physics of Cognition". This was very successful, with numerous invited international speakers, and over 100 people attending, including students and academics from London, the UK and elsewhere. After the event, we held a public debate "Can reductionism explain the mind" between Karl Friston and John Krakauer. This was well attended by the general public as well as by conference attendees. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://iop.eventsair.com/spc2024/ |