The Nature of Brain Networks in Cognitive Neuroimaging

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This project seeks to clarify conceptual challenges in the burgeoning field of network neuroimaging. Network neuroscience uses mathematical tools from graph theory to understand the brain, its relationship to the mind, and the neural basis of neurological and psychiatric illnesses. However, the highly abstract nature of network analysis has produced deep methodological and conceptual disagreements regarding what exactly network methods reveal about the brain and its functions. This project aims to clearly articulate these disagreements and to use tools from philosophy of science to develop the conceptual foundations necessary to resolve them. The project’s findings will be disseminated through both scholarly and public channels and will be of interest to practicing network neuroimagers, philosophers of science, clinical neuroscientists, and members of the general public interested in brain function and malfunction.The central points of disagreement among practicing network neuroscientists concern the extent to which the structures revealed in network neuroimaging are biologically meaningful, as opposed to merely instrumental mathematical abstractions, and relatedly, whether and to what extent functions can be attributed to these networks. The research team will analyze and build on survey results among practicing network neuroscientists that unveil these conceptual disagreements. The project then seeks to use tools from philosophy of science to develop a conceptual framework with two central aims: To show how different modeling commitments affect the extent to which brain networks can be interpreted as biologically real or meaningful, and to articulate the appropriate conditions under which functions can be attributed to brain networks. The results of this project will provide insight into both the strengths and limitations of network methods when employed for different research purposes in neuroscience. These insights will help researchers overcome hurdles that currently threaten progress in the field, will open new avenues of research in philosophy of science, and will facilitate clearer interpretations of results in this cutting-edge area of neuroscience.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.