Upcoming project – “Beyond Mind”

Modeling Cognition for Ethical Brain Augmentation.

We have remarkable tools for looking at the brain—MRI scanners, EEG caps, intracranial recordings, stimulation devices, and now large-scale neural datasets. But there’s still a huge gap between:

• “Which neurons fire when a person sees a picture,” and

• “What it means to understand, to remember, to plan, to focus.”

Beyond Mind exists to work in that gap.

We’re building multi-scale computational models of cognition—from neural circuits to cognitive functions—to understand how information flows in the brain and to explore principled, ethical ways of assisting and augmenting human thinking. Systems Beyond

The aim isn’t to replace the human mind, or to chase science-fiction fantasies of uploading consciousness. Instead, we want to design interfaces that help people learn faster, recall more reliably, and operate safely in demanding environments—while staying transparent, reversible, and under user control. Systems Beyond

Why we need a systems view of cognition

Cognitive science and neuroscience have produced mountains of results:

• Tasks probing attention, working memory, and decision-making.

• Neuroimaging maps of “where things happen” in the brain.

• Recordings showing how neuronal populations encode variables.

• Stimulation studies modulating perception or mood.

  
  

But these pieces don’t automatically add up to a coherent picture of “how thinking works.” Results differ across labs, species, and methods. Many brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and neurotech tools are built in a black-box way: they work (sometimes) but we don’t really understand why.

Beyond Mind starts with a different commitment:

Build explicit models that connect levels—from neurons and networks to cognitive processes and behavior—and test them against real data.

Only then can we responsibly ask: Where and how might an interface support cognition without hijacking it?

Beyond Mind starts from a simple question—“What if we could model cognition itself?”—and turns it into a structured, open, testable program. The destination is not a replacement for human minds, but a set of tools that help people think, learn, and remember in ways that remain fully theirs.