Dr Max Garagnani

Interests

I am interested in formalising and implementing biologically grounded computational models of the cortex and of the mechanisms underlying human cognition, such as language and executive functions. My past research includes natural-language generation, semantic networks, knowledge representation for reasoning about action and AI planning. In 2001 I was visiting Scholar at Berkeley (CA) where, working with Dr. Lokendra Shastri, I developed one of the first connectionist networks exhibiting goal-oriented behaviour (Garagnani et al., 2002). From 2002 to 2004 I directed a UK EPSRC-funded project on knowledge representation in AI planning. In Dec 2008 I completed a (2nd) PhD at the MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit (Cambridge) with Prof. Friedemann Pulvermüller. This concerned the implementation of a neural-network model of the left perisylvian cortex for the simulation of early language acquisition and morphogenesis of language units via Hebbian learning.

Perisylvian language cortex and corresponding neural network
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Research Focus

Equipment

Computational modelling

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)