Michael W. Cole

Current affiliations:
Department of Neuroscience, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Learning Research and Development Center, and Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh

Currently a member of the Schneider Lab

Hometown: Napa, CA
B.A.: University of California, Berkeley in Cognitive Science (2003)

Blog:

Neurevolution: Chronicling the Cognitive Revolution in Neuroscience

Curriculum Vitae

Honors and awards:

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, 2005-2008 (Honorable Mention, 2004)
A three-year grant awarded to graduate students whose plans for research have “intellectual merit and beneficial implications for society”

National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Fellow, 2007
Awarded to science graduate students “who will pursue careers in research and education, with the interdisciplinary backgrounds, deep knowledge in chosen disciplines, and technical, professional, and personal skills to become, in their own careers, leaders and creative agents for change.”

Graduated with Highest Honors in Cognitive Science from UC Berkeley
Awarded highest honors based on significant contribution to a research project and high quality honors thesis as judged by professors Mark D’Esposito, M.D. and Robert Knight, M.D.

President of the Department of Neuroscience Graduate Student Organization (University of Pittsburgh, Fall 2006 – Fall 2007)

Cognitive Science Student Association of UC Berkeley (officer from Spring ’01 to Fall ‘03)

Publications:

Cole M.W., Schneider W. (2007). “The cognitive control network: Integrated cortical regions with dissociable functions”, NeuroImage 37(1): 343-360. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.03.071

Abstract (Cole & Schneider, 2007):
Consensus across hundreds of published studies indicates that the same regions are involved in many forms of cognitive control. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we found that these coactive regions form a functionally connected cognitive control network (CCN). Network status was identified by convergent methods, including: high interregional correlations during rest and task performance, consistently higher correlations within the CCN than the rest of cortex, co-activation in a visual search task, and mutual sensitivity to decision difficulty. Regions within the CCN include anterior cingulate cortex / pre-supplementary motor area (ACC/pSMA), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), inferior frontal junction (IFJ), anterior insular cortex (AIC), dorsal pre-motor cortex (dPMC), and posterior parietal cortex (PPC). We used a novel visual line search task which included periods when the probe stimuli were occluded but subjects had to maintain and update working memory in preparation for the sudden appearance of a probe stimulus. The six CCN regions operated as a tightly coupled network during the ‘non-occluded’ portions of this task, with all regions responding to probe events. In contrast, the network was differentiated during occluded search. DLPFC, not ACC/pSMA, was involved in target memory maintenance when probes were absent, while both regions became active in preparation for difficult probes at the end of each occluded period. This approach illustrates one way in which a neuronal network can be identified, its high functional connectivity established, and its components dissociated in order to better understand the interactive and specialized internal mechanisms of that network.

Schumacher E.H., Cole M.W., D’Esposito M. (2007). “Selection and Maintenance of Stimulus-Response Rules during Preparation and Performance of a Spatial Choice-Reaction Task”, Brain Research 1136(1): 77-87.

Hester R., D’Esposito M., Cole M.W., Garavan H. (2007). “Neural mechanisms for response selection: comparing selection of an item with a response from working memory”, NeuroImage 34(1): 446-54.

Curtis C.E., Cole M.W., Rao V., Ollinger J., D’Esposito M. (2005). “Canceling Planned Action: An fMRI Study of Countermanding Saccades”, Cerebral Cortex 15(9): 1281-9.

Poster presentations:

Cole M.W., Kunkel A., Martins B., Schneider W. (November, 2008). The Neural Basis of Rapid Instructed Task Learning. Poster presented at Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC.

Pathak S.^*, Cole M.W.^*, Schneider W. (November, 2008). Identifying the Brain's Most Globally Interactive Regions. Poster presented at Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC. ^*First two authors contributed equally

Cole M.W., Laurent P. (November, 2008). Neurevolution: An Example Of Blogging To Enhance Scientific Communication. Poster presented at Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC.

Cole M.W., Martins B., Schneider W. (April, 2008). The Neural Basis of Rapid Instructed Task Learning. Poster presented at Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.

Pathak S., Martins B., Cole M.W., Schneider W. (April, 2008). Anatomical and Functional Segmentation of the Cognitive Control Network: Supporting a preliminary cognitive control network connectome. Poster presented at Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.

Cole M.W., Pathak S., Schneider W. (April, 2008). Medial Frontal Cortex Directs Attention along Multiple Pathways
to Resolve Perceptual Decision Difficulty. Poster presented at Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.

Cole M.W., Schneider W. (June, 2007). Perceptual Decision Making Is Mediated by the Cognitive Control Network via ACC/pre-SMA to DLPFC Connectivity. Poster presented at Human Brain Mapping, Chicago, IL.

Cole M.W., Schneider W. (May, 2007). Causal Connectivity Within a Cognitive Control Network During Perceptual Decision Making. Poster presented at Cognitive Neuroscience Society, New York, NY.

Cole M.W., Schneider W. (June, 2006). Dissociation of anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal, and premotor cortex during a visual search task reveals specialized roles within a commonly activated fronto-parietal network. Poster presented at Human Brain Mapping, Florence, Italy.

Schneider W., Siegle G., McHugo M., Gemmer L., Jones D., Fissell K., Koerbel L., Suzuki I., Jung K., Goldberg R., Wheeler M., Cole M.W., Hill N. (June, 2006). 2006 Pittsburgh Brain Activity Interpretation Competition: Inferring Experience Based Cognition from fMRI Data. Poster presented at Human Brain Mapping, Florence, Italy.

Cole M.W., Schneider W. (April, 2006). Dissociation of anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal, and fronto-polar cortex during a visual search task reveals specialized roles within a commonly activated fronto-parietal network. Poster presented at Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.

Schumacher E.H., Cole M.W., Singer A., D’Esposito M. (October, 2004). Distinguishing Response Selection Sub-processes with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Poster presented at Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.

Schumacher E.H., Cole M.W., Singer A., D’Esposito M. (April, 2004). Distinguishing Response Selection Sub-processes with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Poster presented at Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.

Curtis C.E., Cole M.W., Rao V., Ollinger J., D’Esposito M. (April, 2004). Canceling planned action: An fMRI study of countermanding saccades.  Poster presented at Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.

Additional Resources

Statistical tools:
Causal Connectivity Toolbox - This toolbox implements 'causal connectivity analysis', based on Granger causality
StatDataML - Store data in a universal XML format
R - A free software environment for statistical computing and graphics
MATLAB - A commercial software environment for statistical computing and graphics

Functional neuroimaging analysis tools:
SPM - Analysis of fMRI, PET, EEG, MEG (free)
BrainVoyager - Analysis of fMRI, PET, EEG, MEG (commercial)
MRIcro - Simple tool for visualizing structural and functional MRI data
MNE - Analysis of EEG and MEG
Talairach Daemon Applet - Look up the anatomical labels for talairach coordinates

Experimental stimuli:
t a r r l a b stimuli
Voice Neurocognition Laboratory