Brain Inspired BI 221 Ann Kennedy: Theory Beneath the Cortical Surface
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Sep 24, 2025 Ann Kennedy, Associate Professor at Scripps Research and head of the Laboratory for Theoretical Neuroscience and Behavior, dives into the intriguing world of subcortical brain systems. She discusses how survival, threat response, and motivation are managed by these ancient circuits, even without cortical input. Ann emphasizes the importance of neural diversity for effective computation and explores how neuromodulatory signals shape behavior. Highlighting her innovative Kaggle competition, she also bridges behavioral analysis with theoretical neuroscience, connecting fundamental biology to advanced AI.
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Subcortical Theory Opportunity
- Subcortical areas like hypothalamus are underexplored by theorists and ripe for theoretical contributions.
- Ann Kennedy argues connecting old instinct models to modern systems methods yields new insights.
Mice Without Cortex Still Behave
- Marcus Meister's lab removed cortex and hippocampus and mice retained many survival behaviors.
- The mice could groom, mate, fight, and escape despite lacking cortex and hippocampus.
Computation Predates Nervous Systems
- Many neural functions predate nervous systems and appear in single cells and simple organisms.
- Early signaling motifs like oscillations and chemical sensors were co-opted into multicellular nervous systems.
