Mapping the Brain: Neural Correlates of Cognition and Mental Illness

Dear Colleagues,

The human brain operates through complex, distributed networks that support a wide range of cognitive functions, including memory, attention, executive control, and emotional regulation. Recent advances in neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and computational modeling have enabled increasingly precise mapping of these neural systems, revealing how specific brain regions and their interactions give rise to cognition. This research has also illuminated how disruptions in these networks contribute to the pathophysiology of mental illnesses.

Functional and structural connectivity analyses, including graph-theoretical and multivariate pattern approaches, have identified key hubs—such as the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, and amygdala—whose altered dynamics are consistently associated with cognitive deficits and clinical symptoms. Moreover, longitudinal and multimodal studies suggest that aberrant neurodevelopmental trajectories and maladaptive plasticity underlie many psychiatric conditions. By integrating data across scales, this field is moving toward a systems-level understanding of brain function and dysfunction. Such insights are critical for developing mechanistically informed biomarkers and targeted interventions, ultimately bridging the gap between neuroscience and clinical psychiatry.

The main aim of this research topic is to delineate the neural circuits underlying core cognitive domains and elucidate how their dysregulation manifests in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Dr. Giacomo Deste
Dr. Daniele Corbo
Guest Editors

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