Jeff Yoshimi

I study the relationship between the structure and dynamics of the field of consciousness and the structure and dynamics of neural activity using phenomenology (the study of conscious experience and its structure), mathematical and computational models, visualizations, neuroscience (in particular EEG, especially in recent collaborations), and supervenience. This paper gives a sense of the broad project, but there is a great deal of new research in the works.

Edmund Husserl developed a systematic philosophy of consciousness at the turn of the 20th century. I have written or edited several books on Husserl, including the open access book, Horizons of Phenomenology, which feaures an article containing a bibliometric visualization of the entire phenomenology literature. My earlier book, Husserlian Phenomenology: A Unifying Interpretation, formalizes certain key features of Husserl's work as part of the larger project of integration of cognitive science. I also created and maintain a site, Husserl.net, which features a variety of interactive tools for Husserl scholars.

A broad theme that spans all my teaching and research interests is finding ways to visualize complex processes. From mapping arguments to visualizing neural networks to making cartoons and graphics to teach phenomenology, I have always been oriented towards graphical display of complex information. In my recent book Gaming Cancer I have begun to explore how gamelike visualization can facilitate scientific discovery and promote other social goods like scientific literacy.

To study the behavior of neural networks (simulated brain circuits) in virtual environments, I created a computer program called Simbrain, which is open-source, visually-oriented, and free. I also routinely update an open-access and collaboratively written book about neural networks that is based on teaching with Simbrain, Neural Networks in Cognitive Science.

I have a long-time collaboration with Scott Hotton in this area. Our primary contribution has been to formally define the concept of an open dynamical system and to use this concept to study a range of natural and artificial systems, including Hopfield networks and, in a book-length study, the Open Dynamics of Braitenberg Vehicles. I have used this concept to argue that representational and embodied approaches to cognitive science are compatible with each other, insfoar as we can study both the rich interactions between a system, its body, and its environment, and also focus on the internal representational dynamics of those systems.

In the 1990s I helped create a set of "debate maps" that are avalable here. Since then debate-mapping research has been steadily advancing; I hope to return to this area in coming years.