The National Academy of Sciences this week elected James Haxby, a professor of psychological and brain sciences, one of 145 new members chosen “in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”
Haxby specializes in computational cognitive neuroscience and how to decode thoughts and perceptions from brain activity patterns. He is a dedicated advocate of open neuroscience who developed a computational conceptual framework, known as Hyperalignment, to model the shared information encoded in mapping brain functions, such as sensory and motor inputs, onto the cortex. Each person’s brain has a slightly different cortical topography to represent the same information, so this widely used method enables researchers to abstract information from fMRI data, and find what’s shared across brains.
He also pioneered multivoxel pattern analysis, a method that examines patterns of activity across many small regions of the brain simultaneously to determine what information is represented in that area.
“I am grateful to my colleagues in the National Academy of Sciences for this recognition of my contribution to advancing computational cognitive neuroscience,” Haxby says. “I also am grateful to Dartmouth for its recognition of the value of cutting-edge scientific research and the role it plays in enriching education.”
The co-author of some 230 studies dating back to 1979, his research at the Haxby Lab includes using fMRI data to examine cortical patterns that encode information such as memories, knowledge, thoughts, and emotions.
His lab also focuses on visual neuroscience and the perception of others. Past research by Haxby and his team includes creating a new template of the human brain that improves mapping brain activity, and examining if AI can effectively model face processing in humans.
“Jim Haxby has made foundational contributions to cognitive neuroscience, both by developing fMRI methods used by labs worldwide and by advancing extremely influential theories of the organization of high-level visual cortex,” says Provost Santiago Schnell. “Dartmouth is proud of his election to the academy, and the nation will benefit from it.”
Haxby earned a BA in psychology from Carleton College and a PhD in clinical neuropsychology from the University of Minnesota. He served as a section chief at the National Institute of Mental Health and is the recipient of the NIH Director’s Award, among other honors.
Haxby has taught at Dartmouth since 2008 and served as director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience from 2008 to 2021.
A private, nongovernmental institution established in 1863 by an act of Congress, the NAS works in conjunction with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine, which were established under the NAS charter, “to advise the nation” on issues related to science and technology, engineering, and medical and health issues, according to its website.
The NAS now has more than 3,200 active members, who were elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research.
Other Dartmouth faculty who are NAS members are Mary Lou Guerinot, professor of biological sciences; Ta Yuan Chang, professor of biochemistry and cell biology; Jay C. Dunlap, professor of molecular and systems biology; and William Wickner, professor of biochemistry and cell biology.
