Cognitive and Psychological Sciences

Michael Frank received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience & Psychology (joint) at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2004. After working as a Professor at the University of Arizona, he came to the Brown CLPS department in 2011, where he is currently an Edgar L. Marston Professor. His research combines multiple levels of computational modeling and experimental work to understand the neural mechanisms underlying reinforcement learning, decision making and cognitive control. His lab also develops neural circuit and algorithmic models of systems-level interactions between multiple brain areas (primarily prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia and their modulation by dopamine). Other areas of focus involve testing theoretical predictions of the models using various neuropsychological, pharmacological, genetic, and imaging techniques. Find out more about his research at his lab website. Frank's honors include Kavli Fellow (2016), the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award (2011), the Janet T Spence Award for early career transformative contributions (Association for Psychological Science, 2010) and the DG Marquis award for best paper published in Behavioral Neuroscience (2006). Dr Frank is a senior editor for eLife, associate editors for Behavioral Neuroscience and the Journal of Neuroscience, and member of Faculty of 1000 (Theoretical Neuroscience section).