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OxfordUniversity of Oxford
DublinTrinity College Dublin
Cognition, Anatomy & Neural Networks
How does a brain's anatomy enable its intelligence?
We build cortex-wide computational models to understand how anatomical organisation shapes neural dynamics, cognition and behaviour.
ReceptorsConnectivityDistributed activity
LatestNews
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Fellowship · Oxford
Seán elected to a Research Fellowship at St John's College
2026
Alumni · Fellowship
Ulysse Klatzmann awarded an Impact+ Canada Fellowship
2026
Outreach · Trinity
New collaboration with Trinity Access Programmes
2026/27
Funding · UKRI
Future Leaders Fellowship supports anatomy-driven NeuroAI
Current
Publications
Two new collaborative Nature Neuroscience papers
2026
People · Summer school
Eva Sevenster accepted to Mind, Brains & Machines
2026
Alumni · Faculty
Rahul Gupta becomes Assistant Professor
2026
Alumni · Industry
Dabal Pedamonti joins Novomorphic as Edge AI Engineer
2026
Talks · Chengdu
CANN at the Chinese Computational & Cognitive Neuroscience conference
2026
Recognition · Cosyne
Eva Sevenster and Aswathi Thrivikraman give a selected Cosyne talk
2026
Research programme
From cortical organisation to flexible cognition.
We discover organising principles in cortical anatomy, build them into neural-network models, and test how they shape cognition.
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Build it into models.
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Discover how they shape cognition.
Explore the lab
Cognition. Anatomy.
Neural networks.
The lab name is also our research programme. Hover over a pillar, question, person or publication to see how the pieces connect across CANN.
CANNThree linked levels of explanation
The functions and representations we want to explain.
The biological structure that constrains computation.
Models linking anatomy to dynamics and cognition.
Research questions & approachesEach sits beneath one of the three CANN pillars
Cognition
Cognition(Ab)normal perception
CognitionWorking memory
CognitionDecision-making
CognitionPlanning
Conscious access, hallucinations and altered perception.
Distributed maintenance and flexible access to information.
How choices emerge across circuits, scales and species.
Future-state representations and internally generated cognition.
Anatomy
Anatomy
Principles
Anatomy
Acute changes · neuromodulation
Anatomy
Chronic changes · disease
Anatomy
Evolutionary changes · cross-species
Stable organising features of cortex: gradients, wiring and spatial organisation.
Seconds to minutes: how receptor architecture enables rapid changes in circuit dynamics.
Months to years: persistent biological changes that reshape cognition in disease.
Across evolution: how species differences in cortical organisation change computation.
Neural Networks
Neural networksTrained neural networks
Neural networksBiophysical models
Task-trained models, including Cortically Embedded RNNs.
Mechanistic cortex-wide models grounded in cellular and synaptic physiology.
PeopleCurrent, incoming and selected alumni
SFSeánPI
ESEvaPhD
AshPhD
TsvetPhD
XYXiaohePhD
TeoVisiting PhD
JKJulianIncoming RA
YWYufanIncoming postdoc
JMJamesIncoming postdoc
NCNaomiIncoming PhD
AshPhD
TsvetPhD
XYXiaohePhD
TeoVisiting PhD
JKJulianIncoming RA
YWYufanIncoming postdoc
JMJamesIncoming postdoc
NCNaomiIncoming PhD
UKUlysseAlumnus
RGRahulAlumnus
DPDabalAlumnus
Selected publications
Click to open the paper · Full list on Google Scholar ↗
Cell Reports · 2025Klatzmann et al.
A dynamic bifurcation mechanism explains cortex-wide neural correlates of conscious access.
Molecular Psychiatry · 2025Purple et al.Short- and long-term modulation of rat prefrontal cortical activity following single doses of psilocybin.
Nature Neuroscience · 2023Froudist-Walsh et al.Gradients of neurotransmitter receptor expression in the macaque cortex.
Neuron · 2021Froudist-Walsh et al.A dopamine gradient controls access to distributed working memory in the large-scale monkey cortex.
eLife · 2024Ding et al.Cell type-specific connectome predicts distributed working memory activity in the mouse brain.
Communications Biology · 2025Joyce*, Ivanov* et al.Higher dopamine D1 receptor expression in prefrontal parvalbumin neurons underlies higher distractibility in marmosets versus macaques.
bioRxiv · 2025 Klatzmann et al.Spatial layout of visual specialization is shaped by competing default mode and sensory networks.
Cerebral Cortex · 2024 Magrou*, Joyce* et al.The meso-connectomes of mouse, marmoset, and macaque: network organization and the emergence of higher cognition.
Open science
Code and data
for reuse.
We share modelling code, neuroimaging resources and anatomical datasets so results can be reproduced, extended and tested in new settings.
Open code
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CANN on GitHub
Code for cortical modelling, analysis and visualisation from the CANN group.
github.com/CANNgroup ↗
Open data
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Neuroanatomy and neuroimaging datasets
BALSA
Neuroimaging repositories
Macaque frontal lobe: cytoarchitecture, receptors & functional connectivity ↗
Gradients of neurotransmitter receptor expression in macaque cortex ↗
Dopamine gradient & distributed working memory ↗
Receptor architecture of macaque inferior parietal lobe ↗
Multimodal atlas of macaque motor & premotor cortex ↗
EBRAINS
Anatomical datasets
PRIME-DE / INDI
Open macaque MRI
People
The CANN
research group.
We are a computational neuroscience and NeuroAI group working across the University of Oxford and Trinity College Dublin.
Lab life
Research, travel,
collaboration and community.
The CANN group works across ideas, methods and places. We wanted the people section to feel a little more human and less like a directory — so this collage mixes conferences, outdoor trips, meals and informal moments from lab life.
CANN
Computational neuroscience and NeuroAI across Oxford and Trinity College Dublin.
Current members
SFPrincipal Investigator
PhD student
PhD student
Visiting PhD student
Seán Froudist-Walsh
Computational neuroscience, NeuroAI, neuromodulation, anatomy, cross-species modelling and computational psychiatry.
→ ESPhD studentEva Sevenster
NeuroAI, CERNNs and neuromodulation.
→PhD student
Tsvetoslav Ivanov
Dynamical systems, schizophrenia, neuromodulation and cross-species modelling.
→PhD student
Aswathi Thrivikraman
Anatomically constrained RNNs, planning and internally generated cognition.
→ XYPhD studentXiaohe Yu
Neuromodulation, stress and computational psychiatry.
→Visiting PhD student
Teo Fantacci
Decision-making, working memory and biophysical modelling of neural dynamics.
→Incoming team
RAJulian Kedys
Biophysical modelling of serotonin & dopamine effects on fMRI signals
→ PostdocYufan WangCortical anatomy · cross-species
→ PostdocJames McAllisterCross-species CERNN modelling
→ PhD studentNaomi CurnowCross-species CERNNs of decision-making
→Alumni
People directory →Ulysse KlatzmannPhD student · 2022–2025Impact+ Canada Fellow · Dumas Lab, Université de Montréal
Rahul GuptaPostdoc · 2023–2024Assistant Professor · University of Bristol, Mumbai
Dabal PedamontiShort-term postdoc · 2025Edge AI Engineer · Novomorphic
Beyond research
Teaching &
widening participation.
We want computational neuroscience to be rigorous, understandable and accessible — in the classroom and beyond the university.
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Teaching
Cognitive AI, neural computation and the brain
Courses spanning artificial intelligence, computational neuroscience and brain-inspired computation, plus an open teaching-video collection.
Teaching → 02Widening participation & outreach
Opening pathways into science and higher education
From school outreach and public neuroscience to a new 2026/27 collaboration with Trinity Access Programmes.
Outreach →News
Latest from
the CANN lab.
New papers, fellowships, talks and milestones from current and former lab members.
Seán elected to a Research Fellowship at St John's College, Oxford
Seán has been elected to the Research Fellowship in the Sciences and Mathematics at St John's College, Oxford, beginning in October 2026.
Profile →Ulysse Klatzmann awarded an Impact+ Canada Fellowship
Congratulations to recently graduated PhD student Ulysse Klatzmann, whose Impact+ Canada Fellowship will support his research in the Dumas Lab at Université de Montréal.
Alumni →New collaboration with Trinity Access Programmes
Seán will collaborate with Trinity Access Programmes in 2026/27 to support pathways to Trinity for people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Outreach →UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship
Seán's UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship supports the lab's programme developing anatomy-driven AI models for translational neuroscience.
Read more →Two new collaborative Nature Neuroscience papers
Collaborative work with Luppi et al. on competitive interactions across species is published in Nature Neuroscience; work with Oh et al. on state-dependent signal-flow hierarchy is in press.
Luppi et al. ↗Congratulations Eva
Eva Sevenster has been accepted to the Mind, Brains & Machines summer school.
Eva's profile →Rahul Gupta becomes Assistant Professor
Congratulations to former postdoc Rahul Gupta on becoming an Assistant Professor at University of Bristol, Mumbai.
Alumni →Dabal Pedamonti joins Novomorphic
Congratulations to former short-term postdoc Dabal Pedamonti on becoming an Edge AI Engineer at Novomorphic.
Alumni →CANN at CCCN
Seán gave an invited talk at the Chinese Computational & Cognitive Neuroscience conference in Chengdu, and Xiaohe Yu presented a poster.
Recorded talks →Selected talk at Cosyne
Eva Sevenster and Aswathi Thrivikraman gave a selected talk at Cosyne Portugal, with a selection rate below 2.5%.
Watch ↗