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EMAIL daniel.mitchell@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk
Department
  • MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
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    Research Theme Neurons, Circuits and Networks Adaptive Brain Computations Lifelong Brain Development and Brain Ageing
    Research Focus

    Keywords

  • Ageing
  • Attention
  • VSTM
  • Intelligence
  • fMRI
  • EEG/MEG

    • Equipment & Techniques

  • Behavioural analysis
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
  • Electroencephalography (EEG)

    • Science Culture

  • Open Access
  • Reproducibility in Science

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    Dr Daniel Mitchell

    University Position
    Senior Investigator Scientist
    Dr Daniel Mitchell is pleased to consider applications from prospective PhD students.

    Interests

    My research focuses on cognitive representations in visual short-term memory, perception, attention, mental imagery and task execution. I am interested in their capacity limits, relationships, and neural substrates. I study healthy adults and aging populations, using a combination of fMRI, MEG/EEG, intracranial recordings, and behavioural tasks, complimented by multiple analysis methods such as multivariate pattern analysis, functional connectivity and causal inference. By studying the links between brain and mind, I aim to understand constraints on cognition, and identify strategies to promote healthy cognitive aging. Collaborative projects also study fluid intelligence in children and glioma patients, and the neural basis of interventions to reduce anxiety.

    Cognitive challenge activates the multiple demand system of the brain (shown in orange, averaged over 252 people). This brain activity weakens with age, which partially mediates decline in fluid intelligence during healthy human aging (green). This relationship is moderated by the variety of physical activities that someone does (bottom right), suggesting that a varied active lifestyle may promote successful cognitive aging. For more details, see https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0148-22.2022

    Collaborators

    Cambridge
  • Alexa Mousley
  • John Duncan
  • Joni Holmes
  • Kamen Tsvetanov
  • Moataz Assem
  • Richard (Rik) Henson
  • Daniel Bor
  • Tim Dalgleish
    • External
  • Rhodri Cusack
  • Almira Kustubayeva

    • Key Publications

    Neural Contributions to Reduced Fluid Intelligence across the Adult Lifespan.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0148-22.2022
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 11 Jan 2023
    Authors: DJ Mitchell, ALS Mousley, MA Shafto, Cam-CAN, J Duncan

    Causal Contributions of the Domain-General (Multiple Demand) and the Language-Selective Brain Networks to Perceptual and Semantic Challenges in Speech Comprehension.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1162/nol_a_00081
    Journal: Neurobiol Lang (Camb)
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2022
    Authors: LJ MacGregor, RA Gilbert, Z Balewski, DJ Mitchell, SW Erzinçlioğlu, JM Rodd, J Duncan, E Fedorenko, MH Davis

    Roles of the Default Mode and Multiple-Demand Networks in Naturalistic versus Symbolic Decisions.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1888-20.2020
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 10 Mar 2021
    Authors: V Smith, J Duncan, DJ Mitchell

    Hierarchical Representation of Multistep Tasks in Multiple-Demand and Default Mode Networks.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0594-20.2020
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 30 Sep 2020
    Authors: T Wen, J Duncan, DJ Mitchell

    The time-course of component processes of selective attention.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.05.067
    Journal: Neuroimage
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2019
    Authors: T Wen, J Duncan, DJ Mitchell

    Role of the Default Mode Network in Cognitive Transitions.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhy167
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2018
    Authors: V Smith, DJ Mitchell, J Duncan

    Visual short-term memory through the lifespan: Preserved benefits of context and metacognition.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000265
    Journal: Psychol Aging
    E-pub date: 31 Aug 2018
    Authors: DJ Mitchell, R Cusack, Cam-CAN

    Complexity and compositionality in fluid intelligence.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1621147114
    Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
    E-pub date: 16 May 2017
    Authors: J Duncan, D Chylinski, DJ Mitchell, A Bhandari

    A Putative Multiple-Demand System in the Macaque Brain.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0810-16.2016
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 17 Aug 2016
    Authors: DJ Mitchell, AH Bell, MJ Buckley, AS Mitchell, J Sallet, J Duncan

    Semantic and emotional content of imagined representations in human occipitotemporal cortex.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/srep20232
    Journal: Sci Rep
    E-pub date: 3 Feb 2016
    Authors: DJ Mitchell, R Cusack

    The temporal evolution of electromagnetic markers sensitive to the capacity limits of visual short-term memory.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2011.00018
    Journal: Front Hum Neurosci
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2011
    Authors: DJ Mitchell, R Cusack

    Encoding strategy and not visual working memory capacity correlates with intelligence.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.16.4.641
    Journal: Psychon Bull Rev
    E-pub date: 31 Aug 2009
    Authors: R Cusack, M Lehmann, M Veldsman, DJ Mitchell

    Flexible, capacity-limited activity of posterior parietal cortex in perceptual as well as visual short-term memory tasks.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhm205
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 31 Aug 2008
    Authors: DJ Mitchell, R Cusack

    Publications

    External task switches activate default mode regions without enhanced processing of the surrounding scene

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00185
    Journal: Imaging Neuroscience
    E-pub date: 3 Jun 2024
    Authors: AX Zhou, J Duncan, DJ Mitchell

    Structural connectivity of the multiple demand network in humans and comparison to the macaque brain.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhad314
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 4 Nov 2023
    Authors: K Karadachka, M Assem, DJ Mitchell, J Duncan, WP Medendorp, RB Mars

    Parental Scaffolding during Book-Sharing Predicts Child General Intelligence.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-023-02262-w
    Journal: Psychon Bull Rev
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2023
    Authors: J Duncan, E Phillips, DJ Mitchell, PJ Cooper, L Murray

    Cognitive segmentation and fluid reasoning in childhood.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/17470218221116054
    Journal: Q J Exp Psychol (Hove)
    E-pub date: 1 Jun 2023
    Authors: S O'Brien, DJ Mitchell, J Duncan, J Holmes

    Lifespan differences in visual short-term memory load-modulated functional connectivity.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119982
    Journal: Neuroimage
    E-pub date: 15 Apr 2023
    Authors: S Lugtmeijer, L Geerligs, KA Tsvetanov, DJ Mitchell, Cam-Can, KL Campbell

    Frontal and temporal coding dynamics in successive steps of complex behavior.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.11.004
    Journal: Neuron
    E-pub date: 1 Feb 2023
    Authors: M Kadohisa, M Kusunoki, DJ Mitchell, C Bhatia, MJ Buckley, J Duncan

    Fluid intelligence and naturalistic task impairments after focal brain lesions.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2021.09.020
    Journal: Cortex
    E-pub date: 1 Jan 2022
    Authors: V Smith, C Pinasco, J Achterberg, DJ Mitchell, T Das, M Roca, J Duncan

    Fluid intelligence and naturalistic task impairments after focal brain lesions

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.12.443802
    Journal:
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2021
    Authors: V Smith, C Pinasco, J Achterberg, DJ Mitchell, T Das, M Roca, J Duncan

    Corticocortical and Thalamocortical Changes in Functional Connectivity and White Matter Structural Integrity after Reward-Guided Learning of Visuospatial Discriminations in Rhesus Monkeys.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0364-20.2020
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 7 Oct 2020
    Authors: V Pelekanos, E Premereur, DJ Mitchell, S Chakraborty, S Mason, ACH Lee, AS Mitchell

    The Functional Convergence and Heterogeneity of Social, Episodic, and Self-Referential Thought in the Default Mode Network.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaa166
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2020
    Authors: T Wen, DJ Mitchell, J Duncan

    The effect of rule retrieval on activity in the default mode network.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116088
    Journal: Neuroimage
    E-pub date: 15 Nov 2019
    Authors: V Smith, DJ Mitchell, J Duncan

    Progressive Recruitment of the Frontoparietal Multiple-demand System with Increased Task Complexity, Time Pressure, and Reward.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01440
    Journal: J Cogn Neurosci
    E-pub date: 1 Nov 2019
    Authors: S Shashidhara, DJ Mitchell, Y Erez, J Duncan

    Response of the multiple-demand network during simple stimulus discriminations.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.05.019
    Journal: Neuroimage
    E-pub date: 15 Aug 2018
    Authors: T Wen, DJ Mitchell, J Duncan

    The neural basis of precise visual short-term memory for complex recognisable objects.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.07.033
    Journal: Neuroimage
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2017
    Authors: M Veldsman, DJ Mitchell, R Cusack

    Fluid Intelligence Predicts Novel Rule Implementation in a Distributed Frontoparietal Control Network.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2478-16.2017
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 3 May 2017
    Authors: N Tschentscher, D Mitchell, J Duncan

    Neural Coding for Instruction-Based Task Sets in Human Frontoparietal and Visual Cortex.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhw032
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 1 Mar 2017
    Authors: PS Muhle-Karbe, J Duncan, W De Baene, DJ Mitchell, M Brass

    Task Encoding across the Multiple Demand Cortex Is Consistent with a Frontoparietal and Cingulo-Opercular Dual Networks Distinction.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4590-15.2016
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 8 Jun 2016
    Authors: BM Crittenden, DJ Mitchell, J Duncan

    Training refines brain representations for multitasking.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1518636112
    Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
    E-pub date: 17 Nov 2015
    Authors: J Duncan, DJ Mitchell

    Concurrent brain responses to separate auditory and visual targets.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1152/jn.01050.2014
    Journal: J Neurophysiol
    E-pub date: 31 Aug 2015
    Authors: P Finoia, DJ Mitchell, O Hauk, C Beste, V Pizzella, J Duncan

    Recruitment of the default mode network during a demanding act of executive control.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06481
    Journal: Elife
    E-pub date: 13 Apr 2015
    Authors: BM Crittenden, DJ Mitchell, J Duncan

    Distinct aspects of frontal lobe structure mediate age-related differences in fluid intelligence and multitasking.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6658
    Journal: Nat Commun
    E-pub date: 18 Dec 2014
    Authors: RA Kievit, SW Davis, DJ Mitchell, JR Taylor, J Duncan, Cam-CAN Research Team, RNA Henson, Cam-CAN Research Team

    Automatic analysis (aa): efficient neuroimaging workflows and parallel processing using Matlab and XML.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.3389/fninf.2014.00090
    Journal: Front Neuroinform
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2014
    Authors: R Cusack, A Vicente-Grabovetsky, DJ Mitchell, CJ Wild, T Auer, AC Linke, JE Peelle

    Hierarchical organization of cognition reflected in distributed frontoparietal activity.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0598-12.2012
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 28 Nov 2012
    Authors: AA Farooqui, D Mitchell, R Thompson, J Duncan

    Encoding strategy accounts for individual differences in change detection measures of VSTM.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.11.034
    Journal: Neuropsychologia
    E-pub date: 1 May 2011
    Authors: AC Linke, A Vicente-Grabovetsky, DJ Mitchell, R Cusack

    Discrete object representation, attention switching, and task difficulty in the parietal lobe.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2009.21194
    Journal: J Cogn Neurosci
    E-pub date: 1 Jan 2010
    Authors: R Cusack, DJ Mitchell, J Duncan