Self-Organisation Lab

Stuart P Wilson, The University of Sheffield, UK


About us

The aim of our research is to understand how self-organisation and natural selection interact to shape complex systems, such as brains. To this end, we construct mathematical and computational models of adaptive self-organising networks.

Our research has focused on two model systems:

  1. Self-organising neural network models of the development of topological maps in sensory and motor cortex.

  2. Self-organising models of the evolution and development of collective behaviour in animal groups.

Our recent research focuses on the interplay between these two systems, exploring how self-organising interactions between developing animals shape, and in turn are shaped by, self-organising networks in developing brains.

We are particularly interested in the interplay between brain and behaviour in the evolution of social and cognitive systems.

Find out more about self-organisation.

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