{"pk":49982,"title":"Pareto optimality reveals the core computations of the human brain","subtitle":null,"abstract":"The human brain supports complex behaviors through diverse functional connectivity patterns. We propose Pareto optimality as a novel framework to understand this functional organization. According to Pareto theory, systems optimizing multiple competing goals do so by balancing trade-offs along a low-dimensional \"Pareto front\" defined by archetypes that each optimize a single goal. Applying Pareto analysis to resting-state fMRI data (HCP, N=1200), we found that individual connectomes lie on a low-dimensional triangle. The three archetypes represent core computational goals: minimizing energetic cost, supporting cognitive control and goal-directed behavior, and enabling internal processing and memory. These goals are reflected in connectivity patterns, network topology, information flow, behavioral and clinical associations. The framework generalizes beyond rest to task-based brain states, and a simple neural model illustrates the trade-offs' computational basis. Pareto optimality offers a principled approach to decompose brain function into core computations across conditions, populations, and stages of life.","language":"eng","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[{"word":"Cognitive Neuroscience; Cognitive architectures; Computational neuroscience; Dynamic Systems Modeling; fMRI"}],"section":"Abstracts with Poster Presentation","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7gn078wm","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Dan","middle_name":"","last_name":"Hilman Amir","name_suffix":"","institution":"The Hebrew University of Jerusalem","department":""},{"first_name":"Yuval","middle_name":"","last_name":"Hart","name_suffix":"","institution":"The Hebrew University of Jerusalem","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"2025-01-01T18:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/49982/galley/37944/download/"}]}