Andrea Stocco

Image of Andrea Stocco

Andrea Stocco

Associate Professor
(206) 543-4159
Kincaid 542
Advising: Accepting new graduate students in 2025-2026.
Interests: Computational neuroscience, cognitive science, learning, memory

Research

I am interested in understanding the relationship between cognition and the brain from an information-processing point of view, asking questions such as "What are the fundamental computations needed for this task?" and "How can these computations be implemented within this specific brain circuit?". In particular, I have been interested in the mechanisms that permit intelligent and adaptive behavior, with a particular focus on the interaction between prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia.

Education

University of Trieste (2005)

  • Smith, B. M., Thomasson, M., Yang, Y. C., Sibert, C., & Stocco, A. (2021). When Fear Shrinks the Brain: A Computational Model of the Effects of Posttraumatic Stress on Hippocampal Volume. Topics in Cognitive Science, 13(3), 499-514.
  • Stocco, A., Sibert, C., Steine-Hanson, Z., Koh, N., Laird, J. E., Lebiere, C. J., & Rosenbloom, P. (2021). Analysis of the human connectome data supports the notion of a “Common Model of Cognition” for human and human-like intelligence across domains. NeuroImage, 235, 118035.
  • Rao, R. P., Stocco, A., Bryan, M., Sarma, D., Youngquist, T. M., Wu, J., & Prat, C. S. (2014). A direct brain-to-brain interface in humans. PloS one, 9(11), e111332.
  • Cole, M. W., Laurent, P., & Stocco, A. (2013). Rapid instructed task learning: A new window into the human brain’s unique capacity for flexible cognitive control. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 13(1), 1-22.
  • Stocco, A., Lebiere, C., & Anderson, J. R. (2010). Conditional routing of information to the cortex: A model of the basal ganglia’s role in cognitive coordination. Psychological review, 117(2), 541.
  • Anderson, J. R., Fincham, J. M., Qin, Y., & Stocco, A. (2008). A central circuit of the mind. Trends in cognitive sciences, 12(4), 136-143.