Michael J. Frank is the Edgar L. Marston Professor of Psychology and Professor of Brain Science at Brown University's School of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences. He holds academic affiliations with the Carney Institute for Brain Science and specializes in cognitive neuroscience, computational neuroscience, and decision-making processes. Frank earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience & Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2004, and joined Brown University in 2011 after serving as a Professor at the University of Arizona. His research integrates computational modeling and experimental methods to explore neural mechanisms underlying reinforcement learning, decision-making, and cognitive control, with a focus on prefrontal cortex-basal ganglia interactions and dopamine modulation. Frank's honors include the Troland Research Award (2021), Kavli Fellowship (2016), and the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award (2011). He is an editor for eLife, Behavioral Neuroscience, and the Journal of Neuroscience. His lab, based at http://ski.clps.brown.edu, investigates topics such as neural circuit models of cognitive control, neuropsychological testing, and translational applications of computational models in psychiatry. Frank's research emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, combining behavioral experiments, neuroimaging (fMRI, EEG), and pharmacological studies to dissect brain-behavior relationships. Key findings include insights into dopamine's role in motivation, decision-making deficits in schizophrenia, and computational phenotyping of mental disorders. His work bridges basic science and clinical applications, aiming to inform therapeutic strategies for neurological and psychiatric conditions.
