Dr. Robert Thomas Knight is a preeminent neuroscientist and internationally recognized authority on human cognitive neuroscience and prefrontal cortex function. He currently serves as Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UC Berkeley and Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at UC San Francisco, positions he has held since his appointment at Berkeley in 2000. Knight earned his BS in Physics from the Illinois Institute of Technology before obtaining his MD from Northwestern University Medical School followed by neurology training at UC San Diego and postdoctoral research at the Salk Institute. His distinguished career began at UC Davis where he served in the Neurology Department from 1980 to 1998 after which he transitioned to UC Berkeley directing the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute from 2001 to 2011.
Dr. Knight's groundbreaking research has fundamentally advanced understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying human cognition through pioneering work with intracranial recordings in neurosurgical patients. His laboratory was instrumental in demonstrating how high frequency band activity 70 to 200 Hz correlates with cognitive processes and can be used to decode imagined speech laying critical groundwork for brain computer interfaces to restore communication in patients with neurological disorders. Knight's work on the role of prefrontal cortex in attention memory and decision making has challenged conventional wisdom in cognitive neuroscience with his findings published in over 400 scholarly articles that have garnered more than 89000 citations. His innovative approach combining electrophysiological and neuropsychological methods has established new paradigms for investigating human brain function and has been particularly influential in understanding how distributed neural networks support goal directed behavior.
Beyond his research achievements Dr. Knight has profoundly shaped the field of cognitive neuroscience through leadership roles including his service as Founding Editor of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience and his receipt of the Distinguished Career Contribution Award from the Cognitive Neuroscience Society in 2013. He has been honored with numerous prestigious awards including two Jacob Javits Awards from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the German Humboldt Prize in Neurobiology recognizing his exceptional contributions to neurological research. Knight's laboratory continues to pioneer new approaches for developing brain machine interfaces that could restore communication for patients with disabling neurological conditions with recent work demonstrating the ability to reconstruct musical elements from brain activity. His ongoing research focuses on refining intracranial recording techniques to decode complex cognitive processes while mentoring the next generation of neuroscientists who have gone on to establish influential research programs worldwide.
