Networks have long played a key role in cognitive science, from artificial neural networks to spreading activation models of semantic memory. Recently, a new network science has been developed, providing insights into the emergence of global, system-scale properties in contexts as diverse as the Internet, metabolic reactions, and collaborations among scientists.
Today, the inclusion of network theory into cognitive sciences, and the expansion of complex-systems science, promises to significantly change the way in which the organization and dynamics of cognitive and behavioral processes are understood, according to a recent paper co-authored by SFI External Professor Morten Christiansen that reviews recent contributions of network theory to the cognitive sciences.
Read the paper in Trends in Cognitive Science