Computational approaches to cognition: top-down approaches.

Computational models are useful tools for exploring the nature of human cognitive processes. In particular, connectionist models are providing researchers with new ways of thinking about the basic nature of cognition and its implementation in the brain. They support novel explanations of important aspects of perception, memory, language, thought and cognitive development, and allow cognitive processes to be linked with the underlying physiological mechanisms. The models also aid our understanding of how disorders of brain function lead to disorders of cognition.