Photo of Jamie Warner

Jamieson Warner

I study how brains build themselves. In my PhD with Risto Miikkulainen, I fit generative models to mouse connectome data. My work explores self-organization, variational inference, and multi-agent systems — with the goal of building machines that think like people.

Self-Organizing Models of Brain Wiring

Poster Paper Slides

• Why I Trained an NCA to Produce Mouse Brain Connectivity
• Modeling the Connectome Using Developmental and Ecological Priors: A Challenge for Self-organization Research
Presented at the GECCO 2025 Workshop on Evolving Self-organization.

Work example 1
Work example 2

Timeline

  • ‣
    🛠️🧠 EvoSelf Talk • 2025-07
    Poster Paper Slides
    Spotlight talk at the GECCO 2025 Workshop on Evolving Self-organization: "Self-Organizing Models of Brain Wiring: Developmental Programs for Evolving Intelligence."
  • ‣
    🎓📘 Defended Dissertation • 2025-04
    PDF
    Defended dissertation, "Developmental Generative Models of Brain Connectivity."
  • ‣
    🤖🧠 Poster at ICDL • 2024-05
    Poster
    Presented a poster at ICDL, "Reproducing Whole-Brain Connectome Using a Developmental Model."
  • ‣
    🤖👃 Talk at ICDL • 2024-05
    Paper
    Presented work at ICDL (and won a best paper award) for "Using Context to Adapt to Sensor Drift."
  • ‣
    🏫🧠 Started Grad School • 2018-09
    Began the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program at UT Austin.
  • ‣
    🎓🤖 UW-Madison: Graduated • 2017-05
    Graduated college majoring in Math and Computer Science.
  • ‣
    🕹️🌱 Cellular Automata Hack • 2016-05
    Link
    Made a plant growth toy at a UW-Madison's 2016 Spring Fever Hackathon.
  • ‣
    🤖👁️ First Publication • 2015-06
    Paper
    Published a conference paper in computer vision.
  • ‣
    🕹️♟️ Video Game • 2015-06
    Link
    Made Banana Chess, a fast-paced 5x6 chess variant.
  • ‣
    🏫🤖 Started College • 2013-09
    Enrolled in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • ‣
    🕹️🧩 Video Game • 2013-03
    Link
    Made Rollin', a puzzle video game.