Colton Casto

About

Originally from Wilmington, NC, Colton Casto completed his undergraduate studies at Princeton University in Neuroscience, with minors in Computer Science and Machine Learning. As an undergraduate student, he worked with Uri Hasson investigating the neural basis of conversation using large language models. After graduating in 2021, he moved to MIT to work as a Technical Research Associate with Ev Fedorenko in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. There, he continued to study the neural basis of language before entering Harvard’s Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology in fall 2023.

Research Focus

Casto’s research currently focuses on neuroscience, language, and AI. He aims to illuminate the neural and computational underpinnings of language processing in naturalistic settings. For example, what parts of the brain support language, and how are linguistic computations distributed amongst them? How do these brain regions work together with other neural systems to facilitate cognition? And how can artificial systems, such as large language models, provide insights into the representations that these brain regions construct and the computations that they perform? To pursue these questions, Casto uses a variety of approaches from cognitive neuroscience and machine learning, including electrocorticography (ECoG), fMRI, and computational modeling.