Introduction - Special Issue

Abstract

Don Stuss was one of a kind. As a scientist, he blazed trails in neuropsychology and neuroscience. As a person, he was a great mentor, friend, and bon vivant. The influence of Don’s clinical and theoretical work on pFC and consciousness is evident through the breadth of the contributions to this special issue, ranging across age groups and methodologies, from cognitive-behavioral to multimodal neuroimaging (structural MRI, fMRI, and scalp and intracranial EEG), in neurotypical and clinical populations (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, stroke, tumor, neurodegeneration, and schizophrenia). A common theme that runs through them all is a focus on a clinically informed psychological architecture of the highest forms of human cognition: attending, thinking, decision-making, and cognitive control. Don influenced the field by astute clinical observations of disruptions in these phenomena in patients, and he translated these into testable hypotheses. Don’s vision as a scientific leader was recognized when he was selected to lead the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest in 1990. The institute grew from a handful of people to a world-leading center for cognitive neuroscience, including neuroimaging and neuroinformatics, which were not part of his primary research methods. Don’s influence reverberates through the hundreds of trainees who have passed through the Rotman Research Institute, many of whom are now leading investigators in their own right. Don’s vision expanded further with his leadership of the Ontario Brain Institute, which became a model worldwide for integrated discovery and clinical informatics. Nomention of Don is complete without acknowledging his humility, generosity, good humor, and friendship. The remembrance by Alexander, Picton, and Shallice (2020) is a fitting introduction to Don’s history as a scientist and as a person (see also Craik & Levine, 2020; Levine & Craik, 2020).