Robin W. Wilkins, Ph.D.

 
Robin W.  Wilkins, Ph.D.
Director of Human Neuroimaging
Gateway MRI Center
University of North Carolina-Greensboro USA


Network Neuroscientist
As a network neuroscientist, Dr. Wilkins's theoretical focus is applying her knowledge of music as a tool to advance our understanding of mental phenomena. Her goals include providing supportive evidence for explaining how experiences with music affect the brain.  An expert musician (violinist) she examines how the brain performs complex mental operations and how to optimize restorative brain function.  Her research was the first study to apply network-based (graph theory) methods to real-time music listening in the brain
Wilkins, R.W., Hodges, D.A., Laurienti, M., Steen, M., & Burdette, J.H. (2012). Network Science: A New Method for Investigating The Complexity of Musical Experiences In The Brain Leonardo 45(3). She holds two U.S.-registered patents and trademarks Wired for Music Reg. No. 6,411,735 and Rogue Planet Reg. No. 6,980,524

In 2013, she was awarded Best Student Research Paper from the International Society of Network Science "NetSci" by  Dr. Albert-Laszlow Barabasi and in 2014 received a Nature Publication Group (NPG) international media announcement for her publication "Wilkins, R.W., Hodges, D.A., Laurienti, M., Steen, M., & Burdette, J.H. (2014). Network Science and the Effects of Music Preference on Functional Brain Connectivity: From Beethoven to Eminem. Scientific Reports. 1-7. The paper remains at 99% of all papers published for the year and is listed as 1st in Nature publications for papers of its kind.  Her awards also include Governor's Teacher of Excellence (Virginia) and National Symphony Orchestra, Director of Excellence, and three full-tuition merit scholarships in music (undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral).


 
Dr. Wilkins is particularly interested in providing the research evidence for understanding brain network responses to music related to revealing and remediating levels of mental awareness in injured or compromised brain states that may ultimately be applied for brain-inspired convergence that will enhance Artificial Systems of Intelligence and idea origination. Experimentally, she explores how emotional responses to different types of music and sustained instrumental skills training--such as during chess or music-- influence structural and functional brain networks; particularly those useful in other cognitive domains and social & emotional domains (such as empathy and interoceptive awareness). She is also committed to providing a deeper understanding of the effects of extensive and intensive skills in musicians training across the lifespan. This includes evidence that can help provide a fuller understanding of how the brain learns complex operations  (mind-machine motor control) and use-dependent skills training developed for understanding the diligence required for mastery and expertise. Dr. Wilkins works to develop a network-based understanding of nano-level brain systems to generate new nanoengineered biologically compatible tools for improving brain systems.

Education
Dr. Wilkins received her Ph.D. in 2015 while at Wake Forest University Baptist School of Medicine under Drs. Paul J. Laurienti and Jonathan Burdette at the Laboratory for Complex Brain Networks partnered under her advisor Dr. Donald A. Hodges at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Her neuropsychology training includes Mind/Brain/Education from Havard University Graduate School of Education under Dr. Kurt Fischer, Professor of Education and Human Development and Chair Department of Psychology. She followed as a research fellow at the A. Martinos Center for Biomolecular Imaging in Boston, MA. In addition, she holds two degrees in music: a concert violinist of over 12 years holds degrees in both violin & clarinet in music education, a master's degree in violin performance (University of Miami, under John Celentano,) and performer diploma continuing studies under Henryk Kowalski  at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, along with over 12 years of successful award-winning teaching experience.

Musical Performance and Teaching
As a  concert violinist, Dr. Wilkins has performed at Carnegie Hall (Annapolis Chamber Orchestra), John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall (National Chamber Orchestra), and numerous national and international orchestras including Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, National Gallery Orchestra, Palm Beach Opera and Symphony (under award-winning Maestro Anton Guadagno), to name a few. 
 
She has also performed and nationally toured with, among others,  notable Grammy award-winning artists such as Vince Gill,  Natalie Cole and Perry Como, as well as Al Jarreau,  Burt Bacharach and Emmanuel Axe, Nadia Solerno-Sonnenberg, Pinchas Zuckerman,  Itzhak Perlman, among others. Her symphony performances include Maestros Riccardo Muti, Samuel Adler, Nick Perrito, and Isaiah Jackson.  Her years as a concert violinist also include summer workshops and as an award-winning Director of Symphony Orchestras for Langley HS in McLean Va and Fairfax County Schools.
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