Romain Brette.

Romain Brette

Research director, Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics
INSERM

Romain Brette is a research director in the Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics at INSERM. He has worked in neuronal biophysics, neuroinformatics, auditory neuroscience, philosophy of neuroscience and, recently,  the behavior and physiology of protists.

Brette earned a master’s degree in neural network theory at King’s College London in 1999 and a second master’s in computer vision and learning theory in Paris. He completed his Ph.D. in mathematical neuroscience as a member of Yves Burnod’s team at Université Pierre et Marie Curie (now part of Sorbonne Université), studying the dynamics of spiking neuron models. He was previously assistant professor of computer science at Ecole Normale Supérieure.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

A fragmenting cube hovers over a person reading a book.

Error equation predicts brain’s ability to generalize

Four statistical measurements of neural network geometry capture how well brains and artificial networks use what they already know to solve new problems, a study suggests.

By Natalia Mesa
10 April 2026 | 5 min read
A large, abstract shape flows out of a small box.

Embrace complexity to improve the translatability of basic neuroscience

Researchers must learn to view heterogeneity as an essential feature of the systems they study and a central consideration in experimental design, not a variable to control for or reduce.

By Linda Douw, Klaus Eyer, Lara Keuck
9 April 2026 | 5 min read

Romain Brette reveals fundamental flaws in commonly assumed neuroscience concepts

His new book, “The Brain, In Theory,” offers alternatives to many of the computer science frameworks currently driving theoretical neuroscience.

By Paul Middlebrooks
8 April 2026 | 131 min listen