Alumni talks: Jakub Limanowski (London) and Laura Kaltwasser (Berlin)
Introduced by faculty member Felix Blankenburg (FU Berlin):
Jakub Limanowski (London)
“The role of multisensory active inference in body and self-representation”
I will present my investigations into the impressively flexible representation of one’s ‘own’ body using brain imaging, illusions, and virtual reality, with a focus on the integration of visual with proprioceptive information for the control of bodily action. I will interpret these (and related) findings within the ‘active inference’ framework, i.e., as attentional modulations operating within the limits of what can be called a pre-existing body (or self) model, which can – in principle – also be shared. I will end with some potential implications for conceptualizations of ‘minimal phenomenal self-models’.
Laura Kaltwasser (Berlin)
“Functional aspects of the minimal self – the case of schizophrenia”
The self is a particularly manifold and illusive concept occupying a central position in philosophy, psychology, the cognitive, cultural and social sciences since their existence. The “minimal” or “agentive” self represents a functionally defined subdivision of the plurality of notions of selfhood, relating to a person’s phenomenal experience in the here and now as a subjective agent and its underlying sensorimotor basis. Disturbances of the minimal self are observed in patients with schizophrenia who report a long-time persisting identity void and a feeling of self-transformation. For example, patients report a disturbed “grip” or “hold” of their actions, which is characterized by a loss of salience or stability of objects in the perceptual and cognitive field of their awareness.
In my talk, I would like to present an interdisciplinary research project at the interface between cognitive neuroscience, psychiatry and robotics. The overall goal of this project is to provide a thorough and fine-grained characterization of disturbances of the minimal self in patients suffering from schizophrenia. Furthermore, the data from experiments in a cohort of patients will be used to model their behavior in humanoid robots with the ultimate aim to extract general principles of the construction of an active self
All are welcome!
The alumni talks will be followed by drinks at Café Flora Soft, Philippstraße 13, Haus 19.
