Prof. Dominik Bach: Critical Intelligence

Critical Intelligence: understanding the mechanisms of naturalistic adaptive behaviour

Abstract:
All animals including humans have to cope with immediate threat to survive and reproduce. To achieve this, non-human animals behave in sophisticated and apparently goal-directed ways. Rapid decisions between potential actions, without much leeway for cognitive or motor errors, poses a formidable computational problem. In my talk, I will give an overview of our research that aims to elucidate the neural mechanisms of these decisions in humans. First, our virtual reality (VR) platform allows simulating immediate threat situations in a safe manner. Second, results from a series of behavioural experiments suggest that human behaviour under threat, while following a standard motor sequence, is flexibly adapted and exhibits many characteristics of reflective planning. Evidence suggests that might be achieved by pre-planning action options, and rolling them out in threatening circumstances. Together, these results pave the way towards an understanding of naturalistic threat-related decisions.

Biosketch:

Dominik Bach holds the Hertz Chair for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience in the Transdisciplinary Research Area Life & Health at University of Bonn (Germany), and is Honorary Professor at Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London (UK). His research interest is to understand critical intelligence: the computational neuroscience of threat-related behaviour. Before joining University of Bonn, he trained in medicine, psychology and maths, and served as faculty at University of Zurich (CH) and UCL. He received awards for his research from the European Research Council (ERC-CoG), the ESRC, and the Swiss National Science Foundation, and was recipient of the Robert-Bing-Prize of the Swiss Academy for Medical Sciences.

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