Ways to think about the Brain - Prof. György Buzsáki

As part of the Brain Awareness Week Berlin 2021, the SFB 1315 presents a lecture by zoom

Speaker: Prof. György Buzsáki - New York University

Title: Ways to think about the Brain

Tuesday, March 16, 4pm

Current neuroscience is largely fueled by an empiricist philosophy that assumes the brain’s goal is to perceive, represent the world, and learn the truth. An inevitable consequence of this framework is the assumption of a decision-making homunculus wedged between our perception and actions. In contrast, I advocate that the brain’s fundamental function is to induce actions and predict the consequences of those actions to support the survival and prosperity of the brain’s host.
Only actions can provide a second opinion about the relevance of the sensory inputs and provide meaning for and interpretation of those inputs. In this “inside-out” framework, the brain comes with a preconfigured and self-organized dynamic that constrains how it acts and views the world.
In the brain’s nonegalitarian organization, pre-existing nonsense brain patterns become meaningful through action-based experience. I will show recent experiments that support this framework.

Admission: free
Please register at sfb1315.ifb (at) hu-berlin.de, then you will receive the link to the event.