BERLIN SCHOOL OF MIND AND BRAIN

iii january 2011

Newsletter BERLIN SCHOOL OF MIND AND BRAIN contents

1 Editorial by Hauke Heeke ren

2 Einstein Visiting Fellow

Questions & Answers

3 Professor Raymond J Dolan

4 Christoph Korn

6 Vera Ludwig

8 Roland Nigbur

10 Holger Gerhardt

12 Soyoung Park

14 Nikos Green

16 Contact and Imprint iii january 2011

Newsletter Decision-making

There is a long history of decision-making research in Editorial philosophy, economics, and psychology and only recently by Hauke cognitive neuroscience has joined these disciplines in Heeke ren, the quest to better understand how we make decisions. faculty member Decision-making research in Berlin covers a broad of the Berlin range of diff erent aspects : from mechanisms of per- School of Mind ceptual, value-based, and economic decision-making to and Brain social, legal, and moral decision-making. Decision-making is not only a fascinating topic for basic research but may have important practical implica- tions, for example, in designing better decision architec- tures to enable people to make better decisions. What is more, alterations in decision-making are a central feature of neuropsychiatric disorders. A more comprehensive understanding of how we make deci- sions will also contribute to a better understanding of disorders of this kind in clinical populations such as patients with brain lesions, drug and alcohol addiction, depression, and impulsive aggressive behavior. The interdisciplinary environment at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain provides a unique opportunity to tackle problems related to decision-making by taking into account knowledge from philosophy, economics, psychology, and cognitive and aff ective neuroscience. Einstein Visiting Fellow : Raymond J Dolan ( London )

The Berlin School of Mind and Brain is happy to an- nounce that Professor Raymond J Dolan ( Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London ) will be the School’s “Einstein Visiting Fellow” beginning in 2011. The Fellow will receive funding from the Einstein Stiftung ( www.einsteinfoundation.de ) to set up a research group in Berlin and collaborate with the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, its faculty and doctoral students over the coming years. Professor Dolan’s research focuses on the neuro- biological characterization of human emotion and its interaction with other components of cognition, such as attention, memory, and decision-making. Ray Dolan has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Humboldt Research Award for Outstanding Schol- ars, the Minerva Foundation Golden Brain Award, and the International Max Planck Research Award. In the fi eld of Neuroscience and Behaviour, he is one of the most cited scientists in the world. Professor Dolan is a member of the Berlin School of Mind and Brain’s International Advisory Board. He has kindly agreed to participate in this edition’s “Ques- tions and Answers” to introduce his studies and aims for his project in Berlin.

2 Professor Raymond J Q & A Dolan

Q What motivated you to take up Q What do your parents think you the Einstein Visiting Fellowship and are doing ? set up a research group at the Berlin A I am not sure as they are both School of Mind and Brain ? dead – but I don’t for a moment A I have longstanding collabora- imagine they would have envisioned tions with colleagues in Germany, me working either in neuroscience and especially in Berlin. Many of or indeed having a base in Berlin ! these have in fact led to scientifi c publications. So, it seemed logical Q What do you like best about living to put things on a more formal basis. in Berlin ? A I think the city is fascinating, Q What is your research topic ? with an extraordinary history. I am A I work on emotion and decision- deeply impressed with a commit- making, in health and disease. This ment to deal with this history, rather is a wide brief but is one that is in- than bury it. The commitment to the tellectually rich. Arguably, many of architectural and cultural life of the the mental pathologies that affl ict city especially through visible invest- humans are directly related to this ment is also impressive. The city topic and this is of interest to me as also feels very open in all senses of a practising psychiatrist. the word, and that includes the most important element – the people. Q Which do you see as the challenges of an interdisciplinary study of the mind Q What do you fi nd most interest- and brain ? ing about your research ? A It is one of translation. How do A The fact one is continuously you map one level of description on confronted by new problems and to that of another. challenges that are never boring.

Q What classes from undergradu- Q How would you explain what ate study do you wish you could still you do to a non-expert ? remember or wish you had taken ? A I say that I am trying to under- A Mathematics to a high level, and stand how one bit of the mind physics too. works.

3 Christoph Q & A Korn

Q What motivated you to apply Q What is your research topic ? for the program at the Berlin School A In our everyday lives we make of Mind and Brain ? many decisions in a social context. A The title of my Master’s degree I am interested in how this social was “Brain and Mind Sciences.” context infl uences and shapes our When I started my Master’s course, behavior. Specifi cally, my current I was mainly interested in the brain research focuses on how we process on a cellular level. However, gradu- self-related social feedback. This so- ally my interests shifted to topics cial feedback can be positive, such as related to human behavior. I was somebody telling us that we are nice really glad that the interdisciplinary and friendly, or it can be negative, structure of my Master’s course such as somebody telling us that we aroused my fascination for both are arrogant and hypocritical. From brain and mind sciences. There- our own experience, we know that fore, I wanted to pursue my PhD our reactions to positive and negative thesis in a similar, interdisciplinary feedback diff er substantially. environment. Furthermore, I was looking for the possibility to do my PhD in a framework that off ers a lot of face-to-face interaction with other students and researchers. In addition to doing research, I also wanted to get additional teaching during my PhD. The Berlin School of Mind and Brain off ered precisely what I was looking for.

Christoph Korn

4 By using functional magnetic reso- another discipline often use a diff er- nance imaging I want to investigate ent methodology precisely because the brain mechanisms involved in they are asking a diff erent question. diff erentiating positive and negative social feedback. Importantly, in Q What do you fi nd most interesting order to get a more mechanistic about your research ? understanding of the computations A What I like about my research performed by certain brain regions topic is that a lot of people can im- during social feedback processing, mediately understand and relate to I am applying insights and theories what I am interested in from their from recent studies on non-social everyday experiences. Furthermore, decision-making. I like the fact that I am working on an interdisciplinary topic, which is Q Which do you see as the challenges infl uenced by studies in neuroeco- of an interdisciplinary study of the mind nomics, cognitive neuroscience, and and brain ? social psychology. I also like the fact A In my opinion, the challenge is that my research topic may be rele- not so much about explaining what vant for clinical research and practice. you are investigating, but about con- Patients suff ering from psychiatric veying why you are interested in disorders such as major depression answering a certain research ques- show altered social feedback process- tion. In interdisciplinary debates, ing. Therefore, I hope that in the scientists often have diffi culties com- future, my studies can contribute municating the motivation for their to better understanding the defi cits specifi c research questions. Further- of these patients. more, scientists trained in diff erent fi elds sometimes have a hard time understanding each other due to the use of diff erent research meth- odologies. I think that we should be aware of the shortcomings of our respective approaches and ac- knowledge that scientists trained in

5 Vera Q & A Ludwig

Q What motivated you to apply Q What is your research topic ? for the program at the Berlin School A When we decide between several of Mind and Brain ? options, we have to assign values to A How can the brain give rise each of them in order to choose the to subjective experience ? Why do option with the highest value. I study I experience myself as a person the neural mechanisms underlying in space and time ? Such questions this assignment process by func- have fascinated me since early ado- tional magnetic resonance imaging lescence. I applied to the Berlin ( f MRI ). In my experiment, partici- School of Mind and Brain because pants decide how much money they I am convinced that interdiscipli- are willing to pay for diff erent food nary discussion is crucial if we want items ( e. g., chocolate, potato crisps ). to have even the slightest chance This is one measure for the value of understanding these topics better. participants place on items. To study At the School of Mind and Brain how value signals are computed or you can interact with and learn from retrieved in the brain, we use hypno- students and researchers from sis to systematically infl uence factors diverse backgrounds who share the relevant for the assignment of values same passion for mind and brain and observe how this changes brain topics. You are constantly exposed activation during decisions about food. to new ideas, perspectives, and meth- odological approaches. This helps Q What do your parents think you one to avoid getting caught up in are doing ? rigid ways of thinking. I am very A Something crazy. My family grateful to be part of this stimulating knows I am investigating some- environment. thing about the brain, that we will hypnotise people, and that I go to the supermarket to buy incredible amounts of sweets. Who could pos- sibly make sense of this ?

6 Q What do you like best about living in Berlin ? A The atmosphere, the people, and the fact that there is so much to do: conferences, workshops, exhibitions, bars, sports – even beautiful lakes are close by. I enjoy that you hear many diff erent languages in the streets, that you discover new things every day, and that living here is quite cheap. Even though Berlin is not perfect ( we do have some ugly buildings, cold winters and rude people ), somehow that just makes Vera Ludwig me love it more.

Q What do you fi nd most interesting about your research ? A What I fi nd most interesting about my research is that we use hyp- nosis in our experiments. It is a very promising tool for cognitive neuro- science, because you can induce states in healthy people that would be diffi cult to produce otherwise ( e. g., amnesia, paralysis, hallucina- tions ). Hypnosis has not yet been applied in studies of decision-making and reward-related processing. I am very excited to see how well it will work and what we will fi nd.

7 Roland Q & A Nigbur

Q What motivated you to apply Q What is your research topic ? for the program at the Berlin School A I am interested in the brain’s of Mind and Brain ? ability to deal with confl icting action A The Mind and Brain program tendencies during goal-directed off ers the opportunity to meet behaviour. In specifi c, focus on how students from completely diff erent we can select relevant or ignore research backgrounds. After school, irrelevant elements during informa- I was not sure whether biology, tion processing. Imagine yourself psychology, philosophy, or medicine as a German in London crossing the would be a good choice for me. street: your fi rst tendency might be I decided to study psychology since to look to the left for approaching topics like consciousness, patho- cars. However, several near accidents logical states of mind, thinking, and later you will have learned to ignore many more were covered by these your tendency to look to the left and studies. After fi nishing my studies, overcome this action tendency by I decided to do a doctorate in biologi- looking to the right. cal psychology and discovered another chance for getting to know other dis- ciplines better, this time at Mind and Brain. What I found most interesting was the opportunity to understand the research questions that each re- spective science branch asks. In the end, this methodological perspective taking allows one to come closer to the big picture of the mind and its relations to the brain. Connecting knowledge from modern state-of-the- art neuroscience data with theoretical concepts and its philosophical im- plications is probably fascinating for everyone who considers themselves to be a scientifi cally-minded person. Roland Nigbur

8 A proposed idea is that there is a term “representation.” Especially single system in the brain which is neuroscientifi c research delivers capable of controlling information counterintuitive results, which are processing by selecting or ignoring sometimes incompatible with our such motor programs or learned everyday thinking about the mind reactions. However, quite early in and our psychological architecture. my project it became clear that this I think the most fruitful search lies system is more complex and consists in the gap between molecular level of several building blocks instead up to the cognitive operations that of one central executive. Right now, can be done and functions that we I am investigating how diff erent ascribe to our brains. In my view, task-relevant parts of our brain can sketching the basic properties of this “communicate” and infl uence the in- incredibly complex system and relat- formation fl ow. I use electrical brain ing it to concepts and questions from signatures ( eeg ) to study neuronal humanities is the biggest challenge. counterparts of cognitive processing during confl ict resolution, but I am Q What do you like best about living also interested in the general set-up in Berlin ? of the brain and how long-range A Berlin is cheap, dynamic, and communication might be infl uenced overwhelming. I think everyone by emotions. can fi nd his, her or its niche and it doesn’t matter if you prefer music, Q Which do you see as the challenges nightlife, arts, or people. Following of an interdisciplinary study of the mind my favourite Berlin slogan, “Jeder and brain ? nach seiner Fasson” *, you can do A From my perspective, the most what you want and become who you important challenge of interdiscipli- are without anyone disturbing you. nary research lies in developing a common vocabulary. It happens very often that people from diff erent fi elds such as philosophy or psychology use * Roland quotes King Frederick ii of Prussia who, commenting on religious tolerance, exactly the same term in completely said ( roughly translated ): “Whatever fl oats diff erent ways. For example, take the your boat !” ( Ed. )

9 Holger Q & A Gerhardt

Q What motivated you to apply Neuroscience, in turn, is concerned for the program at the Berlin School with the “algorithmic” Level 2 and of Mind and Brain ? Level 3, the “Physical Implementa- A The opportunity to meet and tion.” In the end, neuroeconomics collaborate with members of the attempts to provide a description colourful Berlin neuroscience com- of ( economic ) decision-making that munity. And money. is satisfactory on all three levels. However, it is very diffi cult to de- Q What is your research topic ? velop models that fulfi l this criterion A Neuroeconomics – i. e., combin- while maintaining a healthy level ing neuroscience and economics of abstraction and simplicity. It is in order to understand better how easy for such models to become people make economic decisions. overly complex so that one cannot analyse the interaction between Q Which do you see as the challenges agents anymore. of an interdisciplinary study of the mind and brain ? Q What classes from undergradu- A Finding a good way of relating ate study do you wish you could still David Marr’s three levels to another: remember or wish you had taken ? Traditional economics is, I would A There was no freedom of choice. claim, almost exclusively about We had to ingest what was being Level 1, the “Computational Theory.” served. The reason is that on this level, it is easiest to model both individual Q What do your parents think you agents with their individual motives are doing ? and their interactions, which jointly A That I am a neoliberal who helps shape aggregate outcomes. Cognitive companies fi nd new ways to empty psychology, in my eyes, deals with people’s pockets. both the “computational” Level 1 and with Level 2, “Algorithms and Repre- sentations.”

10 Q What do you like best about living Q How would you explain what you in Berlin ? do to a non-expert ? A The company of people who are A No, neuroeconomics is not about even greater geeks than yourself … manipulating people so that you see my answer below. can empty their pockets even faster ( you’re confusing neuroeconomics Q What do you fi nd most interesting with neuromarketing … ) ! Rather, about your research ? neuroeconomics is about fi nding out A The opportunity to combine all how people make economic deci- my favourite geekeries: a geeky sions – which might even come in academic topic, endless discussions handy when advising people how to about tiny details, big issues and make better decisions. right and left and wrong, computer geekery ( especially Mac ), typographic Q What do your kids bring to “Show geekery / graphic design, and meet- and Tell – what do your parents do” ? ing people who are even greater A A laptop. geeks than yourself.

Holger Gerhardt

11 Soyoung Q & A Park

Q What motivated you to apply Q What is your research topic ? for the program at the Berlin School A I am interested in value-based of Mind and Brain ? decision-making and reinforcement A Before I started the PhD pro- learning. Everyday we decide among gram, I worked in various neuro- many options and most of them science labs that applied diff erent are driven by the value that an option methods in order to study animals has. An option, let’s say a pair of and humans. It was very impor- shoes, has both positive value, the tant for me to have the possibility comfort of the shoes, and negative to learn new methods and to have value, the monetary cost. We are the access to new inputs. The Ber- very good at computing the overall lin School of Mind and Brain is a value of the shoes by integrating big collection of researchers work- the diff erent values to make a suc- ing in diverse fi elds varying from cessful choice. My current project humanities to medicine. I was aims to investigate how our brain attracted to the amazing possibility performs such a computation. of all these topics. Here, I apply computational models to the brain data, assessed by func- tional magnetic resonance imaging ( f MRI ). Although the behavioural data cannot provide decisive informa- tion about which mechanisms are used, brain data is benefi cial because it unveils the fact that values impact each other when being integrated.

Soyoung Park

12 Q Which do you see as the challenges When I have publications or submit of an interdisciplinary study of the mind a thesis, they always ask for a copy and brain ? and read it. After that, we have to talk A Openness, breaking down the for a long time on the phone. barriers between languages. Re- searchers tend to talk in the language Q What do you like best about living of their respective discipline and it in Berlin ? is only natural that they diff er across A Berlin is one of the most amaz- disciplines. I think that the ability ing cities I have ever been to. It has to listen to researchers from other everything one can imagine and more. disciplines, to ask what they mean It has history, it has class, and it is in- when they say certain things, and to credibly young and dynamic. Everyone try to understand their concepts is can fi nd his or her own niche here very important. and feel comfortable, no matter how weird he / she is. Berlin is unbelievably Q What classes from undergradu- open and would accept anyone ! ate study do you wish you could still remember or wish you had taken ? Q What do you fi nd most interesting A Actually, psychology as an under- about your research ? graduate study seems to prepare one A Value is one of the central mo- very well for neuroscientifi c research. tivations that drive us. We work Additionally, I could have done more because our career has great value mathematics and computer science. for us. We go all the way to a Japa- This might make it easier to create nese noodle soup restaurant three new models. times a week because Japanese noodle soup is valuable for us. How- Q What do your parents think you ever, as you can see, the values are are doing ? very subjective and shaped by learn- A Investigating brains. My parents ing and experiencing. It seems to be are very curious about what I am do- rigid, but is also very fragile and can ing and I sometimes have to spend be reshaped. Still, it de termines so a whole day on the phone with them much of our life and behaviour. That explaining computational models. is pretty fascinating !

13 Nikos Q & A Green

Q What motivated you to apply Q Which do you see as the challenges for the program at the Berlin School of an interdisciplinary study of the mind of Mind and Brain ? and brain ? A In the beginning of 2007, I start- A How to put it all together ! There ed a PhD program at the Max Planck are several scientifi c fi elds, such Institute for Human Development as cognitive science, neuroscience, in the research group Neurocogni- cognitive psychology, philosophy, tion of Decision Making. My super- engineering, computer science, lin- visor, Hauke Heekeren, suggested guistics, and artifi cial intelligence, the newly founded Mind & Brain involved in studying the brain and as a complementary program to my the mind. Often, we have very simi- PhD because he knew that I think lar views on a lot of the questions very broadly about how we make de- we are interested in. However, we cisions, how we learn, how we think, tend to also have lot of diff erent pre- and so on. I read about the school’s sumptions about the right level of concept and liked the idea and thus detail or the right method to answer I applied. a question.

Q What is your research topic ? Q What classes from undergradu- A My current research is in the ate study do you wish you could still fi eld of cognitive neuroscience. In remember or wish you had taken ? particular, I am doing research on A Most of them. Like many others, perceptual and reward based de- I vaguely remember the details of cision-making. For instance, I am complex knowledge if I do not use using brain-imaging methods like it regularly, be it pharmacokinetics, f MRI in combination with mathe- the symbol grounding problem, matical models to understand the semantics, or diff erential calculus. basic mechanisms of decision-mak- ing in the human brain. Q What do your parents think you are doing ? A Enjoying life with my family in Berlin ! Seriously, most of the time we talk about the technical aspects

14 of my research, as they understand most if not more than me because of their profession.

Q What do you like best about living in Berlin ? A 1. The long, cold, dark grey win- ter ! And defi nitely the summer in between ! 2. High quality of living. 3. The experience of diff erent ideas and expressions and interacting with the people behind them.

Q What do you fi nd most interesting Nikos Green about your research ? A The questions : What kinds of things are involved when making a friend, or deciding to read this decisions ? What aff ects one’s choice ? text rather than doing other things. What components are involved and I would start off by using these how do they interact ? Discussing sorts of questions and examples of possible ways of answering those decision-making or a simile on the questions. Taking apart our research methods of cognitive neuroscience. fi ndings and discussing their rel- Depending on the context, we would evance. proceed from there.

Q How would you explain what you Q What do your kids bring to “Show do to a non-expert ? and Tell – what do your parents do” ? A What is a decision ? Whenever A In my son’s case probably some you choose between alternatives – music like the song Axons and whether it’s selecting diff erent veg- Dendrites from Shipping News etables off ered on a farmers market, or Stream of Consciousness from deciding if the person on the other Dream Theater and a sack full of side of the street in the distance is walnuts.

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BERLIN SCHOOL OF MIND AND BRAIN

16 imprint

V. i . S . d . P. Front Cover Annette Winkelmann Alexander von Humboldt ( 1769 – 1859 ), natural scientist and explorer, co-founder Editor of Berlin University. Younger brother Zarifa Mohamad of Wilhelm ( 1767 – 1835 ), scholar of com- parative linguistics and Prussian states- Proofreading man, whose portrait was on the cover Ellen Fridland, Annette Winkelmann of Newsletter ii. © Thomas Röske – Fotolia.com Layout and Typesetting Sebastian Lehnert, Munich Printing www.deskism.com Biedermann GmbH, Parsdorf

17 BERLIN three-year doctoral program SCHOOL OF MIND AND in transdisciplinary BRAIN mind and brain research

Applications invited for Conscious and unconscious perception Decision-making Language Brain disorders and mental dysfunction Brain plasticity and lifespan ontogeny Philosophy of mind & ethics Molecular and cellular neuroscience Social cognition

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