Colloquium Cognitive Systems

The planning and attribution of action: From the agony of choice to disorders of agency in Schizophrenia
Dr. Axel Lindner, University of Tübingen

Abstract: I am interested in how our nervous systems plans goal directed behavior and how it attributes the consequences of this behavior to the self vs. the non-self. In my presentation I will look at two extreme ends of this sensorimotor spectrum: In the first part of my talk I will present fMRI work on action planning with a focus on how the brain deals with an ever-increasing amount of choice alternatives and choice overload. In the second part of my presentation I will show how we distinguish sensory events that are a consequence of our own actions from events that are externally caused. I will particularly highlight disorders of such “agency” attribution in Schizophrenia and I will show correlated alterations of self-action perception and of “intentional binding”.