Mental Representations of Tactile Information
Neuroscientist Timo Torsten Schmidt about the Central Question of How Mental Representations are Realized by our Brains
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At the last talk of our lecture series »Talking Matters« in this year, on Tuesday, December 7th 2021, we were happy to have neuroscientist Timo Torsten Schmidt from Freie Universität as our guest. In his talk, he provided exciting insights for us into current research on tactile mental representations.
The lecture was given in English. It was part of the online lecture series of the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« entitled »Talking Matters«.
Abstract
The human ability to mentally represent and manipulate information in the absence of sensory stimulation is key for any higher cognitive functions. It is a central question in cognitive neuroscience how mental representations are realized by our brains. This question is addressed in empirical research on mental imagery and working memory. I will present
studies on the nature of tactile mental representations and will present current models on the neuronal mechanisms of information integration across sensory modalities. I will present current ideas on the hierarchical processing within the human cortex, and how this contributes to the realization of mental representations with different degrees of
abstractness.
Bio
Dr. Timo Torsten Schmidt is a researcher at the Freie Universität Berlin. As a neuroscientist interested in the neuronal underpinnings of human consciousness, he works with methods from the field of computational cognitive neuroscience with a focus on functional neuroimaging. His research focuses on the mental representation of consciousness content
(working memory and mental imagery).