Interdisciplinary research at the interface of neuroscience, psychiatry, and computer science
caian is a research centre within the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Life and Health" at University of Bonn, which aims to enhance our understanding of life across theoretical and disciplinary boundaries.
We investigate the human brain, cognition, and behaviour from a transdisciplinary perspective, drawing on the fields of neuroscience, computer science, and psychology. Using artificial intelligences as scientific discovery models and as research tools, we seek to understand biological intelligence, how it is enabled in the central nervous system, and how it fails in neuropsychiatric disorder.
News
First caian talk to take place on 27. October 2025
caian talks is a new lecture series, hosted by Prof. Dominik Bach and the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience at University of Bonn. The event series is launched in October 2025, and will present guest talks by researchers in the field of cognitive and computational neuroscience on a regular basis. It is a hybrid format, taking place on Campus Poppelsdorf and on Zoom.
New Preprint on 94 Empirical Benchmarks for Associative Learning Models
A consortium of 21 learning experts surveyed the literature and expert community for robust empirical phenomena, which we graded by reproducibility and generality. Surprisingly, some findings diverge markedly from "textbook knowledge".
Read the preprint here: osf.io/qsgz8
New Article on Experiment-Based Calibration in Psychology Published
This new paper in the Journal of Mathematical Psychology analyses experiment-based validation in a probability-theoretic model. We show that the boundary conditions of this approach also apply to any form of criterion validity, e.g. classical convergent validity. If competing measurement methods tap into different latent variables, calibration will favour methods that tap into the latent variable most closely related to the experimental manipulation. Finally, we provide a simple data-generating formalism that can be used for simulations.
ENIGMA Fear Conditioning Article just published in Nature Communications
23 August 2025: Ever wondered how your brain learns to anticipate negative events?
Our collaborators in Barcelona just published a groundbreaking mega-analysis of harmonized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 2199 individuals across nine countries, to which we contributed. This study, conducted within the ENIGMA consortium, offers insights into the brain areas active during Pavlovian fear conditioning. This fundamental learning process consistently engages brain areas commonly referred to “central autonomic–interoceptive” or “salience” network. The study, which included both healthy individuals and those with anxiety-related or depressive disorders, reveals that while the brain areas active during fear conditioning are highly generalizable at the population level, significant variability arises from two key factors: task design and clinical status. The study authors thus demonstrate that various task variables strongly modulate brain activity in these fear-related regions.
Furthermore, brain activation patterns differ notably between healthy individuals and those with disorders, with distinct profiles emerging for specific conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This comprehensive investigation underscores the impact of methodological diversity on results in fear learning studies, and going forward provides a much clearer picture of how fear is processed in the brain, both typically and in the context of mental health conditions.
Read the open-access article here.
Miquel Fullana (Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer & Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain) is leader of the sub-project 'Fear Conditioning' at the consortium. Learn more the ENIGMA-Anxiety working group here.
Events
caian talk 11/12/2025 with Charley Wu
Institute of Computer ...
01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Guest talk by Charley Wu (TU Darmstadt) on "Generalization Guides Exploration Across Development, Social Contexts, and Memory"
Human learning and ...
“Attack Mode: On!” – Test your reaction skills in virtual reality
Centre for AI and ...
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Panther. Bear. Snakes. Threats that we rarely encounter around here, but that are notoriously difficult to escape from. Would you like to test your skills and ...
caian talk 19/11/2025 with Manos Konstantinidis
Institute of Computer ...
01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Guest Talk by Manos Konstantinidis (University of Warwick) on "Sources of information and confidence in experiential risky choice".
Research on ...
caian talk 29/10/2025 with Ondřej Zíka
Institute of Computer ...
01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
Guest talk by Ondřej Zíka (University College Dublin) on "Computational markers of uncertainty sensitivity as predictors of longitudinal changes in ...
Research
Researchers
Hertz Chair for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience
Prof. Dr. Dr. Dominik Bach
PI of the Critical Intelligence Lab
Chair for Computational Neuroscience
Prof. Dr. Floris de Lange
PI of the Predictive Brain Lab
Research Interests
Grant Funding
Contact Us
Office Administration
Please direct general inquiries and questions related to teaching to our office manager, Anja Menke.
Research Management
Please direct questions regarding grant proposals, grant funing, ethics applications, and press inquiries to our research coordinator, Merle Ingenfeld.
Participant Management
Please direct any questions regarding scheduling or further information on specific studies to our research team.
Directions
Location:
Am Propsthof 49 in 53121 Bonn, Germany
Our lab is located on University of Bonn's Natural Sciences Campus in Endenich.
Limited street parking is available.
Locate us on Google Maps.
How to reach us via public transport
Public transport stops nearby include several bus lines and a train stop:
- buses 631, 633 (exit "Gerhard Domack Strasse" or "Propsthof Nord"),
- buses 608, 609, 610, 611 (exit "Verdistrasse"),
- U-Bahn line 16 (exit "Propsthof Nord").