AUTISM AND OUR PREDICTIVE BRAIN

rethinking different thinking

We do not see the world as it is, but as our brain predicts it to be. Growing evidence shows that our brains do not simply register everything but rather predictively anticipate the world around us. Unconsciously, they build models of reality and update them only when unexpected signals, prediction errors, occur. This allows us to navigate our environment efficiently, preventing us from becoming overwhelmed or stuck in inertia. But does it also make our thinking more biased … and perhaps also more neurodiverse? Indeed, the theory of the predictive brain offers a promising new perspective on autism! A key idea here is that autism is linked to an increased sensitivity to prediction errors. If these errors are then processed insufficiently flexibly and in the right context, it can lead to overload and overly precise, non-generalizable predictions, resulting in sensory and social difficulties.

At the Science Café on Wednesday, March 19, Floris de Lange (RU) and Annabel Nijhof (UGent) will walk us (in Dutch) through this fascinating new view on the brain and autism. In his Predictive Brain Lab, De Lange investigates how our brains form and process expectations, and how this works exactly at a computational and neurological level. Nijhof and her colleagues from the Explora research group study information processing and social interactions in autism, testing, among other things, the predictive brain hypothesis. She will share these findings and discuss them in relation to recent insights from neurobiological autism research. Ready to update your models? Come enjoy as well the mild multisensory pleasure of Sara Maraston on cello and Lukas Proske on accordion, and a refreshing drink. Early birds are in!

scientists /8pm Floris de Lange (Radboud University) and Annabel Nijhof (Ghent University)

music /7.30pmSara Maraston & Lukas Proske

moderatorMaïté Tjon A Hie

timeWednesday March 19th 2025, 7.30/8 – 10 pm
venue             The Shamrock, Smetiusstraat 17, Nijmegen

admissionfree admission (until full capacity)

languageDutch

infowww.sciencecafenijmegen.nl