Title: Precision neuroimaging, neuropeptides, and AI: decoding and regulating human emotion
Abstract: Emotional and motivational processes are vital for everyday functioning and mental health. Dysregulation in these domains critically impede adaptive behavior and represent a transdiagnostic feature across major mental and neurological disorders. A significant proportion of individuals experiencing pathological dysregulation do not respond adequately to currently available interventions. Therefore, integrated translational strategies that precisely identify the underlying brain systems and explore novel strategies to modulate these targets in humans are urgently needed. In this talk, I will outline synergistic strategies aimed at (1) determining the neural basis of highly subjective, conscious emotional experiences using machine learning–based neural decoding of advanced and naturalistic fMRI experiments, (2) demonstrating how these neural signatures differ from those underlying hard-wired autonomic affective responses, and (3) exploring how these domains can be precisely regulated via neuropeptide systems (such as oxytocin and angiotensin II) and novel technologies, including conversational AI.
Biography: Benjamin Becker is currently a Full Professor at The University of Hong Kong and a Visiting Professor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. He received his degrees from the Universities of Trier and Duesseldorf and completed further training at the University of Bonn in Germany. Over the past ten years, he has established and led internationally successful research teams in Germany, Mainland China, and Hong Kong (www.Beckerlab.org). His research explores how the human brain regulates emotional and motivational experiences, how these processes become dysfunctional in mental disorders, and how they can be modulated by molecular targets (such as oxytocin and angiotensin II) and novel technologies (including neurotechnology and AI). To this end, his team employs a comprehensive range of approaches, including advanced MRI neuroimaging, computational/AI-based neural decoding, neuropsychopharmacology, and closed-loop modulation in both healthy individuals and clinical populations. He has published more than 300 research and conceptual articles in scientific journals, serves in editorial roles for leading journals (Advanced Science, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychopharmacology), and leads task forces at the Global Brain Consortium (GBC) and the Cognitive Science Program at HKU.
Zoom details:
https://zoom.us/j/93711378882?pwd=ONUDhocbW7ucS5dRak0RGdZBC27ynz.1
Meeting ID: 937 1137 8882
Passcode: 845614
Posted on 29/10/2025
