The social brain over the life course: embodied self-awareness and the future of neurotechnology
| When: | Wednesday, 19 August 2026 |
| Where: | Hybrid Event Braamfontein Campus East In person Venue: GH005, Gate House, WITS University; Online: Zoom |
| Start time: | 13:00 |
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What makes you self-aware?
What makes you self-aware? Recent experimental and neuroanatomical evidence has converged to suggest that self-awareness is grounded in the body and is socially mediated. Advances in neurotechnology – an umbrella term used to describe technologies that record, interpret or modulate neural activity – have revolutionised the way we study the brain and provided novel methods to investigate self-awareness. Recent innovations in neurotechnology have been driven by advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence. However, unequal global access to neurotechnology limits the representation of diverse populations and contexts. In this talk, I will use draw on previous and current research on the construction of bodily self-awareness and social-emotional development over the lifespan, to unpack the current landscape and future directions of the use of neurotechnology in the 第一吃瓜网 context.
In doing so, I will argue that representation across neuroscience, neurotechnology and artificial intelligence is not only a matter of equity - but that social diversity provides a unique avenue to study how human social behaviour can shape the neural and embodied basis of self-awareness.
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