Colloquium
Time: 11:00am, Sept 22, 2025
Venue: Lecture Hall, Shanghai Brain Center
Speaker: Prof. Benjamin Becker
Professor, University of Hong Kong, HK, China
Adjunct Professor, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
Host：Dr. Goran Angelovski
Biography:
Benjamin Becker is currently a Full Professor at The University of Hong Kong and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. He received his degrees from the Universities of Trier and Duesseldorf and underwent further training at the University of Bonn (Germany). Over the last ten years, he has established and led research teams in Germany, Mainland China, and Hong Kong. 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 utilizes a comprehensive array of strategies, including advanced MRI neuroimaging, computational / AI neural decoding, neuropsychopharmacology, and closed-loop modulation in both healthy individuals and clinical populations. He has published more than 300 articles and currently serves as Principal Editor of Psychopharmacology, Executive Board member of Advanced Science, Editor of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, and co-director of the CIBD task force of the Global Brain Consortium (GBC). He also directs the Cognitive Science Programme at HKU.
Abstract:
Adaptive emotion and motivation are essential for everyday functioning, and their disruption represents a transdiagnostic feature across major mental and neurological disorders. Existing interventions in these domains often lack efficacy, highlighting the urgent need for integrated translational strategies that precisely identify the underlying brain systems and explore novel strategies for modulating these targets in humans. In this talk, I will outline innovative approaches to determine the neural basis of human emotion and motivation through fMRI-based neural decoding (neuroaffective signatures), demonstrate how these circuits can be regulated by targeting neuropeptide systems (oxytocin, angiotensin II) and novel technologies, and discuss next steps for translating these advances into clinical applications for brain-based disorders.