{"id":16969,"date":"2026-03-05T14:14:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cognitivescience\/?p=16969"},"modified":"2026-03-09T07:42:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T11:42:00","slug":"colloquium-on-march-11-generative-world-models-and-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cognitivescience\/2026\/colloquium-on-march-11-generative-world-models-and-behaviour\/","title":{"rendered":"Colloquium on March 11 – Generative World Models and Behaviour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Join us on March 11th<\/strong> from 15:00 \u2013 16:00 for our next Colloquium<\/a>.
\nYou can join on campus (DT 2203) or Zoom<\/strong> https:\/\/carleton-ca.zoom.us\/j\/96979364539<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow this link for a complete listing<\/a> of our Colloquia for Winter 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Generative World Models and Behaviour <\/span><\/span>with Thomas Parr, via Zoom<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas Parr is a theoretical neurobiologist and practising physician. He completed his undergraduate medical studies and PhD at University College London, where he worked with Professor Karl Friston at the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging in Queen Square. He is interested in how our brains model our environments, and how these models become dysfunctional in neurological disease. He is an author of the first comprehensive textbook on Active Inference\u2014an approach to understanding brain and behaviour from first principles. He currently works as an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurology at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (University of Oxford) and the John Radcliffe Hospital.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Our brains model our world through synthesising sensory data with prior beliefs\u2014arising from our personal and evolutionary histories. This idea underwrites Bayesian brain theories, which have been highly influential in explaining perceptual experience. One can take this idea further and understand the challenge of modelling the world as one that can be solved both by optimising perception and by acting to ensure our sensory data are compatible with our model of how the world should be. This talk provides an overview of this idea, known as active inference, motivating the core ideas from a simple physical system, unpacking the consequences for how we understand neuroanatomy, behaviour, and neurological pathologies. Ultimately, active inference offers a theoretical neurobiology under which one\u2019s generative world model governs the structure and function of their nervous system.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Join us on March 11th from 15:00 \u2013 16:00 for our next Colloquium. You can join on campus (DT 2203) or Zoom https:\/\/carleton-ca.zoom.us\/j\/96979364539 Follow this link for a complete listing of our Colloquia for Winter 2026. Generative World Models and Behaviour with Thomas Parr, via Zoom \u00a0 Thomas Parr is a theoretical neurobiologist and practising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nColloquium on March 11 - Generative World Models and Behaviour - Department of Cognitive Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Join us on March 11th from 15:00 \u2013 16:00 for our next Colloquium. 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