Frederike Petzschner

Dr. Frederike Petzschner is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and the Carney Institute for Brain Science at Brown University. She directs the Carney Brainstorm Program, focusing on translating computational brain science to clinical and commercial applications. Her research explores embodied intelligence, emphasizing the bidirectional brain-body interactions that influence perception, emotion, and well-being.

• Education:
  • PhD in Systemic Neuroscience from Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich (2013)
  • MS in Physics with Honors from University of Würzburg (2009)
  • BS in Physics from University of Würzburg (2008)

Research Interests: Frederike integrates mathematical models, behavioral experiments, and brain imaging to study brain-body-world dynamics in healthy individuals and patients with psychosomatic symptoms, Disordered Gambling, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Chronic Pain. Her work spans Computational Psychiatry, Interoception, and Neuroimaging.

Trends in Publications: Recent articles analyze belief formation in mental health, reward processing, and spatial cognition. These studies employ computational modeling, behavioral neuroscience, and translational approaches to address clinical and cognitive challenges.

Scientific Awards:

• MIT Prize (2024)
• Pitch Competition Winner for SOMA App (2023)

Leadership and Collaborations: She leads the Carney Brainstorm Program and collaborates with institutions like the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich. Her work intersects with digital ecology through membership in Germany’s national council for digital ecology (Rat für digitale Ökologie) and global engagement via the WEF Global Shapers alumni network.