Karl Friston

Karl Friston FMedSci FRSB FRS is a Wellcome Principal Research Fellow and Scientific Director at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, and Professor at the Institute of Neurology, University College London. He also serves as an Honorary Consultant at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UK. Friston is a theoretical neuroscientist and authority on brain imaging who has made seminal contributions to neuroscience methodology and theory.

Friston's research interests span theoretical neurobiology, computational neuroscience, and computational psychiatry. He invented statistical parametric mapping (SPM), voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and dynamic causal modelling (DCM). His most significant theoretical contribution is the free-energy principle for action and perception (active inference), which provides a unified framework for understanding brain function. His work integrates predictive coding, Bayesian inference, and information theory to explain perception, action, and learning. His research has profound implications for understanding schizophrenia through the dysconnection hypothesis, which frames psychosis as a failure of hierarchical predictive coding.

Friston's publication record demonstrates consistent thematic development across decades, with recent work focusing on active inference, free-energy minimization, and computational psychiatry. His articles reveal a progression from methodological innovations in neuroimaging to comprehensive theoretical frameworks that unify perception, action, and learning under Bayesian principles. The recurring themes include hierarchical generative models, precision weighting, and the role of prediction errors in neural processing.

• Young Investigators Award in Human Brain Mapping (1996)
• Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999)
• President of the international Organization of Human Brain Mapping (2000)
• Minerva Golden Brain Award (2003)
• Fellow of the Royal Society (2006)
• Medal, College de France (2008)
• Weldon Memorial prize and Medal (2013)
• Charles Branch Award for unparalleled breakthroughs in Brain Research (2016)
• Glass Brain Award - lifetime achievement award in human brain mapping (2016)

As Scientific Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Friston leads one of the world's premier neuroimaging research centers. His theoretical work has generated numerous research programs across multiple institutions investigating active inference in perception, action, psychiatry, and even developmental biology. His frameworks have been applied to diverse areas including robotics, machine learning, and philosophical questions about consciousness and agency. Friston's work continues to shape the theoretical foundations of cognitive neuroscience through both his mathematical innovations and conceptual frameworks that unify previously disparate phenomena.