Fellow-Klasse 2025/26 PD Dr. Gordon Feld
Arbeitsvorhaben am Marsilius-Kolleg
Efficient Knowledge Acquisition and Utilization in Human Cognition and Language Models
Humans face a new era where machine intelligence approaches parity with our cognitive abilities. Early science fiction scenarios have become reality - what lies ahead is hard to predict. In face of this, it is of utmost importance to understand the similarities and differences between human cognition and machine intelligence. Our project will compare information uptake in AI systems and humans that specialize in rapid language understanding and production: large language models and interpreters. We will analyze how both ingest new information and integrate it with pre-existing knowledge while
preventing forgetting of old information. For this we study and compare how the human brain and language models integrate new information for effective storage and retrieval via variable cues. This will allow us to understand and generalize strategies for efficient information uptake, consolidation and usability in both systems. In sum, our project aims to i) deepen our understanding of human cognition in comparison to knowledge processing in AI models, to ii) improve the learning strategies of LLMs and Simultaneous Interpreters, and to iii) transfer our insights to the domain of mental health. Our group is ideally suited for this project, as each field imports disciplinary insights that contribute to a holistic understanding of cognitive abilities that will be important across disciplines and society at large.
FORSCHUNGSGEBIETE
My research mainly focuses on long-term memory in humans from a Cognitive Neuroscience perspective. I investigate psychological mechanisms of learning, consolidation and retrieval using behavioural measures and relate them to neurobiological processes using M/EEG, MRI and neuropharmacology. I am especially interested in the interplay of memory and sleep and its contribution to healthy and disordered cognition. Computational modelling methods are on the rise in my field.
Lebenslauf
Beruflicher Werdegang
- Seit 03/2019 Emmy-Noether-Gruppenleiter, Abteilung Klinische Psychologie (Prof. Peter Kirsch), Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit, Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim, Universität Heidelberg
- 09/2018 – 02/2019 Fellow des College for Life Sciences am Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
- 09/2016 – 08/2018 Postdoc, Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience (Prof. Hugo Spiers), University College London
- 07/2014 – 08/2016 Postdoc, Institut für Medizinische Psychologie (Prof. Jan Born), Uniklinikum Tübingen, Universität Tübingen
- 08/2012 – 06/2014 Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Institut für Medizinische Psychologie (Prof. Jan Born), Uniklinikum Tübingen, Medizinische Fakultät, Universität Tübingen
- 09/2009 – 07/2012 Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Institut für Neuroendokrinologie Prof. Jan Born), Uniklinikum Schleswig Holstein, Medizinische Fakultät, Universität zu Lübeck
Ausbildung
- 12/2022 Habilitation, Venia legendi für Psychologie, Psychologisches Institut, Fakultät für Verhaltens- und Empirische Kulturwissenschaften, Universität Heidelberg
- 06/2014 Promotion Psychologie (Dr. rer. nat., sehr gut), Psychologisches Institut (Prof. Martin Hautzinger & Prof. Jan Born), Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Universität Tübingen
- 10/2002 – 03/2009 Diplom Psychologie (sehr gut), Psychologische Institut, Fachbereich Sozialwissenschaften, Medien und Sport, Universität Mainz
Ausgewählte Publikationen Gordon Feld
Table
Nagel J, Morgan DP, Gürsoy CN, Kern S & Feld GB (2024). Memory for Rewards Guides Retrieval. Communications Psychology, 2(31). doi: 10.1038/s44271-024-00074-9 – Open Access |
Kern S, Nagel J, Gerchen MF, Guersoy C, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Kirsch P, Dolan R, Gais S, Feld GB (2024). Reactivation strength during cued recall is modulated by graph distance within cognitive maps. eLife. 12:RP93357. doi: 10.7554/eLife.93357.4 – Open Access |
Nebe S, Reutter M, Baker DH, Bölte J, Domes G, Gamer M, . . ., Lonsdorf TB & Feld GB (2023). Enhancing Precision in Human Neuroscience. eLife, e85980. doi: 10.7554/eLife.85980 – Open Access |
Alizade Asfestani M, Nagel J, Beer S, Nikpourian G, Born J, & Feld GB (2023). Unfamiliar Contexts Compared to Familiar Contexts Impair Learning in Humans. Collabra: Psycholo-gy, 9(1). doi: 10.1525/collabra.71316 – Open Access |
Feld GB, Bernard M, Rawson AB, & Spiers HJ (2022) Sleep targets highly connected global and local nodes to aid consolidation of learned graph networks. Scientific Reports 12, 15086. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-17747-2 – Open Access |
Gerchen MF, Kirsch P, & Feld GB (2021). Brain-Wide Inferiority and Equivalence Tests in fMRI Group Analyses: Selected Applications. Human Brain Mapping, 42(18), 5803-5813. doi: 10.1002/hbm.25664 – Open Access |
Alizadeh Asfestani M, Brechtmann V, Santiago JCP, Born J, & Feld GB (2020). Consolida-tion of reward memory during sleep does not require dopaminergic activation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 32(9), 1688-1703. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_01585 |
Feld GB, & Born J (2020). Neurochemical Mechanisms for Memory Processing during Sleep: Basic Findings in Humans and Neuropsychiatric Implications. Neuropsychopharma-cology, 45(1), 31-44. doi: 10.1038/s41386-019-0490-9 – Open Access |
Alizadeh Asfestani M, Braganza E, Schwidetzky J, Santiago J, Soekadar S, Born J & Feld GB (2018). Overnight Memory Consolidation Facilitates Rather than Interferes with new Learning of Similar Materials - a Study Probing NMDA-receptors, Neuropsychopharma-cology, 43(11), 2292-2298. doi: 10.1038/s41386-018-0139-0 – Open Access |
Feld GB, & Born, J. (2017). Sculpting Memory During Sleep: Concurrent Consolidation and Forgetting. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 44, 20-27. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2017.02.012 |