Dirk Gütlin

In my research, I want to understand what neural mechanisms the brain uses to learn new skills and adapt to a changing environment. Specifically, I want to know how the brain learns to generate new predictions about the world, and how it uses these predictions to make educated guesses about its surroundings. To accomplish this, I want to describe and evaluate learning mechanisms in the human brain and develop computational models to verify their effectiveness in replicating the outcomes and dynamics of human learning. This research integrates methods and knowledge from Neuroscience and Machine Learning, such as functional Neuroimaging (M/EEG, fMRI), brain modeling, decoding and Deep Neural Network optimization.

Aside from my research, I enjoy exploring tools and resources that enhance scientific research methods and sharing my findings with fellow researchers. If you’re interested, have a look at my project blog https://digyt.github.io/ .

Before starting at the FU, I obtained my B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Salzburg and my M.Sc. in Cognitive Science from the University of Osnabrück, with a focus on Neuroinformatics/Robotics and Neuroscience.

Publications from the lab:

Gütlin D, Auksztulewicz R (2025) Predictive coding algorithms induce brain-like responses in artificial neural networks. bioRxiv [LINK]

Gütlin D, McDermott H, Grundei M, Auksztulewicz R (2025) Model-based approaches to investigating mismatch responses in schizophrenia. Clin EEG Neurosci [LINK]