How the human brain thinks about itself: Professor Stephen Fleming

The human brain has a remarkable ability to monitor and evaluate its own thinking, known as metacognition. Metacognition is crucial to success, enabling us to recognise gaps in our knowledge and collaborate effectively. Problems with metacognition are linked to maladaptive behaviours, such as endorsing false beliefs or being unaware of our own limitations. Professor Stephen Fleming will discuss how his group is developing the tools to isolate how this extraordinary capacity for self-reflection and self-awareness is supported by the functions of the human brain. By combining mathematical models of human behaviour with cutting-edge brain imaging techniques, the team is discovering the building blocks of metacognition, and asking how these pieces come together to support a rich awareness of own skills and capabilities. This work is uncovering the neurobiology of a core aspect of what makes us human, with wide-ranging implications for mental health, education and AI.

Stephen Fleming is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Department of Experimental Psychology, UCL, a Group Leader at the Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, and Principal Investigator at the Functional Imaging Laboratory, where he leads the Metacognition Group. He studied Psychology and Physiology at the University of Oxford before completing his PhD at UCL and postdoctoral studies at New York University. Stephen’s research on the neuroscience of metacognition and self-awareness has been recognised by awards including a Philip Leverhulme Prize in Psychology, the British Psychological Society Spearman Medal, and the Francis Crick Medal and Lecture from the Royal Society. He is the author of Know Thyself (2021), a trade book on the science of metacognition.