Cognitive Neuroscience of Animal and Artificial Minds

 

Semester & Location:	Summer 2026 - Session 1 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:	Core Course - 3 credits
Major Disciplines:	Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Psychology
Prerequisite(s):	One course in Neuroscience, Physiological Psychology, Biological Psychology, Cognitive Science or Cognitive Psychology at the university level. Context: To ensure a comprehensive understanding and active engagement in this course, students should ideally meet the following prerequisites: ○ Neuroscience Knowledge: A foundational understanding of neuroscience concepts is essential. Completing at least one introductory course in neuroscience or biological psychology is highly recommended. ○ Computational Skills: Familiarity with computational modeling will enhance the learning experience. Having taken a course in this area will be advantageous.
Faculty Members:	Sebastian Scott Engen

 

Course Description

What does a dolphin talk about? How does a bat see with sound? Why might an elephant listen with its feet? Who taught cats to communicate with a single look? And when will AI allow us to understand each other?

This course is an expedition into the extraordinary sensory worlds of animal and artificial minds. We will journey from the ocean depths to the digital frontier, exploring how diverse species perceive and navigate their scenery, examining everything from how migratory birds use Earth’s magnetic field to how AI models construct meaning. Through engaging case studies and lively, constructive classroom dialogues you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for animal cognition and communication, and firsthand experiences with the neuroscience that both affords and is inspired by AI.

This course takes a dual approach examining both the brain’s ‘hardware’ and the mind’s ‘software.’ This perspective is essential for thinking critically about fundamental questions like consciousness, sentience, and our responsibilities toward both Animal and Artificial Minds.

So whether your passion is psychology, neuroscience, technology, or animal behaviour, you’ll find them all woven together here: Are we on the brink of decoding the languages of other species? And what can their minds reveal about the future of AI and, importantly, about ourselves?

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

S-tudy the remarkable sensory worlds of animals through key neuroscience concepts.

E-xplore how new tools reshape our understanding of animal ‘hardware’ and AI ‘software.’

N-otice the patterns linking perception and action across human, animal, and AI studies.

S-ynthesise perception theories to compare & illustrate the unique sensory realities across species.

E-ngage in thoughtful dialogues on topics such as AI ethics and the scientific pursuit of understanding sentience.

Expectations of the Students

This course is designed for students from psychology, neuroscience, biology, and computer science who are driven by a curiosity about the nature of minds. If you are intrigued by the inner lives of animals, the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, and the fundamental questions of what it means to perceive and feel, you will find a home in this interdisciplinary course.

The Copenhagen Advantage: Studying this topic in Copenhagen offers a distinct advantage, providing a living laboratory where theory and practice converge. You will have unique opportunities to:

• Connect theory to observation by studying the complex social dynamics of elephants at the Copenhagen Zoo, a world-class institution that allows for direct application of cognitive theories.
• Get in touch with pioneering research in bioacoustics, leveraging Copenhagen's position as a hub for scientific innovation to explore how technology is decoding the hidden conversations of the animal kingdom.
• Engage in a global dialogue on neuroethics and animal consciousness, leveraging Copenhagen's role as a center for European scientific and philosophical debate to explore the profound ethical questions recently amplified by the 2024 New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness.

This course offers a rare synthesis of hands-on fieldwork, computational methods, and critical ethical inquiry, placing you at the intersection of some of the most important scientific and philosophical questions of our time.

Faculty

Hi, I’m Sebastian and I teach four courses at DIS:

• The Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity
• The Cognitive Neuroscience of Consciousness Lab
• The Cognitive Neuroscience of Animal and Artificial Minds
• Positive Psychology

Here are a few facets of my life that might peak your interest:

Art Meets Science

I recently worked as a tech artist at the Danish science museum Experimentarium, contributing to their interactive exhibition Future Humans. I built a “futuristic blind date” experience that let visitors explore three emotional modalities in real time:

• Galvanic skin conductance
• Face tracking
• Voice tracking

The goal was to let people "feel" tomorrow’s emotion-technologies and play with their perceptions.

Educator with a team-sport mindset

I’ve been awarded Denmark’s “Best Tutor,” and since then I’ve designed and led six immersive courses across three Danish universities. I run classes with a flat hierarchy and a high level of collaboration - think studio energy with scientific rigour.

Innovation and applied AI

I created a cognitive science app that combines psychology and machine learning to infer personality from social media data while prioritizing privacy. I built my first AI Chatbot when I was 13, placed second in the Danish Championships of AI and now consult Welfare Technology Centres across Denmark on practical, innovative and ethical ways to integrate AI into their services.

 

Approach to Teaching

I see myself less as a lecturer and more as a guide for our expedition. The topics we’re exploring—the minds of animals and AI—are too weird and wonderful for a simple download of facts. My approach is all about shared discovery and hands-on learning, driven by asking big questions rather than just memorizing answers.

What you can expect from me in the classroom:

• My job is to set the stage. I'll bring in the core ideas, the strange case studies, and the latest research to get us started. From there, my main role is to be a catalyst for our conversations, using the 'Central Questions' you see in the calendar to spark debate and push our thinking.

• Think of me as your partner in this. This material can be dense and challenging, and I'm here to help you work through it. I want to help you connect your own interests to the course and develop your projects. In our discussions, curiosity is valued more than certainty. A good question is often more useful than a simple answer, and every voice deserves to be heard.

• We'll connect the dots. This course lives at the intersection of neuroscience, philosophy, AI, and ethics. My job is to help us see the connections, pushing us to look at problems from every angle to build a richer, more complete picture.

So, expect our classroom to feel more like a workshop or a lab than a lecture hall. We’ll spend our time actively grappling with ideas, debating ethical questions, and sharing what we’ve learned from our own observations. My hope is simple: to create a space built on mutual respect and a shared sense of wonder, where we all leave with not just new information, but a fundamentally new way of looking at the incredible variety of minds we share this planet with.

Readings

Core Texts:

• Edd Yong. (2022). An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us.
• David Poeppel, George R. Mangun, Michael S. Gazzaniga (2020). The Cognitive Neurosciences, sixth edition
• Michael Tomasello (2022). The Evolution of Agency: Behavioral Organization from Lizards to Humans.
• Clive D. L. Wynne and Monique A. R. Udell (2021). Animal Cognition: Evolution, Behavior and Cognition third edition
• David Eagleman (2020). Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain.

Key Papers, Essays & Perspectives: (A selection of these will be assigned for specific sessions)

• Godfrey-Smith, P. (2016). Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness.
• Ball, P. (2022). The Book of Minds: How to Understand Ourselves and Other Beings, from Animals to AI to Aliens.
• Linden, D. J. (Ed.). (2018). Think Tank: Forty Neuroscientists Explore the Biological Roots of Human Experience.
• Nagel, T. (1974). What Is It Like to Be a Bat?.
• Pearl, J., & Mackenzie, D. (2018). The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect.
• Singer, P. (2023). Animal Liberation Now.
• Herzing, D. & Starner, T. (2025). DolphinGemma: How Google AI is helping decode dolphin communication.
• Uexküll, J. von. (1934). A Stroll Through the Worlds of Animals and Men.
• de Waal, F. (2017). Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?.
• Aboitiz F., et al. (2021). Identifying animal complex cognition requires natural complexity.
• Briefer, E. F., et al. (2022). Classification of pig calls produced from birth to slaughter according to their emotional valence and context of production.
• Deaner, R. O., Isler, K., Burkart, J., & van Schaik, C. (2007). Overall brain size, and not encephalization quotient, best predicts cognitive ability across non-human primates.
• Herculano-Houzel, S. (2009). The human brain in numbers: A linearly scaled-up primate brain.
• Pilley, J. W., & Reid, A. K. (2011). Border collie comprehends object names as verbal referents.
• Schoenemann, P. T., et al. (2005). Prefrontal white matter volume is disproportionately larger in humans.
• Wei et al. (2022). Emergent abilities of large language models.
• Yovel, Y., & Rechavi, O. (2023). AI and the Doctor Dolittle challenge.
• Interspecies.io (n.d.). Interspecies Internet: Exploring Interspecies Communication.
  
  

Assignments and Evaluation

This course uses a constructive assessment model. This means your assignments are designed not just to test your knowledge, but to be meaningful learning experiences in themselves, helping you build on your newfound insights in meaningful ways.

• Collaborative Inquiry & Dialogue (20%): Our classroom is a laboratory of ideas. This portion of your grade reflects your role as an active co-creator of our learning environment. It's measured by your consistent engagement in discussions, your willingness to ask challenging questions, your ability to build upon the ideas of others, and your thoughtful participation in our ethical debates and group activities.
• Portfolio of reflections (30%): Instead of simple reports, you will build a portfolio of your experiential learning. Throughout the course you will capture your own insights through field notes and data collection, that at the end will be leveraged for a creative reflection that connects your direct observations to the larger theoretical questions of the course. This portfolio will become your personal record from the class.
• Public Science project (20%): Twice during the semester, you will take on the role of a science communicator. Your task is to select a cluster of complex ideas from our readings and translate them for a non-expert audience. This could take the form of a compelling blog post, a script for a short podcast episode, or a clear, well-designed infographic. This challenges you to not only understand the material, but to make it matter to others.
• Final Project: Bridging Minds (30%): Your final project is a chance to follow your curiosity and create a meaningful contribution to the themes of the course. You will choose one of three tracks:

• • The Research Track: Bring clarity to a specific question through a survey of the different theoretical stance related to animal or artificial cognition.
  • The Design Track: Design a proof-of-concept for a computational model or experimental paradigm that could test a hypothesis about interspecies communication, AI perception or the likes.
  • The Create Track: Develop a creative project (e.g., a short film, a data visualisation, a narrative podcast) that explores a course concept in depth.

 

Draft Course Calendar (SU26)

Module 1: Foundations of Brains, Minds & Cognition 

Welcome to our starting point! In this first module, we lay the essential groundwork for our entire journey. We'll begin by questioning the very nature of a "mind," explore the physical "hardware" of the brain, and investigate how different species have evolved unique forms of intelligence.

• Session 1: Wed, May 27 - Our Journey Begins: What is a Mind? 

• • Today's Central Question: How does an organism's unique sensory bubble (its 'Umwelt') define its reality, and how can we study other minds without being trapped by our own human perspective?
  • Essential Explorations:

• • Uexküll, J. von. (1934). A Stroll Through the Worlds of Animals and Men.
  • de Waal, F. (2016). Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?.
  • Selections from Animal Cognition (Wynne & Udell).

• Session 2: Thu, May 28 - The Brain's Blueprint: How is a Brain Built? 

• • Today's Central Question: Is a bigger brain always a "better" brain, and what can the laws of neural scaling tell us about the different cognitive strategies across species?
  • Essential Explorations:

• • Herculano-Houzel, S. (2009). The human brain in numbers: A linearly scaled-up primate brain.
  • Deaner, R. O., Isler, K., Burkart, J., & van Schaik, C. (2007). Overall brain size, and not encephalization quotient, best predicts cognitive ability across non-human primates.
  • Schoenemann, P. T., Sheehan, M. J., & Glotzer, L. D. (2005). Prefrontal white matter volume is disproportionately larger in humans than in other primates.

• Session 3: Fri, May 29 - The Spark of Agency: Who is a Good Boy? 

• • Today's Central Question: What do a border collie who knows 1,000 words and a bonobo who uses syntax tell us about the cognitive building blocks of language and intelligent action?
  • Essential Explorations:

• • Pilley, J. W., & Reid, A. K. (2011). Border collie comprehends object names as verbal referents.
  • Aboitiz F., et al. (2021). Identifying animal complex cognition requires natural complexity.
  • Tomasello, M. (2022). The Evolution of Agency: Behavioral Organization from Lizards to Humans.

• Session 4: Mon, Jun 1 - Field Study: Social Cognition in Action

• • Activity: TBA
  • Learning Goal: To connect theories of social cognition to the complex, real-world, non-verbal communication strategies of animals.

• Session 5: Tue, Jun 2 - The Elastic Mind: Where Does a Mind End? 

• • Today's Central Question: Is your mind contained entirely within your skull? We explore brain plasticity and the 4E "extended mind" hypothesis to see how our brains incorporate tools, technology, and the world itself.
  • Essential Explorations:

• • Eagleman, D. (2020). Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain.
  • Clark, A. (2023). The Experience Machine: How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality.
    
    

Module 2: Sensory Worlds, Sentience & AI as a Lens 

Now that we have our foundations, we venture into the truly alien. This module is an expedition into the diverse sensory worlds of other animals. We will explore how new AI tools can act as a lens, helping us perceive and understand these worlds, before turning the lens back on AI itself to ask: is anybody there?

• Session 6: Wed, Jun 3 - Field Study: Seeing with Sound 

• • Activity: TBA
  • Learning Goal: To gain practical skills in bioacoustic data collection while developing an intuitive appreciation for a non-human sensory world, such as bats.

• Session 7: Thu, Jun 4 - The Subjective Self: Is Anybody Home? 

• • Today's Central Question: Can we ever truly know what it's like to be another creature? What can the alien intelligence of the octopus teach us about the different evolutionary paths to consciousness?
  • Essential Explorations:

• • Nagel, T. (1974). What Is It Like to Be a Bat?.
  • Godfrey-Smith, P. (2016). Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness.

• Session 8: Fri, Jun 5 - Lab Session: A Glimpse of the Human Mind 

• • Activity: TBA Lab Session to explore sensory processing by introducing novel scents, sights, and sensations with tech, such as EEG.
  • Learning Goal: To design a simple experiment for comparative modelling of animal cognition.

• Session 9: Mon, Jun 8 - The Ghost in the Machine: Can an AI Perceive? 

• • Today's Central Question: Can complex, unpredicted abilities arise in AI from simple rules? If an AI is connected to live data feeds from the world, could it be said to have a sensory system? What would it "perceive"?
  • Essential Explorations: Wei et al. (2022). Emergent abilities of large language models.

• Session 10: Tue, Jun 9 - Workshop: Listening to Animals 

• • Activity: TBA
  • Learning Goal: To bridge theoretical knowledge with practical application by revealing patterns in animal communication invisible to the human ear.
  • Essential Explorations: Briefer, E. F., et al. (2022). Classification of pig calls produced from birth to slaughter according to their emotional valence and context of production.
    
    

Module 3: Ethics, Communication & Our Shared Future 

In our final module, we bring everything together to confront the most challenging questions. We'll explore the cutting edge of interspecies communication - powered by AI - debate our ethical responsibilities to all minds, and look to the future of our relationship with the intelligent beings we share our planet with.

• Session 11: Wed, Jun 10 - The Dr. Dolittle Challenge: Talking with Dolphins? 

• • Today's Central Question: Are we on the verge of using AI models like 'DolphinGemma' to translate animal communication? What are the real technical and philosophical hurdles of this grand challenge?
  • Essential Explorations:

• • Yovel, Y., & Rechavi, O. (2023). AI and the Doctor Dolittle challenge.
  • Herzing, D. & Starner, T. (2025). DolphinGemma: How Google AI is helping decode dolphin communication.
  • Interspecies.io (n.d.). Interspecies Internet: Exploring Interspecies Communication.

• Session 12: Thu, Jun 11 - Guest Lecture 

• • Topic: TBA - e.g., "AI Ethics in Conservation" or "The Philosophy of Artificial Consciousness."

• Session 13: Fri, Jun 12 - The Hardest Questions: What Are Our Responsibilities? 

• • Today's Central Question: What do we owe other minds? How can we design tests for intelligence and consciousness that are both scientifically valid and ethically responsible?
  • Activity: Ethics Roundtable and designing Turing Test scenarios for AI and animal behaviors.
  • Essential Explorations: 
    • Singer, P. (2023). Animal Liberation Now.

• • • de Waal, F. (2017). Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?.

• Session 14: Mon, Jun 15 - The Search for Why: What Have We Learned? 

• • Today's Central Question: How can we move from simply observing what happens to understanding why it happens in the mind? What are the core principles that connect animal cognition, human thought, and AI?
  • Essential Explorations:

• • Pearl, J., & Mackenzie, D. (2018). The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect.
  • Selections from Think Tank (2018).

• Session 15: Tue, Jun 16 - The Adventure Continues: What's Next? 

• • Today's Central Question: How can we effectively communicate these complex and wonderful ideas to the world? What are the most pressing open questions you will carry with you from this course?
  • Activity: Final Project Showcase and presentations.

 

Policies

Attendance

• We learn best together. Please plan to be at all DIS classes when scheduled.
• If life happens and you miss a class, send me a note by the end of that day so we can keep you in the loop.
• If you miss multiple classes, the Director of Teaching and Learning and the Director of Student Affairs will reach out—simply to check in and support you.
• Absences can affect your grade and standing at DIS. Illness and religious observances are, of course, respected; for multiple absences due to illness, a doctor’s note may be required.

Academic Honesty

• Your ideas matter—and so does giving credit when you build on others’. Do your own work and cite your sources.
• Plagiarism or violating the rules of an assignment results in a final course grade of F and may lead to dismissal. Your home university will be notified.
• Written work may be submitted electronically and checked with plagiarism-detection tools.
• Not sure what counts as proper citation or collaboration? Ask me anytime. I’m happy to help.

Late Work

• Life is busy. If something slips, late essays are accepted up to 3 days after the deadline.
• If you’re hitting a wall, say so early—there’s usually a smarter way than rushing at 2 a.m.

Extensions

• If you need more time, please request an extension more than 24 hours before the due date.

Arriving Late

• Starting together helps everyone focus. Aim to be on time.
• If you’re late, slip in quietly, settle, and check in with me after class for anything you missed.
• Repeated lateness triggers a quick support check with head of the Teaching and Learning department - about solutions, not punishment.

Technology in Class

• Laptops and tablets are welcome for learning tasks: note-taking, literature searches, data work.
• Phones stay put away during class.
• Off-task use (email, chat, social feeds) counts against participation. If you need a quick life-check (urgent text, etc.), step out for a minute and just rejoin afterwards.

Academic Accommodations

• Your learning experience matters. If you have approved DIS accommodations, please send your letter within the first two weeks so I can support you well.
• If there are other ways I can help you thrive - different formats, pacing, or tools then please reach out! I'm always open to talk and adapt!
• Questions about accommodations? Academic Support: academicsupport@dis.dk

Academic Regulations

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

• Course Enrollment and Grading
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code

Tone and spirit

• This class is a community. Clear expectations protect our time for curiosity, questions, and the kind of conversations that change how we see minds. If something’s unclear or life gets loud, message me early. We’ll adapt, keep you in the loop, and figure it out together.

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org