Henning Holle

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About

Henning Holle is a cognitive neuroscientist whose research sits at the intersection of social cognition, action perception, and human-robot interaction. His most influential work explores how we interpret the gaze and intentions of others—and whether we extend the same mentalistic processing to humanoid robots. In a landmark 2022 study, Holle demonstrated that while human gaze automatically facilitates action prediction, robotic gaze does not, revealing a critical boundary in our tendency to anthropomorphize machines. This finding, which has already garnered significant attention, challenges assumptions in social robotics and highlights the uniquely human nature of mental state attribution. Beyond this, Holle has made foundational contributions to understanding how the brain processes biological motion and emotional expressions, using EEG and behavioral methods to dissect the neural mechanisms of social perception. His work consistently bridges basic cognitive science with applied questions about technology and society, making him a key voice in debates about how humans relate to increasingly lifelike artificial agents. With a citation record that continues to grow, Holle’s research is essential reading for anyone interested in the cognitive foundations of social interaction—whether with people or with machines.