All posts by Johan Frederik Storm

About Johan Frederik Storm

University of Oslo, Department of Physiology, IMB

Congratulations to Roger Penrose for winning the Nobel Prize in Physics 2020!

We are happy to congratulate Sir Roger Penrose, University of Oxford, for winning the Nobel Prize in Physics 2020.

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2020/press-release/

The diploma and medal are presented to Roger Penrose today, 8 December 2020, at the Swedish Ambassador’s Residence in London.

https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/nobel-week-2020/

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences writes:

“Roger Penrose used ingenious mathematical methods in his proof that black holes are a direct consequence of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Einstein did not himself believe that black holes really exist, these super-heavyweight monsters that capture everything that enters them. Nothing can escape, not even light. In January 1965, ten years after Einstein’s death, Roger Penrose proved that black holes really can form and described them in detail; at their heart, black holes hide a singularity in which all the known laws of nature cease. His groundbreaking article is still regarded as the most important contribution to the general theory of relativity since Einstein.”

*******************************************************************

We at the Forum for Consciousness Research are especially happy to congratulate Roger Penrose, because he has for many years had a strong interest in deep issues regarding the fundamental nature of consciousness, and their connections with deep issues in physics. He has proposed bold new ideas about ‘the quantum nature of consciousness’. I think it is fair to say that his radical ideas are highly controversial among most neuroscientists working is this field, but also highly inspiring and interesting. They remind us of how much is still unknown in science. It is inspiring that one of the great minds of our time regards the nature of consciousness as one of the deepest, unsolved scientific questions.

We hope to get back to these issues in future meetings in our Forum.

When Roger Penrose visited Oslo in 2016, I had the pleasure of discussing some of his ideas with him.  Part of our conversation was recorded by Torkel Jemterud from the Norwegian national broadcasting company, NRK, and will probably be broadcast within the next few weeks*.

-Johan F. Storm,  8 December 2020

On behalf of the Forum for Consciousness Research

Roger Penrose (left) with Prof. Snorre Christiansen (middle) and J.F. Storm (right) in Oslo, at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, in 2016.

*(An attached sound file gives a small sample of our conversation.)

Symposium on Consciousness in Oslo, August 26, 2016

Symposium on Consciousness in Oslo,  August 26, 2016

At the Scandinavian Physiological Society Annual Meeting, which will take place in Oslo, August 26th – 28th, 2016.

Venue:   The University of Oslo, Blindern Campus (Georg Sverdrups hus)

http://www.ccnorway.no/sps2016/

Symposium on Consciousness,

11:45 – 13:30  in Georg Sverdrups hus, University of Oslo, Blindern

 

Marzia De Lucia, Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland: Prediction of comatose patients outcome based on EEG-based functional improvement over time

https://www.unil.ch/lren/en/home/menuinst/lab-members/principal-investigators—pis/marzia-de-lucia.html

 

Steven Laureys,  leader of the Coma Science Group, Liege, Belgium: Consciousness in coma and related states

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Laureys

 

Nicholas D. Schiff, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York: Identification of Cognitive Motor Dissociation (CMD) after severe brain injury: mechanisms and challenges for restoring communication

http://vivo.med.cornell.edu/display/cwid-nds2001

 

Bjørn E. Juel, The Brain Signalling Group, University of Oslo: Electrophysiological markers of consciousness

http://www.med.uio.no/imb/english/research/groups/brain-signalling/ 

 

This symposium is co-hosted by the Forum for Consciousness Research and is open to the general Public.

All are welcome!

MEETING OF THE ASSC IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, June 2016

The 20th annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC) will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 15th – 18th June 2016

“The ASSC is an academic society that promotes rigorous research directed toward understanding the nature, function, and underlying mechanisms of consciousness. The ASSC includes members working in the fields of cognitive science, medicine, neuroscience, philosophy, and other relevant disciplines in the sciences and humanities.”

ASSC 20

 

 

 

EU-midler til bevissthetsforskere i Oslo

Et konsortium ledet fra Universitetet i Oslo (UiO) fikk i september 2015 bevilget midler til bevissthetsforskning (ca. 16 mill. NOK for de første 2 år; ), innenfor the Human Brain Project (HBP).

Prosjektet, som ledes av J.F. Storm, UiO, omfatter forskningsgrupper i Oslo, Belgia, Italia og Sveits:

Oslo: UiO (The Brain Signaling group, led by J.F. Storm) og Oslo Universitetssykehus (OUS, Rikshospitalet: overlege, dr.med. Pål Gunnar Larsson, Nevrokirurgisk avd. o.a.; og Sunnaas sykehus: Dr. Marianne Løvstad o.a.)

Belgia: The Coma Science Group, led by Dr. Steven Laureys, at the Cyclotron Research Centre of the University of Liège.

Italia:  Integrated Thalamo-Cortical Function (iTCf) research group (www.thalamocortical.org) led by Dr. Marcello Massimini, University of Milan.

Sveits: Sean Hill, co-Director of Neuroinformatics in Human Brain Project (HBP), Ecole Poly­tech­nique Fédérale de Lau­sanne (EPF), and Scientific Director of the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF)

Prosjektets tittel: Experimental and computational exploration of consciousness mechanisms and methods in mice and humans  (Short name: Conscious Brain)

 

EU commision

2015_Sept_PRESS RELEASE from EU Commission

http://www.med.uio.no/imb/om/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/2015/imb-human-brain-project.html

http://www.oslo-universitetssykehus.no/aktuelt_/nyheter_/Sider/EU-midler-til-bevissthetsforskere.aspx

Møte om FRI VILJE våren 2016 (mars-april)

Spørsmålet om vi har fri vilje, er et eldgammelt filosofisk problem som er nært beslektet med hjerne-bevissthets-problemet: “Fri vilje” og “bevisst vilje” betyr for mange nesten det samme. Dette spørsmålet er nylig  blitt aktualisert av ferske resultater fra hjerneforskning, og diskuteres i mange fora, også her til lands, bl.a.:

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/schrodingers-katt/DMPV73002215/17-12-2015

http://forskning.no/2015/12/har-vi-fri-vilje

http://www.nrk.no/viten/xl/mordere-har-ikke-noe-valg_-mener-forskere-1.12709180

https://radio.nrk.no/serie/ekko-hovedsending/MDSP25025215/18-12-2015#t=57m46s

Medias format gir imidlertid ofte for lite plass til motforestillinger og balansert, nyansert diskusjon.

Vi planlegger et møte om temaet “FRI VILE” i løpet av våren 2016, trolig i mars-april (tid og sted vil bli annonsert senere), med bl.a.:

WIRECENTER

John-Dylan Haynes

Prof. Dr. rer. nat., Professor (W3) for Theory and Analysis of Large-Scale Brain Signals

Director of Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging (BCAN), Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience,Berlin

Edmund Henden,

professor i filosofi ved Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus,

Øystein Elgarøy,

professor – Institutt for teoretisk astrofysikk, UiO, vil delta

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Spørsmålet om fri vilje er også tema for programmet «Schrödingers katt» som sendes 17.12.2015 på NRK TV.

I den anledning har jeg skrevet en tekst som supplement til programmet. Den ble først skrevet som utkast til en «Ytring» på NRK.no etter forslag fra programskaperne bak «Schrödingers katt», men publiseres i stedet her:

Har vi fri vilje?

Av Johan F. Storm

 Ny hjerneforskning synes å vise at våre valg er forutbestemt av hjerneprosesser uten at vi vet det selv. Er dette sensasjonelle funn som forandrer alt? Er fri vilje bare er en illusjon? Er vi ikke ansvarlige for våre valg og handlinger? Eller er dette forhastede feilslutninger? Dette debatteres i flere fora og er tema for NRKs Shrödingers katt 17.desember*. Jeg vil hevde at man kan svare både ja og nei på spørsmålet om vi har fri vilje – avhengig av hva man mener med disse ordene. Disse spørsmålene må belyses fra flere sider for å kunne gi dekkende svar.    

Resten av teksten finnes her:   20151217_FRI VILJE – Bevissthetsforum_Suppl. Schrödingers katt_JFS13

 

Resten av teksten finnes her:   20151217_FRI VILJE – Bevissthetsforum_Suppl. Schrödingers katt_JFS13

 

 

NorMind – a network of philosophers of mind: first Meeting in Bergen January 2015

20150609_NORMIND Logo Se: http://www.normind.org/

“NorMind is an informal network of philosophers of mind and cognitive science working in the Nordic countries.

The overarching aim of the network is to nurture a stronger community of researchers who are working in the Nordic countries, and who have overlapping interests.

NorMind does this in two ways: by organising meetings, and by running a blog.”  NorMind organised its first Meeting at the University of Bergen on January 9, 2015