Archives

Panel discussion: What Are Dreams And Why Do We Have Them?

Event Start Date:
17. February 2022		Event End Date:
17. February 2022		Event Venue:

Every night, most of us enter into an unreal world of vivid, hallucinatory experiences. Importantly, this demonstrates that the brain, all by itself, can generate a convincing world of inner experiences, although most of them are rapidly forgotten. Dreaming is a highly interesting and mysterious phenomenon that still remains to be satisfactorily explained by science. Because it is so common, we tend to forget how remarkable dreaming really is.

But what are dreams? How are they made? Why do we have them? Are they useful?

Recording of the panel discussion:

About the event:

The Forum For Consciousness Research, along with the Conscious Brain Concepts consortium and the Oslo Life Science conference 2022, invite you to an evening of discussion where we will attempt to shine light on the mysteries of the night.

Panelists:

Brigitte Holzinger, PhD, lecturer at Vienna University, Austria, and co-founder of Austrian Sleep Research Association

Caroline Horton, PhD,  Reader in Psychology and Director of DrEAMSLab, Bishop Grosseteste University, U.K.

Johan Frederik Storm, MD, PhD, professor in neurophysiology, University of Oslo, Norway

Erik Hoel, PhD, Research assistant professor at Tufts University, Massachussets, USA

***

The event will be online, and to receive a link to the webinar, please register using this link.

In addition, prior to this event, one of the panellists, Erik Hoel, will hold a public lecture on his new and exciting theory of why we dream:

“The Overfitted Brain Hypothesis: Dreaming As Data Augmentation“.

This event will start at 19.00, and last until 20.00. For more information and to register, please follow this link.

Links to these webinars will be sent out prior to the events to everyone who has registered, and will be posted here and on Facebook.

ERIK HOEL, public lecture – “The Overfitted Brain Hypothesis: Dreaming As Data Augmentation”

Event Start Date:
17. February 2022		Event End Date:
17. February 2022		Event Venue:

The nature of dreams is a topic that has been discussed for as long as humans could talk. But we are not the only species that dream. Research suggest that most mammals and birds dream. But why? A recent hypothesis is that the brain uses dreams as a way to generalize our models of the world.

Erik Hoel, Phd, is a Research Assistant Professor at Tufts University, Massachussets, USA.  He is a neuroscientist and neurophilosopher who studies consciousness, cognition, the biological function of dreams, as well mathematical  theories of emergence. He is noted for using information theory and causality analysis to develop mathematical models in a way to better explore and understand the basis of consciousness and dreaming.

Video of the lecture:

About the event:

We welcome you to a public lecture by Erik Hoel:

“The Overfitted Brain Hypothesis: Dreaming As Data Augmentation“.

The event will be online, and to receive a link to the webinar, please register using this link.

In addition, immediately following this public lecture, Erik Hoel will join as a panellist in an event hosted by the Forum For Consciousness Research, and the Conscious Brain Concepts consortium:

“What are dreams and why do we have them?”. 

The panel discussion will start at 20.10, and last until 22.00. For more information, and to register, please follow this link.

Hvordan oppstår bevisste opplevelser i hjernen? – Åpent foredrag ved Johan Frederik Storm

Event Start Date:
21. October 2021		Event End Date:
21. October 2021		Event Venue:

Hvordan oppstår bevisste opplevelser i hjernen?

Innblikk i nyere naturvitenskapelig bevissthetsforskning.

Foredrag ved professor ved Institutt for medisinske basalfag, Seksjon for fysiologi, Johan Frederik Storm.

Arrangert av det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, se lenke her (med opptak av foredraget).  Arrangementet er åpent for alle og gratis. Ingen påmelding nødvendig.

(For en lengere versjon av foredraget, tatt opp noen dager senere, gå til  https://youtu.be/sWeA_qCURYE

Johan F Storm

Abstract: I århundrer har tenkere og forskere spurt seg om hvordan våre subjektive opplevelser av verden og oss selv – som å oppleve farger, former, lyder, smerte, glede, ønsker og drømmer – kan oppstå fra materielle prosesser i hjernen? Kan bevissthet forklares innenfor vårt nåværende, naturvitenskaplige verdensbilde, eller behøves radikalt nye elementer, som under kvantemekanikkens gjennombrudd? Er dette primært filosofiske problemer, eller kan de utforskes eller løses med naturvitenskapelige metoder? I mye av forrige århundre, var det utbredt tvil om dette blant forskere og filosofer. Men de siste 30 år har det vokst frem en sterk, tverrfaglig bevissthetsforskning, særlig etter at filosofen David Chalmers definerte «the hard problem of consciousness» (1995) og Nobelprisvinnneren Francis Crick erklærte at «Consciousness is the major unsolved problem in biology» (2004). Denne forskningen engasjerer nå noen av verdens ledende hjerneforskere, og har nylig gitt lovende resultater basert på nye empiriske metoder og teoretiske tilnærminger.

I dette foredraget vil Johan Storm gi noen innblikk i moderne bevissthetsforskning, med hovedvekt på nevrovitenskapelig forskning, og presentere noen ledende teorier, og diskutere hvordan de kan testes empirisk.

Johan Frederik Storm: f. 1951, professor i medisin (nevrofysiologi) ved UiO. Faglig hovedinteresser: Bevissthetsforskning, og hjernens elektriske signaler (elektrofysiologi). Har utgitt en rekke artikler om biofysiske og molekylære mekanismer for hjernecellers signaler, inkludert elektrisk og kjemisk regulering (nevromodulering) av aksjons- og synapsepotensialer, nevronal integrasjon og resonans, særlig i hjernebarken, og (etter 2015) om eksperimentell bevissthetsforskning på mennesker og dyr, samt teorier om drømmer og anestesi. Leder for tiden gruppen «Hjernesignaler» ved UiO, som driver bevissthetsforskning støttet av EUs The Human Brain Project, NFR, og UiO:Life Science.

Møtet åpner med at Ludvig M. Sollid holder minnetale over Erik Thorsby, Frode Vartdal holder minnetale over Morten Harboe og Stig S. Frøland holder minnetale over Jacob B. Natvig.

PUBLIC LECTURE – Andrew Lee: Does Consciousness Come In Degrees?

Event Start Date:
17. September 2021		Event End Date:
17. September 2021		Event Venue:

We are pleased to announce the following talk, jointly organised by the Forum for Consciousness Studies, the CBC project, and the Oslo Mind Group (OMG). Everyone is welcome!

—

Friday the 17th of September, 14.00-15.30pm (GMT+2), we will host Andrew Lee, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo, affiliated with the ConsciousBrainConcepts project. His research is on philosophical questions about conscious experiences. He’s particularly interested in questions about (1) how conscious experiences are structured and how to formally model that structure, and (2) the ethical significance of consciousness. In addition to philosophizing about consciousness, Andrew sometimes even has some conscious experiences of his own.

The event will take place online, via zoom (details below).

—

Does consciousness come in degrees?

If the answer is ‘yes’, then some creatures (or mental states) are more conscious than others. If the answer is ‘no’, then such claims are either false or incoherent. In this talk, I’ll (1) argue that the most prominent philosophical objection to degrees of consciousness doesn’t work, (2) develop an analysis of what it is for consciousness to come in degrees, and (3) apply the analysis to various theories of consciousness. I’ll argue that most theories yield the result that consciousness comes in degrees, though what exactly degrees of consciousness are varies across different theories. This means that claims about degrees of consciousness should be treated as substantive hypotheses open to confirmation and falsification, rather than as obvious truths or conceptual confusions.

—

Time plan:
14.00 – Introduction
14.10 – Does Consciousness Come In Degrees?
14.50 – Q&A
15.30 – Tentative end

How to attend:
Link: https://uio.zoom.us/s/66886805387
Meeting ID:  668 8680 5387
Passcode: 878347

Lecture series: “What is consciousness and how can we study it empirically? Progress and challenges”

Event Start Date:
15. February 2021		Event End Date:
15. February 2021		Event Venue:

Image may contain: Yellow, Colorfulness, Purple, Orange, Art.

While philosophers have investigated the topic of consciousness for hundreds of years, empirical research has only been a focus for the last decades. But in this time, what have we really learned about our internal experience of the world? We invite to a series of lectures focusing on how we investigate consciousness empirically, what we have discovered, and where the road goes next.

To attend, please use this webinar link. The event will also be streamed on YouTube, however, if there are issues with the stream, please use the webinar link instead.

Organized by Conscious Brain Concepts and UiO:Life Science for the Oslo Life Science Conference 2021

Agenda:

19.00: Welcome

19.05: Talk: Progress in empirical consciousness research

Johan Frederik Storm, PhD MD., is a professor of neurophysiology at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo. His work focuses on the neuroscience of consciousness.

19.35: Talk: Disorders of consciousness and related states

Olivia Gosseries, PhD, is a research associate at the Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research. Her work focuses on altered and modified states of consciousness.

20.05: Talk: Measuring depth of anesthesia

Katie Warnaby, PhD, is a senior research scientist at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging at the University of Oxford. Her work focuses on anesthesia and the neurophysiology of consciousness.

20.35: Questions

21.00: End

 

Speakers:

Dr. Johan F. Storm. Johan is professor of neurophysiology at Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo where he heads the Brain Signaling Group and ConsciousBrainConcepts project. His interests concern signaling in the brain, specifically the connections between biophysical and molecular mechanisms within neurons (ion channels, receptors, neuromodulation), and the basis for conscious brain states and cognitive functions such as conscious processing and awareness. He founded and leads Forum for Consciousness Research, and EU- and NRC-funded projects on consciousness, and is an elected member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. Website Publications

Dr. Katie Warnaby. Katie is a senior research scientist at Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging at the University of Oxford. There, she uses multimodal neuroimaging to understand the changes in the brain under anaesthesia and during altered states of consciousness. One of her current research goals is to identify and develop objective neurophysiological measures of conscious perception under anaesthesia, and translate these findings to the clinical environment. Website Publications

Dr. Olivia Gosseries. Olivia is a neuropsychologist, research associate at the Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research, and co-director of the Coma Science Group at the GIGA Consciousness at the university of Liege in Belgium. She has a long experience studying diagnosis and prognosis in patients with disorders of consciousness recovering from coma using non-invasive brain stimulation and electrophysiology. She now focuses more on therapeutic interventions in this challenging population. In addition, she has investigated states of consciousness including sleep, anesthesia, coma memory, lucid dreaming, meditation, hypnosis, and cognitive trance. Website Publications  

Panel discussion: Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness

Event Start Date:
16. February 2021		Event End Date:
16. February 2021		Event Venue:

Image may contain: Pattern, Black-and-white, Monochrome photography, Illustration, Visual arts.

Is it possible to create a conscious robot? If so, should we?

In the last decade, artificial intelligence has surpassed humans in among others the games of Go and Starcraft. Many researchers believe it’s only a matter of time before we make an artificial intelligence that is smarter than humans in all areas. Most famous of these is Ray Kurzweil who predicts this will happen before the year 2050. But will this intelligence be conscious? What are the implications if it is or not? We invite to a panel discussion where these and other questions will be discussed.

To attend, please use this webinar link. A link to the webinar will be provided later. The event will also be streamed on YouTube, however, if there are issues with the stream, please use the webinar link instead.

Organized by Conscious Brain Concepts and UiO:Life Science for the Oslo Life Science Conference 2021

Agenda:

19.00: Welcome

19.05: Opening talks

  • The Emergent Consciousness Module

Inga Strümke, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Simula Research Laboratory. Her work focuses on Explainable Artificial Intelligence. 

  • The Secret To Making Artificial Consciousness

Morten Goodwin, PhD, is a Professor in Informatics at University of Agder. His work focuses on Artificial Intelligence. 

  • Artificial consciousness or artificial person? 

Einar Duenger Bøhn, PhD, is a Professor in Philosophy at University of Agder. His work focuses on Artificial Consciousness. 

  • Reconciling consciousness and predictive models of the brain

Keith Downing, PhD, is a Professor in Artificial Intelligence at Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His work focuses on Artificial Life and Intelligence. 

19.40: Panel discussion

Join Inga, Morten, Einar and Keith as they together with moderator Elina Melteig discuss whether it is possible to create a conscious robot. And if it is, should we make one? What would the ethical implications be? How could we even know if the robot is conscious? Would a generally intelligent machine be conscious, or would a conscious machine be generally intelligent?

20.40: Questions from the audience

21.00: End

 

Panelists:

Einar Duenger Bøhn is a professor of philosophy at the University of Agder. He has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2009). His current interest in the philosophy of technology started from an interest in the metaphysics of consciousness and the resulting differences between the possibilities of artificial intelligence, artificial consciousness, and artificial morality. He is currently working on the notion of a person, and whether it is possible to create an artificial person. He has a book forthcoming on the philosophy of technology. Webpage Publications

 

Morten Goodwin is a professor of informatics at the University of Agder. His master’s study introduced him to machine learning and artificial intelligence, and he has been bitten by the bug ever since. Goodwin received his master’s degree from the University of Agder, Norway, in 2005, and a Ph.D. degree in 2011 from the Department of Computer Science at Aalborg University, Denmark. His research interests include data-mining, optimization, deep learning, and adaptive learning. He is also an active popular science communicator focusing on the enormous advances in both research and the practical usefulness of artificial intelligence. In the autumn of 2020, he published the book “AI. Myten om maskinene”. Webpage Publications

 

Keith Downing is a professor of artificial intelligence at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has a BA in mathematics from Bucknell University, and got his PhD in computer science at the University of Oregon (1990). His journey into artificial intelligence started with computational modelling of the cardiovascular system and he now focuses on evolutionary computation, artificial neural networks, and artificial life. Webpage Publications

 

Inga Strümke is a postdoctoral researcher at Simula Research Institute. She has a MSc in theoretical physics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and a PhD in particle physics (2019). The PhD took her into the field of machine learning, where she has been active ever since. Beneath her favourite question, “How does the universe work?”, lies a layer of “How can we understand the world we live in?”, which speaks right to her current work on explainable artificial intelligence. Webpage Publications

 

Moderator: Elina Melteig, Communication adviser at University of Oslo. Webpage

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

Event Start Date:
8. December 2020		Event End Date:
8. December 2020		Event Venue:

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.
  • Roger Penrose & JF Storm discuss, Oslo 2016 – 3 min. sample

Breakfast Meeting: What is consciousness and how do we experience the world?

Event Start Date:
13. February 2020		Event End Date:
13. February 0202		Event Venue:

What is consciousness? What do we mean when we say that someone or something is conscious? And what does this mean for neuroscience?

There is nothing more familiar to us than our own internal experiences. You know exactly how it is to be you, and no one else can experience the world exactly the same way as you do. But why is it like this? Why does seeing red, or being hungry feel like anything at all? And how can these experiences arise from neurons and electrical signals?

Thursday 13.02.20, 08.00 – 9.30 AM, an interdisciplinary panel meets to discuss some of humanity’s great unanswered questions.

We invite you to a breakfast meeting hosted by Oslo Life Science, Faculty of Medicine, and the Convergence Environment ConsciousBrainConcepts. The event is free but requires registration.

Program
07.30 – Registration and simple refreshments
08.00 – Introductions by the panelists (Johan F. Storm, Hedda H. Morch, Sebastian Watzl)
08.30 – Panel discussion
09.00 – Questions from the audience
09.30 – End
For more information, visit the event site or facebook page.
The event will take place in Auditorium 1 at the new Domus Juridica building

CANCELED. Daniel DENNETT: Autonomy, Consciousness, and Responsibility

Event Start Date:
2. June 2022		Event End Date:
2. June 2022		Event Venue:

UPDATE: THIS EVENT IS CURRENTLY CANCELED DUE TO CORONA. WE HOPE TO RESCHEDULE THE EVENT IN THE AUTUMN SEMESTER IF CONDITIONS ALLOW.

The deep relation between human consciousness and moral responsibility seems obvious, but it has some underappreciated complexities. The traditional idea of free will has misled many into thinking it requires some sort of exemption from external determination, when in fact it requires something more interesting: the kind of autonomy that, independently of indeterminism or determinism, can be achieved—or lost—by some complex physical systems under certain conditions. All living things do things for reasons, but only human beings have reasons they can comprehend and act on. The capacity to be “moved by reasons” (as Kant put it) depends on having language, which both enables and depends on a special kind of consciousness so far exhibited only by our species. The difference makes a difference: we don’t—and shouldn’t—hold wolves or orcas morally responsible when they kill people. They are conscious but are not morally competent agents.

Daniel Dennett is a prominent American philosopher, writer, and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and philosophy of biology. He is one of the most famous living philosophers and the author of numerous books. He was a student of W. V. Quine at Harvard University, and Gilbert Ryle at the University of Oxford, where he received his PhD in philosophy in 1965. He’s currently Co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies and Professor, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA (http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/).

Books by Dennett:
Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology (1981)
Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting (1984)
The Mind’s I (1985)
Content and Consciousness (1986)
The Intentional Stance (1987)
Consciousness Explained (1992)
Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life (1996)
Kinds of Minds: Towards an Understanding of Consciousness (1997)
Brainchildren (Representation and Mind) (1998)
Freedom Evolves (2003)
Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness (2005)
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon (2006)
Neuroscience and Philosophy: Brain, Mind, and Language (2007)
Science and Religion (2010)
Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking (2013)
Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind (2013)
From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds (2017)

Dennett on Evolution of Consciousness at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbOP0IKpsZ0

Programme:
15.30 – 15.35 Opening by Hans Petter Graver President of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
15.35– 15.45 Introduction by Johan F. Storm, Neurophysiology, and Dagfinn Føllesdal, Philosophy, Univ. of Oslo
15.45– 16.45 Lecture by Daniel Dennett: Autonomy, Consciousness, and Responsibility
16.45– 17.50 Panel Discussion and questions from the audience

Venue:
Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrupshus (University Library), University of Oslo, Molkte Moes Vei 39, 0317 Oslo

The event is free of charge, seating on a first come first serve basis.

Hosted by www.bevissthetsforum.no

Open symposium on scientific theories of consciousness

Event Start Date:
10. May 2022		Event End Date:
10. May 2022		Event Venue:

Integrated Information Theory:
What is it, how did it emerge, and how can we use it?

After decades of progress in cognitive neuroscience consciousness is still eluding understanding. Are scientific theories of consciousness even possible? If so, how close have we gotten so far? In this symposium we discuss the integrated information theory (IIT), a leading theory of consciousness. First, the theory and its development will be put in historical context and the fundamentals of the IIT are introduced. Next, how its general approach sets it apart from other theories and how it has been used to inspire clinically useful tools and applications will be explained. Finally, we will discuss questions from the audience about IIT and consciousness more broadly in a panel discussion.

This event is open for everyone, but please let us know if you will attend by joining our facebook event (https://www.facebook.com/events/814383772339927/), or sending an email to b.e.juel@uio.no.
Hope to see you there!

 

PROGRAM:
15:00 – 15:05: Introductions by Bjørn Juel and Jeremiah Hendren
15:05 – 15:45: Lecture by professor Johan F. Storm,
Title: Theories of Consciousness: concepts, history, and challenges
15:45 – 16:40: Lectures by Matteo Grasso, PhD, and B. Juel, PhD
Title: IIT: From experience to the brain and back

Break with mingling, snacks and refreshments

17:00 – 18:00 Panel Discussion and questions from the audience

This event is open for everyone!
Hope to see you there.

 

About the speakers/panelists:

Johan F. Storm is professor of medicine at the University of Oslo, where he leads the Brain Signalling group. He heads two international research collaborations focused on the study of consciousness in EU’s Human Brain Project and the Life Science Initiative at UiO.

Matteo Grasso is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for sleep and Consciousness (Tononi lab – UW Madison) specializing in philosophy of mind and computational neuroscience.

Bjørn E Juel works as a researcher with Storm (UiO) and a honorary Fellow at CSC.

Jeremiah Hendren is a PhD candidate studying science communication at Uni. of Munich

 

More information:

If you want to know more about the integrated information theory right now, here are some links you might find interesting:

Podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bei2xLPpFN4

Pop-sci article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/a…/what-is-consciousness/

Lecture on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3G-Wt5az30&t=24s

Scholarpedia article: http://www.scholarpedia.org/a…/Integrated_information_theory