This Monday (October 10, 2016) there will be an OPEN MEETING in  the Forum for Consciousness Research. The meeting will be held in Auditorium 13, in Domus Medica,  Gaustad  (next to Rikshopitalet  and Gaustad Hotel),  at 15.30-16.40.

Prof. *Rodolfo R. LLINAS*, from New York University School of Medicine, joins us for “Comments and discussion concerning gamma band oscillations and cognitive experience”. After having introduced the topic himself, the room will be open for questions from the audience.

All are welcome!

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Programme:
15.30- 15.35   Introduction by Professor Johan F. Storm, Neurophysiology, University of Oslo
15.35- 16.05   Lecture by Professor Rodolfo R. LLINAS, New York University School of Medicine
16.05- 16.40   Discussion and questions from the audience

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About Prof. LLINAS:
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Rodolfo R. Llinás is an eminent Colombian American neuroscientist (born in Bogota, Colombia, 1934). He has for more than 50 years pioneered functional studies of the brain at a wide range of scales:  from the inner mechanisms of its microscopic constituents, the brain cells and their contacts, the synapses (see Refs. 1-3), to higher brain functions, including the self and the mind (see Refs. 4-5).

Already more than 35 years ago, at a time when most neuroscientists believed that brain cells and other neurons were quite simple electrical devices, he discovered that each cell has distinct characteristics (the cell’s own “personality”, so to speak) and a rich “inner life” of complex electrical interactions – more like a computer than a transistor  (References 1-2).
Later, he also pioneered the neuroscientific study of the Mind-Brain problem, at a time when most neuroscientists left question this to the philosophers (References 4-5).
Dr. Llinas is currently the Thomas and Suzanne Murphy Professor of Neuroscience and Chairman Emeritus of the department of Physiology & Neuroscience at the New York University School of Medicine. He has published more than 500 scientific articles.

References:
1.  Llinas, R; Sugimori (1980). “Electrophysiological Properties of in Vitro Purkinje Cell Somata in Mammalian Cerebellar Slices”. The Journal of Physiology. 305: 171-195.
2.  Llinás, Rodolfo (1990). «Intrinsic Electrical Properties of Mammalian Neurons and CNS Function». Fidia Research Foundation Neuroscience Award Lectures, 1988-1989 (Raven Press)
3.  Llinás, Rodolfo R. (1999) “The Squid Giant Synapse : A Model for Chemical Transmission”   Oxford University Press, USA.
4.  Llinás, Rodolfo R. and Churchland, Patricia S. (1996) “Mind-Brain Continuum: Sensory Processes”   The MIT Press, Cambridge, USA.
5.  Llinás, R. (2001) “I of the Vortex: From Neurons to Self”.  The MIT Press, Cambridge, USA.

(image source: http://blog.oviedojorge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2B1R1423progressprogress.jpg)

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, August 26

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

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

All are welcome!

The  Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Forum for Consciousness Research jointly present an  OPEN MEETING  concerning Free will and Consciousness.

Lecture by Prof. *John Dylan HAYNES*

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

*What does neuroscience tell us about free will?*

Is free will just an illusion? Are all our actions predetermined by brain processes beyond our control? Are we just complex “machines” without any real freedom to decide, choose and act? Does this mean that we are not responsible for our choices and actions? These are ancient philosophical questions that are still hotly debated. Recent results from brain imaging suggest that at least some of our choices can be predicted with some accuracy several seconds before we know that we made the choice. Prof. John Dylan Haynes, who is a leading scientist in this field, will present some of his results and discuss what they mean.
Time: Thursday, 21 April, 18.00-20.00

Place: The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters/  Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi,
Drammensveien 78,    0271 Oslo.18.00– 18.05 Opening by Prof. Erik Boye, The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

Programme:
18.00– 18.05   Opening by Prof. Erik Boye, The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
18.05– 18.10   Introduction by Prof. Johan F. Storm, Neurophysiology, University of Oslo
18.10– 19.00   Lecture by Prof. John Dylan Haynes
19.00– 19.10   10 minutes break
19.10– 19.40   Comments by Edmund Henden (Philosophy) and J.F. Storm (Neurophysiology)
19.40– 20.30   Panel Discussion and Questions from the Audience

**

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.:

John-Dylan Haynes

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

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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

Forum for Consciousness Research  invites you to an open meeting with a lecture by Professor Jean-Pierre Changeux titled

Toward a molecular biology of conscious processing: consequences for drug design

The Lecture will take place in Auditorium 1, at Georg Sverdrups Hus (Universitesbiblioteket), Blindern.

Programme:
13.00 – 13.05  Opening by Ole M. Sejersted, President of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
13.05– 13.10   Introduction by Professor Johan F. Storm, Neurophysiology, University of Oslo
13.10– 14.00   Lecture by Professor Jean-Pierre CHANGEUX
14.00– 14.30   Questions from the audience / Discussion

 All are welcome to attend!

Jean-Pierre Changeux, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of the Collège de France in Paris, and an eminent pioneer in consciousness research. He is also famous for his outstanding research in several different branches of biology, ranging from the molecular biology of proteins to higher brain functions. In particular, he is known for the Monod-Wyman-Changeux model for allosteric proteins, his work on synaptic receptors in muscles and brain (in particular nicotinic acetyl choline receptors), principles for development of the nervous system and brain, and the Global Neuronal Workspace model of consciousness that he developed together with Stanislas Dehaene. Changeux is known by the non-scientific public for his ideas regarding the connection between mind and physical brain, first through his famous book Neuronal Man: The Biology of The Mind in 1985. Changeux strongly supports the view that the nervous system functions in a projective rather than reactive style and that interaction with the environment, rather than being instructive, results in the selection amongst a diversity of preexisting internal representations. Changeux has also for decades been engaged in neuroethics: the ethical and social consequences of the recent progress in neuroscience. He headed the National Advisory Committee on Bioethics in France from 1992 to 1998, and organized a conference that led to the book Fondements naturel de l’ethique. He is presently the co-chairman of the Ethics and Society division of the European Human Brain Project (HBP). Changeux has received numerous scientific prizes and awards. Furthermore, he is Foreign Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Science, member of the French Institute and Grand Officier dans l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur, and the recipient of many awards including the Wolff prize.

Changeux has published several books: Neuronal Man: The Biology of The Mind (1985) brought him celebrity status among the wider public. Conversations on Mind Matter and Mathematics (1998) with mathematician A. Connes. What Makes Us Think with the philosopher Paul Ricoeur (2002) and The Physiology of Truth (2002) that are acknowledged as having initiated an instructive dialogue between the two often-hostile disciplines of neuroscience and philosophy. He has also been concerned by the relationships between aesthetic experience and the brain in Raison & Plaisir (1994), The true the good the beautiful: a neurobiological approach (2012), and Les neurones enchantés (2014) about artistic creation. Changeux received the Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science, Rockefeller University, New-York, 2005. (See http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Bq3F8iIAAAAJ&hl=en/ ,Wikipedia, etc.)

Sponsored by SERTA:

The Changing Brain

Prof. Kenneth Hugdahl is a Swedish-born psychologist (phD from Uppsala University in 1977) and a pioneer in fMRI research in Norway and Scandinavia. In 1984 he was appointed professor at the University of Bergen. He is currently the Head of the Bergen fMRI Group which initiated use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in neuroscience in Norway and the Nordic countries in the 1990s.

November 4th, 2015

18.00 – 18.05   Opening by representative of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

18.05– 18.10   Introduction by Professor Johan F. Storm, Neurophysiology, University of Oslo

18.10– 19.00   Lecture by Professor Kenneth Hughdal

19.00– 19.10  10 minutes break

19.10– 20.00   Panel discussion and questions from the audience

Poster HUGHDAL i FBF-DNVA 4 Nov 2015

The research of Prof. Hugdahl and the Bergen fMRI group (http://www.uib.no/en/rg/fmri) is focused on brain activation studies related to a broad spectre of cognitive functions, including laterality, speech and language, working memory, attention, cognitive control and emotions, depression and aging. The group is also involved in research related to morphometry, perfusion/diffusion imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, spectroscopy, EEG and neuroinformatics, using a range of statistical tools and software. A particular focus for the fMRI Group is on the study of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia, and dichotic listening studies of cognitive control

Bergen fMRI Group is the recipient of an European Research Council Advanced Grant (ERCAdG) through professor Kenneth Hugdahl in 2010.

Notable publications include Psychophysiology: The Mind-Body Perspective (1995), Experimental Methods in Neuropsychology (2002) and The Asymmetrical Brain (2003). He also edited the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology from 1990 to 2004

He was a member of the Research Council of Norway from 1988 to 1989, and of the MacArthur Foundation from 1990 to 2000. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Dr. Laureys leads the Coma Science Group at the Cyclotron Research Centre of the University of Liège. He is clinical professor of neurology at the Liège University Hospital, and chair of the World Federation of Neurology’s Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Group.

Poster in pdf.

I sitt foredrag vil Johan Frederik Storm gi en innføring i nyere bevissthetsforskning.

Johan Fredrik Storm er en av Norges fremste hjerneforskere og professor ved Institutt for medisinske basalfag ved Universitetet i Oslo. Han leder også Forum for bevissthetsforskning, et tverrfaglig
møtepunkt for forskere og andre som er interessert i vitenskapelige tilnærminger til bevissthet.
Forumet ble stiftet i Oslo i juni 2013.

www.forumviten.info

Johan F. Storm, prof. dr.med

Fysiologisk avd./IMB, UiO

Hvordan våre sanseopplevelser, tanker og følelser kan oppstå fra materielle prosesser i hjernen er et uløst problem som filosofene har strevd med i århundrer. Nå gir nye teorier og metoder håp om at naturvitenskapen kan gi svar.

Fredagsmøtet i tverrfaglig forum

Prof. Christof Koch

Christof Koch is the Chief Scientific Officer of Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. He was professor at California Institute of Technology 1986-2013.

Christof Koch is an eminent, leading pioneer in consciousness research. Since the early 1990s, he has studied the physical basis of consciousness as a scientifically tractable problem, and has been influential in arguing that consciousness can be approached using the modern tools of neurobiology. His primary collaborator in the endeavor of locating the neural correlates of consciousness was the molecular biologist turned neuroscientist, Francis Crick and, more recently, the psychiatrist and neuroscientist Giulio Tononi.

In 2011 Koch became the Chief Scientific Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, leading their ten-year project concerning high-throughput large-scale cortical coding. The mission is to understand the computations that lead from photons to behavior by observing and modeling the physical transformations of signals in the visual brain of behaving mice. The project seeks to catalogue all the building blocks (ca. 100 distinct cell types) of the visual cortical regions and associated structures and their dynamics. The scientists seek to know what the animal sees, how it thinks and decides. The Allen Institute for Brain Science currently employs about 270 scientists, engineers, technologists and supporting personnel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christof_Koch

Chief Scientific Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, USA

About the event:

1.  Building Brain Observatories – Exploring Cortex in a High-Throughput Manner

2.  The Biology of Consciousness

Friday, May 8, 12.00-14.30

Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrups Hus/   Universitesbiblioteket, Blindern, Oslo

Moltke Moes vei 39 ved/Blindernveien, 0317 Oslo.

Programme:

12.00– 12.05   Introduction by Johan F. Storm, Neurophysiology, University of Oslo

12.05– 12.50   Christof Koch: Building Brain Observatories

12.50– 13.05  15 minutes break

13.05– 13.50   Christof Koch: The Biology of Consciousness

13.50– 14.20   A dialogue with Christof Koch on Consciousness

20140210_PLAKAT_LAUREYS 20 april_JFS3

Open MEETING 29 April 2015:

Prof. Steven LAUREYS

Leader of the Coma Science Group at the Cyclotron Research Centre, University of Liège, Belgium

Eyes Wide Open, Brain Wide Shut?

(un)consciousness in the vegetative state

Wednesday, April 29, 18.00-20.00

in The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters/

Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi,   Drammensveien 78,   0271 Oslo.

Programme:

18.00 – 18.05   Opening by Professor Øivind Andersen, Secretary General of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

18.05– 18.10   Introduction by Professor Johan F. Storm, Neurophysiology, University of Oslo

18.10– 19.00   Lecture by Professor Steven Laureys

19.00– 19.10  10 minutes break

19.10– 20.00   Panel discussion and questions from the audience

Dr. Laureys leads the Coma Science Group at the Cyclotron Research Centre of the University of Liège. He is clinical professor of neurology at the Liège University Hospital, and chair of the World Federation of Neurology’s Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Group and of the European Neurological Society’s Subcommittee on Coma and Disorders of Consciousness. Since 2009, he is invited professor at the Royal Academy of Belgium.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Laureys’ team assesses the recovery of neurological disability and of neuronal plasticity in severely brain damaged patients with altered states of consciousness by means of multimodal functional neuroimaging. It aims at characterizing the brain structure and the residual cerebral function in patients who survive a severe brain injury: patients in coma, vegetative state, minimally conscious state and locked in syndrome. These patients represent a problem in terms of diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and daily management. Second, these patients offer the opportunity to explore human consciousness. These patients present a complete, nearly graded, range of conscious states from unconsciousness (coma) to full awareness (locked-in syndrome). This research confronts clinical expertise and bedside behavioral evaluation of altered states of consciousness with state-of-the-art multimodal imaging combining the information from positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), structural MRI, electroencephalography (EEG), event related potential (ERP) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) data.