On June 17th, Professor MATTHEW LARKUM,  Humboldt University of Berlin, will give a lecture in our Forum for Consciousness Research, Oslo.

Public Lecture: Tuesday, June 17^th, 2025, 18.30-20.00

[In addition: A symposium on Consciousness Research with Matthew Larkum and Björn Merker on June 17^th (09.45 am) will be announced separately.]

Matthew Larkum, Professor, Humboldt University of Berlin.

Dendritic coupling in cortical pyramidal neurons, anesthesia and consciousness

Time: Tuesday, June 17^th, 2025, 18.30-20.00

Venue: Sophus Lies auditorium,  Blindern Campus (Moltke Moes vei), University of Oslo

After the lecture, 18.30 – 19.30, there will be time for questions and discussion.

Please register if you wish to attend (see below).

Matthew Larkum is an eminent brain researcher studying the electrophysiological and computational properties of brain cells and the impact of these properties on higher brain functions including attention and consciousness. Since his postdoc studies with Nobel laureate Bert Sakmann in the late 1990s, Larkum’s findings have led him to propose that the computational properties of single brain cells are much more complex than commonly appreciated. Instead of neurons being simple binary devices, as machine learning algorithms typically assume that they are, they operate simultaneously on tens of thousands of synaptic inputs that interact with intrinsic membrane properties, distributed over the dendritic tree. His work suggests that a single neuron’s computational complexity has far-reaching implications for perception and even consciousness.

Some articles by Matthew Larkum

Aru, J., Drüke, M., Pikamäe, J., & Larkum, M. E. (2023). Mental navigation and the neural mechanisms of insight. Trends in Neurosciences. 

Gidon, A., Aru, J., & Larkum, M. E. (2022). Does brain activity cause consciousness? A thought experiment. Plos Biology, 20(6), e3001651.