Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference 2011: Announcement

Toward a Science of Consciousness
Brain, Mind and Reality

Stockholm, Sweden, May 3-7, 2011

Toward a Science of Consciousness (TSC) is an annual interdisciplinary conference on all aspects of the fundamental question of how the brain produces conscious experience, a question addressing who we are, the nature of reality and our place in the universe.  TSC rigorously overs neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, philosophy, neurobiology, medicine, quantum physics, cosmology, experiential and spiritual approaches to the understanding of conscious awareness.

Since 1994, TSC has alternated between
Tucson, Arizona and various locations around
the world. This year, the 18th Toward a Science
of Consciousness: Brain, Mind and Reality, will
take place May 3-7, 2011 at Aula Magna Hall,
Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden with
pre- and post-conference workshops May 1,2 and 7.

An estimated 500 scientists, philosophers,
psychologists, experientialists, artists, students
and others from more than 60 countries will
participate in hundreds of presentations included
in 14 Plenary or Keynote Sessions, 40 Concurrent
Talk Sessions, 2 Poster Sessions, Art-Tech Demos,
social events and special evening performances.

Details regarding Social Events will be posted soon.

Abstracts for all presentations will be posted at
www.consciousness.arizona.edu and published in a conference book prepared by the Journal of
Consciousness Studies.

Plenary Program Overview:
Plenary and Keynote Sessions will run Tuesday,
May 3 through Saturday, May 7 in the Aula Magna Hall,
8:30 am to 4:10 pm, with breaks.  Concurrent talks,
Poster Sessions, Art Exhibits and Social Events
will take place late afternoon and evenings.

Featured Plenary and Keynote Speakers include
esteemed mathematical physicist and author
Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Laureate Luc Montagnier, and
author, physician and V! edic scholar Deepak Chopra.

On May 2, Deepak Chopra will lead a full day
workshop, Consciousness: The Ultimate Reality
with a special session on Neuroscience of Enlightenment
followed by an early evening public forum at
Aula Magna Hall entitled, Are Science and Spirituality
Incompatible? (Speakers TBA).

In addition to major contributions to cosmology, physics
reality and geometry, Sir Roger Penrose brought
consciousness in a meaningful way into physics,
co-developed a controversial quantum theory of
consciousness, and recently proposed a cyclical,
serial universe.  Dr. Luc Montagnier won the 2008
Nobel Prize in Medicine for showing that AIDs is
caused by HIV virus, and has of late reported
controversial evidence for non-local effects in
DNA.  Dr. Deepak Ch! opra has applied ancient Vedic
teachings to modern m! edicine, cosmology, consciousness
and spirituality, and written 60 books including
War of the Worldviews with Leonard Mlodinow (also a
plenary speaker, and co-author of Grand Design with
Stephen Hawking).

A full listing of plenary sessions themes, speakers
and brief descriptions are below. The Plenary, Concurrent
and Poster session presenters and abstracts
will be posted on www.consciousness.arizona.edu
Pre-Conference workshops begin on Sunday, May 1 with
a full-day Synesthesia symposium. Also on May 1
will be 2 half-day workshops on Neural Correlates and
Depersonalization; 3 workshops are scheduled for May 7
after the close of the Plenary program: Altered States,
Quantum Biology and an Experiential Workshop on binaural
beat audio-guidance technology.

A full listing of Plenary, Concurrent Sessions, Poster Session Participants
Art-Tech Exhibitors and Workshops can be found at
http://consciousness.arizona.edu/TSC2011PlenaryKeynotesProgram.htm

http://consciousness.arizona.edu/TSC2011ConcurrentSessions.htm

http://consciousness.arizona.edu/TSC2011Posters.htm

http://consciousness.arizona.edu/TSC2011ArtTechDemos.htm

http://consciousness.arizona.edu/TSC2011WorkshopsALL.htm

http://consciousness.arizona.edu/TSC2011deepakworkshop.htm

For Registration, Lodging and other information, please go to
www.consciousness.arizona.edu

http://consciousness.arizona.edu/TSC2011Hotels.htm

We look forward to seeing you in Stockholm!

Best wishes on behalf of the entire Program Committee.

Vi ser fram emot att träffa dig i Stockholm!
Hälsningar från oss i konferenskommittén

Stuart Hameroff
Christer Perfjell
Abi Be har Montefiore

PLENARY PROGRAM
Aula Magna Hall
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Plenary 1, 8:30 am to 10:40 am
Brain Electromagnetic Fields and Consciousness
McCormick D, Yale, Endogenous electric fields guide cortical network activity
Pockett S, Auckland, Electromagnetic field theory of consciousness: The shape of conscious fields
McFadden J, Surrey, The continuous electromagnetic information (CEMI) field theory of consciousness
Is the brain’s complex electromagnetic field itself the essence of consciousness?

Plenary 2, 11:10 am to 12:30 pm
Time and Consciousness I
Atmanspacher H, Freiberg, Temporal nonlocality in bistable perception
Gonzalez-Andino S, Geneva, Backward time referral in the amygdala of primates
Since the famous Libet experi! ments, backward time effects have been repeatedly detected in the brain.

Plenary 3, 2:00 pm to 4:10 pm
Consciousness and Reality
Keynote, Chopra D, Chopra Foundation, Vedic approaches to consciousness and reality
Mlodinow L, Pasadena, Grand Design
Zizzi P, Padua, Consciousness in the early universe
Is consciousness intrinsic to the universe, or an after-the-fact illusion?
Wednesday, May 4

Plenary 4, 8:30 am to 10:40 am
Transcranial Therapies
Wassermann E, NIH, Transcranial stimulation and consciousness
Snyder A, Sydney, Accessing information normally beyond conscious awareness by non-invasive brain stimulation
Tyler WJ, Arizona State, Transcranial ultrasound therapy for brain injury
New non-invasive transcranial therapies hold great promise for mind/brain disorders

Plenary 5, 11:10 am to 12:30 pm
Ne! ural cor relates of consciousness I
Malach R, Weizmann, Local neuronal ignitions and the emergence of perceptual awareness
Plenz D, NIH, Neuronal avalanches, coherence potentials, and cooperativity: Dynamical aspects that define mammalian cortex
Highly coherent neuronal brain activities correlate with consciousness.

Plenary 6, 2:00 pm to 4:10 pm
Consciousness and Reality II
Kafatos M, Chapman, Consciousness and the non-local universe
Kallio-Tamminem K,Helsinki, Quantum physics and Eastern philosophy
Pylkkanen P, Helsinki, Bohmian view of consciousness and reality
Consciousness, physics and metaphysics

Thursday, May 5

Plenary 7, 8:30 am to 10:40 am
Varieties of Religious Experience
Beauregard M, Montreal, Neuroscience of transcendent experiences
Moreira-Almeida A, Juiz De F! ora, Differential diagnosis between spiritual experiences and mental disorders
Roberto, Padrinho Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Sacred plants of Amazonia
What exactly is a religious experience?

Plenary 8, 11:10 am to 12:30 pm
Time and consciousness II
Bierman D, Amsterdam, Presentiment
Cerf M, NYU, Time effects in human cortical neuronal firings
Does information go backward-in-time in the brain?

Plenary 9, 2:00 pm to 4:10 pm
Quantum Biology I
Keynote, Luc Montagnier, Nobel Laureate, Pasteur Institute, The transfer of biological information through electromagnetic waves and matter
Vitiello G, Salerno, DNA: On the wave of coherence
Bernroider G and Summerhammer J, Salzburg, Quantum properties in ion channel proteins
Do nonlocal quantum effects mediate function in DNA and ion channel! s?

Thursday Evening
Confererence Dinner Cruise

Friday, May 6

Plenary 10, 8:30 am to 10:40 am
Microtubules
Tuszynski JA, Edmonton, Information processing within dendritic cytoskeleton
Bandyopadhyay A, NIMS, Tsukuba, Direct experimental evidence for quantum states in microtubules and topological invariance
Tanzi R, Harvard, Zinc link between aBeta and microtubule instability in Alzheimer’s disease
Possibilities for microtubule computing and quantum computing, and their role in Alzheimer’s Disease

Plenary 11, 11:10 am to 12:30 pm
Keynote, Sir Roger Penrose, Oxford
Consciousness in the universe

Plenary 12, 2:00 pm to 4:10 pm
Neural correlates of consciousness II
Hesslow G, Lund, The inner world as simulated interaction with the environment
Ehrsson H, Karolinska, How we come to experi! ence that we own our body: The cognitive neuroscience of body self-perception
Ullen F, Karolinska, The psychological flow experience: From phenomenology to biological correlates
At home in the brain with an all-Swedish session

Saturday, May 7

Plenary 13, 8:30 am to 10:40 am
Anesthesia and consciousness
Hudetz A, Milwaukee, Anesthetics and gamma synchrony
Franks N, London, Molecular actions of anesthetics
Hameroff S, Tucson, Meyer-Overton meets quantum physics
How do anesthetic gases selectively and reversibly erase consciousness?

Plenary 14, 11:10 am to 1:20 pm
End of life brain activity
Chawla L, GWU, Surges of electroencephalogram activity at the time of death
Van Lommel P, Amsterdam, Near death experiences: Clinical studies
Fenwick P, London, Death and the loo! sening of consciousness
Does highly c! oherent brain activity measured at the time of death correspond with near-death experiences?

Saturday Evening

End ofConsciousness Party

Contact:
center@u.arizona.edu
info@mindevent.se

conference website:
www.consciousness.arizona.edu

520-621-9317