Upcoming
Friday 16:00 @ Nordita 6th floor
Our senses are constantly bombarded with external cues, such as people’s facial expressions, words, and behaviours, along with internal bodily signals like touch from others, our perception of our body’s position in space, and our intrinsic sense of self. Understanding how the brain transforms sensory information into complex perceptions and generates subjective experience remains one of the most profound unresolved questions in philosophy of mind, psychology, and cognitive and brain sciences. In this talk, I will explore the approaches neuroscience has developed to experimentally address these questions, examining both traditional methods and newer, innovative techniques that deepen our insight into the brain mechanisms behind conscious awareness. I will highlight cases of visual consciousness, focusing on the perception of complex social information in human faces, and bodily awareness, specifically the feeling of body ownership. Additionally, I will discuss the extent to which we process information unconsciously and how advances in the neuroscience of consciousness may improve our understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders.