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  • Brain, Mind & Consciousness

Brain, Mind & Consciousness

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The quality of our consciousness is what sets us apart from other species and seems to be one of the defining traits of being human. Yet the nature of consciousness remains a mystery. The Brain, Mind & Consciousness program brings together neuroscientists, philosophers, and psychologists to grapple with the fundamental underpinnings of consciousness, relating the findings to biology on the one hand and to philosophical questions on the other.

 

RESEARCH AND SOCIETAL IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS

Digging deeper into perception and reality

Program Co-Director Anil Seth’s book, Being You: A New Science of Consciousness, was published in September 2021. The book lays out his views on the science of consciousness and describes his theory, which he calls the “beast machine” theory. Being You was an instant Sunday Times Bestseller, a New Statesman Book of the Year, an Economist Book of the Year, a Guardian Science Book of the Year (and Book of the Week), a Financial Times Science Book of the Year, and a Bloomberg Business Book of the Year.

Building a brain, mind & consciousness database

With a goal of gathering shareable tools and resources to spark and sustain broader collaboration, program members have been collating a centralized repository to provide access to labelled and pre-processed data and stimuli that they have already collected. So far, the database consists of 89 projects that contain 120 sets of resources, such as human behavioural data, stimulus sets, human functional MRI data, and human EEG data. This repository will be invaluable for data and stimulus sharing within the program.

Understanding our perception of time and metacognition

Recent program meetings have focused on time perception, as well as on metacognition, a highly prominent and distinctive feature of human cognition, which has an intimate and not completely understood relationship with consciousness. This work has allowed the team to explore both fundamental questions about which brain areas are responsible for keeping track of time, as well as broader concerns, such as how time perception can be programmed into robots.

Exploring theories of consciousness

Program Co-Director Anil Seth (University of Sussex) and Fellow Tim Bayne (Monash University) have been putting theories about the biological and physical basis of consciousness to the test to explore how they relate to each other and whether they can be empirically distinguished. They are reviewing four prominent theoretical approaches to consciousness: higher-order theories, global workspace theories, re-entry and predictive processing theories, and integrated information theory. As part of this process, they are identifying which aspects of consciousness each approach proposes to explain, what their neurobiological commitments are and what empirical data are cited in their support. They are also considering how some prominent empirical debates might distinguish among these theories and are outlining three ways in which new theories need to be developed to deliver a mature regimen of theory-testing in the neuroscience of consciousness.

Path to Societal Impact

We invite experts in industry, civil society, healthcare and government to join fellows in our Brain, Mind & Consciousness program for in-depth, cross-sectoral conversations that drive change and innovation.

Leaders in extended reality (XR, including virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality) and CIFAR fellows in the Brain, Mind & Consciousness program are developing more immersive XR experiences, while deepening the understanding of how our minds perceive reality.  

Areas of focus:

  • Understanding what makes an experience immersive 
  • Developing immersive extended realities
  • Using XR as a tool to study the brain and body

 

Founded

2014

Renewal Dates

2020

Partners

Brain Canada Foundation through the Canada Brain Research Fund, Anonymous partner

Supporters

Michael & Sonja Koerner, The Lawrence & Judith Tanenbaum Family Foundation, Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Neuroscience, including cognitive neuroscience
Biological and cognitive psychology
Computer science, including artificial intelligence
Genetics
Philosophy, including ethics
Law

CIFAR Contact

Kate Geddie

Fellows & Advisors

Program Directors

Adrian M. Owen

Adrian M. Owen

Program Co-Director
Koerner Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Western University
Canada
Anil K. Seth

Anil K. Seth

Program Co-Director

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of Sussex
United Kingdom

Fellows

Tim Bayne

Tim Bayne

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Monash University
Australia
Axel Cleeremans

Axel Cleeremans

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Belgium
Steve Fleming

Steve Fleming

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University College London
United Kingdom
Melvyn Goodale

Melvyn Goodale

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Western University
Canada
Atsushi Iriki

Atsushi Iriki

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
RIKEN
Japan
Robert Kentridge

Robert Kentridge

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Durham University
United Kingdom
Rafael Malach

Rafael Malach

Tanenbaum Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Weizmann Institute of Science
Israel
Marcello Massimini

Marcello Massimini

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of Milan
Italy
Jason B. Mattingley

Jason B. Mattingley

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of Queensland
Australia
Liad Mudrik

Liad Mudrik

Tanenbaum Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Tel Aviv University
Israel
Adrian M. Owen

Adrian M. Owen

Program Co-Director
Koerner Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Western University
Canada
Aniruddh Patel

Aniruddh Patel

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Tufts University
United States
Isabelle Peretz

Isabelle Peretz

Associate Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Université de Montréal
Canada
Megan Peters

Megan Peters

Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of California Irvine
United States
Lisa M. Saksida

Lisa M. Saksida

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Western University
Canada
Catherine Tallon-Baudry

Catherine Tallon-Baudry

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
École normale supérieure
France
Laurel Trainor

Laurel Trainor

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
McMaster University
Canada
Nicholas Turk-Browne

Nicholas Turk-Browne

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Yale University
United States
Sandra Waxman

Sandra Waxman

Associate Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Northwestern University
United States
Robert Zatorre

Robert Zatorre

Fellow

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
McGill University
Canada

Advisors

Nancy Kanwisher

Nancy Kanwisher

Advisory Committee Chair

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States
Stanislas Dehaene

Stanislas Dehaene

Advisor

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Collège de France
INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit
France
Daniel Dennett

Daniel Dennett

Advisor

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Tufts University
United States
David K. Menon

David K. Menon

Advisor

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of Cambridge
United Kingdom
Janet Werker

Janet Werker

Advisor

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of British Columbia
Canada

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars

Sahba Nomvula Besharati

Sahba Nomvula Besharati

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of the Witwatersrand
South Africa
Craig Chapman

Craig Chapman

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of Alberta
Canada
Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Amherst College
United States
Katherine McAuliffe

Katherine McAuliffe

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2017-2019

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Boston College
United States
Megan Peters

Megan Peters

Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of California Irvine
United States
Adeel Razi

Adeel Razi

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Monash University
Australia
Joshua Shepherd

Joshua Shepherd

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Carleton University
University of Barcelona
Canada
Lucina Q. Uddin

Lucina Q. Uddin

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of California Los Angeles
United States
Filip Van Opstal

Filip Van Opstal

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
University of Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Yaniv Ziv

Yaniv Ziv

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020

Brain, Mind & Consciousness
Weizmann Institute of Science
Israel

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