The NYU Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness and the NYU Center for Bioethics are co-sponsoring a two-day conference on infant consciousness organized by Ned Block (NYU), David Chalmers (NYU), Matthew Liao (NYU), and Claudia Passos-Ferreira (NYU).

The conference will explore current issues about the development of consciousness in infants, with particular attention to recent work on neural and behavioral markers of consciousness. The aim is to bring together neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers who are working on infant consciousness to gain a better understanding of conscious awareness in infants.

The conference will explore questions such as

When does consciousness emerge in human infants?
What do theories of consciousness predict about infant consciousness?
⁠What evidence helps us detect consciousness in infants?
What neurological and behavioral markers can be used to assess consciousness in infants?
When do specific aspects of consciousness, such as self-awareness and a sense of agency, begin manifesting in infants?
⁠Is there a developmental border or a critical period for consciousness?
⁠What is the best methodology to investigate consciousness in infants?
⁠Are fetuses conscious, and if so, at what stage?
⁠What are the contents of a newborn baby’s consciousness?
⁠What are the moral implications of the emergence of consciousness?
What are the implications of developmental milestones in consciousness for early childhood education and care?
How do issues about infant consciousness connect to issues about disorders of consciousness in non-human animals, and in AI systems?

We invite abstract submissions for a few short talks and poster presentations related to the conference topic. Submissions from graduate students and early career researchers are particularly encouraged. Abstracts should be 500-750 words long. Please send your title and abstract as a PDF document to [email protected] by December 20, 2024, at 11:59 pm EST (with your name, affiliation, and the title of the paper in the body of the e-mail and ‘Abstract submission’ in the subject line).

Submission deadline: December 20th, 2024

Decision of acceptance: January 3rd, 2025

Conference dates: February 28th - March 1st, 2025