Open symposium on scientific theories of consciousness: Integrated Information Theory

After decades of progress in cognitive neuroscience, consciousness still eludes our understanding. Are scientific theories of consciousness even possible? If so, how close have we gotten so far? This symposium event will entertain these questions through the lens of integrated information theory (IIT), a leading theory of consciousness. First, the theory and its development will be put in historical context and the fundamentals of IIT introduced. Next, we will explain how the general approach of IIT sets it apart from other theories and how IIT has inspired clinically useful tools and applications. We will end with a panel discussion and audience Q&A covering IIT and consciousness more broadly.

PROGRAM:
15:00 – 15:05: Introductions by Bjørn Juel and Jeremiah Hendren
15:05 – 15:45: Lecture by professor Johan F. Storm,
Title: How scientific theories of consciousness emerged
15:45 – 16:40: Lectures by Matteo Grasso, PhD, and B. Juel, PhD
Title: IIT: From experience to the brain and back

Break with mingling, snacks and refreshments

17:00 – 18:00 Panel Discussion and questions from the audience

This event is open for everyone!
Hope to see you there

About the speakers/panelists:
Johan F. Storm is professor of medicine at the University of Oslo, where he leads the Brain Signalling group. He heads two international research collaborations focused on the study of consciousness in EU’s Human Brain Project and the Life Science Initiative at UiO.
Matteo Grasso is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Sleep and Consciousness (Tononi lab - UW Madison) specializing in philosophy of mind and computational neuroscience.
Bjørn E Juel works as a researcher with Storm (UiO) and a honorary fellow at CSC.
Jeremiah Hendren is a PhD candidate studying science communication at Uni. of Munich