For Immediate Release Second Announcement and Program Update Toward a Science of Consciousness: Brain, Mind and Reality May 3-7, 2011 Aula Magna Hall, Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden Sponsored by the Center for Consciousness Studies The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona and Mind Event, AB www.consciousness.arizona.edu 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 covers 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 Vedic 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 Chopra has applied ancient Vedic teachings to modern medicine, 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 Behar 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 experiments, 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 Neural correlates 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 Fora, 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 channels? Thursday Evening Conference 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 experience 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 loosening of consciousness Does highly coherent brain activity measured at the time of death correspond with near-death experiences? Saturday Evening End-of=Consciousness Party Contact: center@u.arizona.edu info@mindevent.se conference website: www.consciousness.arizona.edu