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Doctoral thesis defense: Kristian Sandberg

CFIN researcher and head of the Perception and Neuroarchitectural Mapping Group, Associate Professor Kristian Sandberg will defend his Doctoral thesis, entitled: "On the role of the posterior cortex in human conscious perception".

16.08.2019 | Henriette Blæsild Vuust

Dato fre 06 sep
Tid 14:00 17:00
Sted Lille Anatomisk Auditorium (building 1231, room 424), Wilhelm Meyers Alle 3, 8000 Aarhus C.

The higher doctoral degree in Medicine (Medicinae) - DMSc.  

Title: On the role of the posterior cortex in human conscious perception

DATE: Friday 6 September 2019
TIME: 2.00 pm (exactly!!)
PLACE: Lille Anatomisk Auditorium (building 1231, room 424), Wilhelm Meyers Alle 3, 8000 Aarhus C.


About the thesis: 

One of the key issues in the neuroscience of consciousness has been whether consciousness requires activation of higher order areas at the front of the brain or whether signals in, for example, sensory areas are sufficient. Over the last decades, data has often been interpreted as supporting the theory that consciousness is linked to an all-or-none signal in the prefrontal cortex.

In this thesis, I summarise 9 publications - primarily empirical studies conducted with normal healthy people as participants - along with results from other laboratories supporting the opposite view. First, behavioral results are presented indicating that conscious experiences are primarily non-dichotomous and thus should not be described as originating from all-or-no signals. Next, a series of studies using magnetoencephalography (MEG) are presented. These indicate that the neural signatures that are closest to conscious experiences are not the relatively late pre-frontal all-or-none signals that earlier studies have indicated but instead sensory signals that vary gradually with the clarity of the conscious experience. Finally, studies are presented which investigate the correlation between individual variations in the neuroarchitectural properties of the sensory cortex (specifically GABA concentration and gray matter volume) and conscious experience. Taking these findings together, I argue for a paradigm shift in the field of consciousness research, and I present a general methodological framework that can be used in future awareness research to bring consciousness research to a level where we can provide adequate basic scientific explanations and make clinically relevant predictions.

ALL ARE WELCOME

After the defense CFIN will host a reception outside the Lille Anatomisk Auditorium.

Arrangement, Sundhed og sygdom, Videnskabelig medarbejder, CFIN, CFIN, Ph.d.-studerende, Musicinthebrain, Forskningsårsstuderende, Udvekslingsstuderende, Studerende