MIT's new Picower Institute for Learning and Memory is hosting an inaugural symposium on Thursday, December 1, and the agenda looks, well, mind-blowing. From the conference site:
Moderated by Ira Flatow of National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation," the symposium will focus on the future of neuroscience research. MIT President Susan Hockfield will open the day's discussion. The morning session will feature talks by five Nobel Laureates including Susumu Tonegawa, Director of the Picower Institute, and James D. Watson, Chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
The first afternoon session, entitled "Change Your Mind," will focus on the impact of the neuroscience of learning and memory on human health. The session speakers include Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Li-Huei Tsai, of Harvard Medical School and a molecular neuroscientist studying the mechanism of neurodegenerative diseases, and Kerry Ressler of Emory University, an expert on memory extinction and its use for curing PTSD.
The second afternoon session entitled "Expand Your Mind" will look at the relationship between the human brain and the mind. Christof Koch of CalTech will speak on the biological basis of consciousness. Alexander Shulgin, a synthetic chemist who has done research in the area of psychedelic drugs, will address the resident complexity and creativity in the brain. Philosopher Patricia Churchland of UCSD will speak to the relationship between philosophic inquiry and brain research.
