Consciousness: scientists and philosophers have puzzled over it for centuries, but struggle to agree on its definition. It allows us to relate and respond to our surroundings and ourselves, but how does the brain create it and what happens when our awareness becomes disrupted? Join us, and our guests Drs. Jean-Rémi King (NYU) and Mark Baxter (Mt. Sinai), as we explore the power and vulnerability of the brain at our special Brain Awareness Week event. Learn how neuroscientists identify the brain architecture that underpins consciousness. Discover how drugs, like anesthesia, affect the conscious experience. Play neuroscience-inspired interactive games, while altering your brain chemistry with your beverage of choice!

NOTE: This event is 21+

Dr. Jean-Rémi King

How do 3 pounds of wet meat (our brains) create perception? We don't perceive what our eyes "see". After a century of psychology and neuroscience, it is now clear that what people report perceiving can be dramatically distinct from what is presented to their senses. What, then, is perception? How does the brain make it? In this talk, you will see how neuroimaging and machine learning now allow us to decode the content of perception from brain activity. These methods help us diagnose unresponsive patients, and may be critical to build conscious machine.

Dr. Mark Baxter

Consciousness and anesthesia: We can gain some insight into consciousness by looking at how it is temporarily lost, as during general anesthesia. I'll talk about what we know about how anesthesia works, and what it tells about how consciousness arises from activity in the brain.