The Leo Apostel Center

In collaboration with the Doctoral Program of the VUB invites
everyone to the 41st of its interdisciplinary seminars in the
Foundations series. In this series CLEA invites scholars that are
actively engaged in the research on the foundations of a particular
discipline. Their lectures will always be directed to an
interdisciplinary audience, and the discussions aim at confronting
the foundations of the different disciplines.

        E M B E D D I N G   T H E   O B S E R V E R
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                I N   T H E   B R A I N :
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     ORGANIZATIONAL REQUISITES FOR CONSCIOUS AWARENESS
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                 by Prof. Dr. PETER CARIANI



Research Associate, Eaton Peabody Laboratory of Auditory Physiology,
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA. Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School.


Tuesday, October 26, 1999 at 5 p.m. in auditorium 6 (building K, 2nd
floor), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Campus Oefenplein

About the lecture
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We will discuss problems of neural coding and high level integration
of informational process in the contexts of the neural correlates of
consciousness and the functional organization of adaptive devices.
Neuronal-specificity accounts of consciousness postulate that
activity in particular neural populations is sufficient for conscious
awareness, while process-coherence theories require particular kinds
of organized activity. A high level process-coherence model of neural
integration is proposed in which recurrent, buildup loops form
stable, switchable self-regenerating dynamic organizations. We will
explore the possibilities for high-level integration that temporal
coding affords: multiplexing of signals, increasing signal
elaboration/dimensionality, and broadcast-based coordinative
strategies that do not require highly specific interneural
connectivities. A simple timing network will serve to illustrate how
neural networks might conceivably achieve some of these goals. We
will discuss how such global self-production processes might account
for the unity and continuity of awareness, as well as the functional
divisions between perception, thought, and action (e.g. internally
self-produced vs. contingent, externally-originating signals). We
will discuss the distinction between (implicit) self-production and
(explicit) self-description ("self-reference"). Thus we will attempt
to relate the epistemic and phenomenal functionalities of the
observer-actor to underlying neural computations that might be
operant in the brain.

About the speaker

Peter Cariani has been working on temporal codes in the auditory
system for the past decade. His doctoral work concerned the
epistemological implications of systems that adaptively construct
their own sensors in order to form their own feature-primitives
(observables) on the world. He received his B.S. in life sciences
from M.I.T. in 1978, and his Ph.D. from the Department of Systems
Science, Binghamton University, in 1989.

The presentation with questions will last about an hour. Afterwards,
an hour or more is reserved for an in-depth, group discussion of the
topic. More info at the CLEA office: phone 02-644 26 77 or via the
Web-page: http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/CLEA/