CDG

Consciousness Discussion Group

CDG is an informal, extracurricular forum to explore consciousness. The group is intentionally multidisciplinary, comprised of members from the departments of neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, bioengineering, sociology and ethics. Most members are graduate students, post-docs or faculty at the University of Pennsylvania.

Each meeting (typically one per month), a speaker mediates an informal discussion on a specific topic (see below for examples). Meeting announcements will regularly be sent to members and updated on this web site. If you would like to be a part of the group, or have any questions, please see the contact information at the end of this webpage.

You do not need to be a member to attend meetings, just bring your interest, ideas and enthusiasm.

November 11, 2004 (5:30-6:30 pm)

Title: Building Better Brains

Mediated by: Paul Root Wolpe, Ph.D.

If consciousness can be operationally defined as the sum total of cognitive processing, then neural enhancing agents can be seen as altering consciousness. Can we? Should we? Must we? Come and discuss your thoughts with a leading neuroethicist, Paul Root Wolpe, at the next CDG meeting.

Suggested reading: Wolpe02_Neuroethics_BrainCognition.pdf

Paul is a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry, Medical Ethics and Sociology, all at the University of Pennsylvania. He also serves as Chief of Bioethics for NASA. http://bioethics.upenn.edu/faculty/index.php?profile=20

 

September 21, 2004

Title: The philosophy of consciousness: distinctions and theories

Mediated by: Morgan Wallhagan, PhD

Morgan is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. His areas of focus are: Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Psychology. His research explores various ways we distinguish conscious from non-conscious mental phenomena.

This first talk of the fall semester will provide foundational principles of consciousness.

Suggested reading: Botterill G, Carruthers P. Consciousness: The final frontier? In: The Philosophy of Psychology. Cambridge University Press. 1999: 227-272. (In PDF format, 2 parts: part A and part B)

March 30, 2004

Direct brain-computer interfaces: Performing complex acts using thought alone.

Misha's recently published research involves using a brain-computer interface to successfully allow monkeys to control the movement of computer cursors using thought alone. This groundbreaking development has profound scientific, philosophical, psychological, ethical and medical implications. Please join us to discuss them.

Mediated by: Mijail ("Misha") Serruya, PhD

Misha is a visiting scholar from Brown University. Recently added to the world’s 100 Top Young Innovators by MIT’s magazine, Technology Review, Misha is in his final year of Brown's MD/PhD (neuroscience) program. He is co-founder of Cyberkinetics, a neurotechnology company which is developing an implantable brain-computer interface for clinical use in paralyzed patients."

Suggested reading (pdf format):
Serruya MD, Hatsopoulos NG, Paninski L, Fellows MR, Donoghue JP. Instant neural control of a movement signal. Nature 2002; 416: 141-142.

 

December 10, 2003

Descartes' Mind-Body Dualism

Mediated by: Gary Hatfield, PhD

Dr. Hatfield is the Adam Seybert Professor in Moral and Intellectual Philosophy and is Chair of the Graduate Group in Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interest include the history of modern philosophy, philosophy of psychology, theories of vision and the philosophy of science. http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~hatfield/

Suggested readings:
1. Descartes, Principles of Philosophy, Part 1, arts. 32-71. In J. Cottingham et al. (Ed.) The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Volume 1 (pp. 204-219).
2. Hatfield, G. (2003). Descartes and the Meditations (pp. 245-60; 323-30).

 

November 13, 2003

"Neurologic tales from the crypt of consciousness"

Mediated by: Anjan Chatterjee, MD

Anjan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at Penn. His area of expertise is in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience. He also has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy. http://wernicke.ccn.upenn.edu/~chatterjee/

There is no reading this week. Come to discuss, learn, teach and enjoy.

 

October 20, 2003

"Gaps and Cracks in Conscious Vision"

Mediated by Geoffrey K. Aguirre, MD, PhD

Suggested reading (pdf format):
1. Zeki, S and Ffytche, DH. Brain, Vol 121, Issue 1 25-45. 1998. The Riddoch syndrome: insights into the neurobiology of conscious vision.
2. Simons DJ, Levin DT. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Vol 1 No 7 October, 1997. Change Blindness.

Geoff is in his fourth year of Neurology Residency, has a PhD in Neuroscience and is an active member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, all at the UPENN. In addition to his clinical duties, he maintains active research in human cognition. http://ccn.upenn.edu/~aguirre/

 

September 9th, 2003

"What Exactly is the 'Problem' of Consciousness? An Overview of Philosophical Approaches."

Mediated by: Sara Waller, PhD (Philosophy)

Suggested Reading: “Facing up to the Problem of Consciousness” by David Chalmers (http://www.imprint.co.uk/chalm ers.html)

Sara is visiting scholar from California, researching consciousness in Anjan Chattergee’s cognitive neurology lab.

 

Location:

The location is typically in the Department of Neurology's conference room, Gates Pavilion, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The entrance to Gates is on Spruce Street between 34th and 36th (see map). Take the Gates elevators to the third floor and the conference room is directly in front of the elevator.

If you have a topic you would like the group to address, have a particular interest which you would consider mediating, have any comments, suggestions or questions, please contact Jeffrey Ellenbogen at jeffreye@mail.med.upenn.edu or visit my website at http://neurology.med.upenn.edu/~ellenbogen/