Toward a molecular biology of conscious processing: consequences for drug design

Open meeting organized by Forum for Consciousness Research.

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Jean-Pierre Changeux is an eminent pioneer in consciousness research. He is also famous for his outstanding research in several different branches of biology, ranging from the molecular biology of proteins to higher brain functions. In particular, he is known for the Monod-Wyman-Changeux model for allosteric proteins, his work on synaptic receptors in muscles and brain (in particular nicotinic acetyl choline receptors), principles for development of the nervous system and brain, and the Global Neuronal Workspace model of consciousness that he developed together with Stanislas Dehaene. Changeux is known by the non-scientific public for his ideas regarding the connection between mind and physical brain, first through his famous book Neuronal Man: The Biology of The Mind in 1985. Changeux strongly supports the view that the nervous system functions in a projective rather than reactive style and that interaction with the environment, rather than being instructive, results in the selection amongst a diversity of preexisting internal representations. Changeux has also for decades been engaged in neuroethics: the ethical and social consequences of the recent progress in neuroscience. He headed the National Advisory Committee on Bioethics in France from 1992 to 1998, and organized a conference that led to the book Fondements naturel de l'ethique. He is presently the co-chairman of the Ethics and Society division of the European Human Brain Project (HBP). Changeux has received numerous scientific prizes and awards.

Programme:

13.00 - 13.05:
Opening by Ole M. Sejersted, President of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

13.05- 13.10:  
Introduction by Professor Johan F. Storm, Neurophysiology, University of Oslo

13.10- 14.00:  
Lecture by Professor Jean-Pierre Changeux, Institut Pasteur, and Collège de France, Paris: Toward a molecular biology of conscious processing: consequences for drug design

14.00- 14.30:  
Questions from the audience / Discussion