Satellite Symposium : “Too complex to understand? Bridging neuroscience and philosophy to build new tools to study the brain.”

The Satellite Symposium ventures into the intersection between neuroscience and philosophy with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary exchange between neuroscientists and philosophers to discuss conceptual approaches, methods and their assumptions, and the interpretive horizon of domains of neuroscience specifically addressing the complexity of the brain.

When: 24 June 2024 3:00 PM, CEST

Where: Sky Lounge, University of Vienna, Oskar-Morgensstern-Platz 1, 1090 Vienna

Due to space limitation, we ask participants to please register here for this event!

Main Speakers:

• Demian Battaglia (Aix-Marseille University)
• Igor Branchi (Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome)
• Mazviita Chirimuuta (University of Edinburgh)
• Gustavo Deco (Pompeu Fabra Univerisity, Barcelona)
• Alejandro Fabregas-Tejeda (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)

Full program: https://www.austrian-neuroscience.at/event-5513268

Organizers:

• Igor Branchi (Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome)
• Thomas Bugnyar (University of Vienna)
• Markus Kunze (Medical University of Vienna)
• Isabella Sarto-Jackson (Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg)

Short information about the event:

In this symposium, we aim at discussing the current knowledge on whole-brain activity (in healthy and disease states) and its foundation in experimental and computational neuroscience. Confronting these models with philosophical concepts of causality and inquiries on the explanatory power of different forms of prediction, will allow a better understanding of the strength and potential limitations of today´s concepts of the brain. Moreover, organisms need to integrate their internal state and information by environmental stimuli by means of their nervous system thus neuroscientist exploring brain activity need to consider this complex interaction with due sensitivity. However, a better understanding of the environmental contribution requires a proper consideration how to conceptualize “environment” to operationalize its influence on the brain. Thus, a second discussion will confront neuroscientific approaches to integrate internal states and external stimuli (in health and disease) with reflections on the relevance of different concepts of environment and its relevance for the evolution of brain processes.