Giulio Tononi
<p>Feb 19, 2009 9:49 PM
 
Prof of Psychiatry at Univ of Wisconsin Madison
 
Consciousness and Sleep
 
Dynamic Core hypothesis  concerning the neural substrates of consciousness.
 
Research in my laboratory focuses on two main areas, <b>consciousness and sleep</b>. In the work on consciousness, we have addressed the problem of <b>how the activities of functionally specialized areas of the brain can be integrated to give rise to a unified conscious scene</b>. To this end, we have (1) constructed large-scale computer models based <b>on the anatomy and physiology of the thalamocortical system to demonstrate how the brain solves the so-called binding problem;</b> (2) developed theoretical approaches aimed at defining and measuring the integration of information within the nervous system. This has led to the formulation of a <b>general, information-theoretical definition of complexity,</b> which provides an objective measure of the extent to which biological systems such as the brain are composed of functionally specialized parts that work together in an integrated fashion; (3) pioneered experimental approaches aimed at identifying the neural correlates of conscious experience using imaging techniques such as magnetoencephalography. This work has led to the formulation of a testable proposal - the <b>dynamic core hypothesis - about the neural substrates of consciousness</b>.</p>