GATES Talk

About

As part of the GATES project, a talk will be presented by Filip VAN OPSTAL, Associate Professor in Neurocognitive Science at Universiteit Van Amsterdam and GATES Senior Fellow and Nathan FAIVRE, CNRS Research Director at LPNC. This talk will begin with an introduction by Nathan Faivre, who will trace the philosophical foundations of consciousness and illustrate how modern neuroimaging and electrophysiology techniques allow us to define the neural correlates of the conscious mind. Following this, Filip Van Opstal will present experimental approaches to studying mind-wandering, a ubiquitous yet enigmatic cognitive phenomenon in which the conscious mind drifts away from a given task. He will discuss how spontaneous thought processes may foster creativity, offering insights into the adaptive functions of a wandering mind. Together, these presentations will highlight the interplay between theoretical inquiry and empirical research in unravelling the mysteries of the conscious mind.