News & Events at the Institute
Upcoming Events and Lectures
Selected Recent Events
Sunday, May 4, 2009
Yo-Yo Ma performs composer Bruce Adolphe's "Self Comes to Mind", a 30-minute work for cello and two percussionists, based on texts by Antonio Damasio. Accompanied by video imagery by Ioana Uricaru and Diego Miralles, based on images from Hannah Damasio, the piece premiered at the American Museum of Natural History.
Reviewed by the New York Times
Advertised in The New Yorker
Discussed on NPR's All Things Considered
Friday, March 6, 2009
Of Mind, Medicine, and Music. Visions and Voices event. Antonio Damasio and composer Bruce Adolphe present their neuroscience-inspired musical work Memories of a Possible Future. USC, Health Sciences Campus, Mayer Auditorim.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Challenges in Neuroimaging Workshop, with Dr. Marcus Raichle, Arthur Toga, and Van Wedeen.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Musical Mind
The Tokyo Quartet and Drs. Antonio and Hanna Damasio discuss the neurological aspects of music making, particularly memory and the unique qualities of a "creative Brain." This event was sponsored by USC's Visions and Voices.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Professor Olaf Sporns gives a talk entitled "Mapping and Network Analysis of the Human Cerebral Cortex".
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Philosophy Professor Patricia Churchland gives a lecture entitled "How Do Brains Navigate Teir Social/Moral Worlds?"
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel gives a talk entitled: "Mechanisms for the Initiation and Persistence of Long Term Memory Storage".
Other BCI Visitors
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Renowned Neuroscientist Giacomo Rizzolatti from Parma spoke on "Mirror Neurons"
Monday, March 12, 2007
Acclaimed Pianist Alfred Brendel read his Poetry and engaged in a conversation on creativity with Antonio Damasio.
See article about Brendel Event in the USC Chronicle: "Pianist with a Penchant for Poetry" (March 23, 2007)
Friday, March 2, 2007
Nobel Laureate David Hubel (Enders Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard University) discussed his pioneering work on brain and vision. The title of the lecture was:
"The crystalline organization of the visual cortex"
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Star pianist Piotr Anderszewski talked with Antonio Damasio about brain and music and played out his ideas at 4:00 PM at Alfred Newman Hall, University Park Campus, USC.
Co-sponsored with the Thornton School of Music
Thursday, October 26, 2006
The Brain and Creativity Institute hosted a conversation between John Burnham Schwartz and Antonio Damasio.
Acclaimed novelist John Burnham Schwartz read from his novel "Reservation Road" and discussed his writing of the screenplay with neuroscientist Antonio Damasio.
Tuesday, June, 22, 2006,
The Brain and Creativity Institute hosted a screening of "House of Sand", directed by Andrucha Waddington.
Selected Recent Scientific Publications
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Andrea McColl, Hanna Damasio, and Antonio Damasio "Neural correlates of admiration and compassion" (2009)
Trends in Neurosciences: Kaspar Meyer, Antonio Damasio
"Convergence and divergence in a neural architecture for recognition and memory" (2009)
Brain: Antoine Bechara, Hanna Damasio "Distinct Patterns of Risky Decision-Making in Patients with Lesions to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex and Insular Cortex" (in press)
Science: Kaspar Meyer "How Does the Brain Localize the Self?" (2008)
Nature: Kaspar Meyer, Antonio Damasio "Mirror Neurons: Behind the Looking Glass" (2008)
Journal of Neuroscience: Antonio Damasio "Rapid Interactions between the Ventral Visual Stream and Emotion-Related Structures Rely on a Two-Pathway Architecture". (2008)
Journal of Physiology: Antonio Damasio, Lisa Aziz-Zadeh "Embodied semantics for actions: Findings from functional brain imaging". (2008)
Neuroimage: Hanna Damasio "Effects of spatial transformation on regional brain volume estimates" (2008)
Neuroimage: Hanna Damasio "Thresholding lesion overlap difference maps: Application to naming and recognition deficits in various categories of concrete entities" (2008)
Cortex: Hanna Damasio "The earliest behavioral expression of focal damage to human prefrontal cortex" (2007)
Science: Hanna Damasio, Antoine Bechara "Damage to the insula disrupts addiction to cigarette smoking" (2007)
Nature: Antonio Damasio "Damage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgments" (2007)
Selected Recent Lectures
NATIONAL THEATER COMPANY COLLOQUIUM
London, December, 2008
EMBODIED MIND SYMPOSIUM/GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION
"Brain, Body and Emotion", London, December, 2008
ART, MEDICINE and THE BRAIN, Tate Mondern Gallery, London, December, 2008
VISIONS AND VOICES USC/"The Musical Mind". University of Southern California, Los Angeles, November 2008
INAUGURATION OF NEW PROGRAM AT FREE UNIVERSITY ON EMOTION RESEARCH, Keynote Lecture (Antonio Damasio) and colloquium (Hanna Damasio and Antonio Damasio). Berlin, Germany, October 2008
NEUROSCIENCE AND PSYCHIATRY CONGRESS, "The Human Mind from Philosophy to Neuroscience", Athens, Greec, October, 2008
FORUM for the FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION "Social Implications of Recent Advances in the Neurosciences". Aspen Institute, June, 2008
WISCONSIN SYMPOSIUM ON EMOTIONS, Keynote lecture, "The neural correlates of consiousness". University of Wisconsin, Madison. April, 2008
VII ANNUAL PSYCHIATRY SYMPOSIUM, "Advances in the Neurobiology of the Emotions and its relevance to Brain Dysfunction", Valencia, Spain. January, 2008
NEUROECONOMICS SYMPOSIUM, Keynote lecture, "Emotions, Decisio-Making and Social Cognition", New York University. January, 2008
GORDON HOLMES LECTURE, CAMBRIDGE NEUROSCIENCE SYMPOSIUM, "The Neural Basis for Emotion, Cambridge University, UK. September, 2007
Both Antonio and Hanna Damasio gave Keynote addresses at an international symposium on "Creativity in the Digital Culture". The symposium was held at the University of Seville and was hosted by Telefonica. The other Keynote speakers were: Manuel Castells (Barcelona and USC); Gilberto Gil (Minister of Culture of Brazil; composer and performer); Larry Lessing (Stanford), Sir Peter Hall (University College, London), and William Mitchell (MIT)June, 2007
BASS LECTURE, The Society of Neurological Surgeons (Cushing Society) San Francisco, California. May, 2007
Selected News
Discover presents The Brain: "Speed Freaks" Dr. Antonio
Damasio ( 2009)
The Washington Diplomat: "Arts Smart" Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang is profiled discussing "the Mozart effect".
(2008)
The National: "Mirror, mirror in the brain" (2008)
Boston Globe: "The Next Decider" (2008)
Newsweek: "Heard Any Good Stories Lately?" (2008 page 2)
International Herald Tribune: "Portugal among world's scientific elite?" (2008)
Wired Science: "What Does it Mean to be Human", World Science Festival (2008)
New York Times: "The Neural Buddhists", Op Ed by David Brooks (2008)
Times Higher Education: "More Than a Feeling" (2008)
Sunday Independent (South Africa): "In Search of Spinoza and Adebayor: Jeremy Gordin recalls a family pilgrimage that rekindled his faith in philosophy, football and the study of Hebrew" (2008)
New York Times: "Counseling Democrats to Go for the Gut" (2007)
Boston Globe: "Hearts and Minds" (April 29, 2007)
USC Chronicle:"Moral Judgment Fails Without Feelings"(2007)
Publico (Portugal): (2007)
New Scientist: "Impaired Emotional Processing Affects Moral Judgement" (2007)
London Telegraph: "Feelings Guide You Round the Moral Maze" (2007)
LA Times: "Empathy is hard-wired into the mind, study finds" (2007)
NY Times: "Brain Injury Said to Affect Moral Choice" (2007)
Reuters: "Brain Damaged People Give Insights into Morality" (2007)
ScienceNow: "How the Heart Can Rule the Head" (2007)
Open Source Interview with Antonio Damasio on Spinoza (2007)
USC Chronicle: Brain injury and smoking (2007)
TIME Magazine: (MIND AND BODY SPECIAL ISSUE: 2007)
International Herald Tribune: "Brain injury can break smoking habit, study says" (2007)
NY Times: "In Clue to Addiction, Brain Injury Halts Smoking" (2007)
Selected Exhibitions
Goose Bumps: The Science of Fear was at the California Science Center. The work of the Damasio lab was featured prominently in this popular exhibition which travelled to the Museum of Science, Boston, MA; Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, OR; Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN; COSI, Columbus, OH; Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, fort Worth, TX; and Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA.
Movies on the Mind: Psychology and Film Since Sigmund Freud was at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
