God, Brain and Mind

Neuroscience is increasingly finding clear links between neural mechanisms within the brain and human actions, behaviour and thought. This raises questions about what it means to be human and the nature of belief and choice. Bill Newsome, Professor of Neurobiology at Stanford University and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences will deliver the lecture entitled 'God, Brain and Mind'. Professor Newsome's research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying visual perception, visually based decision making, and related issues in cognitive neuroscience. He seeks to understand how higher mammals acquire sensory information about the world, how that information is processed within the brain, and how behavioural responses to that information are organized. In doing so he tackles difficult questions such as: are we the sum of our neurons, do our brains shape us, or do we shape our brains and is freedom of choice an illusion? Professor Newsome received a degree in physics from Stetson University and then went on to receive a PhD in biology from the California Institute of Technology and did postdoctoral research at the National Eye Institute. He was later on the faculty of the State University of New York at Stony Brook before moving to Stanford.