| Return to Programs
Special Events: Summit Pre-Conference
A Glimpse Ahead: Research at the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences at Florida Atlantic University (FAU)
11am to 4pm
Scott Kelso - Presenter
Larry Liebovitch - Presenter
"It is as if the Milky Way entered upon some cosmic dance. Swiftly the brain becomes an enchanted loom, where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern though never an abiding one; a shifting harmony of subpatterns."
Sir Charles Sherrington, English physician and professor of physiology
Dr. J.A. Scott Kelso, founder of the Center, wrote in his book Dynamic Patterns that we have a "fundamental need to understand the most complex system of all, ourselves." He also wrote of his belief that modern science can give us an empirical understanding of Dr. Sherrington’s beautiful imagery of the brain. Dr. Sherrington, by the way, won the 1932 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his work on the integrative action of the nervous system. In Dr. Kelso’s view, the human brain and the behavior of individuals, groups and even countries are governed by the same deep principles of informationally coupled, self organizing dynamical systems—coordination dynamics. Indeed, clearer glimpses into the endlessly complex working of the brain may one day provide inspiration for harmony in all scales of human behavior. The Center, a multi-disciplinary unit of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science at FAU founded in 1985, has brought together highly respected scientists from diverse backgrounds including neuroscientists, laboratory biologists, psychologists, mathematicians and theoretical physicists. Their combined computational, medical, and scientific expertise and scholarship contributes to innovative research. How do genes interact with their environment to form cells? How do nerve cells connect together in the brain? How do we speak, see and move? How do we respond to what we see? How do we hear or play music? And how does the function of any system depend both on the nature of its elements and the way they are connected?
Come explore these questions with scholars and scientists from around the world who are using cutting-edge experimental techniques and theory to explore the elusive and transient patterns of brain and mind. Visit laboratories to see experiments designed to probe reality and theory. Talk to teachers committed to an exciting, rigorous education that is producing tomorrow’s top scientific minds, and training a new generation of biologically and mathematically literate scientists who can think about complex systems including neuroscience in new ways. Gain a glimpse into the future of complexity science. Ultimately, a deep scientifically based understanding of Dr. Sherrington’s enchanted loom and his "shifting harmony of subpatterns" may lead us to treatments for brain dysfunctions and a richer comprehension of how we can learn, remember, cooperate and coexist.
Faculty at the pre-conference will include Dr. Kelso and Dr. Larry Liebovitch, Interim Director of the center. Join them and other renowned faculty from the Center as well as doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows for an illuminating and thought provoking session.
Return to Programs
|
