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Smadar Ovadia-Caro Reduction of Inter-hemispheric Connectivity in Disorders of Consciousness Disorders of consciousness (DOC) pose diagnostic challenges because patients can be behaviorally unresponsive. A promising new approach towards DOC diagnosis may be offered by the analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired in the absence of any task demands (“resting-state”). Previous work has shown reduced functional connectivity within the "default network", a subset of regions known to be deactivated during engaging tasks, which correlated with the degree of consciousness impairment. However, it remains unclear whether the breakdown of connectivity is restricted to the "default network", and to what degree changes in functional connectivity can be observed at the single-subject level. Here, we analyzed resting-state interhemispheric connectivity in three homotopic regions of interest, which could reliably be identified based on distinct anatomical landmarks, and were part of an "externally oriented network". Resting-state fMRI data were acquired for a group of 11 healthy subjects and 8 DOC patients. At the group level, our results indicate decreased interhemispheric functional connectivity in patients with impaired awareness as compared to subjects with intact awareness. The single-case statistic by Crawford & Howell (1998) indicated a significant deviation from the healthy sample in 5/8 patients. Importantly, of the three patients whose connectivity indices were comparable to the healthy sample, one was diagnosed as locked-in. Our results highlight the clinical potential of resting-state fMRI data, and suggest further investigation of inter-hemispheric connectivity as a complementary diagnostic measure for DOC patients. Sophie Herbst The Mystery of the Internal Clock, or What do we Know about Time Perception? Time perception is becoming a popular research field again, based on its long-standing history that dates back to antique philosophers. In my talk I’ll give a short insight on the topic from a psychological viewpoint, illustrated by recent discussions in the scientific community and discuss how state-of-the-art neuroscience methods can help to uncover the mysteries of which there are still plenty in this field. Subsequently I will focus on my thesis’ question: how perceptual processes can influence our internal time keeping mechanisms. Different views exist about whether subjective duration is based on early perceptual processes or relates to higher-level stimulus processing requiring attention. In order to distinguish between the influences of early and late processes perceptual processing on perceived duration, we applied a well-established paradigm from attention research: the Attentional Blink. Our preliminary findings argue for a specific influence of higher-level cognitive processes on perceived duration, or – in other words – suggest that simple changes in visual input do not fully explain the emergence of subjective duration. 18
Vera Ludwig Hypnosis and Neuroscience Hypnosis can influence perception, behaviour, and cognition in healthy people. For example, susceptible individuals may temporarily experience their own movements as produced by an external source, they may have hallucinations, or they may report a complete absence of pain. Such effects make hypnosis a potentially powerful tool for cognitive neuroscience; and indeed, this method is increasingly being used in neuroimaging studies. I will explain what hypnosis can do for mind-and-brain research by showing how it has helped to elucidate the neural basis of certain subjective phenomena (e.g., pain, feeling of agency). However, I will also consider the limitations and challenges of research using hypnosis – in particular, the possibility that hypnotized participants are merely role-playing. After the presentation, we will discuss to what extent and in which cases hypnosis can be a useful research tool. 19
Page 1: ISSUES IN PHILOSOPHY AND NEUROSCIEN
Page 4 and 5: PANEL 1: CONSCIOUSNESS I Program Mo
Page 6 and 7: Wedesday, April 19 th PANEL 6: WILL
Page 8 and 9: Armin Bahl Smarter than One Might T
Page 10 and 11: Bianca van Kemenade Multisensory In
Page 12 and 13: David Kaufmann Neuroscientific Rese
Page 14 and 15: Georgina Torbet Cognitive Neuroscie
Page 16 and 17: Ryszard Auksztulewicz Recurrent Neu
Page 20 and 21: Berlin Faculty List of participants

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