Brains On Purpose™

Values and Empathy across Social Barriers: A Neurocognitive Approach to Fairness

A conference with that title will be held later this year. From the New York Academy of Sciences Web site:

What makes suicide bombers capable of sacrificing themselves for a belief? Why do members of one race believe they are superior to another? How do subliminal messages affect the outcome of political polling? Using the tools of neuroscience and social science, researchers have learned a great deal about the brain's role in human behavior and interactions. This November, international scientific leaders and young investigators will convene for the first Barcelona Social Brain Conference, an exciting two-day event featuring talks, poster presentations, and a public lecture on the interdisciplinary field of social neuroscience. Through a neuroscientific lens, participants will examine the human qualities of empathy, sacred values, and cooperation, and focus on the ways in which what they learn can be used to understand human conflicts.

The program includes some excellent presenters, including Kevin Ochsner, Elizabeth Phelps, and Susan Fiske.

Zen neuroscience program in Santa Fe - January, 2008

Some of you may find this announcement on Joan Halifax's blog of interest. Below is an excerpt of the post about the Zen Brain, Selfless Insight Retreat being held January 16-20, 2008.

Popular and scientific interest in the relationships between Buddhism and neuroscience has dramatically increased, accompanied by the publication of both theoretical proposals and new laboratory investigations relating Buddhist practice to the brain. In this important retreat/seminar, Joan Halifax Roshi and four renowned scientists who have contributed to this growing field of research, and are each long-term Zazen practitioners, will interactively share with participants their perspectives on what has specifically been learned about Zen practice and the brain, how this research is relevant for practice, and how experienced practitioners can help sharpen the research questions being asked. During the retreat, discussion will be integrated with Zazen practice throughout each day.
 
Clinical neurologist and neuroscientist James Austin, M.D. will provide an overview of  brain structure and physiology with high theoretical relevance to understanding many of the phenomena of Zen practice. His books, Zen and the Brain, and Zen-Brain Reflections, have been an extraordinarily rich source of hypotheses for neuroscientists who study long-term meditators. Dr. Austin will also provide retreat participants with a new speculative neuroscientific account of “what may have happened 2500 years ago under the Bodhi tree,” as well

Listen to Jeffrey Schwartz and me on Tuesday evening: "Leading Your Brain Instead of It Leading You"

From the Brain-Based Coaching Web site . . .

Don't miss the Brain Based Coaching Special Interest Group call Tuesday, 9/18/07 at 7:00 EDT.

We will have the opportunity to hear from and talk with two very important people in the world of emerging neuroscience.

Bridge no: 1-212-457-9879 PIN 700827#

The talk will be: "Leading Your Brain Instead of It Leading You."by Jeffrey M. Schwartz, MD and Stephanie West Allen, JD.

This is going to be so good you'll want to invite everyone you know!

Dr. Schwartz is author of the seminal books on neuroplasticity: "The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity" and "the Power of Mental Force"co-authored with Sharon Begley, and the bestseller "Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder".

He is a psychiatrist and research professor at UCLA.

Stephanie West Allen is a lawyer, speaker, trainer, author and personal strategist. She writes what has been called the most comprehensive blog on understandable neuroscience, www.brainsonpurpose.com.

One of her specialties is neuroscience and conflict resolution. Together Jeff and Stephanie have authored several widely-quoted articles which make neuroscience accessible to the layperson (find links on the www.brainsonpurpose.com blog site.

Make sure you are there for this incredible call

Applied Improvisation Network—November, 2007, Banff, Canada

Last post, I mentioned some benefits of learning and practicing improv. In November, the Applied Improvisation Network is holding its annual conference. Here's a quick overview of the sessions (PDF) and detailed information about each session (PDF).

Looks like a great event for both those beginning and those experienced in improv. Are any of you attending?

Hat tip to Johnnie Moore.

Note: Here's the Applied Improvisation Network blog.

Upcoming seminars in Denver, Portland, and Washington, DC

Our upcoming seminars will always be listed on the Schedule of Events page which can be accessed over to the right under Navigation.

Perhaps you would like to attend a seminar near you? If you have or can recruit a sponsoring organization, we will be very happy to come to your city. Please contact Stephanie about this possibility.

To update you about what is scheduled so far . . .

October 24, 2007

Denver, Colorado — 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The location is Holland & Hart at 555 17th Street in downtown Denver. Contact Stephanie for registration information.

• Six-hour program — Brains on Purpose™

November 15 and 16, 2007

Portland State University, Portland, Oregon — online registration

• November 15 — One-and-one-half-hour evening program on leading your brain instead of it leading you (self-leadership)
• November 16 — Six-hour day program — Neuroscience of Conflict Resolution

March 1, 2008

Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C

• Day-long program — Brains on Purpose™ (Web site will be posted on the Schedule of Events just as soon as it is available)

For more information or to arrange a program in your area, please e-mail Stephanie.

Jeffrey Schwartz to speak on the mind and brain at 2007 Idea Festival™

This year's IdeaFestival™ speakers include physicist Dirk Brockmann, lawyer Shirin Ebadi, author Ray Bradbury, Webby Awards founder Tiffany Shlain, Apple founder Steve Wozniak, and many more in this unique and stellar lineup. Jeff's presentation The Mind and Brain is described . . .

Recent advances involving our understanding of the brain particularly as it relates to its “plasticity” are having a profound affect on how we think about everything from brain injuries and disease to human creativity and education. Leading neuroscientist and author Jeffery Schwartz will discuss his work and ideas surrounding the mind (which he argues is not an illusion) and the brain and how “…the human mind is an independent entity that can shape and control the functioning of the physical brain…not just in childhood but throughout life”.

2007 IdeaFestival™ (IF) is being held September 13 - 15, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Other IF links:

• IdeaFestival™ Blog (latest post Wired tests crowd journalism joins some other interesting IF Blog posts)
• IdeaFestival™ Podcast featuring speakers from 2006 IdeaFestival™
• History and purpose of IdeaFestival™