In his groundbreaking research, Anil Seth seeks to understand consciousness in health and in disease. As founding co-director of the University of Sussex’s Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, his research bridges neuroscience, mathematics, artificial intelligence, computer science, psychology, philosophy and psychiatry. He has also worked extensively with playwrights, dancers and other artists to shape a truly humanistic view of consciousness and self.
Seth is the editor and co-author of the best-selling 30-Second Brain, a collection of brief and engaging neuroscience vignettes. His forthcoming book The Presence Chamber develops his unique theories of conscious selfhood within the rich historical context of the mind and brain sciences.
Follow Seth on Twitter at @anilkseth, and visit his website at anilseth.com and neurobanter.com. The Sackler Centre, at the University of Sussex, is at sussex.ac.uk/sackler. Seth's work is supported by the Dr. Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation.
“The idea of where ‘we’ exist, how we develop that sense of self and how it can be explained in terms of the activity of brain cells, all of that is still largely the domain of philosophers rather than scientists. Anil Seth (...) wants to turn that around.” — Guardian, May 9, 2010
How can we better understand the world within and around us? In the thought-provoking fifth session of TED2017, hosted by TED’s Editorial Director, Helen Walters, talks about neuroscience, philosophy, cognitive science — and a special experiment in behavioral science — explored issues like filter bubbles, Alzheimer’s and the very essence of existence. Below, recaps of […]
Continue readingA year ago, for the third time in his life, cognitive scientist Anil Seth ceased to exist. He was having an operation, his brain filling with anesthetic, and he was feeling a sense of detachment, falling apart and coldness. And then he was back — drowsy and disoriented, but definitely there. “Anaesthesia is a modern […]
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