The Oxford Science Lecture Series

PROFESSOR SUSAN GREENFIELD

University of Oxford

"How Does the Brain Generate Consciousness?"

University Museum, Oxford, 4th December 1996

The first in a termly series of lectures (the "Oxford Science Lecture Series"), organised by AWiSE, was held on Wednesday 4th December 1996 at the University Museum in Oxford. The speaker was Susan Greenfield, Professor of Pharmacology at Oxford University (who was the first, and only, woman so far to give the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures). Her topic was "How Does the Brain Generate Consciousness?".

In her interesting and inspiring lecture, Professor Greenfield looked at how actual physiological behaviour of the brain could relate to the more philosophical concept of "consciousness". She argued that consciousness cannot be said to have a single (or more than one) fixed location in the brain but can be triggered off almost anywhere in the brain and then spread out via the interconnections between neurons. Consciousness must also be a continuum to allow for the possibility of changes in the levels of consciousness. For example, at what stage can a foetus be said to be conscious? The only rational explanation is to think of consciousness gradually increasing, rather than suddenly coming into existence. Physiological behaviour which seems to confirm this is that new-born babies, which we assume have a very low level of consciousness, have fewer connections in their brains than adults. It appears that the amount of inter-neuron connectivity is related to the level of consciousness. Professor Greenfield explored the idea of different levels of consciousness and the possible physiological reasons for these different levels. For example, people who do activities such as bungee jumping or white water rafting report having a feeling of time standing still i.e. having a lower level of consciousness, which could be because such activities cut out external stimuli. She was also able to present empirical data which supported her hypotheses. The lecture really made the audience think about what happens in the brain and helped us to understand more about how our own brains work.

The lecture was a successful and high-profile event for AWiSE. 176 people attended, the audience ranging from groups of 6th formers from local schools through undergraduates and AWiSE members, to members of the general public. A professional video of the event was made by ETRC of Oxford University and is available to order (price £7.50, contact Jeanne Gurr on jeanne.gurr@admin.ox.ac.uk). After the lecture, a reception was held at the Museum for the speaker and audience. Many of those attending said how interesting they found Professor Greenfield's lecture and how impressed they were with the organisation of the event. If the series continues on this level it will really help to raise the profile of AWiSE in Oxford.

Many thanks to Elizabeth Griffin and the AWiSE team, especially Jeanne Gurr at the University Admin Office, who put in a great deal of work to set up this first lecture. Thanks also to EPSRC, BBSRC and PPARC who are providing the funding to launch the lecture series.

Dr Catherine Hobbs.