Speakers & Events

Past Speakers & Events

The Consciousness of Desire

Stephanie Ortigue, PhD

Monday, September 20, 2010

Pearl Stable Auditorium (map)

Lecture begins at 6:30 pm

Little is known about the consciousness of sexual desire. Why do we need to be conscious of our desires? How does consciousness of sexual desire arise in human beings?

Dr. Ortigue’s research supports the hypothesis that complex cognitive processing for desire occurs much faster than previously thought. Dr. Ortigue will discuss the role of top-down mechanisms in visual processing of sexual stimuli, and how higher brain regions may be priming the visual cortex to be more sensitive to certain kinds of information. The pursuit of translational neuroscience from lab bench to the patient’s bedside may well open new avenues of treatment for patients with sexual desire disorders.

Stephanie Ortigue is an assistant professor at the Department of Psychology at Syracuse University, where she conducts research in neuroscience, and teaches advanced coursework in multivariate statistical methods.  The Ortigue Laboratory develops and applies research paradigms in cognitive, affective and social neuroscience in order to improve our understanding of how the brain functions in health and neurological disease.

Meditating Selflessly

James Austin, MD

Monday, October 25, 2010

Pearl Stable Auditorium (map)

Lecture begins at 6:30

According to James Austin, meditation is an attentive art. As beginners, we learn how to practice in a deliberate, more effortful manner. As our attentive practices mature, they slowly become more involuntary and effortless, both on and off the cushion. Brain imaging research helps us understand two key issues: how we use both top-down and bottom-up modes of attentive processing; and how we have constructed the strong sense of self that so often generates suffering.

James Austin, MD, has spent most of his career in academic neurology, first at the School of Medicine of the Oregon Health and Science University, and later at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. His cultural background includes sabbaticals spent in New Delhi, India, and Kyoto, Japan. He began Zen meditative training in 1974 with Kobori-Roshi, a Rinzai Zen master. His early research was in areas of clinical neurology, neuropathology, neurochemistry and neuropharmacology. 

Dr. Austin has authored or co-authored over 140 publications. His latest book is Selfless Insight; Zen and the Meditative Transformations of Consciousness (MIT Press, 2009).  Early books include: Zen-Brain Reflections (2006), Zen and the Brain (1998), and Chase, Chance, and Creativity; The Lucky Art of Novelty (2003).