Speaker: Lorenzo Ciccione
Topic: 2020, BrainStorm, BrainStorm Finalist, BrainStorm Neuroscience Pitch Competition, Charts, Consciousness, Data Visualizations, Extracting Meaning, Graphs, Lorenzo Ciccione, Mind Science Foundation, Neuroscience, Stanislas Dehaene
THE PROJECT: Lorenzo Ciccione (Collège de France, PSL University) and Stanislas Dehaene (Collège de France) are examining how our brains extract information from plots and charts. Scientists have discovered many people do not understand complex data visualizations. Uncovering how the brain extracts meaning from graphically depicted data will help the team discover ways to make graphs easier to understand. ABOUT BRAINSTORM: Mind Science’s BrainStorm Neuroscience Pitch Competition funding helps early-career researchers team with senior primary investigators in powerful labs to work on pilot studies that will help them obtain grants for further research, while honing their skills in translating complex neuroscience for a general public. The top prize is $30,000, with each runner up team receiving $15,000. This year would have been the third annual BrainStorm competition at the Pearl Brewery’s Pearl Stable Auditorium, with the audience listening to pitches, then deciding how to distribute the $60,000 pot of prize money to the three research teams. Instead, our Board of Trustees viewed video pitches, and so generously gave their time and thoughtful feedback to vote on how to allocate funding. We are incredibly grateful for their endless dedication, superb vision, and important role in this funding decision. ABOUT MIND SCIENCE: Mind Science is a 501.c.3 private operating foundation, established in 1958 by oilman and philanthropist Tom Slick (1916 – 1962), with a mission to fund scientific research and education about the vast potential of the human mind, for the betterment of humankind. Mind Science focuses on funding early-career neuroscience researchers and providing life-enriching learning opportunities about the mind and brain. We believe science never stops (even, and especially, now). Visit www.mindscience.org to learn more.
