About us
The unit aims to understand the neural correlates of human conscious awareness. Understanding consciousness remains one of the greatest mysteries for science to solve. How do our minds work? Will we ever be able to read thoughts? How can we know if persons who are anesthetized or in coma might feel pain or have any perceptions and how could we have access to these? How neuroplasticity is working after a brain injury ? Will we be able to find a treatment to restore consciousness of coma ? What are near-death experiences? What happens in our brains during hypnosis, shamanic trance or meditation? At present, nobody understands how matter (our trillions of neural connections) becomes perception and thought. Trying to get insights into these questions, our 3 laboratories study human consciousness, its physiological modifications and how this knowledge can help to improve patients’ condition. While philosophers have pondered upon the mind-brain conundrum for millennia, scientists have only recently been able to explore the connection analytically through measurements and perturbations of the brain’s activity. This ability stems from recent advances in technology and especially from emerging functional neuroimaging and electrophysiology studies. The mapping of conscious perception and cognition in health (e.g., hypnosis, virtual reality/hypnosis, shamanic trances, psychedelic drugs and anesthesia) and in disease (e.g., coma, “vegetative” unresponsive wakefulness, minimally conscious states, locked-in syndrome, concussion) is providing exiting new insights into the functional neuroanatomy of human consciousness. We also address the ethical consequences of these scientific advances, which offer the medical community unique ways to improve the clinical management and quality of life of patients.
The GIGA Consciousness Thematic Unit was founded in 2014 by Prof. Steven Laureys, FNRS Research Director. He led the unit until 2024, when he was awarded a Canada Excellence Research Chair at U Laval and Prof Vincent Bonhomme then took over. Since 2024, the GIGA's thematic units have been integrated into domains, namely the Neuroscience domain for GIGA-Consciousness.
