Brain Awareness Week 2016 - what's on at the Institut Pasteur

The 17th edition of Brain Awareness Week will take place from March 14 to 20. This event will be observed in more than 30 towns and cities across France to raise awareness among the general public of the importance of research into the brain, its functions and disorders.

To mark this annual event, the Institut Pasteur and the Neuroscience Department, in partnership with the French Neuroscience Society, will be holding a public conference and debate on Saturday March 19, 2016, on the topic "Brain and Justice". Speakers will include Sébastien Bohler, chief editor of the journal Cerveau et Psychologie, Marc Bourgeois, a neuropsychiatrist and doctor of psychology at Bordeaux II University, Denis Forest, Director of the Philosophical Research Institute and a philosophy professor at Paris West University, Philippe Goossens, a partner in the Altana law firm, and Jean-François Mangin, Research Director at the CEA.

For more than 20 years now, neuroimaging techniques have enabled scientists to observe and improve their understanding of the way the brain works on a fundamental and clinical level. Neuroscience is a field that constantly reminds us how our behavior, both good and bad, is firmly rooted in our biological make-up. It is now possible to observe, at structural and functional level, the neurobiological basis for our desires, our beliefs, our social behavior, our moral judgments, our conscience, and also deviances from these behaviors. The initial idea that cerebral functional imaging could be used to reveal personality, intentions and the preparations for each person's actions naturally gave rise to a second idea, namely that neuroscience could help determine justice in debates on the notions of free will and individual responsibility.

The enthusiasm surrounding the idea that recent developments in techniques for cerebral exploration can be used to enhanced legal expertise has no doubt clouded the difficulties involved in translating functional brain images into specific psychological activities.

The "Brain and Justice" conference and debate will look at the latest developments in the legal applications of neuroscience, the ethical, scientific and legislative issues involved, the persuasive power of tools developed by neuroscience and the influence of these tools in legal trials.

Those interested must register before March 17, 2016 at: ggheusi@gmail.com

Find out more and consult the flyer for the conference and debate