Neuroscientist and Actor/Producer Launch Society for Mind Brain Sciences to Advance Consciousness Studies and Explore the Conscious Brain
Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) August 08, 2013 -- The Society for Mind Brain Sciences today announced its official launch.
How can we use the mind – brain sciences to expand our potential? Better communication in science, medical professions, and education can have vast ripple effects for advancing creativity, innovation, entrepreneurialism, and humanity.
mbSci intends to have direct impact via publications, digital content, multimedia programs, and curriculum across the disciplines. Ms. Geld and Dr. Baars are joined by a board of top scientists, medical professionals, scholars, innovators, and artists committed to creating vibrant educational programming that remains true to the science it represents. Their leadership team includes Dr. James Catterall, Professor Emeritus of Urban Schooling, Chair of Faculty at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and Director of Centers for Research on Creativity (CRoC), Dr. Heather Berlin, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Robert Sweeney, CEO at Challenger Corporation.
"This a golden age of mind-brain science, but we are not yet communicating our most important discoveries to a wide, educated audience," says Baars, best known for his groundbreaking Global Workspace Theory of consciousness. "It’s nearly impossible for reporters to keep up with the flow of new findings. As a result, the educated public feels left out. We want to build a better dialogue between science and media."
Says Baars, "Popular science does not have to be superficial. On the contrary, the deeper we dig, the more simplicity and clarity we find."
mbSci aims to communicate that "sweet spot" by combining excellent science with absorbing media. Their first collaboration is a broadcast quality, high level science series called The Feeling Brain: Exploring the Neural Basis of Emotion, integrating scientists across diverse fields with award-winning clinicians and journalists. This pilot episode features mastery tutorials, provocative discussion and debate.
"Scientists, medical professionals, and scholars often work in isolation. Developing interdisciplinary opportunities for sharing innovation is key to progress," says Geld.
"We are in a unique position to offer something we have never experienced before," says Geld. "The media and the arts are already responding creatively to the explosion of mind brain research - we have an opportunity to integrate these worlds in compelling, beneficial ways and advance our understanding of consciousness."
"Ultimately it’s all about helping people and helping families," says Dr. Jay N. Giedd, Chief of the Unit on Brain Imaging in the Child Psychiatry Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Giedd participated in their groundbreaking series, The Feeling Brain. "Getting information out to wide audiences by using the digital revolution and the power of information exchange around the world is going to be one of the most essential parts of moving forward."
Why the emphasis on media? Americans aged 18 to 29 spend more than 40 hours a week online, essentially a full-time job, according to Ipsos.
• American teenagers spend nearly 11 hours on media each day.
• Americans alone watch 250 billion hours of television per year.
• An estimated 1 billion people use the internet daily, creating a global culture that has never existed before.
The 2012 Survey of Online Learning conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group reveals that the number of students taking at least one online course has now surpassed 6.7 million, which adds up to 32% of higher education students.
Media can foster engagement with others and can be an effective environment to reflect on the nature of conscious experience -- an environment where users can explore new vistas, ask questions and activate mastery in their lives.
More information about mbSci, its mission, programs, and how to become a member can be found at http://mbscience.org/.
About
Dr. Bernard J. Baars — CEO & Co-founder | Editor in Chief -- is Affiliate Fellow in Theoretical Neurobiology at The Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, CA. He is best known as the originator of global workspace theory, a theory of human consciousness widely cited in science and philosophy. Baars has authored numerous books, including In the Theater of Consciousness: The Workspace of the Mind (Oxford), A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness (Cambridge), and Cognition, Brain and Consciousness: An Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience (Elsevier, with Nicole M. Gage). For 15 years Baars co-edited the first journal in consciousness science with William P. Banks. Baars was also Founding President of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness.
About
Natalie Geld — Co-Founder and Creative Director -- is an artist, educator, and entrepreneur, and has worked with top media outlets in a range of roles. As a producer of medical, entertainment, and corporate news, her segments have appeared on major networks. Represented by Ford Models and Innovative Artists Talent and Literary Agency, Natalie is an actress in network television series such as Fashion House, Nash Bridges, and JAG, and in numerous commercials on TV and radio. Frequently featured on magazine covers, in editorials and ad campaigns including Elle, Vogue, More, Oprah, Vanity Fair, Living Fit, and Money. Ms. Geld's educational programs include Pen USA’s ‘PEN in the Classroom,’ an interdisciplinary professional writers in residence program. Board Member of Get Lit-Words Ignite, nominated 'HellRaiser' by Mother Jones Magazine and member of SAG-AFTRA, Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, Humanist Association, and the Society for Human Behavior & Evolution.
Bernard Baars, PhD, Society for Mind Brain Sciences, http://mbscience.org, (925) 283-2601, [email protected]
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