Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101254
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$363,645.00
Summary
Wandering minds in sleep and wakefulness: Attention, consciousness, self. This project aims to develop a theory of mind wandering. A large portion of our conscious lives is spent mind wandering: attention periodically drifts away from current tasks, often without our noticing. This challenges the assumption that healthy adults are normally aware of and able to control their thought processes. This project will use cognitive neuroscience, sleep and dream research and philosophy of mind to develop ....Wandering minds in sleep and wakefulness: Attention, consciousness, self. This project aims to develop a theory of mind wandering. A large portion of our conscious lives is spent mind wandering: attention periodically drifts away from current tasks, often without our noticing. This challenges the assumption that healthy adults are normally aware of and able to control their thought processes. This project will use cognitive neuroscience, sleep and dream research and philosophy of mind to develop a theory of mind wandering across the sleep-wake cycle and an interdisciplinary methodology for its investigation. The anticipated outcome is understanding of spontaneous thought and its relationship to attention, consciousness and the self. This potentially throws new light on important issues relating to mental health and sleep disorders.Read moreRead less
The integration of perception and thought. This project aims to use a new neural marker to discover and conceptualise how the brain integrates perception with thought. Combining approaches from cognitive neuroscience and the philosophy of cognitive science, the project intends to show how cognitive performance in healthy individuals depends on the degree of integration of top-down and bottom-up signals in the brain. The expected outcome is new empirical and philosophical understanding of the con ....The integration of perception and thought. This project aims to use a new neural marker to discover and conceptualise how the brain integrates perception with thought. Combining approaches from cognitive neuroscience and the philosophy of cognitive science, the project intends to show how cognitive performance in healthy individuals depends on the degree of integration of top-down and bottom-up signals in the brain. The expected outcome is new empirical and philosophical understanding of the conditions for optimal integration of perception and thought, as well as enhanced interdisciplinary capacity and cross-institutional collaboration. The anticipated benefit is an accessible neuroimaging tool for cognitive assessment.Read moreRead less
The Dreamscape Project: Phenomenology and neurophysiology of dreams. The Dreamscape Project aims to discover the neural basis of dreaming. Building on the world’s largest database of sleep electroencephalograms (EEG) and associated dream reports, the project applies cutting-edge analyses of neural activity to resolve why each night, healthy adults alternate between unconscious sleep and vivid dreams. The results promise to shed light on the mystery of dreaming and help locate consciousness in th ....The Dreamscape Project: Phenomenology and neurophysiology of dreams. The Dreamscape Project aims to discover the neural basis of dreaming. Building on the world’s largest database of sleep electroencephalograms (EEG) and associated dream reports, the project applies cutting-edge analyses of neural activity to resolve why each night, healthy adults alternate between unconscious sleep and vivid dreams. The results promise to shed light on the mystery of dreaming and help locate consciousness in the physical world. Expected outcomes include best-practice guidelines for dream research and a model of open data-sharing for consciousness science. Anticipated benefits include deeper understanding of how and why everyone dreams, the role of dreams in waking life, and their impact on sleep quality and well-being.Read moreRead less
Selfless Minds: A cross-cultural theory with relevance for mindfulness . This project aims to provide a comprehensive philosophical and cognitive model of the sense of self. The project combines Abhidharma-Buddhist philosophy and cognitive sciences to propose a new model of subjectivity and agency, without postulating the existence of subjects or agents. The expected outcome is a new understanding of the mind as the locus of agency and moral responsibility. In addition, this projects opens up ne ....Selfless Minds: A cross-cultural theory with relevance for mindfulness . This project aims to provide a comprehensive philosophical and cognitive model of the sense of self. The project combines Abhidharma-Buddhist philosophy and cognitive sciences to propose a new model of subjectivity and agency, without postulating the existence of subjects or agents. The expected outcome is a new understanding of the mind as the locus of agency and moral responsibility. In addition, this projects opens up new opportunities for enhanced cross-cultural capacity and cross-institutional collaboration. The anticipated benefit is cross-cultural research training and providing a new theoretical foundation for the widespread practice of mindfulness meditation.
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