Great Ape Trust to gather internationally recognized scientists for 'Decade of the Mind III'

With emphasis on great apes, scientists will explore how the brain creates a mind

Des Moines, Iowa – March 31, 2008 – Internationally recognized research pioneers from a variety of disciplines will gather in Des Moines May 7-9 when Great Ape Trust of Iowa presents Decade of the Mind III: Emergence of the Mind, a groundbreaking symposium exploring the topics of consciousness and mind in nonhuman primates, with an emphasis on great apes.

The topics to be discussed in nine plenary sessions complement Great Ape Trust’s cognitive and behavioral research with nonhuman primates to better understand how a brain creates a mind, according to Dr. Rob Shumaker, co-organizer of the event and director of orangutan research at Great Ape Trust.

“Cognitive and behavioral research with nonhuman primates clearly demonstrates that many aspects of the mind assumed to be uniquely human are shared with humans’ closest living relatives,” said Dr. Karyl Swartz, also a co-organizer of the symposium and a scientist at Great Ape Trust. “Presently, the most relevant questions concerning these aspects of the mind may not be whether they are uniquely human; rather the questions to be answered revolve around the degree to which these cognitive skills are shared among human and nonhuman primates and by what mechanisms they emerge and develop. This provides a rich perspective for exploring how a brain creates a mind.”

Decade of the Mind III: Emergence of Mind is open to the public and there are no registration fees. Registrations are only accepted online at www.GreatApeTrust.org/decadeofthemind/ and limited to 200 attendees.

Dr. Giulio Tononi, a professor of psychiatry at University of Wisconsin-Madison and a pioneer in studies of the neural basis of consciousness and the function of sleep, will give the keynote address, “Consciousness and the Brain,” at the three-day symposium, the third in the Decade of the Mind series. Tononi’s breakthrough research includes a finding that the fading of consciousness during dreamless sleep seems to occur as the different regions of the cerebral cortex that mediate perception, thought and action become functionally disconnected.

Tononi will make his remarks on the opening night of the symposium at the Des Moines Art Center, 4700 Grand Ave., where all sessions will be held. A tour of Great Ape Trust facilities, followed by a reception and casual dinner, are also scheduled.

Other speakers are: