The Biology of Consciousness

Upcoming talk: “The Biology of Consciousness: an anesthesiologist explores the circuits behind our mental states” Wed. Sept. 24, 2025 with Art Wallace, M.D. Ph.D. of UCSF and VAMC SF

One of the great mysteries of neuroscience is how the brain creates conscious experiences. Over the last 2,500 years scientists have worked to understand much of anatomy, physiology, and how the brain works. Neuroanatomy and neuro-control are well understood. Input-output functions of the brain have been mapped, including sensory, motor, and autonomic systems. Modern tools have revealed many neural circuits, and we are starting to understand the effects of some of these circuits on mental illness.

Nonetheless, the neuroanatomic center of consciousness remains elusive. We aren’t even really sure how to measure or what constitutes consciousness. How does an anesthesiologist, who routinely eliminates and then restores consciousness, define and measure consciousness? Mathematical models are commonly used to generate and test hypothesis; can we create a mathematical model of consciousness? Would this model help us to understand how the brain creates it? Dr. Wallace will discuss the beginnings of a simple model of consciousness from a neuroscience and engineering perspective.

Art Wallace is one of the founders of the Marin Science Seminar. He is a cardiac anesthesiologist, Professor Emeritus and Vice-chairman of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care at the University of California San Francisco, and Chief of Anesthesia at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Dr. Wallace has developed medications, surgical procedures, medical devices, and medical informatics software.

Previous Talks by Art Wallace at MSS:

• Human Hibernation: Is it Possible for Space Flight? (Feb. 5, 2025)
• Machine Vision for Medical Monitoring (Apr. 26, 2023)
• COVID-19 and Long COVID: Rapidly Developing Therapies for a New Disease (Nov. 30, 2022)
• Big Data and Medical Innovation” (Oct. 11, 2017 & Feb. 11, 2015)

Descriptions for the following talks can all be found at this link.

• Invention in Medicine: How Medical Devices get Invented and Go to Market (Oct. 26, 2016; Feb. 16, 2011; Dec. 10, 2008)
• Making Medicine Safer with Drugs, Devices, Software & More (Oct. 23, 2013)
• Computers, Robots, and Medical Education, Oh My! (Dec. 5, 2012)
• Developing a Drug to Prevent Death!: Perioperative Beta Blockade (Mar. 19, 2008)