Activities

INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP: THE SOCIAL ORIGIN OF THE HUMAN BEING. FEBRUARY 19 - 21, 2007

Currently, we are beginning to identify mechanisms and the conditions which modelled the ultra social origin and group dynamics of the human species. In other words, the biological and cultural premises that promoted the creation of complex communities debating matters such as the role that language played in the process of social linking. A group of researchers met at Hotel Sant Bernat (Montseny) to discuss these topics in February 2007. The multidisciplinary analysis exercise culminated on February 21st with a public act at the hall of the Mirador del Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), where they presented their most relevant conclusions and theories.

Participants

Tim Crow

Psychiatrist. Director of The Prince of Wales International Centre for Sane Research. UK.

Interests: Relevance of asymmetry in the brain to explain mental disorders and the origin of language.

Lynn DeLisi

Psychiatrist. New York University. USA.

Interests: Relation between schizophrenia and language disorders.

Bruno Galantucci

Cognitive scientist. Haskins Laboratories, Yale University. USA.

Interests: The emergence of communication and the role of sociability in human beings.

Chris Knight

Anthropologist. University of East London. UK.

Interests: Importance of symbolism and the origin of language in homo sapiens.

Andreas Olsson

Psychologist. Columbia University. USA.

Interests: Neurological basis of fear. Appearance mechanisms related with social interaction.

Peter Richerson

Biologist. University of California Davis. USA.

Interests: Evolution of culture and of the processes of cooperation among individuals of the human species.

Luc Steels

Researcher in Artificial Intelligence. Director of SONY Computer Science Laboratory in Paris. FRANCE

Interests: Models de operative language in robots. Cognitive and social premises in the origin of language.

Branca Telles Ribeiro

Linguist. Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. BRAZIL.

Interests: Psychotic speech. Narratives as a tool for building self identity.

Miranda van Turennout

Cognitive scientist. F.C. Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Nijmegen. NETHERLANDS.

Interests: Neuro-image of the cerebral functions responsible for language.

Oscar Vilarroya

Cognitive scientist. Director of the UAB chair “El Cervell Social”. SPAIN

Interests: Neurobiological mechanisms behind mental disorders and normal cognitive functions.

Sponsors:

IAPS, IMAS, DPTO. Psiquiatria i medicina legal, UAB. Ajuntament de Barcelona. CCCB

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