Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics

Dr. Georg Northoff and the Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics Unit

In April 2009, Dr. Northoff opened the doors of the Mind, Brain Imaging & Neuroethics Unit. Moving his laboratory from Magdeburg, Germany, Dr. Northoff has gathered scientists from around the world who investigate “the most complex object in the history of human inquiry” – the brain – as suggested in a recent article on his unit by the Ottawa Citizen.

Our aim is to investigate the link between mental and neural states and how our brain constitutes the experience of a self. For this purpose, we integrate neuroscientific, neuropsychiatric and neurophilosophical approaches.

In particular, insight into the physiology and psychology of the cortical and subcortical midline brain structures may elucidate specific functional principles underlying the link between mental and neural states and thus between the self and its brain. Neuroscientific and neuropsychiatric investigation on the subjective experience of the self may substantially improve our understanding of the underlying neuronal mechanisms in both healthy and psychiatric subjects. In addition, a translational approach – investigating the function and neurochemistry of cortical and subcortical midline structures in animals – will allow for a more in depth understanding of these mechanisms. This transdisciplinary approach may open the door for the development of reliable diagnostic markers and novel therapeutic interventions. Insight into the link between neural and mental states bears profound implications for understanding human nature which, in turn, requires the development of neuroepistemology and neuroethics. As a result, this neurophilosophical approach may enrich and complement historic and current philosophical and ethical discourse.

This program is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Northoff holds the Canada Research Chair in “Mind Brain Imaging and Neuroethics” and the Michael Smith Chair for Mental Health and Neuroscience at the Institutes of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa.

For more information on the University of Ottawa IMHR Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics Unit, please contact: Victoria Howard, Secretary, at 613-722-6521 ext. 6801 or by email at victoria.howard@rohcg.on.ca.

For a list of on-going studies currently recruiting participants, please visit our Study Participation page.