The 2014 Alumni Week is now over. We look forward to seeing you in 2015!
"Brain and Mind: Out of Body Experiences from a
Neuroscience and Anthropology Perspective"
Out-of-body experiences are experienced by more than 10% of the population. They typically occur at sleep
onset and awakening, but can also be elicited by drugs, epilepsy and electrical stimulation of the brain.
Researchers now know that brain activity is critical for these experiences. Despite these observations,
out-of-body experiences have been and are still most often associated with the mystical, religious or
paranormal. Anthropology has examined the beliefs associated with these experiences and provides
insight on how we experience the apparent conundrum of the mind-body relationship.
Speakers:
Professor Claude Messier of the School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences
While working on his master’s and PhD at McGill University, Claude Messier discovered that ingestion
or injection of glucose could improve memory. He went on to study the effect of this in humans and
discovered that it was more prominent in people with impaired glucose tolerance. In 1996, he wrote
a review that explains why and how diabetes could be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and proposed
several hypotheses that have proven useful. Claude Messier also discovered that the expression of
the main blood to brain glucose transporter (GLUT1) increases when neurons are being activated by new learning.
Professor Ari Gandsman of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences
Ari Gandsman is a cultural and medical anthropologist who has conducted research in Argentina and Canada.
In general, he is interested in the impact of new technologies on understandings of what it means to be human.
His interest in anthropology stems from both a dispositional contrariness against modes of conventional wisdom
and an appreciation of human diversity.
Who: University of Ottawa alumni, students and friends who are interested in the topic of out-of-body experiences
What: Brain and Mind: Out-of-Body Experiences from a Neuroscience and Anthropology Perspective (French Lecture)
Where: Tabaret Hall, Huguette Labelle Room (TBT 112), 550 Cumberland Street, Ottawa
When: Thursday, May 8, 2014, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Cost: Free, but space is limited.
All outdoor lots will offer free parking after 4 p.m. from Tuesday, May 6 to Friday, May 9, and all day on
Saturday, May 10, 2014. Please see the main campus parking map.
Refresh. Reconnect. Rediscover.
The 2014 Alumni Week is now over. We look forward to seeing you in 2015!
Return to uOttawa Alumni Week Home Page
Information:
Alumni Relations Office
613-562-5857 | 1-800-465-1888
alumni@uOttawa.ca
