Objective
"Consciousness entails the phenomenal experience we have of the world and ourselves. Although it is at the heart of major philosophical, scientific and ethical issues, our understanding of the neural mechanisms of consciousness remains limited. The study of consciousness is compartmentalised, with researchers focusing on isolated sub-aspects of the problem, via restrictive paradigms that ignore the temporal dynamics of conscious experience, its metacognitive component, or its dependence on levels of consciousness. Moreover, we know virtually nothing about the single-neuron and neurochemical basis for consciousness in humans.
VOLTA will advance beyond these empirical and theoretical limitations by conducting a multidimensional and multiscale study of consciousness. The project builds on a computational framework I recently developed linking consciousness to evidence accumulation. It will utilise the clinical context of pharmaco-resistant epilepsy to collect unprecedented behavioural and neural data. Individuals with epilepsy will participate in novel behavioural paradigms quantifying multiple dimensions of conscious experience, including its temporal dynamics, metacognitive components, and existence under sleep and anaesthesia. These experiments will be combined with triple neural recordings that simultaneously characterise #1 the global activity of neural populations, #2 spiking activity of individual neurons, and #3 electrochemical activity by measuring neuromodulator release with voltammetry. These unprecedented recordings will provide a multiscale map of the neurobiological basis of consciousness. My team and I, assisted by international experts, will interpret this rich dataset in light of seven preregistered hypotheses derived from my computational framework.
In summary, VOLTA will carry out a first-of-a-kind within-subject study to reveal the electrophysiological and electrochemical mechanisms of the multiple dimensions of consciousness.
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Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology epilepsy
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine anaesthesiology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75794 PARIS
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.