Program Details — The Science of Consciousness 2026

Sunday, October 11 — Workshops & Opening Plenary

8:30 am

Morning Workshops (4 parallel) · 8:30 – 10:15 am

Quantum Biology and the Brain (Part 1) — Paradise Ballroom

OBEs, Past Life Memories and Altered States of Consciousness (Part 1) — Dockside Room

MAHP — Mindful Awareness Healing Practice — Sunset Ballroom Zone B

Consciousness and Psychedelics (Part 1) — Sunset Ballroom Zone A

10:15 am

Break

10:45 am

Morning Workshops, continued (4 parallel) · 10:45 am – 12:30 pm

Quantum Biology and the Brain (Part 2) — Paradise Ballroom

OBEs, Past Life Memories and Altered States of Consciousness (Part 2) — Dockside Room

Psi and the Evolution of Consciousness Science (Part 1) — Sunset Ballroom Zone B

Consciousness and Psychedelics (Part 2) — Sunset Ballroom Zone A

12:30 pm

Lunch break (food trucks on site)

2:00 pm

Afternoon Workshops (4 parallel) · 2:00 – 3:45 pm

Brain Electromagnetic Field Generation, Computation and Information Processing — Paradise Ballroom

Psi and the Evolution of Consciousness Science (Part 2) — Sunset Ballroom Zone B

Integrated Information Theory: History, Evidence, and AI — Sunset Ballroom Zone A

Life as Manifestation (Part 1) — Dockside Room

3:45 pm

Break

4:15 pm

Late Afternoon Workshops (4 parallel) · 4:15 – 6:00 pm

From Quantum Biology to Quantum Consciousness (Quantum Biology, Part 3) — Paradise Ballroom

Sound, Consciousness and Healing — Sunset Ballroom Zone A

The MindSwan Prize: The Search for Extraocular Perception — Sunset Ballroom Zone B

Life as Manifestation (Part 2) — Dockside Room

6:00 pm

7:45 pm

Opening

Brief welcome, followed by the featured workshop

Featured Workshop
The Varieties of Non-Human Consciousness →

Chair: Susan Schneider · until 10:00 pm · Paradise Ballroom

Monday, October 12

7:00 am

8:30 am

PL-1 Quantum Biophotonics in Living Systems — Paradise Ballroom

Jack Tuszynski, Lea Gassab, Roumiana Tsenkova

Tuszynski: An overview of the experimental tests of the Orch OR theory: UV and visible light absorption and re-emission of photons by tubulin and microtubules

Gassab: Quantum Biophotonics of Microtubules: Light, Energy, and Neural Function

Tsenkova: Aquaphotomics for Consciousness: Linking Microtubules, Anesthesia, and Water Spectral Dynamics

10:40 am

Break

11:10 am

PL-2 Contemplation and Consciousness — Paradise Ballroom

Francis Lucille

Lucille: TBA

12:30 pm

Lunch

Experiential: Binaural Beats, 1–1:45 PM, Garden Room — details

2:00 pm

PL-3 Neuroscience of Consciousness — Paradise Ballroom

Edward Boyden, Terry Sejnowski, Tracy Brandmeyer

Boyden: How can bioengineers contribute to the study of consciousness?

Sejnowski: NeuroAI

Brandmeyer: Genes, Brain Circuits, and Consciousness: A New Era of Precision Neuroscience

4:10 pm

Break

5:00 pm

Concurrent Sessions 1 (7 parallel) →

7:05 pm

Break

7:30 pm

Tuesday, October 13

7:00 am

8:30 am

PL-4 Psychedelics and Consciousness — Paradise Ballroom

Fadel Zeidan, Travis Craddock, Kassandra Ori-McKenney

Zeidan: Beyond the Trip: A Neurobiological Framework for Integrating Mindfulness and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

Craddock: Quantum Spin Dynamics in the Cytoskeleton: Implications for the Quantum Brain

Ori-McKenney: Psychoplastogens and the Microtubule Cytoskeleton: Linking Microtubule Dynamics to Cellular and Neuronal Plasticity

10:40 am

Break

11:10 am

PL-5 Biology of Consciousness — Paradise Ballroom

Farhan Lakhany, Nirosha Murugan

Lakhany: Evaluating the Quantum Pleasure Principle

Murugan: Consciousness as a Biophysical Informational Landscape Shaped by Patterned Energy Dynamics

12:30 pm

Lunch

Experiential: Binaural Beats, 1–1:45 PM, Garden Room — details

2:00 pm

PL-6 Quantum AI and Consciousness — Paradise Ballroom

Hartmut Neven, Susan Schneider, Anirban Bandyopadhyay

Neven: Towards a Brain-Quantum Computer Interface: Identifying Potential Coupling Mechanisms via Anesthetic Isotope Effects

Schneider: Which AIs Might be Conscious, and Why it Matters

Bandyopadhyay: Toward Brain-Like Consciousness in Self-Evolving Organic Gel-Based Quantum Hardware

4:10 pm

Break

5:00 pm

Concurrent Sessions 2 (6 parallel) →

7:05 pm

Break

7:30 pm

Poster Session 1 →

Mission Bay Room

Light reception · cash bar

Wednesday, October 14

7:00 am

8:30 am

PL-7 Non-Local Consciousness and “Psi” — Paradise Ballroom

Diane Hennacy Powell, Helané Wahbeh, Dean Radin

Hennacy: Unfiltered Consciousness: Insights from Individuals with Altered Access

Wahbeh: If Consciousness Were Non-Local: A Convergence Argument from Psi Research

Radin: Fringe Physics: Experimental Tests of the Consciousness–Collapse Hypothesis

10:40 am

Break

11:10 am

PL-8 Cerebral Organoids and Consciousness — Paradise Ballroom

Alysson Muotri, Kenneth Kosik

Muotri: Human brain organoids as a plataform to investigate the emercence of consciousness

Kosik: Effects of Natural Xenon on Human Brain Organoids and Cultured Neurons

12:30 pm

Lunch

Experiential: Binaural Beats, 1–1:45 PM, Garden Room — details

2:00 pm

PL-9 Is the Brain Organized by Connectomics or Wavefields? — Paradise Ballroom

André Bastos, Eric Halgren, Edward Large

Bastos: Predictive Coding: A More Cognitive Process Than We Thought?

Halgren: A Possible Mechanism of Cortical Integration Supporting Mental Activity in Humans

Large: Musical Neurodynamics – Resonance, Stability, and the Embodied Mind

4:10 pm

Break

5:00 pm

Concurrent Sessions 3 (6 parallel) →

7:05 pm

Break

7:30 pm

Poster Session 2 →

Mission Bay Room

Light reception · cash bar

9:30 pm

Thursday, October 15

7:00 am

8:30 am

PL-10 Origins of Life and Consciousness — Which Came First? — Paradise Ballroom

Steen Rasmussen, Stuart Hameroff, Michael Levin (Remote)

Rasmussen: Emergence of life and sentience

Hameroff: Are extraterrestrial polyatomic time crystals the origin of life and biological consciousness?

Levin: Diverse intelligence in unconventional embodiments: origins and implications

10:40 am

Break

11:10 am

PL-11 The Spectrum of Conscious States — Paradise Ballroom

Schooler, Hoffman

Schooler: The Kite of Consciousness: How Time Moves Through Nested Minds

Hoffman: The Recursive Trace Logic of Observers and Agents

12:30 pm

Lunch

Experiential: Binaural Beats, 1–1:45 PM, Garden Room — details

2:00 pm

PL-12 Non-Human Consciousness — Paradise Ballroom

Jennifer Prendki, Brian Keating, Giulio Tononi

Prendki: The Physics of Intelligence

Keating: A T. rex on Mars: Limits on the Growth of Consciousness

Tononi: No consciousness for AI

4:10 pm

Break

5:00 pm

Concurrent Sessions 4 (7 parallel) →

7:05 pm

Break

7:30 pm

9:30 pm

Friday, October 16

7:00 am

9:00 am

PL-13 Anesthesia and Consciousness — Paradise Ballroom

Sarika Katiyar, Hemal Patel, Mike Wiest

Katiyar: Brain Megahertz Signatures of Anaesthetic-Induced Loss of Consciousness in the Surgical Operating Room

Patel: The Caveolar Consciousness Hypothesis: How Lipids, Mitochondria, and the Cytoskeleton Shape Anesthesia

Wiest: Orchestrated objective reduction is quantum active inference

11:10 am

Break

11:40 am

PL-14 Is AI Conscious? (Panel) — Paradise Ballroom

Roger Penrose (Remote), Stuart Hameroff, Susan Schneider, Jerry McNerney

Penrose: Is AI Conscious?

Hameroff: Is AI Conscious?

Schneider: Is AI Conscious?

McNerney: Is AI Conscious?

12:30 pm

Conference Close: The Future of Consciousness

1:00 pm

End of conference

Concurrent & Poster Sessions

Concurrent talks (MON–THU, 5:00–7:05 pm) and posters (Tuesday & Wednesday evenings) are listed on their own pages:

View Concurrent Presentations → · View Poster Sessions →

Exhibitors

Ant Neuro · Cosmointel · Academy for the Advancement of Post Materialist Sciences · CUSAC-my big toe · Institute of Noetic Sciences · Journal of Consciousness Studies

Detailed Timetable

Sunday, October 11 — Workshops & Opening Plenary

Monday, October 12

Tuesday, October 13

Wednesday, October 14

Thursday, October 15

Friday, October 16

Concurrent & Poster Sessions

Exhibitors