Behind and Beyond the Brain

From April 8 to 11, Casa do Médico in Porto will once again host this biannual meeting that brings together researchers supported by the Bial Foundation and international experts in neuroscience and parapsychology. The 15th edition will be dedicated to the fascinating theme “End-of-Life Experiences”, addressing from the end-of-life processes and moments to the end-of-life beliefs and impacts.

Humans, perhaps uniquely amongst animals, understand that their life will inevitably come to an end. Death is probably the only experience that is universal. It is also singular, for it is an experience that marks an irreversible transition. Near-death experiences, however, leave a profound mark on the people who lived it. Such experiences raise many questions: Should we think of death as an instant, or as a process? How can we – or how should we – prepare for death? What do we know about the biological processes that lead to and that occur during dying? How do different cultures approach death? And should our experience of death change the way in which we think about reality?

Such questions, despite the universal character of death, have thus far largely remained outside the scope of scientific enquiry – an omission that the 15th “Behind and Beyond the Brain” Symposium of the Bial Foundation will aim to address by gathering prominent neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers to engage them in a profoundly interdisciplinary dialogue over the course of a rich program extending over three days.