Christof Koch
Encyclopedia
Christof Koch is an American
neuroscientist
working on the neural basis of consciousness
. He is the Lois and Victor Troendle Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Biology at California Institute of Technology, where he has been since 1986. In early 2011, he also became the
Chief Scientific Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science
, leading their high through-put, large scale cortical coding project.
He is the son of German parents; his father was a diplomat
. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended a Jesuit high school in Morocco
. He received a PhD
in nonlinear information processing from the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen
, Germany
in 1982. He then worked for four years at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. In 1986,
he joined the newly started Computation and Neural Systems PhD program at Caltech.
He has been active since the early 1990s in the promotion of consciousness as a scientifically tractable problem, and has been particularly influential in arguing that consciousness can now be approached using the modern tools of neurobiology
. His primary collaborator in the endeavour of locating the neural correlates of consciousness
was the late Francis Crick
.
Together with James Bower
, he founded in 1988 the Methods in Computational Neuroscience summer course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, which remains ongoing. In 1993, he founded, together with Rodney Douglas and Terrence Sejnowski, the Neuromorphic Engineering Summer School in Telluride, Colorado, which remains ongoing.
Koch was the executive officer of the Computation and Neural Systems program at Caltech from 2000 to 2005. In 2005 he was the local organizer of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
meeting.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
neuroscientist
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
working on the neural basis of consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
. He is the Lois and Victor Troendle Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Biology at California Institute of Technology, where he has been since 1986. In early 2011, he also became the
Chief Scientific Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science
Allen Institute for Brain Science
The Allen Institute for Brain Science is a Seattle-based nonprofit medical research organization that was launched in 2003 with a $100 million seed donation from philanthropist, founder and former Microsoft executive Paul Allen.-Overview:...
, leading their high through-put, large scale cortical coding project.
He is the son of German parents; his father was a diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended a Jesuit high school in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. He received a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in nonlinear information processing from the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1982. He then worked for four years at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. In 1986,
he joined the newly started Computation and Neural Systems PhD program at Caltech.
He has been active since the early 1990s in the promotion of consciousness as a scientifically tractable problem, and has been particularly influential in arguing that consciousness can now be approached using the modern tools of neurobiology
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
. His primary collaborator in the endeavour of locating the neural correlates of consciousness
Neural correlates of consciousness
The neural correlates of consciousness constitute the minimal set of neuronal events and mechanisms sufficient for a specific conscious percept. Neuroscientists use empirical approaches to discover neural correlates of subjective phenomena...
was the late Francis Crick
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
.
Together with James Bower
James M. Bower
James Mason Bower is an American neuroscientist and CEO and Chairman of the Board of Numedeon Inc., creator of the Whyville.net educational virtual world...
, he founded in 1988 the Methods in Computational Neuroscience summer course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, which remains ongoing. In 1993, he founded, together with Rodney Douglas and Terrence Sejnowski, the Neuromorphic Engineering Summer School in Telluride, Colorado, which remains ongoing.
Koch was the executive officer of the Computation and Neural Systems program at Caltech from 2000 to 2005. In 2005 he was the local organizer of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
The Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness is a professional membership organization that aims to encourage research on consciousness in cognitive science, neuroscience, philosophy, and other relevant disciplines in the sciences and humanities, directed toward understanding the...
meeting.
Miscellaneous Trivia
- After his dog died he became a vegetarian, and has expressed sympathy for animal rightsAnimal rightsAnimal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
due to the neurological similarities between human and non-human animals. - He has an apple logo tattooed on his right deltoid and a drawing from Ramon y Cajal of a cortical microcircuit tattooed on his left deltoid.
- He has an Erdős numberErdos numberThe Erdős number describes the "collaborative distance" between a person and mathematician Paul Erdős, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers.The same principle has been proposed for other eminent persons in other fields.- Overview :...
of three. - He is allergic to strawberries.
Publications
- Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons, Oxford U. Press, (1999), ISBN 0-19-518199-9
- The Quest for Consciousness: a Neurobiological Approach, Roberts and Co., (2004), ISBN 0-9747077-0-8
External links
- Homepage of Christof Koch
- Homepage of Koch's laboratory
- His book The Quest for Consciousness
- Online lecture videos from an undergraduate course taught by Christof Koch at Caltech in 2003 on the neurobiological basis of consciousness.
- Neural Correlates of Consciousness, ScholarpediaScholarpediaScholarpedia is an English-language online wiki-based encyclopedia that uses the same MediaWiki software as Wikipedia, but has features more commonly associated with open-access online academic journals....
article by Christof Koch - Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
- Radio interview with Christof Koch and Francis Crick, 2001
- Radio interview with Christof Koch and Constanze Hofstoetter, 2005
- Interview on the Brain Science Podcast, 2007
- Christof Koch, a short clip
- Interview with Christof Koch on the neuroscience of reading and the movie in your mind