La remarquable avancée des neurosciences soulève de passionnantes questions dans la perspective des sciences humaines. Elle incarne sous des modalités inédites une question qui préoccupe depuis longtemps les disciplines les plus diverses, comme la philosophie, la physiologie, la biologie, la psychologie, la psychiatrie et la médecine : l’incarnation de l’esprit dans le cerveau.

Mind the Brain 2009: À l’interface entre les procédures dites « dures » des neurosciences et l’art subtil de la clinique, le colloque « Mind the Brain ! » vise à promouvoir un dialogue ouvert et critique, en associant systématiquement à ces perspectives une approche de type sciences humaines ou sociales, autour des cinq thèmes Action, Cognition, Corporéité, Emotion, Identité.

Mind the Brain 2010: What do the new brain sciences do (or not) to/for their own disciplinary framework – both from a theoretical and practical standpoint ? How does the question of interdisciplinarity (or call it trans-, co-, etc. disciplinarity) emerge (or not) in relation to their own research or clinical practice ?

Mind the Brain 2011: These days we can observe a tendency towards modulating the psyche through actions on the brain, thereby reshaping identities. Psychotropic drugs are the favoured levers of these actions. Since the 1950s, neuroleptics, antidepressants, anxiolytics and psychostimulants are prescribed, sold and consumed in order to palliate mental suffering or treat mental illness. Does the success of these substances show the effectiveness of the treatment of recurrent and universal disorders or, conversely, does it reflect a specific design of psychological ailments and their treatment methods in contemporary society? In either case, the development of psychotropic drugs highlights the physiological and metabolic dimension of the modulation of the subject, as governed by a "chemical brain". For its fourth edition, the symposium Mind the Brain 2011 combines several perspectives to take a look at this chemical conception of the brain. As in previous editions, the symposium privileges work and reflections focusing on fields of tension or collaboration between basic research, the medical clinic and the human and social sciences.