Hakwan Lau, Ph.D.

Research Overview

We use a combination of brain stimulation and neuroimaging techniques to study how human subjects consciously see. One particular focus is mental imagery, in which a perception-like experience occurs in the absence of external stimulation. Interestingly, some human subjects do not experience mental imagery vividly. We will try to understand how this condition, known as aphantasia, occurs. And we ask what consequences this may have for memory processing. Although our overarching goal is to develop a neurobiological theory of consciousness, we also try to apply our findings for the treatment of brain disorders such as trauma-related flashbacks and hallucinations.

Main Research Field

• Biological Sciences

Related Research Fields

• Humanities & Social sciences
• Interdisciplinary science and engineering
• Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy
• Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Clinical Psychology
• Medical imaging, Bioimaging

Keywords

• Cognitive neuroscience
• Neuroimaging
• Brain stimulation
• Mental imagery
• Metacognition

Selected Publications

Papers with an asterisk(*) are based on research conducted outside of RIKEN.

1. * V Taschereau-Dumouchel, A Cortese, T Chiba, JD Knotts, M Kawato, H Lau
   Towards an unconscious neural reinforcement intervention for common fears
   Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115 (13), 3470-3475 (2017)
2. * MAK Peters, T Thesen, YD Ko, B Maniscalco, C Carlson, M Davidson, W Doyle, R Kuzniecky, O Devinsky, E Halgren, H Lau
   Perceptual confidence neglects decision-incongruent evidence in the brain
   Nature human behaviour 1 (7), 1-8 (2017)
3. * V Taschereau-Dumouchel, M Kawato, H Lau
   Multivoxel pattern analysis reveals dissociations between subjective fear and its physiological correlates
   Molecular psychiatry 25 (10), 2342-2354 (2020)
4. * B Odegaard, RT Knight, H Lau
   Should a few null findings falsify prefrontal theories of conscious perception?
   Journal of Neuroscience 37 (40), 9593-9602 (2017)
5. * V Taschereau-Dumouchel, C Cushing, H Lau
   Real-Time Functional MRI in the Treatment of Mental Health Disorders
   Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 18 (in press)
6. * JD Knotts, B Odegaard, H Lau, D Rosenthal
   Subjective inflation: phenomenology’s get-rich-quick scheme
   Current opinion in psychology 29, 49-55 (2019)
7. * Michel, M., & Lau, H.
   On the dangers of conflating strong and weak versions of a theory of consciousness.
   Philosophy and the Mind Sciences, 1(II). https://doi.org/10.33735/phimisci.2020.II.54 (2020)
8. * H Lau, M Michel
   A socio-historical take on the meta-problem of consciousness
   Journal of consciousness studies 26 (9-10), 136-147 (2019)
9. * R Brown, H Lau, JE LeDoux
   Understanding the higher-order approach to consciousness
   Trends in cognitive sciences 23 (9), 754-768 (2019)
10. * JD Knotts, B Odegaard, H Lau
    Neuroscience: The key to consciousness may not be under the streetlight
    Current Biology 28 (13), R749-R752 (2018)