Hakwan Lau is co-director of the Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research and professor of biomedical engineering at Sungkyunkwan University. He is supported by the Institute for Basic Science in Korea. Previously he worked at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science; the University of California, Los Angeles; Columbia University and University College London. He obtained his D.Phil. in 2005 from Oxford University, and his undergraduate degree in 2001 from the University of Hong Kong, where he studied philosophy and cognitive science. He is the author of “In Consciousness We Trust,” an open-access academic monograph.
Hakwan Lau
Professor of biomedical engineering
Sungkyunkwan University
From this contributor
Premature declarations on animal consciousness hinder progress
By
Hakwan Lau
18 November 2024 | 5 min read
Selected articles
- “Where is the ‘posterior hot zone’? Open review of Ferrante et al. (2023): “An adversarial collaboration to critically evaluate theories of consciousness” (by the ARC-Cogitate Consortium)” | PsyArXiv
- “Multivoxel pattern analysis reveals dissociations between subjective fear and its physiological correlates” | Molecular psychiatry
- “Should a few null findings falsify prefrontal theories of conscious perception?” | Journal of Neuroscience
- “Towards an unconscious neural reinforcement intervention for common fears” | PNAS
Explore more from The Transmitter
Sensory over-responsivity tied to autism, anxiety but not other conditions
Negative reactions to sensations track with certain neurodevelopmental traits in more than 15,000 children—pointing to shared neurobiological roots.
Sensory over-responsivity tied to autism, anxiety but not other conditions
Negative reactions to sensations track with certain neurodevelopmental traits in more than 15,000 children—pointing to shared neurobiological roots.
By
Diana Kwon
10 September 2026 | 5 min read
Neuromechanical models deepen our understanding of animal motor control
Thanks to recent progress in physics-based simulators and robotics, it has never been easier for neuroscientists to use neuromechanical modeling to test hypotheses about animal movement.
Neuromechanical models deepen our understanding of animal motor control
Thanks to recent progress in physics-based simulators and robotics, it has never been easier for neuroscientists to use neuromechanical modeling to test hypotheses about animal movement.
By
Auke Ijspeert
9 September 2026 | 0 min watch
Fruit flies use memory to track odors
When flies encounter a tasty smell, they stroll in and out of the odor plume—a process that depends on encoding a memory of the angle needed to travel back to the plume, according to a new study.
Fruit flies use memory to track odors
When flies encounter a tasty smell, they stroll in and out of the odor plume—a process that depends on encoding a memory of the angle needed to travel back to the plume, according to a new study.
By
Calli McMurray
8 September 2026 | 2 min watch