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
Alison Barth discovers how different neuron types contribute to cortical function
Barth uses learning tasks in mice as a tool to drive synaptic plasticity in the sensory cortex, hoping to unlock more general principles of how the cortex works.
Alison Barth discovers how different neuron types contribute to cortical function
Barth uses learning tasks in mice as a tool to drive synaptic plasticity in the sensory cortex, hoping to unlock more general principles of how the cortex works.
By
Paul Middlebrooks
5 August 2026 | 1 min read
Virus-like particles deliver gene-editing tools into Duchenne mouse model
The approach uses a protein found in fruit flies to ferry the gene editor Cas9 into muscle cells.
Virus-like particles deliver gene-editing tools into Duchenne mouse model
The approach uses a protein found in fruit flies to ferry the gene editor Cas9 into muscle cells.
By
Brianna Abbott
5 August 2026 | 5 min read
Textbook model of hippocampus’s role in memory may need updating
The CA3 region, long thought to have just one circuit, has two, sporting different wiring and functions, a new preprint suggests.
Textbook model of hippocampus’s role in memory may need updating
The CA3 region, long thought to have just one circuit, has two, sporting different wiring and functions, a new preprint suggests.
By
Alissa de Chassey
4 August 2026 | 5 min read