António Damásio

General Council

António Damásio holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of Lisbon. He started his research in neurosciences with Norman Geschwind and he is currently the Van Allen Distinguished Professor of Neurology and head of the Department of Neurology, in the Medical Centre at the University of Iowa, USA. In addition to these posts, he is also Professor at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. His books – Descartes’ error, The feeling of what happens and Looking for Spinoza – have been translated into several languages and are taught in many universities. He has explained critical issues in the mind and behavioural areas, and his views have greatly influenced our understanding of the neuronal basis of emotion, memory and language. The laboratories he created together with Hanna Damásio at the University of Iowa, are a leading centre in cognition research. He has been distinguished with several awards and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.