This volume compiled the keynote lectures and several related commentaries delivered in the Gulbenkian Health Forum 2012 devoted to research progresses in brain functions.

Dedicated to the progress and evolution in scientific research on the brain and its functioning, the 2012 Health Forum, held over two consecutive days, consisted of a range of conferences and debates, bringing national and international neuroscience specialists to the Foundation.

The eight sessions that made up the program discussed and debated a diverse range of themes: consciousness and dreams, the relationship between the brain and morality, technology and issues of gender as well as themes interrelating with music, beauty and art.

In keeping with the precedent set in previous years, the scientific program was accompanied by an exhibition – The Colours of Thought – with its thematic concept stemming from a facet inherent to the annual organisation of the forums: demonstrating the interrelationship between medicine, science and art.