Cerveau, comportements et actions : comprendre ce qui nous guide ?

Presentation

Why do we do what we do? How do societies manage to channel our behaviour so effectively and predictably?

In this lecture, Professor Saadi Lahlou (London School of Economics, Paris Institute of Advanced Studies) reveals the powerful mechanisms by which our societies guide our daily actions – and how we can use these same levers to promote more sustainable behaviour.

Through installation theory, the result of twenty years of video research in real-world conditions, discover how three forces converge to guide our every move: the physical environment around us, the social rules that regulate us, and our embodied skills. From road traffic to everyday actions, including the massive transformations observed during Covid-19, we will see how these installations "structure our lives from birth to death.

More than just a diagnosis, this presentation offers a practical analytical framework for understanding and transforming behaviour.

A conference accessible to all, to understand the invisible drivers of our actions and discover how to rethink our collective practices.

This lecture will be given by Saddi Lahlou, Director of the IEA in Paris, with panellists: Etienne Koechlin, neuroscientist, Director of Research at INSERM and Director of the Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory at ENS-PSL, and Gretty Mirdal, member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, Professor Emeritus at the University of Copenhagen, co-directors of the Brain, Culture and Society programme at the Paris IAS (programme currently inactive).

Brain Awareness Week

In 2026, for its 28th edition, Brain Awareness Week (Semaine du Cerveau) will take place from 16 to 22 March. This event is coordinated by the Society for Neuroscience, under the patronage of Mr Philippe Baptiste, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Space.

Held every year in March since 1999, Brain Awareness Week is coordinated in France by the Société des Neurosciences.

This international event, conceived by the Dana Foundation, is organised simultaneously in around 100 countries and more than 100 cities in France. Its aim is to raise public awareness of the importance of brain research. It is an opportunity for many researchers to meet the public and share with them the advances made in neuroscience research laboratories, presenting the challenges for understanding the brain and the implications for our society.

Throughout the week, the general public will be able to meet researchers to learn more about the brain and find out about the latest research.

It is a spectacular event due to its national and international scope, the number of people involved, its public success, and the quality of its programme.

In 2025, nearly 100,000 people, both young and old, took part in the event.

Practical information

The event is free and will be only available in person:

The Paris Institut for Advanced Study 
Salles des Gardes, 1st floor,
Hôtel de Lauzun, 17 quai d'Anjou
75004 Paris

Access:
Subway line 1: Saint Paul, line 7: Pont Marie / Sully Morland
RER B/C: Saint-Michel - Notre Dame.

Registration is required via the form below due to limited space.

Doors open before 5pm. Please arrive before the start of the conference so that we can begin on time.

Due to the building's classification as a historic monument and current regulations, smoking (in the salons and inner courtyard), eating and drinking in the conference room, and wearing high heels are prohibited.