Olaf Blanke

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Olaf Blanke

Olaf Blanke
Born
💼 Occupation	* Neuroscientific study of consciousness Development of cognitive neuroprostheses
🏅 Awards	* Cloëtta Prize
🌐 Website	https://www.epfl.ch/labs/lnco/

Dr. Olaf Blanke (born 1969) is a German physician, neurologist and neuroscientist. He holds the Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Cognitive Neuroprosthetics at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He directs the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Brain Mind Institute of EPFL and is professor of neurology at Geneva University Hospitals. Blanke is widely known for his research on the neurological bases of self-consciousness and out-of-body experiences.

Career

From 1989 to 1996, Blanke studied medicine at Free University of Berlin, at Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris, and at University of Geneva. His PhD in neurophysiology at the Institute of Neurophysiology of Free University of Berlin, was followed in 1996 by postdoctoral research in neurology in Geneva, where he specialized in epileptology and behavioural neurology. In 1999, he became a resident in neurology at Geneva University Hospital and in 2003, leader of an independent research group at University of Geneva. In 2004, he was nominated assistant professor and founded the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience specialized in robotics and virtual reality at the Brain Mind Institute of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. In the same year, he was appointed lecturer at the University of Geneva. Since 2012, he has been full professor in neurosciences at EPFL. From 2012 to 2018, he was founding director of the Center for Neuroprosthetics at EPFL. In January 2013, Blanke was appointed full professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Geneva University Hospital

Research

Blanke’s research is dedicated to the neuroscientific study of multisensory body perception and its relevance for self-consciousness by using a broad range of methods such as neuropsychology, invasive and non-invasive electrophysiology, and brain imaging in healthy subjects, neurological and psychiatric patients (e.g. out-of-body experiences). He investigates the brain mechanisms of body awareness, combining psychophysical and cognitive paradigms by applying neuroimaging techniques. He is pioneering the use of engineering techniques such as robotics and haptics, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) and their full integration with behavioral and physiological recordings (such as EEG and MRI). He is much invested in the new research field of cognetics, combining robotics and digital technologies to foster neuroscience research in cognition and consciousness studies. His clinical research projects center on developing new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Employing robotics in neurology, he develops wearable robotic devices for novel diagnostic and therapeutic solutions in Parkinson’s disease suffering from hallucinations and dementia. His digiceutical projects involve novel immersive digital devices and therapies for chronic pain and related conditions by integrating digital technologies (VR, AR) with brain stimulation and latest research from the cognitive neurosciences. His devices mediate pain relief in patients suffering from complex regional pain syndrome, phantom limb pain, and neuropathic leg pain in spinal cord injury.

Distinctions

Awards

• Cloëtta Prize by the Prof. Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation (2012)
• Robert Bing Prize (2006)
• Pfizer Prize (2005)
• Leenaards Prize (2003)

Memberships

• Member of the foundation board of Stiftung Pfizer Forschungspreis

Selected Publications

• Park H, Blanke O (2019) Coupling inner and outer body for self-consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Science 3:5.
• Park HD, Bernasconi F, Salomon R, Tallon-Baudry C, Spinelli L, Seeck M, Schaller K, Blanke O (2017) Neural sources and underlying mechanisms of neural responses to heartbeats, and their role in bodily self-consciousness: An intracranial EEG study. Cerebral Cortex 7: 1-14.
• Blanke O, Slater M, Serino A (2015) Behavioral, Neural, and Computational Principles of Bodily Self-Consciousness. Neuron 88: 145-66.
• Blanke O, Pozeg P, Hara M, Heydrich L, Serino A, Yamamoto A, Higuchi T, Salomon R, Seeck M, Landis T, Arzy S, Herbelin B, Bleuler H, Rognini G (2014) Neurological- and robot-controlled induction of an apparition. Current Biology 24: 2681-2686.
• Aspell, JE, Heydrich L, Blanke O (2013) Turning body and self-inside out: Visualized heartbeats alter bodily self-consciousness and tactile perception. Psychological Science 24: 2445-2453.
• Ionta S, Heydrich L, Lenggenhager B, Mouthon M, Gassert R, Blanke O (2011) Temporo-parietal cortex encodes self-location and first-person perspective. Neuron 70:363-374.
• Blanke O (2012) Multisensory brain mechanisms of bodily self-consciousness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience: 13: 556-571.
• Ionta S, Heydrich L, Lenggenhager B, Mouthon M, Gassert R, Blanke O (2011) Temporo-parietal cortex encodes self-location and first-person perspective. Neuron 70:363-374.
• Blanke O, Metzinger T (2009) Full-body illusions and minimal phenomenal selfhood. Trends in Cognitive Science 13: 7-13.
• Lenggenhager B, Tadi T, Metzinger T, Blanke O. (2007) Video ergo sum. Manipulating bodily self-consciousness. Science 317: 1096-1099.
• Arzy S, Seeck M, Spinelli L, Ortigue S, Blanke O. (2006) Induction of an illusory shadow person. Nature 443: 287.
• Blanke O, Spinelli L, Landis T, Seeck M (2004) Out-of-body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin. Brain 127: 243-258.
• Blanke O, Ortigue S, Landis T, Seeck M. (2002) Stimulating illusory own-body perceptions. Nature 419: 269-270.

Olaf Blanke

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