Olaf Blanke Explained

Honorific Prefix:Professor
Olaf Blanke
Nationality:Swiss
German
Occupation:Neuroscientist and Neurologist
Known For:Consciousness studies
Prof. Dr.
Awards:Cloëtta Prize (2012)
Robert Bing Prize (2006)
Pfizer Prize (2005)
Website:https://www.epfl.ch/labs/lnco/
Education:Medicine
Neurology
Neuroscience
Alma Mater:Free University of Berlin
Sorbonne University
Doctoral Advisor:Otto-Joachim Grüsser
Academic Advisors:Margitta Seeck
Nicolas de Tribolet
Theodor Landis
Workplaces:EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
Geneva University Hospitals

Olaf Blanke (born 1969) is a Swiss and German physician, neurologist and neuroscientist. He holds the Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Cognitive Neuroprosthetics[1] at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He directs the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Brain Mind Institute[2] of EPFL and is professor of Neurology at Geneva University Hospitals. Blanke is known for his research on the neurological bases of self-consciousness and out-of-body experiences.[3] [4] [5] [6]

Career

From 1989 to 1996 Blanke studied in medicine at ((University of Münster)),Free University of Berlin and at Sorbonne University, Paris. He carried out his doctoral work in neuroscience with Otto-Joachim Grüsser at the Institute of Neurophysiology at the Free University of Berlin on multisensory mechanisms of saccadic eye movements.[7] He then joined the presurgical epilepsy program at Geneva University Hospitals as a postdoctoral researcher to work with Margitta Seeck and Nicolas de Tribolet on epileptology, cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging.[8] In 1999, he joined Theodor Landis as a resident doctor at the neurology department by at Geneva University Hospitals.[9]

He joined the EPFL in 2004 first as an assistant professor and has been full professor in neuroscience at EPFL since 2012. Since 2004, he has been the director of the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Brain Mind Institute specialized in robotics and virtual reality.

In 2013, Blanke was appointed as a full professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Geneva.[10] [11]

Since 2018, Blanke has acted as founding director of EPFL's Center for Neuroprosthetics, dedicated to research in engineering, neuroscience and medicine, with research activities in Geneva, Fribourg, Sion, and Lausanne.[12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

Blanke is a board member of the neuro technology company Mindmaze[17] and co-founded Metaphysiks.[18]

Research

Blanke's research is dedicated to the neuroscientific study of multisensory body perception and self-consciousness. Together with Thomas Metzinger he defined the concept of bodily self-consciousness[19] and showed that bodily self-consciousness is based on the integration of specific bodily signals,[20] [21] including interoceptive and exteroceptive signals.[22] [23] [24]

For his research he adopted different virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) technologies with human neuroscience methods to investigate and induce controlled altered states of bodily self-consciousness.[25] [26] The group further integrated VR and robotics with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify the cortical network underlying bodily self-consciousness.[27] The description of this cortical network was extended and supported by electrophysiological and neuroimaging data in different patient populations with altered states of bodily self-consciousness such as out-of-body experiences,[28] [29] [30] the sense of presence or presence hallucinations,[31] [32] or Doppelgänger experiences.[33]

Blanke's medical activities focus on the field of cognitive neuroprosthetics, and are dedicated to the design and clinical application of VR and robotics technology as novel diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. He developed and tested several new VR-based procedures for patients with chronic pain such as complex regional pain syndrome,[34] [35] phantom limb pain in amputation,[36] and spinal cord injury.[37] Recently, he has developed new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in patients with neurodegeneration such as Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.

He has also an interest in complex conscious experiences and their varied personal, neuroscientific, historical and cultural aspects. He has studied out-of-body experiences and astral travel,[38] [39] doppelgänger experiences,[40] [41] the sense of presence,[42] [32] as well as free will,[43] and thought insertion.[44]

Awards

Selected publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: LNCO. 2020-08-24. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  2. Web site: Neuroscience – Brain Mind Institute. 2020-08-24. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  3. Web site: Olaf Blanke. www.epfl.ch.
  4. Blanke. Olaf. Landis. Theodor. Spinelli. Laurent. Seeck. Margitta. February 1, 2004. Out-of-body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin. Brain. 127. 2. 243–258. 10.1093/brain/awh040. 14662516 . academic.oup.com. free.
  5. Web site: Olaf Blanke – Next Einstein Forum.
  6. Blanke. Olaf. Ortigue. Stphanie. Landis. Theodor. Seeck. Margitta. 2017-08-30. Stimulating illusory own-body perceptions. Nature. en. 2017-08-30. 419. 6904. 269–270. 10.1038/419269a. 0028-0836. 12239558. 4427138.
  7. Blanke. Olaf. Grüsser. Otto-Joachim. August 2001. Saccades guided by somatosensory stimuli. Vision Research. en. 41. 18. 2407–2412. 10.1016/S0042-6989(01)00125-0. 11459596 . 12408914 . free.
  8. Seeck. M. Lazeyras. F. Michel. C. M. Blanke. O. Gericke. C. A. Ives. J. Delavelle. J. Golay. X. Haenggeli. C. A. de Tribolet. N. Landis. T. 1998-06-01. Non-invasive epileptic focus localization using EEG-triggered functional MRI and electromagnetic tomography. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology. en. 106. 6. 508–512. 10.1016/S0013-4694(98)00017-0. 9741750. 0013-4694.
  9. Blanke. Olaf. Ortigue. Stphanie. Landis. Theodor. Seeck. Margitta. September 2002. Stimulating illusory own-body perceptions. Nature. en. 419. 6904. 269–270. 10.1038/419269a. 12239558 . 4427138 . 1476-4687.
  10. Web site: 2014-09-09. Department of clinical neurosciences - Département des neurosciences cliniques - UNIGE. 2020-08-24. www.unige.ch. en.
  11. Arzy. Shahar. Halje. Pär. Schechter. Daniel S.. Spinelli. Laurent. Seeck. Margitta. Blanke. Olaf. February 2014. Neural generators of psychogenic seizures: Evidence from intracranial and extracranial brain recordings. Epilepsy & Behavior. en. 31. 381–385. 10.1016/j.yebeh.2013.10.017. 24210459 . 5631549 .
  12. Web site: Center for Neuroprosthetics. 2020-08-24. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  13. Web site: Center for Neuroprosthetics. 2021-02-09. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  14. Web site: Prof. Olaf Blanke. 2021-02-09. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  15. Web site: Olaf BLANKE. 2020-08-17. European Forum Alpbach. en-US.
  16. Evangelista. Sandy. 2012-07-17. Seven new professors nominated. en.
  17. Web site: Our team. 2021-02-09. MindMaze. en-US.
  18. Web site: Who we are – Metaphysiks. 2021-04-26. en-US.
  19. Blanke. Olaf. Metzinger. Thomas. January 2009. Full-body illusions and minimal phenomenal selfhood. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. en. 13. 1. 7–13. 10.1016/j.tics.2008.10.003. 19058991 . 10158045 .
  20. Blanke. Olaf. 2012-07-18. Multisensory brain mechanisms of bodily self-consciousness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 13. 8. 556–571. 10.1038/nrn3292. 22805909 . 15713909 . 1471-003X.
  21. Blanke. Olaf. Slater. Mel. Serino. Andrea. October 2015. Behavioral, Neural, and Computational Principles of Bodily Self-Consciousness. Neuron. 88. 1. 145–166. 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.029. 26447578 . 0896-6273. free.
  22. Aspell. Jane Elizabeth. Heydrich. Lukas. Marillier. Guillaume. Lavanchy. Tom. Herbelin. Bruno. Blanke. Olaf. December 2013. Turning Body and Self Inside Out: Visualized Heartbeats Alter Bodily Self-Consciousness and Tactile Perception. Psychological Science. en. 24. 12. 2445–2453. 10.1177/0956797613498395. 24104506 . 14699588 . 0956-7976.
  23. Park. Hyeong-Dong. Bernasconi. Fosco. Bello-Ruiz. Javier. Pfeiffer. Christian. Salomon. Roy. Blanke. Olaf. 2016-08-10. Transient Modulations of Neural Responses to Heartbeats Covary with Bodily Self-Consciousness. Journal of Neuroscience. en. 36. 32. 8453–8460. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0311-16.2016. 0270-6474. 6601861. 27511016.
  24. Park. Hyeong-Dong. Blanke. Olaf. May 2019. Coupling Inner and Outer Body for Self-Consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 23. 5. 377–388. 10.1016/j.tics.2019.02.002. 30826212 . 72335098 . 1364-6613.
  25. Lenggenhager. B.. Tadi. T.. Metzinger. T.. Blanke. O.. 2007-08-24. Video Ergo Sum: Manipulating Bodily Self-Consciousness. Science. 317. 5841. 1096–1099. 10.1126/science.1143439. 17717189 . 2007Sci...317.1096L . 22240455 . 0036-8075.
  26. Aspell. Jane Elizabeth. Heydrich. Lukas. Marillier. Guillaume. Lavanchy. Tom. Herbelin. Bruno. Blanke. Olaf. 2013-10-08. Turning Body and Self Inside Out: Visualized Heartbeats Alter Bodily Self-Consciousness and Tactile Perception. Psychological Science. 24 . 12 . 2445–2453 . en. 10.1177/0956797613498395. 24104506 . 14699588 .
  27. Ionta. Silvio. Heydrich. Lukas. Lenggenhager. Bigna. Mouthon. Michael. Fornari. Eleonora. Chapuis. Dominique. Gassert. Roger. Blanke. Olaf. April 2011. Multisensory Mechanisms in Temporo-Parietal Cortex Support Self-Location and First-Person Perspective. Neuron. 70. 2. 363–374. 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.009. 21521620 . 6391605 . 0896-6273. free.
  28. Blanke. Olaf. Ortigue. Stphanie. Landis. Theodor. Seeck. Margitta. September 2002. Stimulating illusory own-body perceptions. Nature. en. 419. 6904. 269–270. 10.1038/419269a. 12239558 . 4427138 . 1476-4687.
  29. Blanke. Olaf. Landis. Theodor. Spinelli. Laurent. Seeck. Margitta. February 2004. Out-of-body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin. Brain. en. 127. 2. 243–258. 10.1093/brain/awh040. 14662516 . 1460-2156. free.
  30. Ionta. Silvio. Heydrich. Lukas. Lenggenhager. Bigna. Mouthon. Michael. Fornari. Eleonora. Chapuis. Dominique. Gassert. Roger. Blanke. Olaf. April 2011. Multisensory Mechanisms in Temporo-Parietal Cortex Support Self-Location and First-Person Perspective. Neuron. en. 70. 2. 363–374. 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.009. 21521620 . 6391605 . free.
  31. Arzy. Shahar. Seeck. Margitta. Ortigue. Stephanie. Spinelli. Laurent. Blanke. Olaf. September 2006. Induction of an illusory shadow person. Nature. en. 443. 7109. 287. 10.1038/443287a. 16988702 . 2006Natur.443..287A . 0028-0836. free.
  32. Blanke. Olaf. Pozeg. Polona. Hara. Masayuki. Heydrich. Lukas. Serino. Andrea. Yamamoto. Akio. Higuchi. Toshiro. Salomon. Roy. Seeck. Margitta. Landis. Theodor. Arzy. Shahar. November 2014. Neurological and Robot-Controlled Induction of an Apparition. Current Biology. en. 24. 22. 2681–2686. 10.1016/j.cub.2014.09.049. 25447995 . free.
  33. Heydrich. Lukas. Blanke. Olaf. March 2013. Distinct illusory own-body perceptions caused by damage to posterior insula and extrastriate cortex. Brain. en. 136. 3. 790–803. 10.1093/brain/aws364. 23423672 . 0006-8950. free.
  34. Solcà. Marco. Ronchi. Roberta. Bello-Ruiz. Javier. Schmidlin. Thomas. Herbelin. Bruno. Luthi. François. Konzelmann. Michel. Beaulieu. Jean-Yves. Delaquaize. François. Schnider. Armin. Guggisberg. Adrian G.. 2018-07-31. Heartbeat-enhanced immersive virtual reality to treat complex regional pain syndrome. Neurology. en. 91. 5. e479–e489. 10.1212/WNL.0000000000005905. 29980635 . 49714583 . 0028-3878.
  35. Solcà. Marco. Krishna. Vibhor. Young. Nicole. Deogaonkar. Milind. Herbelin. Bruno. Orepic. Pavo. Mange. Robin. Rognini. Giulio. Serino. Andrea. Rezai. Ali. Blanke. Olaf. 2020-11-30. Enhancing analgesic spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain with personalized immersive virtual reality. Pain. en. 162. 6 . 1641–1649 . 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002160. 33259460 . 227252509 . 0304-3959.
  36. Rognini. Giulio. Petrini. Francesco Maria. Raspopovic. Stanisa. Valle. Giacomo. Granata. Giuseppe. Strauss. Ivo. Solcà. Marco. Bello-Ruiz. Javier. Herbelin. Bruno. Mange. Robin. D'Anna. Edoardo. 2019-07-01. Multisensory bionic limb to achieve prosthesis embodiment and reduce distorted phantom limb perceptions. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. en. 90. 7. 833–836. 10.1136/jnnp-2018-318570. 0022-3050. 6791810. 30100550.
  37. Pozeg. Polona. Palluel. Estelle. Ronchi. Roberta. Solcà. Marco. Al-Khodairy. Abdul-Wahab. Jordan. Xavier. Kassouha. Ammar. Blanke. Olaf. 2017-10-31. Virtual reality improves embodiment and neuropathic pain caused by spinal cord injury. Neurology. en. 89. 18. 1894–1903. 10.1212/WNL.0000000000004585. 0028-3878. 5664293. 28986411.
  38. Blanke. Olaf. Ortigue. Stphanie. Landis. Theodor. Seeck. Margitta. September 2002. Stimulating illusory own-body perceptions. Nature. en. 419. 6904. 269–270. 10.1038/419269a. 12239558 . 4427138 . 0028-0836.
  39. Ionta. Silvio. Heydrich. Lukas. Lenggenhager. Bigna. Mouthon. Michael. Fornari. Eleonora. Chapuis. Dominique. Gassert. Roger. Blanke. Olaf. April 2011. Multisensory Mechanisms in Temporo-Parietal Cortex Support Self-Location and First-Person Perspective. Neuron. 70. 2. 363–374. 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.009. 21521620 . 6391605 . 0896-6273. free.
  40. Blanke. Olaf. Landis. Theodor. Spinelli. Laurent. Seeck. Margitta. February 2004. Out-of-body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin. Brain. en. 127. 2. 243–258. 10.1093/brain/awh040. 14662516 . 1460-2156. free.
  41. Heydrich. Lukas. Blanke. Olaf. March 2013. Distinct illusory own-body perceptions caused by damage to posterior insula and extrastriate cortex. Brain. en. 136. 3. 790–803. 10.1093/brain/aws364. 23423672 . 0006-8950. free.
  42. Arzy. Shahar. Seeck. Margitta. Ortigue. Stephanie. Spinelli. Laurent. Blanke. Olaf. September 2006. Induction of an illusory shadow person. Nature. 443. 7109. 287. 10.1038/443287a. 16988702 . 2006Natur.443..287A . 0028-0836. free.
  43. Park. Hyeong-Dong. Barnoud. Coline. Trang. Henri. Kannape. Oliver A.. Schaller. Karl. Blanke. Olaf. 2020-02-06. Breathing is coupled with voluntary action and the cortical readiness potential. Nature Communications. en. 11. 1. 289. 10.1038/s41467-019-13967-9. 2041-1723. 7005287. 32029711. 2020NatCo..11..289P .
  44. Serino. Andrea. Pozeg. Polona. Bernasconi. Fosco. Solcà. Marco. Hara. Masayuki. Progin. Pierre. Stripeikyte. Giedre. Dhanis. Herberto. Salomon. Roy. Bleuler. Hannes. Rognini. Giulio. January 2021. Thought consciousness and source monitoring depend on robotically controlled sensorimotor conflicts and illusory states. iScience. en. 24. 1. 101955. 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101955. 7797520. 33458614. 2021iSci...24j1955S .
  45. Web site: Cloëtta Prize Max Cloëtta Stiftung. 2020-08-17. en-US.
  46. Team. SV-Dean's. 2012-11-16. The 2012 Cloëtta Foundation Award to Olaf Blanke. en.
  47. Web site: Robert Bing Preis. 2020-08-18.
  48. Web site: Des excursions transcendantales à la médecine moderne. 2020-08-18. Fondation Leenaards - Favoriser la dynamique créatrice. fr.

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