Olaf Blanke

Olaf Blanke is a Full Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), affiliated with the BIO department. His research focuses on cognitive neuroprosthetics, and he holds the Foundation Bertarelli Chair in Cognitive Neuroprosthetics. He is associated with the Laboratory for Neuro- and Cognitive Engineering (LNCO) and teaches courses such as Neuroscience: Behavior and Cognition (BIO-483) and Translational Neuroengineering (NX-423). His work involves mentoring PhD students and contributing to academic programs at EPFL.

Olaf Blanke is a cognitive neuroscientist whose research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying bodily self-consciousness and out-of-body experiences. His work explores how multisensory integration in the temporoparietal junction contributes to self-location and first-person perspective. Blanke's studies investigate phenomena such as full-body illusions, virtual reality-induced body transfer, and the neural basis of embodiment. His research also examines the role of the vestibular system in spatial orientation and self-consciousness, as well as the relationship between mental imagery and self-processing. Through experimental and neuroimaging approaches, Blanke seeks to uncover the neural substrates of corporeal awareness and self-consciousness.