Olaf Blanke

Nondual mindfulness meditation alters self representation and brain connectome in expert meditators

This study examines how nondual meditation affects self-representation and brain connectivity in expert meditators compared to novices.

Connectome-based brain fingerprints predict early cognitive decline in Parkinson's patients with minor hallucinations

The paper uses connectome-based brain fingerprinting to identify early cognitive decline markers in Parkinson's patients with minor hallucinations using resting-state fMRI.

Motor Equivalence in Motor Awareness

This study investigates motor awareness across different effectors and finds it is comparable in some conditions but relies on effector-specific information in conflicting scenarios.

Presence Hallucination Induction through Robotically Mediated Somatomotor Conflicts: a pooled analysis of 26 experiments

The paper pools data from 26 experiments to analyze the induction of presence hallucinations using a robotics-based protocol, finding medium effect sizes and associations with schizotypal traits and passivity.

Re-membering: spontaneous reactivation of motor cortex during memory re-experiencing

This study shows that motor cortex and peripheral muscles are reactivated during memory retrieval, supporting the embodied nature of episodic memory.

Bodily perception links memory and self: a case study of an amnesic patient

The paper investigates how bodily self-consciousness affects episodic memory in a patient with hippocampal damage, showing that embodied encoding leads to stronger memory deficits.

Deep-learning models of the ascending proprioceptive pathway are subject to illusions

The paper shows that deep-learning models of proprioception can be fooled by simulated muscle-tendon vibrations, producing illusions similar to those observed in humans.

Subcortical correlates of consciousness with human single neuron recordings

The paper uses human single neuron recordings to show that subthalamic nucleus and thalamus neurons modulate activity during vibrotactile stimulus detection, suggesting their role in consciousness.

Meditation in the third-person perspective modulates minimal self and heartbeat-evoked potentials

This study examines how meditation from a third-person perspective affects the sense of self and neural responses, finding increased detachment and altered heartbeat-evoked potentials.

Fingerprinting of brain disease: Connectome identifiability in cognitive decline and Alzheimer s disease

This study shows that functional connectivity patterns remain unique across stages of Alzheimer's disease but change in their configuration, suggesting potential for individualized brain fingerprinting in clinical settings.

Embodiment in episodic memory through premotor-hippocampal coupling

This study shows that premotor-hippocampal coupling supports the sense of self in episodic memory by linking self-related encoding to retrieval.

Changes in spatial self-consciousness elicit grid cell-like representation in entorhinal cortex

The paper shows that illusory changes in self-location can evoke grid cell-like representations in entorhinal cortex, similar to those during conventional navigation.

Robotically-induced auditory-verbal hallucinations: combining self-monitoring and strong perceptual priors

This paper develops a robotic procedure to induce auditory-verbal hallucinations in healthy individuals, supporting both self-monitoring and strong perceptual priors theories.

Human primary motor cortex indexes the onset of subjective intention in brain-machine-interface mediated actions

The paper examines neural dynamics in human primary motor cortex during brain-machine-interface mediated actions, showing that M1 encodes the onset of subjective intention.

Theta oscillations and minor hallucinations in Parkinson's disease reveal decrease in frontal lobe functions and later cognitive decline

The paper investigates if minor hallucinations in Parkinson's disease are linked to frontal theta oscillations and cognitive decline, finding a correlation between these factors and later cognitive impairment.

Digital-robotic markers for hallucinations in Parkinson's disease

This paper develops a digital marker using numerosity estimation in virtual reality to quantify hallucinations in Parkinson's disease patients, showing it is effective in both lab and home settings.

EEG signature of breaks in embodiment in VR

The paper uses EEG to study brain responses during breaks in embodiment in VR, finding error-related potentials linked to non-embodied conditions.

Real-world body orientation impacts virtual navigation experience and performance

This study shows that physical body orientation affects experienced body orientation and spatial navigation performance in virtual reality.

Avatar error in your favor: Embodied avatars can fix users mistakes without them noticing

The paper shows that users in VR are less likely to notice avatar finger swaps that help them complete tasks compared to those that hinder them.

Single neurons in thalamus and subthalamic nucleus process cardiac and respiratory signals in humans

The paper investigates single neuron activity in thalamic and subthalamic regions of humans, finding that about 70% of neurons respond to cardiac or respiratory signals, with some neurons responding to both.

Sense of self impacts spatial navigation and hexadirectional coding in human entorhinal cortex

This study shows that enhancing self-identification during spatial navigation reduces grid cell-like activity in the entorhinal cortex and improves navigation performance.

Reaching articular limits can negatively impact embodiment in virtual reality.

This study shows that perceiving articular limits during reaching movements in VR can disrupt embodiment if the avatar's movement does not match the user's proprioceptive feedback.

Increased functional connectivity of the intraparietal sulcus underlies the attenuation of numerosity estimations for self-generated words

The paper investigates whether numerosity estimations for self-generated words are attenuated, finding increased functional connectivity in the intraparietal sulcus during self-generated word estimation.

Tactile spatial discrimination on the torso using vibrotactile and force stimulation

This study compares tactile spatial discrimination using vibrotactile and force stimulation on the thoracic spine, finding higher accuracy with vibrotactile stimuli.

Sensorimotor conflicts induce somatic passivity and louden quiet voices in healthy listeners

The paper investigates how sensorimotor conflicts affect auditory perception, finding that they can amplify the perception of silent voices and induce psychosis-like states in healthy participants.

Palm-to-finger cortical functional interactions in primary somatosensory cortex: a 7T fMRI study

This study uses 7T fMRI to investigate palm and finger representations in primary somatosensory cortex, finding that functional interactions are better predicted by hand structure than somatotopic organization.

Cogno-Vest: A Torso-Worn, Force Display to Experimentally Induce Specific Hallucinations and Related Bodily Sensations

The paper introduces and validates a torso-worn force display called Cogno-vest to induce specific bodily sensations and hallucinations through sensorimotor conflict.

Evidence accumulation determines conscious access

The paper shows that perceptual consciousness and reflexive monitoring are governed by evidence accumulation, using neuronal recordings and a computational model.

Sensorimotor hallucinationsin Parkinson's disease

This study uses robotics to induce hallucinations in Parkinson's disease patients and identifies a disrupted neural network associated with sensorimotor hallucinations.

Rapid Recalibration of Peri-Personal Space; Psychophysical, Electrophysiological, and Neural Network Modeling Evidence

The paper demonstrates that peri-personal space encoding adapts rapidly to sensory history, supported by psychophysical, electrophysiological, and neural network modeling evidence.