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Olaf Blanke
Olaf Blanke
Presentation title
Interoception and bodily self-consciousness: From Neuroscience to clinical applications and contemplative practice .
Biographical info
Olaf Blanke is Bertarelli Foundation Chair of Cognitive Neuroprosthetics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), where he directs the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at Geneva's Campus Biotech. He founded and directed EPFL’s Center for Neuroprosthetics (now EPFL’s Neuro-X Institute) and is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Geneva University Hospital. Blanke’s research focuses on the neuroscience of consciousness and embodiment, hallucinations and human augmentation as well as neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. Blanke pioneered robotics and virtual reality technology in neuroscience of consciousness, cognitive science, and recently meditation practice. Blanke has made several seminal contributions towards a neuroscientific theory of self-consciousness and showed how self-consciousness depends on cortical processing of specific multisensory bodily signals. This research established a data-driven model of self-consciousness and introduced the concept of bodily self-consciousness - a perceptual account of self-consciousness - that is based the processing of multisensory bodily signals(exteroceptive and interoceptive signals). These findings also led to a better understanding of out-of-body experiences and other related dissociative experiences and dissociative disorders. His medical-translational activities are dedicated to preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and devices in Parkinson’s disease, dementia and chronic pain conditions, alleviating pain, sustaining mental health and preventing cognitive decline. Blanke is co-founder of the wellbeing technology company Metaphysiks Engineering and member of the board and chief scientific advisor of the digital neurotherapeutics company Mindmaze.
Olga Pollatos
Olga Pollatos
Presentation title
Modulating Interoception: Multimodal Approaches to Emotions, Stress, and Neural Stimulation
Biographical info
Olga Pollatos is a leading expert in interoception and clinical psychology, currently Chair of Clinical & Health Psychology at Ulm University in Germany. Her research bridges psychological processes and brain function using advanced psychophysiological and neurostimulation methods. She combines clinical expertise—particularly in cognitive behavioral and child/adolescent psychotherapy—with a strong commitment to mentoring young scientists and clinicians. Her work explores the neural and physiological mechanisms underlying emotional and interoceptive processes, focusing on how bodily signals shape emotional awareness, regulation, and mental health. She uses functional MRI, EEG, heart rate variability, vagus nerve stimulation, and techniques like TMS and tDCS to study the brain–body connection. Her research covers stress, pain perception, eating behavior, and psychophysiological interventions such as mindfulness and biofeedback. Dr. Pollatos has published widely in international journals and actively contributes to interdisciplinary research in clinical psychology and neuroscience.
Corrado Corradi Dell'Acqua
Corrado Corradi Dell'Acqua
Presentation title
The Hurtful and Stinky Sides of Social Norms. How Social and Moral Violations influence the Representations of Somatic Experiences.
Biographical info
Corrado Corradi-Dell’Acqua is a neuroscientist and psychologist with extensive experience in investigating the neural mechanisms underlying pain, affect, and social cognition. He earned his PhD in Neuroscience from the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA/ISAS, Trieste), spent twelve years at the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences in Geneva, and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC) at the University of Trento. His research combines rigorous psychological methodologies with cutting-edge computational neuroimaging to explore how somatic and affective experiences—such as pain and disgust—interact with social and interpersonal processes. His interests range from fundamental questions about the functional roles of brain regions like the anterior insula and cingulate cortex in empathy and pain processing, to more translational projects focused on clinical decision-making and the diagnosis and management of pain.
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