event
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KAIST announced on May 1st that the KAIST Center for Contemplative Science and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences will host a two-day special invited lecture by Professor Olaf Blanke from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), a world-renowned scholar in the field of the neuroscience of self-consciousness. The event will take place from Wednesday, May 6th to Thursday, May 7th at the Conference Room in the Meta-Convergence Building on the KAIST Main Campus.
Professor Olaf Blanke is the Director of the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience (LNCO) at EPFL and holds the Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Cognitive Neuroprosthetics*. He is a pioneer in the field of the "neuroscience of self-consciousness," which studies how humans perceive themselves from a brain science perspective. *Cognitive Neuroprosthetics: A technology that connects the brain and machines to supplement or restore damaged sensory or cognitive functions.
He has been researching hallucinations and sensory abnormalities—such as feeling as though one's own body belongs to someone else—from a neuroscience perspective, and has achieved unrivaled success in the field of cognitive neuroprosthetics. In particular, he has presented innovative methods for diagnosing and treating Parkinson's disease and dementia using robotic technology and virtual reality (VR). Currently, he also serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Geneva University Hospital, actively participating in clinical research to connect the basic research results of his laboratory to actual patient treatment.
This lecture series will be divided into two sessions: an academic seminar for professional researchers and a public lecture for the general audience.
On the first day, Wednesday, May 6th at 1:00 PM, an academic seminar will be held under the theme of "Technodelics: Inducing and Measuring Hallucinations and Dementia in Parkinson's Disease Patients through the Combination of Robotics, Virtual Reality, and Neurotechnology." 'Technodelics' is a compound word derived from Technology and Psychedelics, referring to research that artificially reproduces specific sensations through advanced technology to analyze their causes.
Professor Blanke has demonstrated that giving specific stimuli to the brain using robotic devices and virtual reality (VR) can cause even healthy individuals to temporarily experience hallucinations of sensing someone else's presence. This serves as core evidence for objectively measuring the hallucination symptoms of Parkinson's disease patients and developing digital therapeutics* to alleviate them. This session will be conducted in English for majors and researchers in related fields. *Digital Therapeutics: Software-based medical technology used to prevent, manage, and treat diseases.
On the second day, Thursday, May 7th at 2:30 PM, a public lecture will be held under the theme of "From the Neuroscience of Self-Consciousness to Meditation Practice." When one practices meditation deeply, their sense of self changes, or they perceive interoception (internal bodily sensations such as breathing or heartbeat) differently than usual.
Professor Blanke plans to explain scientifically that the reason these changes occur is due to alterations in how the brain integrates various sensory information from inside and outside the body.
Furthermore, he will introduce research findings on how meditation practice reorganizes the brain's self-consciousness network and promotes mental health. This is expected to expand meditation—which has long been considered a subjective experience—into the domain of objective neuroscience research, while offering a new direction for stress management and psychological healing for people today. Simultaneous Korean translation will be provided for this lecture, and anyone is free to attend.
Wan-doo Kim, Director of the KAIST Center for Contemplative Science, stated, "This lecture, where Professor Olaf Blanke will directly explain the meaning of meditation from a neuroscientist's perspective, will provide scientific and profound insights for citizens interested in meditation."
The general public can attend free of charge, and registration is available via the link (
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