NCCR-Synapsy

The Synaptic Bases of Mental Diseases

Amputees consider their prosthetic limb is an extension of their own body

prosthetic arm

Merely having the prosthetic limb is not enough to assist the amputees with their activities. Many amputees skip the extended use of their prosthetic limb as their misplaced limb does not meet the criteria of their prosthesis. This actually means that Read more…


Virtual reality reduces phantom pain in paraplegics

VR paraplegics

Virtual reality reduces phantom body pain in paraplegics and creates the illusion that they can feel their paralyzed legs being touched again. The results could one day translate into therapies to reduce chronic pain in paraplegics. In breakthrough research led Read more…


Sleepwalkers are better at automatic walking

Olaf Blanke portrait

Sleepwalkers who are awake may have a multi-tasking advantage over non-sleepwalkers, according to recent research that uses virtual reality. Try counting backwards from 200 in steps of 7 while walking en-route to your favorite café. Chances are, you will slow Read more…


Advanced artificial limbs mapped in the brain

Artificial arm

EPFL scientists from the Center for Neuroprosthetics have used functional MRI to show how the brain re-maps motor and sensory pathways following targeted muscle and sensory reinnervation (TMSR), a neuroprosthetic approach where residual limb nerves are rerouted towards intact muscles Read more…


A brain-system that builds confidence in what we see, hear and touch

Building brain confidence

A series of experiments at EPFL provide conclusive evidence that the brain uses a single mechanism (supramodality) to estimate confidence in different senses such as audition, touch, or vision. The study is published in the Journal of Neuroscience. Behavioral scientists Read more…


Body ownership is not impaired in schizophrenia

Body Ownership

Schizophrenia patients often experience an altered sense of self, for example, as if someone else is controlling their actions. This impairment is described as a deficit in the “sense of agency”, and while it has been well established and linked Read more…


Immersive virtual-reality creation software for everyone

VR software

IMVERSE, an EPFL spinoff, has developed a software that lets users convert 360-degree images from 2D into 3D and both manipulate and create virtual-reality content in real time with the help of virtual-reality glasses. The system will be unveiled at Read more…


Neuroscientists awaken ghosts… hidden in our cortex

ghost in cortex

Ghosts only exist in our minds, and we know precisely where to look for them. Patients suffering from neurological or psychiatric conditions have often reported a strange “feeling of a presence”. EPFL researchers have now succeeded in recreating this illusion Read more…


Full body illusion is associated with a drop in skin temperature

ghost limb

Researchers from the Center for Neuroprosthetics at the EPFL show that people can be tricked into feeling that an image of a human figure -an avatar- is their own body. The study is published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Read more…