Feeling the presence of a non-physical entity, experiencing being outside of one’s own body and alleviating the sensation of pain without medicine – these experiences sound like science fiction movie themes . However, recent neuroscience research has explored how these occurrences happen by ordinary means while investigating the underlying brain mechanisms that induce them. Pavo Orepić of the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience (LNCO) of École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland will present what his lab has discovered about what happens in one's brain while experiencing these “supernatural” sensations and how can they be induced by external sensory manipulation.

Pavo Orepić is a neuroscience PhD student at EPFL in Switzerland. He is currently involved in several projects at the Center for Neuromodulation, located at the Department of Neurosurgery at The Ohio State University (OSU). Having graduated in computer science at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany, his job is developing virtual reality technologies that are being used as tools for prominent neuroscience research.

Admission is free. Donations to offset meeting expenses will be gratefully accepted.

The Upstairs Arts Space is located in Beechwold at the corner of Sheffield and High (next to Beechwold Hardware). Look for the stairs behind the stone facade (sorry, no elevator).