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About

Eva Blondiaux is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of neuroscience and robotics, whose work has fundamentally advanced our understanding of hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Her primary research areas include sensorimotor processing, neuropsychiatric symptoms in neurodegenerative disorders, and the use of robotics to probe altered brain network dynamics. Blondiaux’s major contribution lies in developing a novel, robotics-based approach to induce and study presence hallucinations (PHs)—the unsettling feeling that someone is nearby when no one is there. By applying conflicting sensorimotor stimulation, she has enabled the controlled induction of PHs in a laboratory setting, allowing for real-time assessment of their neural underpinnings. Her most cited work, “Robot-induced hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease depend on altered sensorimotor processing in fronto-temporal network” (2021, 51 citations), reveals that these hallucinations stem from disrupted integration within fronto-temporal networks. This breakthrough has profound implications, as PHs are a major risk factor for psychosis and dementia in PD. Her subsequent studies (2022, 18 citations; 2021, 10 citations) further demonstrate how robotic stimulation triggers subtle changes in brain network transitions, offering a powerful tool for early detection and intervention. Blondiaux’s innovative fusion of robotics and clinical neuroscience is reshaping how we diagnose and treat hallucinatory phenomena, making her a leading voice in translational neuropsychiatry.