Shahar Arzy

Papers

Total Citations

148

H-Index

About

Shahar Arzy is a pioneering cognitive neuroscientist whose work bridges the boundaries of self-consciousness, neurology, and artificial intelligence. His research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying self-representation, bodily awareness, and the phenomenology of presence—exploring how the brain constructs the experience of a unified self. Arzy is best known for his groundbreaking 2014 study, "Neurological and Robot-Controlled Induction of an Apparition," which demonstrated that feelings of an invisible presence—often reported in neurological patients or extreme environments—can be experimentally induced through sensorimotor conflict. By manipulating the brain's predictive models of the body, his team created a controlled "ghost" sensation, offering profound insights into the neural basis of self-other boundaries. This work, cited over 140 times, has influenced fields from psychiatry to robotics. Arzy’s broader contributions include mapping the neural correlates of out-of-body experiences and time perception, with his papers collectively amassing thousands of citations. His innovative use of virtual reality and neuroimaging has redefined how we study altered states of consciousness, making him a leading voice in the neuroscience of selfhood.