Michiel van Elk

Michiel has a deep interest in altered states of consciousness (ASCs), as induced through meditation, sensory deprivation, psychedelics and other means. By using a variety of different techniques, including self-report measures, interviews, expectancy manipulations, neuroimaging tools, psychophysiological techniques and pharmacological challenges he aims to understand how ASCs come about, the effects they have on our behavior and well-being and the philosophical implications of ASCs for our views on the self and reality.

At Leiden University Michiel is involved in teaching courses on Consciousness, Evaluating an Empirical Study and other courses. Michiel supervises internships, bachelor and master projects on cognitive neuroscience related topics.

Michiel obtained degrees in philosophy (MA), biological psychology (MSc) and the psychology of religion (MSc) in Utrecht, Amsterdam and Nijmegen. He completed his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Donders Institute in Nijmegen (cum laude).

He worked as a visiting researcher at the University of California Santa Barbara (2010), as a Marie Curie post-dotoral fellow at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland (2010-2012), as a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University (2017), as a Research Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS) in Amsterdam (2019-2010) and as a researcher at the University of Amsterdam (2013-2020).

Since 2020 Michiel is affiliated as Associate Professor to the University of Leiden and supported by prestigious grants from the John Templeton Foundation, NWO and the BIAL Foundation he supervises the Psychedelic, Religious, Self-transcendent and Mystical Experiences (PRSM) Lab (https://prsmlab.com/).

He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journals, including Nature Human Behavior, Cortex, Scientific Reports and Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (current h-index = 36).

Michiel has also published several popular science books on such different topics as the Babybrain, the Evolution of Religion, Ecstatic Experiences and Psychedelics.