Niels Birbaumer

Niels Birbaumer, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus of Behavioral Neurobiology at the University of Tubingen, Germany, and a Guest Professor of Neuroengeneering at The University of Padova, Italy. He is one of the highest decorated Neuroscientists in Germany and a pioneer of research on the neurobehavioral treatment of criminal psychopathy, epilepsy, and motor paralysis.

He and his team have developed brain-computer interfaces (BCI) that allow the direct transfer of brain activity information to computers. This neuro link technology supports computer-aided self-regulation of Brain systems, and brain communication in paralysis, movement, and behavior change. His research in the sphere of criminal justice has helped identify the regions of the brain responsible for psychopathic criminal behavior and tendencies. He has also developed and tested behavioral neurofeedback training for criminal psychopaths. He and his team have shown that concealed information can be uncovered by the application of transcranial non-invasive currents to the brain.

Prof. Birbaumer has published more than 700 scientific papers in prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as Nature and Science. He is the author of more than 20 books, chief among them being the bestselling book “Your Brain Knows More Than You Think”, which is translated into many languages.

Professor Birbaumers’ seminal work has made him a highly sought-after authority who has held several important academic positions globally. Among them, he is a Professor of Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania; visiting Professor at the University of Madison, Wisconsin; and a visiting Professor at the NIH, Bethesda, Maryland in the US. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Tubingen, Germany, and Professor at the University of Munich, Germany; visiting Professor at Complutense University, Madrid, Spain, Professor at the University of Padova, Italy and Professor at the University of Trento, Italy.

He is a Fellow of several scientific societies such as AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science), APA (American Psychological Association), President of the Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR), and several European Scientific Organizations. He is a member of the German National Academy of Science and the Academy of Science and Literature, Mainz, Germany.

Professor Birbaumer received his Ph.D. in Experimental and Clinical Psychology at the University of Vienna in 1969; completed his clinical education at the Middlesex Hospital, London, and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich; and became Full Professor of Physiological and Clinical Psychology at the Univ. of Tubingen in 1975. Prof. Birbaumer has received four prestigious honorary doctorates from the Universities of Jena (Germany); Complutense University, Madrid; University of Vienna, Austria; and University of Salzburg, Austria.

He is a certified Psychological Psychotherapist and was director of several clinical programs at Universities and Neurological Hospitals, chief among them being in the University of Tubingen and at Ospedale San Camillo, Venice, Italy.