I am a research assistant professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences, with a background in psychology and philosophy. My earlier work examined interactions between bodily and exteroceptive modalities in shaping perceptual experience. Currently, I develop a geometric framework modeling the stream of consciousness as a trajectory through experiential state space – exploring how the structure of transitions relates to the sense of self and time, whose distortions are a hallmark of altered states of consciousness. Two empirical lines develop in parallel with the framework: (i) deriving the state space bottom-up from dissimilarity ratings between altered states; (ii) investigating parametrically varied VR-simulated hallucinations – their subjective and physiological effects – as a non-pharmacological route to controlled sequences of altered experience. I have held research stays at the Max Planck Institute, Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science, and Hokkaido University, and teach consciousness science and experimental psychology at the University of Warsaw.
Research
Mapping the space of altered states. I reconstruct the space of conscious states from dissimilarity ratings between experiences induced by different psychoactive substances, and from natural language processing of first-person reports – including reports from psychopathological and neurological conditions.
VR-simulated hallucinations. In the VR Hallucination Machine, machine-learning algorithms distort the participant’s view and evoke hallucination-like experiences. Because the type and intensity of the distortions are under experimental control, the induced states – more or less distant from everyday experience – can be arranged into planned sequences. These studies combine time-perception measures, free descriptions of the state, and physiological indices (eye-tracking and electrocardiography).
Body, action and awareness. My earlier empirical work examined how bodily and sensory signals shape perception – spanning binocular rivalry, multisensory body ownership, and cardiac influences on somatosensory and visual perception. My doctoral thesis (2022) addressed how body movement shapes visual experience during binocular rivalry.
Code and data for published studies are openly available – see Code & data.
Teaching
University of Warsaw: Consciousness Science: Phenomena and Mechanisms (seminar) and Experimental Psychology (classes).