Draft:Roy Salomon

Roy Salomon (born December 9, 1974) is an Israeli Neuroscientist, former associate Professor and Head of the Laboratory for the Study of Consciousness and Self at the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University. Since 2023, Salomon is a full Professor and Head of the Laboratory for the Study of Consciousness and Self at the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of Haifa.

Biography
Roy Salomon was born in Israel to Ilan Salomon, professor of geography at the Hebrew University and Meira (Miki) Salomon, computer systems manager and lawyer. He grew up in Jerusalem and was educated at the "Leyada" - The Hebrew University high school. He enlisted in the IDF in 1992, served as a combat soldier and commander in an elite unit of the Intelligence Corps, and in 1997, completed his service and discharged with the rank of lieutenant. Between the years 1999-2001 he completed a bachelor's degree in psychology as well as graduated from the Amirim Program for outstanding students, at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Salomon completed his master's degree in Cognitive Psychology at Tel Aviv University during the years 2003-2004.

In 2006, he began his doctoral studies in Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with the Weizmann Institute of Science on the topic "The Cognitive and Brain Mechanisms of the Self", under the guidance of Prof. Dominique Lamy and Prof. Raphael Malach. In 2011, he joined Prof. Olaf Blanke's laboratory at EPFL University in Switzerland, as a research fellow, where he focused on the brain mechanisms of the physical self. Between the years 2013-2015, he completed his post-doctoral studies at the Center for Neuroprosthetics at the EPFL University in Switzerland, under the guidance of Prof. Olaf Blanke.

From 2015 to 2016, he served as a lecturer at the University of Geneva at the Center for Neuroprosthetics.

As of 2016, Salomon serves as a senior lecturer at the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar Ilan University. Over the years 2018-2021 he headed the Ethics Committee of the Multidisciplinary Unit at Bar-Ilan University and in 2020; he was appointed an associate professor by Bar-Ilan University.

In 2021, Salomon established the Excellence Program of the Gonda Center for Brain Research.

Salomon lives with his spouse in Binyamina and the couple have three children.

His Research
Prof. Salomon's research focuses on the cognitive and brain mechanisms of the self and reality. In the research, Salomon investigates the following fundamental questions: "How does the brain allow us to sense that our body is ours (physical self)? What happens when we think about ourselves (reflexive self)? How do we have a sense of self that persists throughout life (narrative self)?". His research combines cognitive experiments with virtual reality and neurophysiological paradigms (EEG, fMRI, ECG) in humans, to examine how the brain builds a model of the body and the self.

In his studies, he was able to demonstrate that the brain builds a model of the physical self by combining signals originating from the senses as well as introspective senses (such as the heart and breathing) and motor movement in specific brain systems. Salomon also examines the perception of the self in patients with neurological and psychiatric impairments, who show impairment in the structure of the self. For example, his studies have shown that people suffering from psychosis, have difficulty distinguishing between the self and the other.

Another research question being investigated in Salomon's lab is how the brain decides whether something is real or not. The perception of reality is considered a key criterion for diagnosing neurological and psychiatric health. In this study "UNREAL", supported by an EU Research Grant (ERC), the investigated topic is how the reality model is built in our mind and how it is affected under psychiatric conditions and by the administration of psychoactive substances. The laboratory also examines how the perception of reality develops throughout childhood.

Research Methods
Salomon is using virtual reality in cognitive research of consciousness. His work shows how this new technology makes it possible to examine new scientific questions at the intersection of psychology, philosophy and brain research, such as senses of self and reality. Salomon conducts experiments using virtual reality, combining brain and physical signals (eye movements, motor signals, heart rate and breathing), in order to comprehend both the subject's subjective experience and the objective measures and signals.

Articles

 * The insula mediates access to awareness of visual stimuli presented synchronously to the heartbeat. Salomon, R. et al. (2016). Journal of Neuroscience, 36(18), 5115–5127.
 * Brain system for mental orientation in space, time, and person. Peer, M., Salomon, R. et al. (2015). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(35), 11072–11077.
 * Unconscious integration of multisensory bodily inputs in the peripersonal space shapes bodily self-consciousness. Salomon, R. et al. (2017). Cognition, 166, 174–183.
 * UnReal? Investigating the sense of reality and psychotic symptoms with virtual reality. Drori, G. et al. (2020), Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9(6), 1627.
 * Synchronous caregiving from birth to adulthood tunes humans’ social brain. Ulmer Yaniv, A., Salomon, R., et al. (2021). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(14), e2012900118.
 * Agency Deficits in a Human Genetic Model of Schizophrenia: Insights From 22q11DS Patients. Salomon, R. et al. (2021). Schizophrenia Bulletin.
 * The Principles of Art Therapy in Virtual Reality. Hacmun, I., Regev, D., & Salomon, R. (2018). Frontiers in Psychology, 9.
 * The dynamic boundaries of the Self: Serial dependence in the Sense of Agency. Stern, Y et al. (2022). Cortex, 152, 109–121.

Awards

 * 2020 - Founder and Director of V1 Excellence Program, Gonda Brain Research Center.
 * 2020 - Organizing Committee Psychedelic Medicine Conference 2023, Tel Aviv.
 * 2020-2022 Scientific Committee - Association for the Scientific study of Consciousness meeting Amsterdam.
 * 2019 - Chief Organizer, 2020 Association for the Scientific study of Consciousness meeting in Tel Aviv (postponed due to Covid-19 to 2021).
 * 2018 Representative for Israel in EU-COST action CA18106, The Neural Architecture of Consciousness.
 * 2017 - Nominated as Director of Committees, Association for the Scientific study of Consciousness.
 * 2007 European Science Foundation Outstanding presentation award.