{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Short description|Austrian academic}} thumb|right|Niels Bierbaumer in 2017 '''Niels Birbaumer''' (born 11 May 1945) is an Austrian academic who served as a professor at the University of Tübingen until 2019.<ref name="IEEE Xplore c606">{{cite web |title=Authors. Niels Birbaumer| website=IEEE Xplore | url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37266417300 | access-date=21 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/university/news-and-publications/press-releases/press-releases/article/untersuchungskommission-stellt-wissenschaftliches-fehlverhalten-durch-tuebinger-hirnforscher-fest/|title=Untersuchungskommission stellt wissenschaftliches Fehlverhalten durch Tübinger Hirnforscher fest | University of Tübingen|website=uni-tuebingen.de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/allinthemind/niels-birbaumer/9498958|title=Prof Niels Birbaumer|website=ABC Radio National}}</ref>
==Research career== In 2017, Birbaumer's study claimed that a brain-computer interface (BCI) device, applied via an electrode cap, enabled four ALS patients to communicate binary responses.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.statnews.com/2022/03/22/niels-birbaumer-brain-computer-interface-research/|title=With new 'brain-reading' research, a once-tarnished scientist seeks redemption|first=Meghana|last=Keshavan|date=March 22, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/the-fall-of-niels-birbaumer|title=The Fall of Niels Birbaumer|website=Discover Magazine}}</ref> This drew considerable attention due to its implications for quality of life.<ref name="auto"/> However, the study's replicability was questioned, leading to a German Research Foundation (DFG) investigation, which found the research data incomplete and the results flawed.<ref name="auto"/> As a result, Birbaumer's work was retracted, his funding revoked, and he was dismissed from the university.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02862-4|title=Prominent German neuroscientist committed misconduct in 'brain-reading' research|first=Alison|last=Abbott|date=September 21, 2019|journal=Nature|via=www.nature.com|doi=10.1038/d41586-019-02862-4|pmid=32951022 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> He relocated to Italy.<ref name="auto"/>
Despite the controversy, Birbaumer and his colleague Chaudhary received public support from several scientists.<ref name="auto"/> Notably, the BCI technology, which was first demonstrated successfully in a tetraplegic patient in 2006, was applied in Birbaumer's research to a patient without any voluntary muscle control for the first time.<ref name="auto"/>
The BCI was implanted in 2019 into the brain of a 34-year-old man with locked-in syndrome. After several trials, researchers decoded "yes" or "no" signals into sentences.<ref name="auto"/> The study, which spanned 462 days, was meticulously documented.<ref name="auto"/> Seward Rutkove, Chair of Neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, affirmed the BCI's efficacy but questioned its practicality due to cost and limited applicability.<ref name="auto"/>
In March 2022, Birbaumer published a new study in Nature Communications that builds on his prior work.<ref name="auto"/> Birbaumer and Chaudhary also claimed to have won lawsuits supporting the integrity of their PLOS report, showcasing the use of a BCI in a patient devoid of voluntary muscle control.<ref name="auto"/>
In April 2022, DFG and Birbaumer settled the legal dispute.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dfg.de/en/service/press/press_releases/2022/press_release_no_09/index.html|title=DFG and Niels Birbaumer Settle Legal Dispute|website=www.dfg.de}}</ref>
== Selected publications == * {{cite journal |title=A spelling device for the paralysed |first1=N. |last1=Birbaumer |first2=N. |last2=Ghanayim |first3=T. |last3=Hinterberger |first4=I. |last4=Iversen |first5=B. |last5=Kotchoubey |first6=A. |last6=Kübler |first7=J. |last7=Perelmouter |first8=E. |last8=Taub |first9=H. |last9=Flor |journal=Nature |volume=398 |pages=297–298 |year=1999 |issue=6725 |doi=10.1038/18581|pmid=10192330 |bibcode=1999Natur.398..297B }} * {{cite book |title=Biologische Psychologie |first1=Niels |last1=Birbaumer |first2=Robert F. |last2=Schmidt |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |edition=7 |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-662-58025-7}} * {{cite journal |title=Brain–computer interfaces for communication and rehabilitation |first1=Ujwal |last1=Chaudhary |first2=Niels |last2=Birbaumer |first3=Ander |last3=Ramos-Murguialday |journal=Nature Reviews Neurology |date=2016 |volume=12 |issue=9 |pages=513–525 |doi=10.1038/nrneurol.2016.113 |pmid=27539560 }} * {{cite journal |title=Closed-loop brain training: the science of neurofeedback |first1=Ranganatha |last1=Sitaram |first2=Tomas |last2=Ros |first3=Luke |last3=Stoeckel |first4=Sven |last4=Haller |first5=Frank |last5=Scharnowski |first6=Jarrod |last6=Lewis-Peacock |first7=Nikolaus |last7=Weiskopf |first8=Maria Laura |last8=Blefari |first9=Mohit |last9=Rana |first10=Ethan |last10=Oblak |first11=Niels |last11=Birbaumer |first12=James |last12=Sulzer |date=2017 |journal=Nature Reviews Neuroscience |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=86–100 |doi=10.1038/nrn.2016.164|pmid=28003656 |url=http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/226939 }} * {{cite book |title=Your brain knows more than you think: the new frontiers of neuroplasticity |first1=Niels |last1=Birbaumer |first2=Jörg |last2=Zittlau |publisher=SCRIBE |location=Melbourne; London |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-925322-36-1}} * {{cite book |title=Empty brain happy brain: how thinking is overrated |first1=Niels |last1=Birbaumer |first2=Jörg |last2=Zittlau |publisher=Scribe |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-911344-58-2}} * {{cite book |title=The Mind Reader. A life in science |publisher=Lulu Press |year=2025 |isbn=978-1-300-65556-5}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Albert Einstein World Award of Science Laureates|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birbaumer, Niels}} Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:Austrian neuroscientists Category:University of Vienna alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of Tübingen Category:Academic staff of LMU Munich Category:Pennsylvania State University faculty Category:Academic staff of the University of Padua Category:Academic staff of the University of Trento Category:Albert Einstein World Award of Science Laureates