Michiel van Elk
Associate Professor
- Name
- Dr. M. van Elk
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2727
- m.van.elk@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-7631-3551
Michiel van Elk is an associate professor at the unit of Cognitive Psychology of the Institute of Psychology.
More information about Michiel van Elk
News
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On this public day on psychedelics, researchers transcend the media hype -
Re-occurring moments to reflect on our values: ‘It’s about commitment to culture change' -
Leiden University celebrates curiosity at 449th Dies Natalis -
Night of Discoveries: 3D-printed paintings and the effects of psychedelics -
Lowlands as lab: virtual trips in the name of science -
Psychology Connected on ChatGPT: How can we use AI without losing our own cognitive skills? -
Psychologists at Lowlands Science: can virtual reality trigger a psychedelic experience? -
Podcast: A changing view on psychedelics -
Michiel van Elk in various media about psychedelics -
Psychologist writes sober book about psychedelic drugs -
Vidi grant for psychedelics research Michiel van Elk -
NWO Vidi grant for 11 Leiden researchers
Michiel van Elk is an associate professor at the unit of Cognitive Psychology of the Institute of Psychology.
Research on psychedelics, spirituality and altered states of consciousness
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.
Teaching
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.
Short CV
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 = 43). Michiel has also published several popular science books on such different topics as the Babybrain, the Evolution of Religion, Ecstatic Experiences and Psychedelics.
Grants
2022 – 2025 John Templeton Foundation ‘Mystical Entropy’ (co-applicant; €367.000)
2021 – 2024 John Templeton Foundation ‘The Open Science of Religion Project’ (co-applicant; €550.000)
2021 – 2023 The Heffter Institute (co-applicant; €42.500)
2021 – 2026 Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) VIDI Grant ‘Putting Psychedelics in perspective’ (main applicant; €800.000)
2017 – 2020 John Templeton Foundation ‘The implicit nature of unbelief’ (co-applicant; €120.000)
2016 – 2021 BIAL Research Grant, BIAL Foundation ‘Power of placebo’ (main applicant €45.000)
2019 – 2020 NIAS Research Fellowship (€25.000 + 9-month visit as research-fellow)
2017 – 2021 John Templeton Foundation ‘Religious Replication Project’ (main applicant; €197.000)
2017 Fulbright Senior Scholarship (€12.000 + 4-month visit as lecturer and researcher at Stanford University, USA)
2012 – 2016 NWO VENI Research Grant (main applicant; €250.000)
2010 – 2012 Marie Curie International Fellowship (EU FP7 grant; main applicant €187.000)
2010 Human Frontiers Science Program Short-term Fellowship (main applicant €10.000)
Supervised PhD Candidates
- PhD Thesis Supervisor Huseyin Beykoylu, Leiden University, 2022 - present
- PhD Thesis Supervisor Xaver Funk, Leiden University, 2022 – present
- PhD Thesis Supervisor Luisa Prochazkova, Leiden University, 2020 – present
- PhD Thesis Supervisor Zhao Chenxiao, Leiden University, 2021 - present
- PhD Thesis Supervisor Josephine Marschall, Leiden University, 2021 - present
- PhD Co-supervisor Erwin Krediet, LUMC, Leiden University 2020-present
- PhD Co-supervisor Lara Engelbert, VU University of Amsterdam 2018-present
- PhD Thesis Supervisor Suzanne Hoogeveen, University of Amsterdam 2017 – present
- PhD Thesis Supervisor David Maij, University of Amsterdam 2014 - 2018
Associate Professor
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Instituut Psychologie
- Cognitieve Psychologie
- Elk: M. van (2024), William James on overbeliefs:: the relation with self-deception, placebo-effects, and make-believe, Religion, Brain & Behavior : 1-4.
- Hoogeveeen S, Borsboom D., Kucharský S., Marsman D. & Elk M. van et al (2024), Prevalence, patterns and predictors of paranormal beliefs in The Netherlands: : a several-analysts approach, Royal Society Open Science 11(9): .
- Engelbert L.H., Elk M. van, Theeuwes J. & Vugt M. van (2024), The Role of Charismatic Leadership Tactics and Inconsistent Messages in Processing and Evaluating Climate Change Information, Collabra: Psychology 10(1): 121431.
- Carranante G. & Elk M. van (2024), Reconceptualizing Altered States of Consciousness Using Network-Based Tools:: A Conceptual Engineering Approach. In: Yaden D. & Elk M. vvan (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Psychedelic, Religious, Spiritual and Mystical Experiences. The Oxford Handbook of Psychedelic, Religious, Spiritual and Mystical Experiences 1-12.
- Folk D., Rutjens B.T., Elk M. van & Heine S.J. (2024), Dare to know!: The existential costs of a faith in science, The Journal of Positive Psychology : 1-12.
- Meling D., Ehrenkranz R., Nayak S.M., Aicher H.D., Funk X. & Elk M. van (2024), Mind the Psychedelic Hype:: Characterizing the risks and Benefits of Psychedelics for Depression , Psychoactives 3(2): 215-234.
- Yaden D.B. & Elk M. van (2024), Cultural dissonance and consonance in mystical-type experiences:: commentary on 'Finding consonance: an integrative neurocognitive model of human relationships with supernatural..., Religion, Brain & Behavior 14(1): 58-61.
- Girn M., Spreng R.N., Margulies D.D., Elk M. van & Lifshitz M. (2023), Trait absorption is not reliably associated with brain structure or resting-state functional connectivity, Neuroimage: Reports 3(2): .
- Elk M. van & Fried E.I. (2023), History repeating: guidelines to address common problems in psychedelic science, Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology 13: 1-20.
- Flameling L.J. & Aday J.S. Elk M. van (2023), Expectancy effects cannot be neglected in MDMA-Assisted therapy research, ACS Chemical Neuroscience 14(23): 4062-4063.
- Elk M. van (2023), Explaining religion from the inside out, Religion, Brain & Behavior 13(1): 1-5.
- Seynaeve M., Besien A. van & Elk M. van (2023), Therapeutische toepassingen van klassieke serotonerge psychedelica: neurobiologische mechanismes en neurale netwerken, Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie 10: 613-618.
- Flameling L.J., Aday J.S. & Elk M. van (2023), Expectancy effects cannot be neglected in MDMA-assisted therapy research, ACS Chemical Neuroscience 14(23): 4062-4063.
- Elk M. van & Yaden D. (2023), De-Siloing the psychology of religion and psychedelic science: introduction to the special issue on psychedelics and mystical-type experiences, The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 33(4): 255-258.
- Hoogeveen S., Sarafoglou A., Aczel B., Aditya Y., Alayan A.J., Allen P.J., Altay S., Alzahawi S., Amir Y., Vincent Anthony F., Appiah O.K., Atkinson Q.D., Baiimel A., Balkaya-Ince M., Balsamo M., BankerS., Bartoš F., Becerra M., Beffara B., Beitner J., Bendixen T., Berkessel J.B., Berniūnas R., Billet M.I., Billingsley J., Bortolini T., Breitsohl H., Bret A., Brown F.L., Brown J., Brumbaugh C.C., Buczny J., Bulbulia J., Caballero S., Carlucci L., Carmichael C.L., Cattaneo M.E.G.V., Charles S.J., Claessens S., Panagopoulos M.C., Brandelli Costa A., Crone D.L., Czoschke S., Czymara C., Damiano D'Urso E., Dahlström O., Dalla Rosa A., Danielsson H., De Ron J., Vries Y.A. de, Dean K.K., Dik B.J., Disabato D.J., Doherty J.K., Draws T., Drouhot L., Dujmovic M., DunhamY., Ebert T., Edelsbrunner P.A., Eerland A., Elbaek C.T., Farahmand S., Farahmand H., Farias M., Feliccia A.A., Fischer K., Fischer R., Fisher-Thompson D., Francis Z., Frick S., Frisch L.K., Geraldes D., Gerdin E., Geven L., Ghasemi O., Gielens E., Gligorić V., Hagel K., Hajdu N., Hamilton H.R., Imaduddin Hamzah I., Hanel P.H., Hawk C.E., K. Himawan K.K., Holding B.C., Homman L.E., Ingendahl M., Inkilä H., Inman M.L., Islam C.G., Isler O., Izydorczyk D., Jaeger B., Johnson K.A., Jong J., Karl J.A., Kaszubowski E., Katz B.A., Keefer L.A., Kelchtermans S., Kelly J.M., Klein R.A., Kleinberg B., Knowles M.L., Kołczyńska M., Koller D., Krasko J., Kritzler S., Krypotos A.M., Kyritsis T., Landes T.L., Laukenmann R., Lavender Forsyth G.A., Lazar A., Lehman B.J., Levy N., Lo R.F., Lodder P., Lorenz J., Łowicki P., Ly A.L., Maassen E., Magyar-Russell G.M., Maier M., Marsh D.R., Martinez N., Martinie M., Martoyo I., Mason S.E., Lundahl Mauritsen A., McAleer P.I., McCauley T., McCullough M., McKay R., McMahon C.M., McNamara A.A., Means K.K., Mercier B., Mitkidis P., Monin B., Moon J.W., Moreau D., Morgan J., Murphy J., Muscatt G., Nägel C., Nagy T., Nalborczyk L., Nilsonne G., Noack P., Norenzayan A., Nuijten M.B., Olsson-Collentine A., Oviedo L., Pavlov Y.G., Pawelski J..O., Pearson H.I., Pedder H., Peetz H.K., Pinus M., Pirutinsky S., Polito V., Porubanova M., Poulin M.J., Prenoveau J.M., Prince M.A., Protzko J., Pryor C., Purzycki B.G., Qiu L., Pütter J.O., Rabelo A., Radell M.L., Ramsay J.E., Reid G., Roberts A.J., Root Luna L.M., Ross R.M., Roszak P., Roy N., Saarelainen S.M.K., Sasaki J.Y., Schaumans C., Schivinski B., Schmitt M.C., Schnitker S.A., Schnuerch M., Schreiner M.R., Schüttengruber V., Sebben S., Segerstrom S.C., Seryczyńska B., Shjoedt U., Simsek M., Sleegers W.W.A., Smith E.R., Sowden W.J., Späth M., Spörlein C., Stedden W., Stoevenbelt A.H., Stuber S., Sulik J., Suwartono C., Syropoulos S., Szaszi B., Szecsi P., Tappin B.M., Tay L., Thibault R.T., Thompson B., Thurn C.M., Torralba J., Tuthill S.D., Ullein A.M., Aert R.C.M. van, Assen M.A.L.M. van, Cappellen P. van, Akker O.R. van den, Cruyssen I. van der, Noll J. van der, Dongen N.N.N. van, Lissa C.J. van, Mulukom V. van, Ravenzwaaij D. van, Zyl C.J.J. van, Vaughn L.A., Većkalov B., Verschuere B., Vianello M., Vilanova F., Vishkin A., Vogel V., Vogelsmeier V.D.E., Watanabe S., White C.J.M., Wiebels K., Wiechert S., Willett Z.Z., Witkowiak M., Witvliet C.V.O., Wiwad D., Wuyts R., Xygalatas D., Yang X. Yeo D.J., Yilmaz O., Zarzeczna N., Zhao Y., Zijlmans J., Elk M. van & Wagenmakers E.J. (2023), A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being, Religion, Brain & Behavior 13(3): 237-283.
- Hoogeveen S., Sarafoglou A., Elk M. van & Wagemakers E.U. (2022), Many-analysts religion project: : Reflection and conclusion, Religion, Brain & Behavior : 356-363.
- Miesen M.M. van der, Lande G.J.M. van der, Hoogeveen S., Schjoedt U. & Elk M. van (2022), The effect of source credibility on the evaluation of statements in a spiritual and scientific context: a registered report study, Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology : 1-26.
- Hoogeveen S., Haaf J.M., Bulbulia J.A., Ross R.M., McKay R., Altay S., Elk M. van & et al. (2022), The Einstein effect provides global evidence for scientific source credibility effects and the influence of religiosity, Nature Human Behaviour 6(4): 523-535.
- Kohek M., Ona G., Elk M. van, Guimarães Dos Santos R., Hallak J.C.E., Alcázar-Córcoles M.A. & Bouso J.C. (2022), Ayahuasca and public health II: health status in a large sample of Ayahuasca-ceremony participants in the Netherlands, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs : .
- Marschall J.C., Fejer G., Lempe P., Prochazkova L., Kuchar M., Hajkova K. & Elk M. van (2022), Psilocybin microdosing does not affect emotion-related symptoms and processing: a preregistered field and lab-based study, Journal of Psychopharmacology 36(1): 97-113.
- Elk M. van (2022), Explaining religion from the inside-out, Religion, Brain & Behavior 1(5): .
- Lewis-Healey E., Laukkonen R. & Elk M. van (2022), Future directions for clinical psilocybin research : the relaxed symptom network, Psychology & Neuroscience : .
- Goclowska M.A., Elliot A.J., Elk M. van, Bulska D., Thorstenson C.A. & Baas M. (2022), Awe arises in reaction to exceeded rather than disconfirmed expectancies, Emotion : .
- Engelbert L.H., Elk M. van, Kandrik M., Theeuwes J. & Vugt M. van (2022), The effect of charismatic leaders on followers' memory, error detection, persuasion and prosocial behavior: a cognitive science approach, The Leadership Quarterly: an international journal of political, social and behavioral science : 101656.
- Davis E.B., Lacey E.K., Heydt E.J., LaBouff J.P., Barker S.B., Elk M. van & Ladd K.L. (2022), Sixty years of studying the sacred: auditing and advancing the psychology of religion and spirituality, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality : .
- Elk M. van & Yaden D.B. (2022), Pharmacological, neural, and psychological mechanisms underlying psychedelics: a critical review, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 140: 104793.
- Elk M. van (2022), Proximate and ultimate causes of supernatural beliefs, Frontiers in Psychology 13: 949131.
- Elk M. van, Fejer G., Lempe P., Prochazkova L., Kuchar M., Hakova K. & Marschall J. (2021), Effects of psilocybin microdosing on awe and aesthetic experiences: a preregisterd field and labbased study, Psychopharmacology : .
- Ross R.M., Aert R.C.M. van, Akker O. van den & Elk M. van (2021), The role of meta-analysis and preregistration in assessing the evidence for cleansing effects, Behavioral and Brain Sciences 44: e19.
- Elk M. van (2021), A predictive processing framework of tool use, Cortex 139: 211-221.
- Elk M. van (2021), Assessing the religion-health relationship: introduction to the meta-analysis by Garssen et al., and two commentaries, The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 31(1): 1-3.
- Breeksema J.J. & Elk M. van (2021), Working with weirdness : a response to “Moving Past Mysticism in Psychedelic Science”, ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science 4(4): 1471-1474.
- Elk M. van (2021), Een nuchtere kijk op psychedelica: wat de wetenschap ons kan leren over geestverruiming. Amsterdam: Das Mag.
- Marschall J.C., Fejer G., Lempe P., Prochazkova L., Kuchar M., Hajkova K. & Elk M. van (2021), Psilocybin microdosing does not affect emotion-related symptoms and processing: : a preregistered field and labbased study, Journal of Psychopharmacology : .
- Neely-Prado A., Elk M. van, Navarrete G., Hola F. & Huepe D. (2021), Social adaptation in context: the differential role of religiosity and self-esteem in vulnerable vs. non-vulnerable populations–a registered report study, Frontiers in Psychology 12: 519623.
- Van Elk M. & Naaman L. (2020), Religious Unbelief in Israel: A Replication Study identifying and Characterizing Unbelievers using Latent Class Analysis, The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 30(4): 288-303.
- Van Mullukom V., Patterson R. & Van Elk M. (2020), Broadening your Mind to Include Others - The relationship between serotonergic psychedelic experiences and maladaptive narcissism, Psychopharmacology 237: 2725-2737.
- Elk M. van, Groenendijk E. & Hoogeveen S. (2020), Placebo brain stimulation affects subjective but not neurocognitive measures of error processing, Journal of Cognitive Enhancement 4: 389-400.
- Hoogeveen S. Snoek L. Elk M. van (2020), Religious Belief and Cognitive Conflict Sensitivity: A Preregistered fMRI Study, Cortex 129: 247-265.
- Elk M. van (2020), What's hidden in my filedrawer and what's in yours? Disclosing Non-published Findings in the Cognitive Science of Religion, Religion, Brain and Behavior : .
- Van Elk M., Maij D.L.R. & Rutjens B.T. (2020), Development of a Porous theory of mind scale and the relation with paranormal beliefs, Journal of Cognition and Culture 20(1-2): 41-65.
- Lindeman M., Marin P., Schjoedt U. & Van Elk M. (2020), Nonreligious identity in Three Western European Countries: A closer Look at Nonbelievers' Self-identifications and Attitudes Towards Religion, The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 30(4): 288-303.
- Elk M. van Snoek L. (2020), The Relationship Between Individual Differences in Gray Matter Volume and Religiosity and Mystical Experiences: A Pre-registered Voxel-based Morphometry Study, European Journal of Neuroscience 51(3): 850-865.
- Elk M. van (2020), What’s hidden in my filedrawer and what’s in yours? : Disclosing non-published findings in the cognitive science of religion, Religion, Brain and Behavior 11(1): 5-16.