PROF. DR. BERNHARD JOSEF MITTERAUER

Professor of Forensic Neuropsychiatry

Salzburg, Austria

 

Dr. Bernhard Josef Mitterauer was born on October 31,1943, in the Austrian city of Salzburg. He enjoyed a Catholic-Humanistic education within his family as well as at school. In 1969 he graduated with an M.D. from the University of Graz. Eight years later he received his academic degree in Neuropsychiatry and Psychoanalysis. Between 1976 and 1984 Dr. Mitterauer studied Philosophy with Gotthard Günther, the famous Philosopher of Cybernetics, in Hamburg. He developed a close friendship and intensive scientific collaboration with Günther, whose philosophy has influenced Dr. Mitterauer’s work up to this day. In 1984 Dr. Mitterauer was appointed a Professor of Neuropsychiatry at the University of Graz. He has been serving as a Professor and Head of Forensic Neuropsychiatry at the University of Salzburg since 1989. He has been married to Gertraud Laimböck since 1970, and they have a daughter and a son.

 

Concurrently with his practical work as a Neuropsychiatrist, Dr. Mitterauer has been involved in interdisciplinary research in Biocybernetics since the beginning of his professional career. In the 1970’s he published basic research studies on emotion, depression, narcissism and self-observation. Notably, in 1981 he earned the Eiselberg Award for his already internationally acknowledged research on suicide. During the 1980’s he published numerous studies dealing with a new “dialectic” psychopathology. His book Architectonics, Metaphysics of Feasibility deals with a future-oriented interpretation of technical activities, especially the development of robots. An important result of Dr. Mitterauer’s basic research is the development of a novel model mental disorders, called “Architectonic Psychopathology”. Recently he has founded the Volitronics-Institute for Basic Research, Psychopathology and Brain Philosophy. These research programs are currently published in international journals and presently in 20 book publications.

 

Dr. Mitterauer has patented the most important findings of his biocybernetic brain research. To date a total of 11 international patents have been granted to him. He has also developed a new brain theory, which not only considers the neuronal systems but also accounts for the glial systems of the brain. Based upon this theory, which was first detailed in 1998 in Biosystems, Dr. Mitterauer has shown that enormous consequences arise from our understanding of consciousness, psychiatric disorders, and finally, even for the development of “brain-similar” computers or robots. In addition, concerning his research on consciousness, his study entitled Some Principles for Conscious Robots, published in the Journal of Intelligent Systems in 2000, deserves mention. Based upon his new brain theory, Dr. Mitterauer has also developed a new type of computer hardware called clocked perception mechanism. After his retirement from the University of Salzburg he founded the Volitronics Institute for Basic Research, Psychotherapy and Brain Philosophy.

 

Having realized that molecular Biology is making fascinating discoveries, Dr. Mitterauer, in also pursuing this avenue, has postulated molecular biologically-oriented hypotheses concerning the etiology of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and manic-depressive as well as schizophrenic disorders. In 2013 Dr. Mitterauer donated the Gotthard Günther Archives to the Staatsbibliotek in Berlin where his scientific work is also archived. Currently, he focuses on a new interdisciplinary approach to philosophy, called Architectonic Philosophy. His preferred recreation activity is listening to classic Jazz or Big Band music.