Public Events: How Our Brain Perceives Music—Insights into the Research of the CoBIC Brain Research Center
One year after its official opening, the Cooperative Brain Imaging Center Frankfurt (CoBIC) is celebrating with a scientific symposium. CoBIC is a collaboration between Goethe University Frankfurt, the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA), and the Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) of the Max Planck Society. This close collaboration between basic science institutes and the Frankfurt University Medical Center provides researchers with a dynamic environment for innovative research projects.
In addition to numerous expert presentations, the symposium will feature two events for the public that explain brain research in an accessible way.
Robert Turner of the Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in Leipzig will discuss how music is perceived and processed in the brain. How does the brain change when we learn to play a musical instrument or read sheet music? How does the brain process music differently than language? How is it possible that musical memories persist despite dementia—that is, how is it possible that some people who can no longer speak due to illness are still able to sing songs? In a musical dialogue with Fredrik Ullén, Director at the MPIEA, Turner will discuss how music serves as a “window into general brain functions” in his lecture.
“Imaging Music in Our Brain”
Robert Turner, MPI CBS
moderated and accompanied by music from
Fredrik Ullén, MPIEA
Monday, April 20, 2026
6:15 p.m.
Ballroom at the Casino
Westend Campus
Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1
Goethe University Frankfurt
A series of interactive sessions at CoBIC’s new building in Frankfurt-Niederrad will explore the various questions that CoBIC researchers are investigating in their study of the human brain. What experiences a nerve cell within a network? How do thought processes differ between people with and without ADHD? How can high-field MRI be used to improve medical diagnoses or observe the brain at work? What happens in the brain when someone plays the piano while lying in an MRI scanner? How does diet affect brain performance? Researchers explore these questions in an accessible and entertaining way.
“Research at CoBIC”
Frankfurt Researchers
Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at 3:00 p.m.
Cooperative Brain Imaging Center (CoBIC)
Heinrich-Hoffmann-Straße 9
Niederrad Campus
Goethe University Frankfurt
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Goethe University Frankfurt
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