Research
Departments
Music
Director: Prof. Dr. Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann
Using a variety of methods, the Department of Music researches the processing, experiencing and evaluation of music, as well as behaviour during its reception.
Cognitive Neuropsychology
Director: Prof. Dr. Fredrik Ullén
The Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology investigates the neuropsychological mechanisms of musical expertise, skill learning and creativity, as well as relations between cultural engagement, well-being and health.
Research Groups
Histories of Music, Mind, and Body
The "Histories of Music, Mind, and Body" Research Group seeks to historicize specific philosophical, embodied, and medical understandings of the experience of music.
Neural Codes of Intelligence
The Neural Codes of Intelligence research group investigates the neural processing principles that underlie central aspects of human intelligence in order to understand how information processing supports intelligent behavior and shapes cognitive abilities.
Computational Auditory Perception
Focusing largely on the auditory modality, the "Computational Auditory Perception" Research Group explores the roles of experience and exposure in creating and affecting our perception of the world.
Neurocognition of Music and Language
The Research Group “Neurocognition of Music and Language” explores perceptual, cognitive, and expressive similarities and differences between music and language, as well as their neural grounding and links with aesthetics.
Neural Circuits, Consciousness, and Cognition
The Research Group Neural Circuits, Consciousness, and Cognition seeks to understand why some experiences feel the way they do (consciousness) and how such experiences are imprinted on our brain (learning and memory).
Externally Funded Research
Biological Anthropology of Literature (Heisenberg Position)
This research project is funded by the DFG’s Heisenberg Program. It investigates the phylogenetic preconditions of poetic behavior
INHABIT // Artist-in-Residence
The INHABIT program fosters the exchange between artists and scientists and enables new and challenging perspectives towards the research at the institute. The new Artist-in-Residence program calls on artists interested in cooperating with scientists from the humanities and natural sciences who are active in aesthetics research.
Neuroscience
Director: Prof. David Poeppel, PhD
The Department of Neuroscience under the direction of David Poeppel existed from 2014–2021. It worked on the neurobiology of hearing, language processing, and music, including the dimensions of aesthetic experience.
Research Group Neural and Environmental Rhythms
Research Group Leader: Molly Henry, PhD
The Research Group Neural and Environmental Rhythms existed from 2019–2024 and was led by Molly Henry. Researchers in the group took a dynamical systems approach to understanding brain–environment synchrony, conceptualizing and modeling brain rhythms as generated by neural oscillators.
Language and Literature
Director: Prof. Dr. Winfried Menninghaus
The Department of Language and Literature under the direction of Winfried Menninghaus existed from 2013–2022. It worked on the aesthetically relevant features and the aesthetic perception as well as the evaluation of linguistic utterances and texts, with a specific focus on literature.