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 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.

Research Group Leader: Dr. Carmel Raz

The "Histories of Music, Mind, and Body" Research Group existed from 2018–2025 and was led by Carmel Raz. Its members explored how specific philosophical, embodied, and medical understandings of musical experience can be historicized.

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.

Research Group Leader: Dr. Nori Jacoby

The Research Group Computational Auditory Perception existed from 2018 to 2025 and was led by Nori Jacoby. Focusing largely on the auditory modality, its members explored the roles of experience and exposure in creating and affecting our perception of the world.

Research Group Leader: Prof. Lucia Melloni, PhD

The Research Group Neural Circuits, Consciousness, and Cognition existed from 2022–2025 and was led by Lucia Melloni. The Group aimed to understand why some experiences feel the way they do (consciousness) and how such experiences are imprinted on our brain (learning and memory).