Dr. Iris Mencke
Research Focus
- Aesthetic experience in contemporary classical music
- Electrophysiological correlates and neural substrates of musical expectancy and musical pleasure
- Music perception
Vita
Academic Education
| 01/2022 | Doctoral Degree, Psychology (Dr. rer. nat.), Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany |
2016 | M.A. Musicology, Humboldt-University, Berlin |
2012 | B.A. German studies / Musicology, University of Potsdam |
Career
| Since 2022 | Guest Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Department of Music, Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
2016–2022 | Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Department of Music, Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
2019–2020 | Visiting Researcher at the Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark |
2015–2016 | Placement Student at the Music, Mind & Brain group, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom |
Publications
Publications
Mencke, I., Omigie, D., Quiroga-Martinez, D. R., & Brattico, E. (2022). Atonal Music as a Model for Investigating Exploratory Behavior. Frontiers in Neuroscience 16. doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.793163
Mencke I, Seibert C, Brattico E, Wald-Fuhrmann M. (2022). Comparing the aesthetic experience of classic–romantic and contemporary classical music: An interview study. Psychology of Music. June 2022. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/03057356221091312
Mencke, I., Quiroga-Martinez, D. R., Omigie, D., Michalareas, G., Schwarzacher, F., Trusbak Haumann, N., Vuust, P., & Brattico, E. (2021). Prediction under uncertainty: Dissociating sensory from cognitive expectations in highly uncertain musical contexts. Brain Research,1773: 147664. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147664.
Mencke, I., Omigie, D., Wald-Fuhrmann, M., & Brattico, E. (2018). Atonal music: Can uncertainty lead to pleasure? Frontiers in Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience, doi: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00979.
Conference Papers
Mencke, I., Herzfeld-Schild, M.-L. (2022) Erfahrungsdimensionen Neuer Musik. Zur intradisziplinären Verknüpfung von psychologischer und kulturwissenschaftlicher Musikforschung, XVIII International Congress of the German Musicological Society (GFM), Berlin, Germany.
Mencke, I., Quiroga, D., Omigie, D., Haumann, N. T., Schwarzacher, F., Michalareas, G., Vuust, P., Brattico, E. (2022) Prediction Under Uncertainty: Dissociating Sensory from Cognitive Expectations in Highly Uncertain Musical Contexts. Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS), San Francisco, California, USA
Mencke, I., Seibert, C., Brattico, E., Wald-Fuhrmann, M. (2021) Comparing aesthetic experience of classic-romantic and contemporary classical music - An interview study. XVII International Congress of the German Musicological Society (GFM), Bonn, Germany.
Mencke, I., Seibert, C., Brattico, E., Wald-Fuhrmann, M. (2021)Comparing aesthetic experience of classic-romantic and contemporary classical music - An interview study. XXVI Conference of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA), London, United Kingdom.
Mencke, I. (2021) Exploration Revisited – New Music as a Model for Exploratory Behavior Under High Uncertainty Conditions. Conference ‘Art and Affect in the Predictive Mind‘, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
Mencke, I., Quiroga, D., Omigie, D., Haumann, N. T., Schwarzacher, F., Michalareas, G., Vuust, P., Brattico, E. (2021) Prediction Under Uncertainty: Dissociating Sensory from Cognitive Expectations in Highly Uncertain Musical Contexts. 16th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition / 11th triennial conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ICMPC/ESCOM). Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Mencke, I., Quiroga, D., Omigie, D., Haumann, N. T., Schwarzacher, F., Michalareas, G., Vuust, P., Brattico, E. (2021) Prediction Under Uncertainty: Dissociating Sensory from Cognitive Expectations in Highly Uncertain Musical Contexts. The Neurosciences and Music – VII, Aaarhus, Denmark.
Fischinger, T., Mencke, I. (2019). Some Psychological Constraints and Mechanisms for the Perception and Cognition of Time and Rhythm: A theoretical review. Symposium “Time changes in experiences of music and dance“, Hamburg, Germany.
Mencke, I., Seibert, C., Brattico, E., Wald-Fuhrmann, M. (2019). Can Uncertainty lead to Pleasure? The Case of Contemporary Classical Music. Interdisciplinarity Revisited, International symposium organised by the Volkswagen foundation, Berlin, Germany.
Mencke, I., Seibert, C., Brattico, E., Wald-Fuhrmann, M. (2018). Aesthetic experience and musical pleasure in modern music – an interview study. 15th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition / 10th triennial conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music, Graz.
Floridou, G. A., Mencke, I., Caprini, F., Williamson, V., Müllensiefen, D. (2017). Novel involuntary musical imagery: The genesis of a tune in the mind.25th Anniversary Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music, Ghent.
Monographs
Fischinger, T. & Mencke, I. (forthcoming). Some Psychological Constraints and Mechanisms for the Perception and Cognition of Time and Rhythm. In H. Neuhoff & R. Polak (Eds.), Musical Meter in Comparative Perspective - Theoretical Discourse and Case Studies from Various Cultures. Köln: Dohr.
Awards & Grants
Awards & Grants
2019 | Travel grant, Volkswagen Foundation, Symposium ‘Interdisciplinarity Revisited’ at Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany | ||
| 2017 | Travel grant, Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University; for a 6-months research stay at the 'Center for Music in the Brain', Department of Clinical Medicin, Aarhus University, Denmark | ||
2016 | Research Training Supplement of the Graduate School of Health Science (Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark) | ||
2015/16 | DAAD stipend (PROMOS program) for research stay at the Music, Mind and Brain group, Goldsmiths, University of London | ||
2014 | DAAD stipend for a research stay in Milano, Italy | ||
Projects
- The pleasure of contemporary classical music
This project explores the mechanisms that drive the appreciation of new and contemporary classical music (i.e. Western art music from the 20th and 21st century). Since this style of music often contains a high degree of dissonance, is often atonal ...
- Exploring the aesthetic experience of classic-romantic and contemporary classical music - An interview study
This subproject is a phenomenological and exploratory analysis of the complex perceptual processes that occur when listening to contemporary classical music. This is achieved by means of 16 qualitative interviews with 8 experts from the field of ...
- Prediction under uncertainty: Neural correlates of New music
This subproject investigates the neural mechanisms that contribute to the appreciation of contemporary classical music (CCM). The neuroscientific research on musical pleasure has so far focused on Western tonal music. It has been associated with ...