Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences

Happy to share this early Christmas present 🎄: our paper about geometry- and locomotion-dependence of 3D memory got published in PNAS! Joint work with co-first-author Volker Reisner (@reisnerv.bsky.social) as well as Leonard König, Misun Kim & Christian Doeller
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/

We’re very happy to share that our work on 3D spatial memory was published in PNAS just before the end of the year! 🎉
Link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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Your brain on imagination: Study reveals how the mind's eye helps us learn and change A new study shows that merely imagining a positive encounter with someone can make you like them better by engaging brain regions involved with learning and

Did you know that imagining a positive encounter with someone can make you like them more? New research led by CU Boulder and @mpicbs.bsky.social found that the brain responds to imagined events in similar ways to real experiences.

Explore the findings ↓
https://bit.ly/3Y8WyGQ

Christian Doeller erhält Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Preis 2026 Christian Doeller erhält Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Preis 2026

Unser Direktor Christian Doeller @doellerlab.bsky.social erhält den #LeibnizPreis 2026 🤩 Ausgezeichnet wird er für seine Arbeiten in den Kognitiven #Neurowissenschaften und der #Psychologie, mit denen er wertvolle Erkenntnisse über die Struktur des menschlichen #Denkens liefert. tinyurl.com/4ffk7jur

Die Leibniz-Preisträger 2025 von links nach rechts: Klaus Blaum, Christian Doeller und Johannes Krause. Fotos: © Stefanie Aumiller, Steffen Roth, Thomas Victor

Wir freuen uns sehr, dass Klaus Blaum, Christian Doeller und Johannes Krause in diesem Jahr mit Leibniz-Preisen geehrt werden. Die #LeibnizPreise der DFG gelten als wichtigste deutsche Forschungspreise. 👏 @dfg.de

Wow! We're celebrating the exciting news 🍾 Huge congratulations to our director Christian Doeller @doellerlab.bsky.social for receiving Germany's most prestigious research award! 🤩 #LeibnizPreis #researchaward

Your brain on imagination: Study reveals how the mind’s eye helps us learn and change Your brain on imagination: Study reveals how the mind’s eye helps us learn and change

Your #brain on imagination: Study reveals how the mind’s eye helps us learn and change - @rolandbenoit.bsky.social from @colorado.edu and Aroma Dabas from MPI CBS show that merely imagining a positive encounter with someone can make you like them better: tinyurl.com/bde6ttwk

Lars Meyer receives ERC Consolidator Grant from the EU Lars Meyer receives ERC Consolidator Grant from the EU

Lars Meyer receives #ERC Consolidator Grant from @erc.europa.eu 🥳
For his project "Language in Balance: an Imprint of Brain Electrophysiology? (BALANG)”, Lars Meyer @languagecycles.bsky.social receives funding of up to 2 million euros over the next 5 years. Huge congratulations! tinyurl.com/4a5y78nz

When AI “thinks” like us New research forms a bridge between human and machine representation

When #AI “thinks” like us - New research out now in @nature.com from @lukasmut.bsky.social & @lampinen.bsky.social & @tuberlin.bsky.social & @mpib-berlin.bsky.social forms a bridge between #human and #machine representation. tinyurl.com/nhd4ycsh

Noise as a Signal – A New Electrical Signature of Parkinson’s Disease Noise as a Signal – A New Electrical Signature of Parkinson’s Disease

Noise as a Signal – Moritz Gerster, Vadim Nikulin & Arno Villringer analysed data from 119 patients & discovered a new electrical signature of #Parkinson’s Disease, now published in @ebiomedicine.bsky.social: www.cbs.mpg.de/2412209/2025...
#parkinsontherapy #clinicalstudy

Focusing on one voice requires both listening and ignoring Focusing on one voice requires both listening and ignoring

Imagine chatting at a party & trying to #listen to your friend while others #talking – difficult, isn’t it? Vivien Barchet & @gesahartwigsen.bsky.social with @ae.mpg.de & @uniluebeck.bsky.social show what happens in the 🧠 when we try to focus on one 🗣️ while ignoring another: tinyurl.com/3pkrs4zm

Genome-wide analysis of brain age identifies 59 associated loci and unveils relationships with mental and physical health - Nature Aging This genomic study of magnetic resonance imaging-based brain age in 56,348 people identifies 59 genetic loci, links brain aging to mental and physical health, and suggests high blood pressure and type...

Genomic study of brain age in 56,348 people identifies 59 genetic loci, links brain aging to mental and phys health, and suggests high blood pressure and T2D as causal factors of brain aging #brainage @pjawinski.bsky.social @humboldtuni.bsky.social @mpicbs.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s43...

🔎Wir suchen zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt eine engagierte und kompetente Persönlichkeit für die

Verwaltungsleitung (m/w/d)
in Vollzeit | unbefristet | #Leipzig
Bitte hier bewerben: recruitingapp-5218.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/43...?

#wissenschaft #administration #career #maxplanck

New approach to preventing social isolation New approach to preventing social isolation

New approach to preventing #social #isolation 🔎 - Laurenz Lammer and
@veronicawitte.bsky.social show that common #public health strategies that focus only on isolated people might be missing out on a lot of the preventive potential of greater social integration: www.cbs.mpg.de/2403543/2025...

Very happy to announce that I have been awarded the ERC starting grant for my proposal SOCIAL CONNECTIONS (SOCO). Super grateful for the support and feedback from my team, friends, colleagues and institutions @mpicbs.bsky.social and @fz-juelich.de along the way 😍

erc.europa.eu/news-events/...

Beyond thrilled to share that I've been awarded an ERC Starting Grant to study the role of the human entorhinal cortex in episodic memory! 🎉🎉 🥳 🥳 🧠 🧠 Many thanks to my friends, colleagues and institutions who supported me along the way! @erc.europa.eu #ERCStG

Sofie Valk and Daniel Reznik receive ERC Starting Grants Sofie Valk and Daniel Reznik receive ERC Starting Grants

Huge congratulations 🥳 to
@sofievalk.bsky.social
&
@reznikdan.bsky.social
for receiving ERC Starting Grants 2025! We're proud of you!
Learn more about their projects: www.cbs.mpg.de/2397348/2025...

Criminal minds in dementia

Criminal minds in #dementia: Broad meta-analysis by Matthias Schroeter & Lena Szabo in @nature.com including 236,360 persons. They found that larger atrophy in the brain is linked to criminal behavior in frontotemporal dementia, suggesting a loss of normal behavioral restraints. tinyurl.com/4dt6jd7s

What counts - you or me? Babies remember what is important to others What counts - you or me? Babies remember what is important to others

What counts - you or me? #Babies remember what is important to others 👶🏻 Adults remember information better if it relates to themselves. Charlotte Grosse Wiesmann & collegues investigated how this self-reference effect develops in infancy @nature.com : www.cbs.mpg.de/2386835/2025...

🧠👩‍🔬🤖🧏‍♀️💬 Come around! Tonight from 6pm on we have a mixed program filled with #neuroscience #brainscience #neurology #memory #strokerehabilitation #neurophysics #language #music - drinks and food! #leipzigscience

Our brain’s ability to organize action plans Our brain’s ability to organize action plans

#Human capacity to develop a diverse and highly complex repertoire of #action plans is truly remarkable 🏌️‍♀️⛹️‍♀️Irina Barnaveli & team @doellerlab.bsky.social explore in their study
@natcomms.nature.com how the #brain organizes action plans, using #virtualreality: tinyurl.com/55ne858s

Unnoticed lesions in the brain slow down thinking Unnoticed lesions in the brain slow down thinking

Unnoticed lesions in the #brain slow down thinking 👀 Frauke Beyer and Stephanie Debette @institutducerveau.bsky.social investigated in their study where such lesions occur in the brain, which factors favour this and how they are linked to #stroke and #dementia. www.cbs.mpg.de/2350220/2025...

Do you want to work as a #postdoc on #MRI-based in vivo histology with a special focus on risk factors for and disease progression in early-stage #Parkinson’s Disease? 🧠Please send in your application #neuroscience #neurophysics recruitingapp-5218.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/42...?

Core dimensions of human material perception | PNAS Visually categorizing and comparing materials is crucial for everyday behavior, but what organizational principles underlie our mental representati...

How #humans perceive materials, that's what Filipp Schmidt &
@martinhebart.bsky.social together with other colleagues from @jlugiessen.bsky.social took a look at in their new paper
@pnas.org 👗Graininess, blueness, viscosity: Only 36 dimensions are needed to capture #materials: tinyurl.com/2e8kknx6

How the menstrual cycle shapes heart and brain health How the menstrual cycle shapes heart and brain health

How the #MenstrualCycle shapes #heart and #brain health -
@jellinap.bsky.social together with Julia Sacher @cogneuroend.bsky.social & Arno Villringer describe how these naturally occurring variations might influence #stress, mood, and long-term #womenshealth: tinyurl.com/35pu6447

Nach Schlaganfall: Wie holt sich das Gehirn die Sprache zurück? Neue Erkenntnisse zur Wiederherstellung des Sprachvermögens sollen helfen, die Funktionsweise von funktionellen Netzwerken im Gehirn besser zu verstehen und die personalisierte Therapie nach einem Schlaganfall zu verbessern.

Eine Studie von 🇩🇪 @unileipzig.bsky.social, 🇩🇪 @mpicbs.bsky.social, 🇩🇪 Universitätsklinik Leipzig und 🇬🇧 @uniofcam.bsky.social zeigt, wie sich das #Gehirn nach einem #Schlaganfall reorganisiert, um das Sprachvermögen wieder zu verbessern. Davon könnten auch künftige Therapien profitieren.

New opinion paper by @ckerren.bsky.social with @benjamingriffiths.bsky.social & Daniel Reznik & Christian Doeller: "Exploring the role of dimensionality transformation in episodic memory" in Trends in Cognitive Sciences 🥳 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Open positions Max Planck Institute of Human Cognitive and Brain Science, Vacancies, Open positions

We are currently looking for an IT manager 👩‍💻🧑‍💻 You are a professional in #technical leadership, coordination of central #IT and #database teams? Then please apply until 16th February #computerscience #SoftwareEngineering : www.cbs.mpg.de/vacancies/op...

How asymmetry of brain halves contributes to human cognition How asymmetry of brain halves contributes to human cognition

The human 🧠 has two halves that make our behaviors and thoughts more efficient. How the asymmetry of the brain halves contributes to human cognition, examined @wanb.bsky.social & @sofievalk.bsky.social in their study in Nature Communications: www.cbs.mpg.de/2316389/2024...

Nominations and self-nominations sought for the position of Director at MPI CBS! The future Director’s research programme should focus on understanding the neural bases of human cognitive functions, using modern #neuroimaging methods. #science #maxplanck Please share: tinyurl.com/mu43uds6