Department of Neuropsychology

We are pleased to announce that the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) have approved a joint research project. The project is entitled “Transformation of autobiographical memories through empathic interactions” and will use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), among other methods, to investigate the influence of empathy on autobiographical memory over the next three years.

Involuntary and voluntary memory retrieval relies on distinct neural representations and oscillatory processes
Involuntary memory retrieval is central to posttraumatic stress disorder and common in daily life, yet its neural basis remains unclear. Using a visual half-field paradigm with EEG, we examined how involuntary and voluntary retrieval differ. Involuntary retrieval reactivated sensory feature–dependent but item-unspecific representations via extended replay, with mid-frontal theta increases signaling interference. Voluntary retrieval engaged prefrontal–medial temporal processes to reinstate temporally compressed, item-specific representations. These results reveal distinct neural mechanisms shaping episodic memory and psychological well-being.

On 26.06.2025 Malte Kobelt successfully defended his dissertation entitled "Tracking Neural Representations of Trauma-Analog Memory Intrusions: A Multivariate Neuroimaging Approach to Memory Dysfunction". The committee consisting of Nikolai Axmacher, Markus Werkle-Bergner, Oliver T. Wolf, and Armin Zlomuzica was very impressed by his work and awarded Malte with summa cum laude. Congratulations!

Characterizing BOLD activation patterns in the human hippocampus with laminar fMRI
The human hippocampus has been extensively studied at the macroscale using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) but the underlying microcircuits at the mesoscale (i.e., at the level of layers) are largely uninvestigated in humans. We target two questions fundamental to hippocampal laminar fMRI: How does the venous bias affect the interpretation of hippocampal laminar responses, and is it possible to establish a benchmark laminar fMRI experiment which robustly elicits single-subject hippocampal activation utilizing the most widely applied GRE-BOLD contrast.