Ruhr University Bochum
Faculty of Psychology
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
Department of Neuropsychology
Universitätsstr. 150
D-44801 Bochum
Office: IB 6/57
Email: malte.kobelt@rub.de
I applied neuroimaging and electrophysiological methods (EEG, fMRI, simultaneous EEG-fMRI) to establish a fundamental understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying involuntary memories. In particular, I focussed on the formation and reinstatement of memory representations and how these mechanisms differ between involuntary and voluntary memories. As unwanted memory intrusions are a hallmark symptom in various mental disorders such as PTSD, I aim to translate these mechanisms into a clinical framework using distressing films as a trauma analogue.
Since 2020: Research Associate
Department of Neuropsychology, Ruhr University Bochum
2019-2020: Research Scientists
Center for Lifespan Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development Berlin
2016-2019: Research Assistant
Department of Neuropsychology, Ruhr University Bochum
2018: Student Internship
LWL-Klinik Dortmund
2014-2016: Statistic Tutor
Department of Experimental Psychology and Methodology, Ruhr University Bochum
2020-2025: Doctorate
Department of Neuropsychology, Ruhr University Bochum
PhD Thesis: Tracking Neural Representations of Trauma- Analog Memory Intrusions: A Multivariate Neuroimaging Approach to Memory Dysfunction (summa cum laude)
2016-2018: M. Sc. in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
Ruhr University Bochum
Thesis: Beyond goal-directed retrieval processes – incidental and intentional memory retrieval reinstate varying memory representations
2013-2016: B. Sc. in Psychology
Ruhr University Bochum
Thesis: Ein Vergleich der Elektrophysiologie während des intentionalen und inzidentellen Abrufs des episodischen Gedächtnisses
Rau EMB, Fellner MC, Heinen R, Zhang H, Yin Q, Vahidi P, Kobelt M, Asano E, Kim-McManus O, Sattar S, Lin JJ, Auguste KI, Chang EF, King-Stephens D, Weber PB, Laxer KD, Knight RT, Johnson EL, Ofen N, Axmacher N (2025) Reinstatement and transformation of memory traces for recognition. Sci Adv 11(8):eadp9336. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adp9336
Kobelt M, Waldhauser GT, Rupietta A, Heinen R, Rau EMB, Kessler H, Axmacher N (2024) The memory trace of an intrusive trauma-analog episode. Curr Biol 34(8):1657-1669.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.03.005
Shkreli L, Thoroddsen T, Kobelt M, Martens MAG, Browning M, Harmer CJ, Cowen P, Reinecke A (2024) Acute Angiotensin II Receptor Blockade Facilitates Parahippocampal Processing During Memory Encoding in High-Trait-Anxious Individuals. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci 4(2):100286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsgos.2023.100286
Pauley C, Kobelt M, Werkle-Bergner M, Sander MC (2023) Age differences in neural distinctiveness during memory encoding, retrieval, and reinstatement. Cereb Cortex 33(16):9489-9503. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhad219
RETRACTED: Pauley C, Sommer VR, Kobelt M, Keresztes A, Werkle-Bergner M, Sander MC (2022) Age-related declines in neural selectivity manifest differentially during encoding and recognition
Neurobiol Aging 112:139-150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.12.001
RETRACTION NOTICE
RETRACTED: Kobelt M, Sommer VR, Keresztes A, Werkle-Bergner M, Sander MC (2021) Tracking Age Differences in Neural Distinctiveness across Representational Levels. J Neurosci 41(15):3499-3511. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2038-20.2021
RETRACTION NOTICE
2023: Graduate Student Award
Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, USA
More information
2020-2023: PhD Scholarship
German Academic Scholarship Foundation
Poster Presentations
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