Press Releases

The human brain is not fully developed at birth. Above all, it is still quite slow. Rapid brain activity, and thus the ability to process fast signals, only matures in the first years of life. In a study published in the journal Science Advances, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig (MPI CBS) have shown for the first time that the slowness of the baby brain is crucial for the course of language acquisition. more

Central learning and memory hubs change in response to sex hormones. A new study in Nature Mental Health by Rachel Zsido and Julia Sacher of MPI CBS and the University of Leipzig Medical Center links rhythmic oscillations in ovarian hormone levels in women during the menstrual cycle to changes in brain structure. more

Autism is a complex and multifaceted neurodevelopmental condition. Often, people with autism have altered information and perceptual processing in the brain, which alters the development of social interaction, communication and behavioural repertoires. Thus, compared to non-autistic individuals, they show subtle changes in the asymmetry of the brain structure and a lower laterality of functional activation, in terms of the use of the left or right hemisphere in the brain. Bin Wan and Sofie Valk from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig and Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany), together with international researchers from South Korea, UK, Switzerland, and Canada, have now investigated in a study whether such functional asymmetries in autism are indicative of altered systematic organisation in the brain in general. more

The Max Planck Society honours young scientists and researchers each year with the Otto Hahn Medal for outstanding scientific achievements. This year, Lara Puhlmann and Esra Al from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) won two of the coveted awards. more

Our mental health and that of our cardiovascular system have a complex interaction. A recent study from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in Leipzig, Germany, now shows the links between higher blood pressure and depressive symptoms, well-being and emotion-related brain activity that may be relevant to the development of hypertension. more

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig have found evidence that the language we speak shapes the connectivity in our brains that may underlie the way we think. With the help of magnetic resonance tomography, they looked deep into the brains of native German and Arabic speakers and discovered differences in the wiring of the language regions in the brain. more

Scientists led by Julia Sacher from MPI CBS and Osama Sabri from the Leipzig University Hospital have discovered in an elaborate patient study that the transport of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain increases in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) shortly before menstruation. Their findings provide the basis for a more targeted therapy of this specific mood disorder, in which patients only have to take antidepressants for a few days. more

Anyone who has ever learned a foreign language knows how laborious it is to acquire vocabulary and grammar. In contrast, children acquire their first language seemingly effortlessly. By the age of four, many children are already speaking without errors and can draw on a large vocabulary. But how can the brain accomplish this? In a study published in the journal "Cerebral Cortex", scientists from MPI CBS now describe that the development of language ability in three to four year olds is accompanied by the maturation of brain areas within the same language network that is also responsible for understanding and producing language in adults. more

Communicating with babies in infant-directed-speech is considered an essential prerequisite for successful language development of the little ones. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences have now investigated how the mood of mothers in the postpartum period affects their child’s development. They found that even children whose mothers suffer from mild depressive mood that do not yet require medical treatment show early signs of delayed language development. The reason for this could be the way the women talk to the newborns. The findings could help prevent potential deficits early on. more

The biological age of a person can be accurately determined from brain images using the latest AI technology, so-called artificial neural networks. Until now, however, it was unclear which features these networks used to infer age. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences have now developed an algorithm that reveals: Age estimation goes back to a whole range of features in the brain, providing general information about a person's state of health. The algorithm could thus help to detect tumours or Alzheimer's disease more quickly and allows conclusions to be drawn about the neurological consequences of diseases such as diabetes. more

Although the brain is divided into two halves, it is not exactly a mirror image. Some functions are processed more on the left side, others more on the right. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) and Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ), together with an international team of neuroscientists, have now discovered heritable underpinnings of brain asymmetry—and—how much we share with monkeys. more

A team of neurophysicists, led by Malte Brammerloh of MPI CBS, found evidence that the identification of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sign for Parkinson's diagnosis, as a specific anatomical region in the brain, is widespread but not at all correct. A better understanding of the MRI contrast of the anatomical region called "nigrosome 1" has led to clarification of the misunderstanding and could even help diagnose Parkinson's earlier. more

A natural disaster, a dented car, an injured person - memories of traumatic experiences can be controlled by deliberately suppressing the images that arise. Until now, however, it was unclear what happens to the memory in the process and how the process is reflected in the brain. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) have now shown: The memories of the experiences fade and their traces in the brain are less strongly reactivated when we try to remember them. more

Persistent paralysis and coordination problems are among the most common consequences of a stroke. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig (MPI CBS), the University Medical Center Halle, and the Charité-Universitätsmedizin in Berlin have discovered that brain stimulation helps. Direct current, applied via electrodes attached to the head, led to significant improvement of patients’ impaired movements. In addition to showing pronounced effects after a single application, the study suggests that the therapy may need to be individually tailored to specific patients for optimal benefit. more

Playing an instrument presents an enormous challenge for our brains. How exactly the brain masters the complex coordination tasks needed to meet that challenge is the subject of two new studies by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt am Main (MPI AE) and the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig (MPI CBS). In their open-access article, just published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, the researchers identify the region of the brain in which a musical idea becomes a finger movement during solo playing; and they show that when playing duets, the brains of both musicians must be on the same “wavelength.” more

Mental training that promotes skills such as mindfulness, gratitude or compassion reduces the concentration of the stress hormone cortisol in hair. This is what scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig and the Social Neuroscience Research Group of the Max Planck Society in Berlin have found out. The amount of cortisol in hair provides information about how much a person is burdened by persistent stress. Earlier positive training effects had been shown in acutely stressful situations or on individual days - or were based on study participants’ self-reports. The current study thus provides the first objective evidence that mental training reduces physical signs of long periods of stress, even in healthy people. more

Smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other risk factors for cardiovascular diseases also increase the likelihood of suffering from depressive mood or depression. Until now, however, it was unclear whether this influence changes over the course of life or is independent of age. A study by the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and the University of Münster shows: Among those over 65, these risk factors play a smaller role in relation to depression than among younger. more

Over 70 million deaf people around the world use one of more than 200 different sign languages as their preferred form of communication. Although they access similar structures in the brain as spoken languages, it has been difficult to identify the brain regions that process both forms of language equally. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) have now discovered in a meta-analysis that Broca's area in the left hemisphere of the brain, which has already been shown to be the central hub for spoken languages, is also the crucial brain region for sign languages. This is where the grammar and meaning of language are processed, regardless of whether it is spoken or signed language. This shows that our brain is generally specialized in processing linguistic information. Whether this information is spoken or signed seems to be of secondary importance. more

Women are the majority of patients who are prescribed antidepressants – two out of three patients who have been prescribed a drug for depression are female. Some of these antidepressants are thought to help with motor recovery after stroke. While age-specific stroke rates are higher in men, women experience more frequent and more severe stroke events, and are less likely to recover. But in many pre-clinical trials it is still mainly male participants who are tested, although there is clear evidence of sex-specific differences in disease and the response to medication. In order to bridge this gap neuroscientists around Julia Sacher from the Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences have tested 64 healthy women, to see how their brain reacts to the combination of motor learning while taking a common antidepressant. Surprisingly, and in contrast to previous clinical trials, they found no improvement in motor learning among the participants. more

The brain never processes the same information in the same way. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) have found out why this is the case and how it works. A decisive role plays a critical state of the neuronal networks. more