Centre for

Cognitive

Neuroscience

The laboratory for “Sleep, Cognition, and Consciousness” works in two main domains. This includes cognition during sleep, specifically how information is consolidated over periods of sleep, in addition to understanding how new incoming information is processed during sleep in babies, the pupils and in adult sleep periods. This stream of research also includes information processing in “altered states of consciousness” and therefore focuses on the processing of stimuli before birth, in the fetus, as well as during various stages of sleep or even pathological states of consciousness such as post-comatose states. In addition to these topics, the laboratory is interested in applied sleep research and focuses on non-pharmacological ways to improve sleep from the habitual bad sleeper to the clinical insomniac.

manuel.schabus@plus.ac.at

+43 662 8044 5113

kerstin.hoedlmoser@plus.ac.at

+43 662 8044 5143

www.sleepscience.at

The group is interested how the brain makes sense of sounds, also in the face of challenges such as background noise or hearing loss. This includes rehabilitation of listening in deaf individuals following cochlea implantation. Furthermore, the group tries to understand factors that lead to illusory perception of sounds, such as tinnitus.

nathan.weisz@plus.ac.at

+43 662 8044 5120

braindynamics.sbg.ac.at/auditory-neuroscience-group

The Hormone Research Unit (HuG-Lab) focuses on the interactions between the nervous system and the endocrine system as the basis of information processing underlying human behaviour. To that end, we utilize hormone analyses and genetic analyses in combination with neurocognitive methods. For a better understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms, we seek to parallel our approaches in humans by animal studies. Previous and ongoing work includes studies on sex differences, hormone cycles, stress effects and hormonal contraceptives. A particular focus lies on women's health and a better understanding of the female brain.

belinda.pletzer@plus.ac.at

+43 662 8044 5184

In the eating behavior laboratory, we are investigating why people have eating habits that do not contribute to good health. Therefore, we study whether food cravings, stress- and emotion related eating, self-reward driven eating or strict dietary restraint are contributing to unhealthy eating and overeating. We study healthy individuals but also individuals affected by overweight, obesity or eating disorders. For better understanding of these reasons for unhealthy eating, we combine laboratory-based methods (eye tracking, psychophysiology, EEG, functional neuroimaging) with naturalistic methods (ecological momentary assessment by using smartphone-based momentary questions). We also develop interventions that support healthy eating, particularly smartphone-delivered interventions in every-day life (i.e., ‘ecological momentary interventions’ or ‘just-in-time adaptive interventions’).

jens.blechert@plus.ac.at

+43 662 8044 5163

We are primarily interested in higher cognitive functions like reading and visual cognition, decision-making, social cognitive processes, their development and disorders affecting these processes and how these higher cognitive functions are implemented in the brain. We have a strong focus and interest in the bidirectional links between behavior and brain data and how these links can advance our understanding of cognitive processes.

The group further investigates the neuronal underpinning and mechanisms of normal and disordered cognition. Our main research topics are the neurocognitive mechanism of normal reading (development) and the causation of reading disorder (i.e., developmental dyslexia), the neural correlates of decision making and pathological gambling, and the neuronal signature of psychiatric disorder such as, for example, schizophrenia. Besides (f)MRI, we study these phenomena with EEG, eye tracking and pupillometry and behavioral experiments.

florian.hutzler@plus.ac.at

+43 662 8044 5114

martin.kronbichler@plus.ac.at

The research group focuses on the neurobiology of language, the way in which language is implemented by the brain. In particular, we concentrate on three main topics: a) language comprehension and the role of linguistic prediction, b) sign language and, more recently, c) multilingualism as well as L2+ learning and processing with a focus on (inter- & intra-) individual differences and across various age groups. We conduct research using electroencephalography (EEG), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS),and behavioral techniques (e.g. eye-tracking).

dietmar.roehm@plus.ac.at

+43 662 8044 4271

The group is interested in neural correlates of mental files, which provide a cognitive architecture for representing concrete objects. We focus on cases where objects are represented in different ways. The required processes find application in a great variety of areas ranging from understanding identity, mathematical equations, recognition, and theory of mind.

josef.perner@plus.ac.at

+43 662 8044 5124

e.trinka@salk.at