08.09.2026
Welcome, Niv!
Niv is joining the group as a (remotely working) Postdoctoral Researcher/Guest Scientist as part of a collaborative project with the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. We look forward to working with you!
19.08.2026
Talk at IICCSSS summer school
Svenja B. discusses our work on memory reactivation across brain states with students at the International Interdisciplinary Computational Cognitive Science Summer School in Tübingen.
24.07.2026
„Memory Engrams of Basic Visual Features in the Early Visual Cortex: Evidence from fMRI“
Half a year of work on the CHROMA project came to a close as Miriam presented her results at the Institute’s Breakfast Talk, marking the finish line for her Master’s thesis. Congratulations, Miriam!
04.07.-10.07.2026
Manfredi and Marius at FENS Forum 2026 in Barcelona
Next stop: FENS Forum 2026 in Barcelona, Europe’s largest neuroscience conference, where Manfredi and Marius joined thousands of researchers from around the world. With a focus on animal research, much of their week revolved around talks on the cellular mechanisms of stress and learning – plenty of food for thought from labs working on related questions. They also brought their own posters along, sparking some great discussions at the poster sessions.
25.06.2026
Visit to the MPI of Microstructure Physics in Halle
Svenja B. gives a talk on the importance of sleep for brain health to support the institute’s Mental Health Initiative and is rewarded with a private tour of one of the best-equipped spintronics laboratories in the world!
22.06.2026
Lab-night out on the Neckar: Stocherkahn
After a stretch of busy weeks, the lab swapped the office for a Stocherkahn – the traditional wooden punt boats that glide along the Neckar and are pretty much a Tübingen exclusive. Drifting past the old town with good food on board and the skyline lit up in the evening sun, it was exactly the kind of relaxed evening the lab needed. Proof that sometimes the best lab meeting happens on the water, not around a table. Thanks to Federica, David, and Sara-Estelle for organizing!
14.06.-18.06.2026
OHBM 2026 in Bordeaux
Bordeaux hit 40°C this June, but that didn’t stop Lena and Marius from making the most of the OHBM 2026 Annual Meeting. They presented their latest behavioral and fMRI results, traded ideas with leading MRI experts, and came away with fresh insight into where the field’s various MRI techniques are heading. And because every conference has its memorable moments — here’s the official video the organizers played during the opening ceremony.
12.06.2026
Marco Palombo visited the MPI as our external speaker for the Cybernetics Seminar
We were delighted to host Marco Palombo from the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), an expert in microstructural imaging, for a talk at our institute. Marco walked us through how modern machine learning methods, combined with generative models of brain tissue microstructure, are reshaping the way we infer cellular architecture from diffusion MRI. He also discussed how these tools extend beyond the brain to other organs, and how they open new windows onto tissue changes in both health and disease. The talk sparked a lively discussion, and afterwards Marco met with our lab members for one-on-one conversations about our ongoing projects, an exchange that produced plenty of useful ideas and a few new directions worth pursuing. Many thanks to Marco for making the trip and for a genuinely stimulating day.
22.05.2026
Farwell Lisa, we will miss you!
This week we said goodbye to Lisa, who has now finished her Master’s thesis in Computer Science with us, applying machine learning to the analysis of diffusion MRI data under Manfredi’s supervision. Over the past months she went from finding her footing in a new field to holding her own in discussions about model design, preprocessing, and the many small decisions that quietly determine whether an analysis works. She marked the occasion with a homemade chocolate cake, and we should also record our appreciation for her companionship in the sauna, our affectionately named office that stays warm no matter the season. Congratulations, Lisa, and all the best for whatever comes next!
20.05.-22.05.2026
Conference bound: Functional Architecture of Memory (FAM) in Magdeburg, Germany
Svenja B. and Lena head to FAM in Magdeburg, where both human and animal researchers come together to discuss all things memory. In her talk “Bypassing systems consolidation via rapid neocortical learning?”, Svenja takes a closer look at the conditions that facilitate memory formation across the cortical hierarchy. Lena complements the talk by presenting her most recent fMRI results in the data blitz, highlighting how rehearsal shapes the rapid formation of semantic and detail-rich memories. A few days packed with new perspectives, exciting data, and plenty of ideas to take back to the lab!
09.05.2026
Bildquelle: D. E. Vetter.
Lab tour and demo at Max Planck Open Day
On the Max Planck Campus open day, Miriam, Marco and David introduced the visitors from the general public to our sleep research. Visitors got a live impression of real-time EEG analysis and got to tour our sleep labs. We spent the time between demonstrations answering the many, many interested questions ranging from tips on how to sleep better to fundamental philosophical musings.
28.04.2026
Lab Night Out – Bicycle trip to Kirchentellinsfurt
Our lab members went on an after-work bicycle trip to Kirchentellinsfurt to enjoy summer breeze and ended up at a pizzeria. While the music at the restaurant is impeccable, the service leaves a rather different kind of impression that is memorable in its own way. Suitably fed, we made our way back to Tübingen just as the light turned, catching a glimpse of golden hour over the valley on the ride home. Thanks to Thananya and Marco for organizing!
23.04.2026
Girl’s Day at the MPI for Biological Cybernetics
Manfredi and Sara-Estelle welcomed Girl’s in our lab, showed the live-blobs at the 3T MRI, and gave a basic introduction to the research we do in our lab. Afterwards, Sara-Estelle, Lena and Lisa answered questions regarding (working in) science as a female. We were glad to be part of this event again, and look forward to next year!
20.04.2026
Hertie Network of Excellence in Clinical Neuroscience Kick off in Berlin
Today marks the start of our journey into the world of Clinical Neuroscience, enabled by Svenja’s Hertie Foundation Fellowship. We’ll investigate how real-world autobiographical memories can be shaped and protected.
16.04.2026
Poster-day at the Institute!
Once a year, the whole institute comes together for Poster Day – a chance for everyone, from Master’s and PhD students to group leaders, to put their work up on a poster and get feedback from colleagues down the hall. It’s a lot less formal than a conference, but arguably just as useful: wandering the floors, you quickly realize how much different research is happening under one roof, and more than one collaboration has started with someone stopping to ask, „wait, what are you actually doing?“ Coffee, snacks, and good conversation included – Poster Day never disappoints. See, for example, the poster Thananya presented here:
25.03.2025
Lab night: MRI & Neuroscience Pub quiz
The group got together for an evening pub quiz all about MRI and neuroscience, with teams competing over questions on brain anatomy, MRI physics, and everything in between. Some questions were easy, others had whole tables quietly arguing about the answer – but either way, it made for a fun evening away from the lab, with a bit of competition and a lot of laughs. A great way to test how much MRI knowledge actually sticks outside the scanner room. Thanks to Manfredi, Sepp and Marius for organizing!
23.03.2026
Podcast Episodes on our research
In two episodes of the Signals & Synapses podcast, Svenja takes her MPI colleagues Sophia Jahns and Simon Faßnacht on a dive into “The Science of Remembering” and “The Sleeping Brain” . Have a listen on any platform you may use 🙂
13.03.-19.03.2026
ISMRM workshop, ‚Fluids, Flows, and Clearance in the Brain‘
Manfredi attended the ISMRM workshop, ‚Fluids, Flows, and Clearance in the Brain‘, remotely. The workshop focused on the current state of MRI techniques for
measuring neurofluids, with a particular emphasis on the dynamics of blood and cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. The relationship between CSF flow, waste
clearance and the brain’s lymphatic system was a key focus, as was how these methods can be applied to address clinical issues related to traumatic brain
injury, Alzheimer’s disease, sleep disorders, hydrocephalus and ageing. The hands-on sessions on analyzing neurofluid MRI data and open-source tools
provided some very practical takeaways.
18.03.2026
EinBlick – One (in)sight into science
Svenja B. contributes to the public engagement talk series “EinBlick – Forschung verständlich”. In her talk “At night in the brain” she gives insights into three major functions of sleep: homeostatic regulation, memory consolidation and, potentially, brain clearance. You can find the kick-off interview in German here.
07.03.-10.03.2026
Marius & Lena at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) 2026 Annual Meeting in Vancouver, CA
Marius and Lena kicked off the conference year with a trip to Vancouver for the CNS 2026 Annual Meeting. Between presenting their posters, catching inspiring talks, and swapping ideas with researchers from around the globe, the schedule was packed – but they still carved out time to explore the stunning nature of Vancouver Island. A trip that mixed hard science with equally hard-to-beat scenery.
26.01.2026
Welcome Miriam!
We are happy to welcome Miriam to our lab! Miriam has joined the CHROMA team to complete her master’s thesis in psychology. We wish her a great time with us!
15.01.2026
Welcome Federica!
Today, we welcome Federica, who will join our lab for some time. We look forward to working with you!
15.01.2026
Welcome back, Sara-Estelle!
Sara-Estelle re-joins the lab as a Research Assistant. We look forward to continuing to work with you!
07.01.2026
Welcome Pauline!
Today, we welcome our new Lab rotation, Pauline! Pauline has joined the SWEEP team to complete his lab rotation. Congratulations!
2025
01.11.2025
Welcome Marco!
Today, we welcome our new Lab rotation, Marco! Marco has joined the REHA team to complete his lab rotation and master’s thesis. Congratulations!
01.10.2025
Welcome Christian!
Today, we welcome our new Research assistant, Christian! Christian has already done his master’s thesis with Lena on sleep scoring REHA’s data. From today, he will be supporting our main projects as a research assistant. Well done!
01.10.2025
Welcome, again, Thananya!
Today, we welcome our new Ph.D. student, Thananya Charoenpattarawut! Thananya has already done her master’s thesis and lab rotation with us, during which she investigated how rehearsal impacts memory consolidation using multivariate analysis.
21.09.2025
Lena at Frejus for 2025 ESRS Sleep Science School !
Congrats for your prize!
19.09.2025
Picture from the Poster-day 🙂
Congratulations, Sara-Estelle!
Sara-Estelle finished her Master’s in Neuro-Cognitive Psychology at LMU Munich. She did her Master’s Thesis with Marius in the CHROMA-project, using „fMRI Representational Similarity Analysis to detect Memory Signatures of Basic Visual Features in the Early Visual Cortex“. We are proud of her, and wish her all the best for the future!
15.09.2025
We are looking for Master Students!
15.09.2025
The Lab in Porto @ICON2025
We are glad to present our work and preliminary results at ICON2025!
01.09.2025
Welcome David!
We are happy to welcome our new postdoc David Emanuel Vetter! David had his PhD in the Ziemann Lab. (Hertie-Institute for clinical brain research) and he will work on experimentally demonstrating a differential influence of different sleep stages on memory consolidation and homeostasis
24.08.2025
The Lab in Mainz @ECVP2025
Marius is participating in @ECVP 2025 to present his project and get the latest insights in visual science.
13.08.2025
Bye, bye Paul!
Thank you for your support in the Lab! Your fellow Sauna-Office members will miss you (but at least we have the unicorn). We wish you all the best for your new endeavors!
18.06.2025
Together with gaislab at @PUG2025
01.04.2025
Welcome Sara!
We are happy to welcome Sara Kuppe to the lab! Sara studied cognitive science before her medical studies and will be writing her doctoral thesis with us.
24.02.2025
We are hiring!
We are looking for a postdoc interested in neuroimaging of sleep-dependent memory consolidation! For more information, please view our job ad.
25.01.2025
Outreach: Lab tour for the State Government of Baden-Württemberg
We are honored to host federal minister Winfried Kretschmann and his team during his visit to the Max Planck Campus and give practical insights into our work on sleep and memory consolidation.
14.01.2025
The lab gets new equipment Pt. 2!
Today we once more welcomed the team from MES Forschungssysteme, this time for setting up our new MRI-compatible EEG systems, featuring 64 channels and additional carbon-wire loops for MR artifact correction. Thank you for this very productive day!
07.01.2025
Welcome Sebastian!
Today Sebastian Müller starts his postdoctoral position in our lab! With a background in MR Physics he will support us in all things sequence development.
2024
11.12.2024
Thananya presents her work!
Thananya today successfully presented her lab rotation work on decoding of rehearsal induced neocortical memory representations. We are very happy that she will continue working with us on this topic also for her master thesis!
06.12.2024
The lab in Freiburg @International Sleep Replay Workshop
Lena is joining the local hub hosted by the IMaC Lab (PI Monika Schönauer) for this year’s virtual edition of the ISRW!
05.12.2024
The lab in Leuven @KU Leuven
Svenja B is visiting the Department of Movement Sciences at KU Leuven and will be giving a talk on Tracing human memory formation with multimodal MRI.
01.12.2024
Welcome Mohamed!
Today is Mohamed Alnokrashy’s first day as a master thesis student in our lab! Mohamed is coming to us from his Neuroscience Master in Oldenburg and will be working on neural dynamics of repeated and single learning across cortical and hippocampal networks
08.11.2024
Inauguration of the sleep labs!
Today we celebrate the opening of our new Max Planck Research Facility for Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience with a symposium! Thanks to the speakers Prof. Charlotte Helfrich-Förster, Prof. Monika Schönauer and Dr. Christine Blume and co-host Prof. Manuel Spitschan for an amazing afternoon!
15.10.2024
Welcome Sara-Estelle!
We are very happy that Sara-Estelle Lindwein is joining us from her master’s program in Neurocognitive Psychology at LMU Munich to conduct her master thesis! She will focus on detecting memory signatures of basic visual features with fMRI representational similarity analysis.
08.10.2024
Welcome Thananya!
Today we welcome Thananya Charoenpattarawut in our lab! Thananya is joining us for a lab rotation during her master at the Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience in Tübingen and will investigate reactivation-induced rapid memory consolidation in wakefulness and sleep.
27.09.2024
Welcome Melisa!
We are welcoming our newest research assistant Melisa Özdemir to our lab today! Melisa will be helping our PhD student Lena with EEG and sleep analysis.
25.09.2024
The lab in Sevilla @SleepEurope 2024
Svenja B will be presenting in the oral session on Sleep & Neural Dynamics on Functional activity of the human locus coeruleus during sleep.
23.09.2024
The lab @CaCTüs Scientific Symposium
Tedd presents the work of his summer internship in our lab, in which he focused on developing a new approach for testing the quality of associative memories.
09.09.2024
The lab in Innsbruck @ LC Meeting 2024
Svenja B is giving a talk on: “Imaging human locus coeruleus activity during sleep with EEG-fMRI” at the 2024 edition of the LC Meeting.
15.08.2024
Welcome Maximilian!
The lab continues to grow! Today is the first day for our second research assistant Maximilian Müller. We are thrilled to have Maximilian join us and assist our PhD Students.
01.08.2024
The lab gets new equipment 🥳
Today, we received our new portable LiveAmp EEG system, allowing our participants to spend their nights in their own beds. Thanks to Baris and Anirudh from MES Forschungssysteme GmbH for a perfect demonstration! We look forward to using our new equipment soon!
10.-12.07.2024
The lab learns about sleep scoring 💤
Lena spent three immersive days at East Anglia University in Norwich, UK, mastering the art of sleep scoring. Upon returning to Tübingen, Lena shared her knowledge and insights with the lab, offering us a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in sleep scoring.
01.07.2024
Welcome Tedd!
Tedd Denis joins our lab for three months as part of the Computation & Cognition Tübingen Summer Internship (CaCTüS) offered by the Max Planck Institutes for Biological Cybernetics and Intelligent Systems, gaining insights into sleep and memory research. We are happy to welcome Tedd to Tübingen!
25.06.2024
The lab in Vienna @ FENS 2024
Svenja K is presenting her work on rapid concept formation in the neocortex at FENS 2024 in Vienna.
13.06.2024
The lab in Pisa @ Pisa Sleep Award
Svenja B is speaking about memory, sleep, and falling asleep at this year’s Pisa Sleep Award Symposium. Luckily, there was some time to explore Pisa as well. Otherwise the touristic photo of the leaning tower would have missed!
31.05.2024
The lab in Hamburg @ Psychologie und Gehirn (PuG 2024)
Svenja K presents her poster: “Rapid formation of new visual concepts in early visual cortex assessed with multimodal MRI” at the Psychologie und Gehirn (PuG) conference and Lena joins us at least for the social evening!
15.05.2024
Welcome Paul!
Today is the first day for our new research assistant Paul Fiedler. We are excited to have Paul join us to assist our PhD Students with their projects.
13.05.2024
Outreach: Svenja B participates in Tübingen’s Pint of Science
As part of Pint of Science’s Tübingen edition, Svenja B talks about the science of falling asleep.
12.05.2024
Outreach: Talk on the neuroscience of compassion
Svenja B is giving a talk about the role of higher association cortex for compassion on the occasion of Vesakh at Lindenmuseum Stuttgart, together with Dr. Michael Erb from the University Hospital Tübingen.
01.04.2024
Welcome Lena!
Today we welcome our third PhD student to the lab! We are very happy that Lena Schroeder conducts her PhD project with us. Lena’s project will research how rehearsal affects memory compared to single-shot learning.
25.01.2024
Congrats Manfredi!
Manfredi has been awarded a FENS and IBRO-PERC stipend for attending the NENS school programme „Diffusion MR Imaging: from physics to brain networks“ organised by the Lemanic Neuroscience Doctoral School in Lausanne.
2023
11.12.2023
Winter symposium Sleep & Memory Consolidation @ MPI Kyb
We are continuing our yearly tradition together with the IMaC lab, this time in beautiful Tübingen. After a morning of project updates, we are very happy to welcome Professor Sara Mednick for her talk on „How does the sleeping brain construct memories?“.
24.11.2023
Institute for Medical Psychology retreat @ Lautenbachhof, Bad Teinach
The lab is off to the yearly institute’s retreat to talk all things sleep and memory research!
16.10.2023
Retreat MPI Kyb Magnetic Resonance Centre @ Kloster Obermarchtal
Svenjas K and B are excited to join the yearly MRC retreat to learn about new developments in ultra-high field imaging at our institute!
15.11.2023
Welcome Marius & Manfredi!
Today is the first day for two new lab members! We are very happy that Manfredi Alberti and Marius Kreis are conducting their PhD projects with us, focusing on detecting neocortical engrams with multimodal MRI.
07.07.2023
Welcome talk @ MPI Kyb
Svenja B gives her welcome talk at the internal seminar of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, outlining the current and future research of the Brain States for Plasticity lab!
23.06.2023
Talk @ ÖGSM/ASRA 2023 in Linz
Svenja B gives a talk on sleep and problem solving as part of the symposium „Sleep, Learning and Creativity“ organized by Kerstin Hödlmoser.
17.06.2023
Poster prize @ Replay@CUBRIC-23!
Congrats Florentine! She won the poster prize at CUBRIC’s third international conference on memory replay in Cardiff with her poster on „Information Processing in the Wake-Sleep Transition with Concurrent EEG-fMRI“.
07.-10.06.2023
The lab @ PuG 2023 in Tübingen
Home game for our lab at this year’s conference „Psychologie und Gehirn“ of the German Psychological Society, Biopsychology Section in Tübingen. On Wednesday, Svenja B is part of a panel discussion on good working conditions for science. On Thursday, Svenja B is chairing a symposium on „Brain State-Dependent Information Processing: Understanding the Link between Memory Consolidation, Reactivation and Sleep“ together with Niels Niethard, in which Florentine is sharing her research on information processing in the wake-sleep transition. Finally, Svenja K will present her work on „Specialized Memory Subsystems for Detailed and Conceptual Information Assessed with Multimodal MRI“ in Philipp Paulus‘ & Heidrun Schultz‘ symposium on internal representations of our environment on Friday.
26.-30.04.2023
Svenja K @ LEARNMEM 2023
Svenja K is travelling to the long-awaited International Conference on Learning and Memory in Huntington Beach, where she will present her combined functional and diffusion MRI data on specialized memory subsystems for episodic and semantic memory.
05.04.2023
New review paper out in Neuron!
Svenja B is lead author of a review on „Sleep – A brain state serving systems memory consolidation“ which was just published in Neuron as part of a special issue on neural dynamics and cognitive function. Check it out here!
11.03.2023
New preprint!
The lab has published a new preprint on biorXiv „Memory systems integration in sleep complements rapid systems consolidation in wakefulness“.
04.01.2023
New paper on the role of the precuneus in memory retrieval
The gaislab just published its newest paper „The precuneus as a central node in declarative memory retrieval“ in Cerebral Cortex, with Svenja B and Svenja K as co-authors. You can find it here!