Faculty member

Research Interests

We are interested in how the brain encodes and processes simple and complex sounds and how these mechanisms change when people adjust to new listening situations. These studies address basic mechanisms of sound processing that underlie all higher human auditory functions, such as speech and music perception. We are especially interested in looking at individual brains, rather than group averages, with the aim of understanding how differences in brain processing relate to differences in perception and behaviour. We use high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging, EEG, brainstem recordings, computational modeling, and a number of somewhat crazy devices and techniques, such a our self-build 80-channel spherical loudspeaker array and miniaturized programmable devices that change the way people hear. In addition to pure science, we try increasingly to address clinical questions about hearing disorders with these methods.

More information here: https://www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/en/institut-fuer-biologie/abteilungen/general-zoology-and-neurobiology/research

You can find all our publications listed on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?cmd=search&term=Schonwiesner

Available PhD projects

PhD students in the lab form a vibrant community with many connections across Europe and North-America, and most former students have gone on to postdoc positions a major international institutions. Marc’s door is always open for discussion and support. Currently ongoing projects reach from the global transmission of music culture over several decades, optical imaging of auditory cortex in mice, clinical work in children with central hearing disorders, to understanding how the three dimensions of auditory space are combined using virtual reality. Be prepared for a very interdisciplinary environment!