International Max Planck Research School NeuroCom

The International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Structure, and Plasticity (IMPRS NeuroCom)is based at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, and the University of Leipzig, and also involves the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, and the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, UK. The school strengthens the already existing, close working relationship between all participating institutions as well as enables its students to benefit from the value of their joint knowledge and resources.

The IMPRS NeuroCom focuses on the functional, structural, and neural plasticity foundations of the neuroscience of communication, through an integrative and interdisciplinary approach. The overriding goal of this programme is to train PhD students in the multidisciplinary aspects ofcognition, psychology, and neuroscience involved in different levels of communicative action, and to introduce specific research themes within this broad area of academic endeavour. For this purpose, the IMPRS NeuroCom ensures a collaborative effort by Faculty members with diverse backgrounds, allowing students to benefit from the experience and knowledge available in the school and enabling interdisciplinary communication – a necessity in the field of neuroscience.

Besides introducing behavioural methodology, the programme draws on powerful modern neuroimaging techniques such as functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), with the aim of understanding the brain in its complexity and functionality. There is permanent constructive exchange between neuroscientific methodologies and cognitive science, which is supported by the infrastructure and the facilities of the school.