I am interested in intrinsic rhythmic activity in the human brain and how this might help us, for example, to understand natural spoken language.

Rhythmic activity is ubiquitous in the brain and ranges from slow rhythms to very fast rhythms. We have recently shown that each brain area has its own characteristic mix of intrinsic rhythms (Keitel & Gross, 2016, PLoS Biology). Building on this, my lab is dedicated to learn more about how these intrinsic brain rhythms influence our ability to comprehend speech in challenging environments (noisy or fast speech) or our musical abilities and preferences.

To address these research questions, we use electrophysiological data (electroencephalography; EEG), neuromagnetic data (magnetoencephalography; MEG) and behavioural paradigms.

If you are interested in a Voluntary Research Assistant position to learn more about Cognitive Neuroscience, please contact me.

• Auditory cognition and speech & music processing
• Spontaneous and stimulus-dependent neural oscillations
• Functional brain organisation

I studied Psychology at the Technical University in Berlin, Germany, before moving to Leipzig to pursue a PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences. Coming from a background of infant research in my early academic years, I decided to change gears slightly and took up postdoctoral positions at the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology at Glasgow University to learn about the functional organisation of the brain, in particular rhythmic brain activity, in adults.
In January 2019, I took up a Lectureship in Psychology at Dundee University, where my lab focusses on brain dynamics in speech and music perception.

I currently teach the Level 3 Cognition Module and the Level 5 Cognitive Psychology Module. I also teach in Understanding the Mind (Level 2).

If you are interested in doing a behavioural or EEG study with me for your dissertation, come talk to me! I am happy to support research in cognitive neuroscience on

• music and rhythm perception
• speech and language processing
• auditory processing in general

It is also possible to combine auditory/music/speech processing with other topics such as mental health, exercise, or social topics.