Research Group Comparative Neuroscience

The overarching goal of the research group Comparative Neuroscience is to understand neuronal mechanisms that underlie temporal integration of auditory-related information. To this end, we use a comparative approach with complementary measurements of the activity of large neural populations in auditory cortex and related brain structures with simultaneous magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) recordings from humans and of small populations obtained through intracranial microelectrode recordings from nonhuman primates. Accordingly, our experimental data spans multiple levels of observation, from neural mass activity of large neuronal populations to local field potentials of small populations to spiking activity of individual neurons. We are developing complementary experimental approaches designed such that they are applicable both to studies with human subjects and monkeys. To bridge the gap between research in human and animals even further, we are mapping intra- and extracranial measures of neural activity to each other using computational models of signal processing in the auditory cortex.

  • Heads

    Heads

    Michael Brosch studied physics at the Universities of Bielefeld and Marburg. Subsequently, he received his doctorate in physics from the Department of Biophysics at the University of Marburg. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California in San Francisco. Michael Brosch has been a research associate at LIN since 1995 and habilitated at OVGU in 2006. Since 2009 he was the head of this Special Lab Primate Neurobiology. Since 2020 he is the co-leader of the research group Comparative Neuroscience.

     

    Reinhard König (r.) is co-head of the Research group. He has Diploma (1987) and Ph.D. (1993) degrees in physics from University of Bayreuth, and he received his habilitation in experimental physics from the same university in 2000. He was postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Physics at the University of Nottingham (1994–1996) and guest scientist at the Brain Research Unit at Helsinki University of Technology (2001–2002). His research interests include memory processes in the human brain, with particular emphasis on the auditory cortex, and the development and application of advanced methods and techniques for the processing and analysis of biomagnetic signals. Further, he increasingly focuses on the development and application of computational models of signal processing in auditory cortex, which also enters a green energy project for an improved power take-off from ocean waves. 

  • Members

    Members

    Heads  
    Prof. Dr Brosch, Michael+49-391-6263- 94461Michael.Brosch@lin-magdeburg.de
    PD Dr. König, Reinhard+49-391-6263- 92131Reinhard.Koenig@lin-magdeburg.de
    Postdocs  
    Dr. Huang, Ying+49-391-6263- 94471Ying.Huang@lin-magdeburg.de
    Dr Matysiak, Artur+49-391-6263- 92202Artur.Matysiak@lin-magdeburg.de
    Dr. Aryo Zare+49 391 6263 94471Aryo.Zare@lin-magdeburg.de
    PhD students  
     Dar, Asim Hassan+49-391-6263- 92201Asim-Hassan.dar@lin-magdeburg.de
    Hajizadeh, Aida+49-391-6263- 92201Aida.Hajizadeh@lin-magdeburg.de
    Härtwich, Nina+49-391-6263- 92201Nina.Haertwich@lin-magdeburg.de
    Ma, Jing+49-391-6263- 92201Jing.Ma@lin-magdeburg.de
    Nehme, Hanady+49-391-6263- 94471Hanady.Nehme@lin-magdeburg.de
    Rathi, Sanchit+49-391-6263- 94471Sanchit.Rathi@lin-magdeburg.de
    Thiruppathi, Vighneshvel+49-391-6263- 94481Vighneshvel.Thiruppathi@lin-magdeburg.de
    Students  
    Kuhn, Felix+49-391-6263- 92201Felix.Kuhn@lin-magdeburg.de
    Visitors/Guests  
    Dr. Patrick May (LIN-Fellow)+44 (0)1524 592633p.may1@lancaster.ac.uk

     

  • Third Party Funds

    Third Party Funds

    2020-2022
    DFG (Brosch, König, May):
    “In Search of the Neural Underpinnings of Temporal Binding: Linking Synaptic Depression with Neural Adaptation in Auditory Cortex”

     

    2019-2022
    CBBS Network (Huang)
    Dopaminergic modulation of working memory-related persistent neuronal activity in auditory cortex: from molecules to behaviour” (with J. Pakan & M. Yoshida, DZNE)

     

    2019
    Leibniz Network (König, Wolfrum, May)
    "Mathematical Modeling and Simulations": MMS Seed Money Grant "Dynamics of signal processing in auditory cortex: Combining computational modelling with mathematical principles"

     

    2018-2021
    EU-Horizon2020 Research and Innovation Programme (König, May)
    “Developing the PTO of the first MW-level Oscillating Wave Surge Converter (MegaRoller)”

     

    2018-2021
    Graduate scholarship of the state Saxony-Anhalt (Härtwich)
    “Investigating the effect of anatomical structure in the auditory cortex of gerbil, monkey, and human on auditory sensory memory”

     

    2018-2019
    DAAD/PPP Polen (König)
    “Neural Adaptation Studied with MEG and Advanced Statistical Methods”

     

    2015-2019
    Alexander von Humboldt Polish Honorary Research Scholarship of the Foundation for Polish Science (König)

     

    2016-2018
    Chinese Scholarship Council (Ma)
    “Task dependence of stimulus adaptation in the auditory cortex of Mongolian gerbils”

     

    2012–2015 & 2016–2017
    DFG (Heil, Brosch, König)
    “Neuronal correlates of sensory working memory in the auditory cortex of humans and monkeys”

     

    2009–2017
    DFG SFB-TR 31 (Brosch, Brechmann, Scheich)
    “Neuronale Korrelate von Streaming im auditorischen Kortex von Mensch und Makaken“

     

    2008–2016
    DFG SFB 77 (Brosch, Scheich)
    "Motivationsabhängige Konzeptbildungsprozesse im Hörkortex von Makaken"

     

  • Publications

    Publications

    Key publications

    Deliano M, Tabelow K, König R, Polzehl J. 2016. Improving accuracy and temporal resolution of learning curve estimation for within- and across-session analysis. PLoS ONE. 11(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157355

    Hajizadeh A, Matysiak A, May PJC, König R. 2019. Explaining event-related fields by a mechanistic model encapsulating the anatomical structure of auditory cortex. Biological Cybernetics. 113(3):321-345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-019-00795-9

    Huang Y, Heil P, Brosch M. 2019. Associations between sounds and actions in early auditory cortex of nonhuman primates. eLife. 8:Article e43281. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43281

    Huang Y, Matysiak A, Heil P, König R, Brosch M. 2016. Persistent neural activity in auditory cortex is related to auditory working memory in humans and nonhuman primates. eLife. 5(JULY). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.15441

    König R, Matysiak A, Kordecki W, Sieluzycki C, Zacharias N, Heil P. 2015. Averaging auditory evoked magnetoencephalographic and electroencephalographic responses: A critical discussion. European Journal of Neuroscience. 41(5):631-640. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.12833

    Kordowski P,Matysiak A, König R, Sielużycki C. 2017. Simultaneous spatio-temporal matching pursuit decomposition of evoked brain responses in MEG. Biological Cybernetics. 111(1):69-89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-016-0707-5

    Lovell JM, Mylius J, Scheich H, Brosch M. 2015. Stimulation of the dopaminergic midbrain as a behavioral reward in instrumentally conditioned monkeys. Brain Stimulation. 8(5):868-874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2015.04.007

    Mylius J, Happel MFK, Gorkin AG, Huang Y, Scheich H, Brosch M. 2015. Fast transmission from the dopaminergic ventral midbrain to the sensory cortex of awake primates. Brain Structure and Function. 220(6):3273-3294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-014-0855-0

    Selezneva E, Gorkin A, Budinger E, Brosch M. 2018. Neuronal correlates of auditory streaming in the auditory cortex of behaving monkeys. European Journal of Neuroscience. 48(10):3234-3245. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14098

    Selezneva E, Oshurkova E, Scheich H, Brosch M. 2017. Category-specific neuronal activity in left and right auditory cortex and in medial geniculate body of monkeys. PLoS ONE. 12(10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186556

     

    All publications of the group

    2021

    Dar AH, Wagner AS, Hanke M. 2021. REMoDNaV: robust eye-movement classification for dynamic stimulation. Behavior Research Methods. 53(1):399-414. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-020-01428-x

    Hajizadeh A, Matysiak A, Brechmann A, König R, May PJC. 2021. Why do humans have unique auditory event-related fields? Evidence from computational modeling and MEG experiments. Psychophysiology. 58(4):Article e13769. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13769

    Heil P, Mohamed ESI, Matysiak A. 2021. Towards a unifying basis of auditory thresholds: Thresholds for multicomponent stimuli. Hearing Research. 410:Article 108349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2021.108349

    Occhigrossi C, Brosch M, Giommetti G, Panichi R, Ricci G, Ferraresi A, Roscini M, Pettorossi VE, Faralli M. 2021. Auditory perception is influenced by the orientation of the trunk relative to a sound source. Experimental Brain Research. 239(4):1223-1234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06047-2

    Selezneva E, Brosch M, Rathi S,Vighneshvel T, Wetzel N. 2021. Comparison of Pupil Dilation Responses to Unexpected Sounds in Monkeys and Humans. Frontiers in Psychology. 12:Article 754604. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.754604

    Sielużycki C, Matysiak A, König R, Iskander DR. 2021. Reducing the Number of MEG/EEG Trials Needed for the Estimation of Brain Evoked Responses: A Bootstrap Approach. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. 68(7):2301-2312. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBME.2021.3060495

     

    2020

    Aggelopoulos NC, Deike S, Selezneva E, Scheich H, Brechmann A, Brosch M. 2020. Predictive cues for auditory stream formation in humans and monkeys. European Journal of Neuroscience. 51(5):1254-1264. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.13808

    Deane KE, Brunk MGK, Curran AW, Zempeltzi MM, Ma J, Lin X, Abela F, Aksit S, Deliano M, Ohl FW, Happel MFK. 2020. Ketamine anaesthesia induces gain enhancement via recurrent excitation in granular input layers of the auditory cortex. Journal of Physiology. 598(13):2741-2755. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP279705

    Heil P, Matysiak A. 2020. Absolute auditory threshold: Testing the absolute. European Journal of Neuroscience. 51(5):1224-1233. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.13765

    Huang Y, Brosch M. 2020. Associations between sounds and actions in primate prefrontal cortex. Brain Research. 1738:Article 146775. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2020.146775

    Knyazeva S, Selezneva E, Gorkin A, Ohl FW, Brosch M. 2020. Representation of Auditory Task Components and of Their Relationships in Primate Auditory Cortex. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 14:Article 306. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.00306

    Pepłowski A, Rathi S, Piotrkowski B, Ziółkowski R, Janczak D, Krzemiński J, Brosch M, Jakubowska M. 2020. Electrochemistry of Graphene Nanoplatelets Printed Electrodes for Cortical Direct Current Stimulation. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 14:Article 594235. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.594235

     

    2019

    Ataide EJG, Ziegle J, Kalmar M, Rathi S, Shukla S, Boese A, Friebe M. 2019. Feasibility and initial results of assisted ultrasound scan acquisition for improved tomographic visualization. In 2019 IEEE 16th India Council International Conference, INDICON 2019 - Symposium Proceedings. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. Article 9030358. https://doi.org/10.1109/INDICON47234.2019.9030358

    Hajizadeh A, Matysiak A, May PJC, König R. 2019. Explaining event-related fields by a mechanistic model encapsulating the anatomical structure of auditory cortex. Biological Cybernetics. 113(3):321-345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-019-00795-9

    Huang Y, Heil P, Brosch M. 2019. Associations between sounds and actions in early auditory cortex of nonhuman primates. eLife. 8:Article e43281. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43281

    Huang Y, Lu H, Li L. 2019. Human scalp evoked potentials related to the fusion between a sound source and its simulated reflection. PLoS ONE. 14(1):Article e0209173. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209173

    Macharadze T, Budinger E, Brosch M, Scheich H, Ohl FW, Henschke JU. 2019. Early Sensory Loss Alters the Dendritic Branching and Spine Density of Supragranular Pyramidal Neurons in Rodent Primary Sensory Cortices. Frontiers in neural circuits. 13:Article 61. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2019.00061

    Rathi S, Deckert M, Brinkhues S, Detert M, Shukla SM, Brosch M, Schmidt B. 2019. PEDOT:PSS as a transparent electrically conducting polymer for brain stimulation electrodes. In 2019 IEEE 16th India Council International Conference, INDICON 2019 - Symposium Proceedings. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. Article 9030320. https://doi.org/10.1109/INDICON47234.2019.9030320

    Wu S, Tao S, Zhang L, Ma J, Tang X, Wang L, Zuo F, Li J. 2019. The effects of family groups on individual foraging behavior in reed voles (Microtus fortis). Shengtai Xuebao/ Acta Ecologica Sinica. 39(13):4966-4974. https://doi.org/10.5846/stxb201803050433

     

    2018

    Herrmann T, Liebig T, Mallow J, Bruns C, Stadler J, Mylius J, Brosch M, Svedja JT, Chen Z, Rennings A, Scheich H, Plaumann M, Hauser MJB, Bernarding J, Erni D. 2018. Metamaterial-based transmit and receive system for whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at ultra-high magnetic fields. PLoS ONE. 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191719

    Knyazeva S, Selezneva E, Gorkin A, Aggelopoulos NC, Brosch M. 2018. Neuronal correlates of auditory streaming in monkey auditory cortex for tone sequences without spectral differences. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience. 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2018.00004

    Selezneva E, Gorkin A, Budinger E, Brosch M. 2018. Neuronal correlates of auditory streaming in the auditory cortex of behaving monkeys. European Journal of Neuroscience. 48(10):3234-3245. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14098

     

    2017

    Aggelopoulos NC. 2017. Electrical nerve stimulation and central microstimulation. In Neuromethods. Humana Press Inc. pp. 141-153. (Neuromethods). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6490-1_7

    Hakonen M, May PJC, Jääskeläinen IP, Jokinen E, Sams M, Tiitinen H. 2017. Predictive processing increases intelligibility of acoustically distorted speech: Behavioral and neural correlates. Brain and Behavior. 7(9). https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.789

    Heil P, Matysiak A, Neubauer H. 2017. A probabilistic Poisson-based model accounts for an extensive set of absolute auditory threshold measurements. Hearing Research. 353:135-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2017.06.011

    Kordowski P,Matysiak A, König R, Sielużycki C. 2017. Simultaneous spatio-temporal matching pursuit decomposition of evoked brain responses in MEG. Biological Cybernetics. 111(1):69-89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-016-0707-5

    Selezneva E, Oshurkova E, Scheich H, Brosch M. 2017. Category-specific neuronal activity in left and right auditory cortex and in medial geniculate body of monkeys. PLoS ONE. 12(10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186556

     

    2016

    Alho J, Green BM, May PJC, Sams M, Tiitinen H, Rauschecker JP, Jääskeläinen IP. 2016. Early-latency categorical speech sound representations in the left inferior frontal gyrus. NeuroImage. 129:214-223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.01.016

    Deliano M, Tabelow K, König R, Polzehl J. 2016. Improving accuracy and temporal resolution of learning curve estimation for within- and across-session analysis. PLoS ONE. 11(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157355

    Hakonen M, May P, Alho J, Alku P, Jokinen E, Jääskeläinen IP, Tiitinen H. 2016. Previous exposure to intact speech increases intelligibility of its digitally degraded counterpart as a function of stimulus complexity. NeuroImage. 125:131-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.10.029

    Huang Y, Brosch M. 2016. Neuronal activity in primate prefrontal cortex related to goal-directed behavior during auditory working memory tasks. Brain Research. 1640(Pt B):314-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2016.02.010

    Huang Y, Matysiak A, Heil P, König R, Brosch M. 2016. Persistent neural activity in auditory cortex is related to auditory working memory in humans and nonhuman primates. eLife. 5(JULY). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.15441

    Huang Y, Mylius J, Scheich H, Brosch M. 2016. Tonic effects of the dopaminergic ventral midbrain on the auditory cortex of awake macaque monkeys. Brain Structure and Function. 221(2):969-977. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-014-0950-2

    Kaiser J, Brosch M. 2016. Neural correlates of auditory working memory. Brain Research. 1640:181-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2016.04.056

    Westö J, May PJC. 2016. Capturing contextual effects in spectro-temporal receptive fields. Hearing Research. 339:195-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2016.07.012

     

    2015

    Aggelopoulos NC. 2015. Perceptual inference. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 55:375-392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.05.001

    Brosch M, Selezneva E, Scheich H. 2015. Neuronal activity in primate auditory cortex during the performance of audiovisual tasks. European Journal of Neuroscience. 41(5):603-614. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.12841

    Budinger E, Brechmann A, Brosch M, Heil P, König R, Ohl FW, Scheich H. 2015. Auditory cortex 2014 - towards a synthesis of human and animal research. European Journal of Neuroscience. 41(5):515-517. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.12832

    Herrmann T, Mallow J, Plaumann M, Luchtmann M, Stadler J, Mylius J, Brosch M, Bernarding J. 2015. The travelling-wave Primate System: A new solution for magnetic resonance imaging of macaque monkeys at 7 tesla ultra-high field. PLoS ONE. 10(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129371

    König R, Matysiak A, Kordecki W, Sieluzycki C, Zacharias N, Heil P. 2015. Averaging auditory evoked magnetoencephalographic and electroencephalographic responses: A critical discussion. European Journal of Neuroscience. 41(5):631-640. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.12833

    Lovell JM, Mylius J, Scheich H, Brosch M. 2015. Stimulation of the dopaminergic midbrain as a behavioral reward in instrumentally conditioned monkeys. Brain Stimulation. 8(5):868-874. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2015.04.007

    Mylius J, Happel MFK, Gorkin AG, Huang Y, Scheich H, Brosch M. 2015. Fast transmission from the dopaminergic ventral midbrain to the sensory cortex of awake primates. Brain Structure and Function. 220(6):3273-3294. Available from: https://doi.org/110.1007/s00429-014-0855-0

     

    2014

    Brosch M. 2014. Associations and rewards in auditory cortex. Jaeger D, Jung R, editors. In Encyclopedia of computational Neuroscience. Berlin: Springer. Available from: 10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_105-4

    Lovell JM, Mylius J, Scheich H, Brosch M. 2014. Hearing in action; auditory properties of neurons in the red nucleus of alert primates. Frontiers in Neuroscience. (8 MAY). Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2014.00105

    Sielużycki C, Kordowski P. 2014. Maximum-likelihood estimation of channel-dependent trial-to-trial variability of auditory evoked brain responses in MEG. BioMedical Engineering Online. 13(1). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-925X-13-75

     

    2013

    Brosch M, Budinger E, Scheich H. 2013. Different Synchronization Rules in Primary and Nonprimary Auditory Cortex of Monkeys. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 25(9):1517-1526. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00413

    Budinger E, Brosch M, Scheich H, Mylius J. 2013. The subcortical auditory structures in the Mongolian gerbil: II. Frequency-related topography of the connections with cortical field AI. Journal of Comparative Neurology. 521(12):2772-2797. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.23314

    Hoefer M, Tyll S, Kanowski M, Brosch M, Schoenfeld MA, Heinze HJ, Noesselt T. 2013. Tactile stimulation and hemispheric asymmetries modulate auditory perception and neural responses in primary auditory cortex. NeuroImage. 79:371-382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.04.119

    Matysiak A, Kordecki W, Sieluzycki C, Zacharias N, Heil P, König R. 2013. Variance stabilization for computing and comparing grand mean waveforms in MEG and EEG. Psychophysiology. 50(7):627-639. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12047

    Mallow J, Herrmann T, Kim KN, Stadler J, Mylius J, Brosch M, Bernarding J. 2013. Ultra-high field MRI for primate imaging using the travelling-wave concept. Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology, and Medicine. 26(4):389-400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-012-0358-z

    Mylius J, Brosch M, Scheich H, Budinger E. 2013. Subcortical auditory structures in the mongolian gerbil: I. Golgi architecture. Journal of Comparative Neurology. 521(6):1289-1321. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.23232

    Selezneva E, Deike S, Knyazeva S, Scheich H, Brechmann A, Brosch M. 2013. Rhythm sensitivity in macaque monkeys. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. 7(SEP). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2013.00049

     

  • Teaching

    Teaching

    We regularly hold lectures and seminars for students of the Master's program "Integrative Neuroscience" and within the framework of the profile study "Learning Systems" of the Faculty of Computer Science at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg.

    We also supervise internships as well as bachelor, master, and doctoral theses. If you are interested, please contact us!

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