The Imaging Genomics research group studies the genetics of language, brain disorders and laterality of the brain. For most people, the left and right sides of the human brain specialise in performing different functions and processing different types of information - in fact, much of our cognition is relatively lateralized to one side or the other.
Language is an excellent example of this lateralized function; in most people, several component processes are performed in the left side of the brain. Our research group is particularly interested in the genes that are involved in determining how the two hemispheres develop and function differently, for example by affecting how nerve cells carry signals and interact with each other.
Although it has been established that left-right asymmetry plays an important role in the way in which the human brain is organised, very little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Our team of researchers is working hard to uncover new knowledge in this area. To find out more about what we are currently working on, visit our Projects page.
This research group is part of the Language and Genetics Department
Newsweek, October 2019
BRAINS OF PEOPLE WITH AUTISM MORE SYMMETRICAL THAN NEUROTYPICALS, SCIENTISTS FIND
ScienceAlert, October 2019
People With Autism Have More Symmetrical Brains. Here's What That Could Mean
MedicalXpress, October 2019
People with autism have a more symmetrical brain
Psychology Today, February 2019
Left-Handedness Is Influenced by Early Life Factors
ScienceDaily, February 2017
Handedness arises from genes in the spinal cords of embryos
Medical Daily, February 2017
Leftie Or Rightie? Your Nervous System Develops Preferred Handedness As An Embryo
Max Planck Forschung, July 2016
'Asymmetrical matter' (article featuring our research group)
German language version: 'Das schafft unser Gehirn mit links'
TheScientist, October 2015
Lefties, Language, and Lateralization
ScienceDaily, February 2014
Call to scientists: Stop excluding left-handed people from scientific studies
A 3-year postdoctoral position in Functional Neurogenetics is available within the Language & Genetics Department at the Max...
Do people with autism have differently organised brains? A large-scale MRI study, published in Nature Communications, reports fewer differences between the right and left hemispheres in people with...
A research team led by the MPI for Psycholinguistics has compared a massive number of 17,141 brain scans to examine the similarity in anatomy of the left and right brain halves. The brains of people...
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