About me

I’m a cognitive scientist, working in the Department of Neuropsychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig and the Experimental Sign Language Lab at University of Göttingen (both in Germany).

My main research interest is the neurobiology of language, focusing on the modality (in-)dependence of linguistic computations in the brain. In other words, I don’t ask, “How come (only) humans can speak?”—Instead, I investigate human language as a species-specific mode of cognition.

Moreover, I am interested in how brains compute more generally, as well as how research in the cognitive sciences impacts society and policy.

• Associate Editor, Biolinguistics
• Constituent Journal Representative, Board of Directors, Free Journal Network
• Steering Committee Member, Priority Programme of the German Research Foundation on “Visual Communication” (ViCom)
• Ad-hoc Reviewer for different academic journals and conferences
• Co-organiser, ViCom workshop on “Dimensions of Iconicity in the Visual Modality”