Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics

Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics

The Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics researches information processing in the human and animal brain. The institute is currently in a phase of reorientation and expansion. Theoretical and experimental psychology as well as neuroscience are among the institute's core competencies. Using new technologies and model systems, researchers aim to answer neuroscientific questions in novel ways and with unprecedented precision. Together with the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, the Max Planck Institute  for Intelligent Systems, and the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory the institute is part of the Max Planck Campus Tübingen. A central interface with the University of Tübingen is the International Max Planck Research School for the Mechanisms of Mental Function and Dysfunction. Further links with the University of Tübingen exist through its two Max Planck Fellows in the Departments of Computer Science and Medicine; the Institute is also involved in Cyber Valley and the Tübingen AI Competence Centre.

Contact

Max-Planck-Ring 8
72076 Tübingen
Phone: +49 7071 601-510
Fax: +49 7071 601-520

PhD opportunities

This institute has an International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS):

IMPRS for The Mechanisms of Mental Function and Dysfunction

In addition, there is the possibility of individual doctoral research. Please contact the directors or research group leaders at the Institute.

Department Body-Brain Cybernetics

more

Department Computational Neuroscience

more
A robotic hand and a human hand extend fingers towards a sphere with binary code, set against a keyboard backdrop.

New Study Compares the Creative Processes of Humans and Large Language Models

more

On Sunday, March 30, 2025, the clocks in Germany will spring forward for daylight saving time. As we all adjust our watches, phones, and computers, what does this shift really do to our bodies? Experts from three different Max Planck Institutes shed light on this question.

more

The year 2024 saw Max Planck scientists publishing exceptional research across disciplines. We have selected twelve highlights to share

more
The Max Planck Synergy Grantees 2024 (from top left to bottom right): Benedetta Ciardi, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics; Torsten Enßlin, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics; Alessandra Buonanno, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics; Xinliang Feng, Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics; Axel Kleinschmidt, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics; Joël Ouaknine, Max Planck Institute for Software Systems; Florian Luca, Max Planck Institute for Software Systems; Angel Rubio, Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter; Petra Schwille, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry; Alexander Herbig, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Herwig Baier, Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence; Jennifer Li and Drew Robson, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics; Aneta Koseska, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior – CAESAR; Alec Wodtke, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences.

With twelve Synergy Grants, the Max Planck Society claims top spot in the ERC ranking

more

Self-reinforcing learning can help you understand new things, but it can also reinforce false beliefs

more
Show more

Of Night Owls and Early Birds

Biology and Medicine

Some people are night owls. Others sneeze when they look at the Sun. Manuel Spitschan and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen study how the human eye processes light stimuli and the crucial role these signals play in regulating our internal clock, which seems to keep ticking even in complete darkness.

Since ChatGPT was released at the end of 2022, there has been intense debate as to whether artificial intelligence already possesses human-like thinking abilities. Eric Schulz from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen is using psychological tests to investigate whether this algorithm shows signs of general intelligence.

The brain of a housefly weighs around one-thousandth of a gram. Nonetheless, thanks to this miniscule control center, the insect can evaluate images in fractions of a second and steer its way through lightning-fast flight maneuvers. It was Werner Reichardt, Founding Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, who, more than 50 years ago, described how the motion detectors in the fly brain work.

For Valentin Braitenberg, the brain was the most interesting research subject in the world, apart from the world itself. A former Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, he spent thousands of hours poring over a microscope to get to the bottom of this most complex of organs. His purpose was to examine the fiber pathways in various areas of the brain and to search for their functions.

No job offers available

Stress can make us sick; it can alter the gut microbiome, promote inflammation, and impair immunity. However, the precise mechanisms of how the brain, gut, and microbiome interact are not fully understood. We have discovered a neural circuit by which the brain’s stress center directly controls the gut. Our findings may open up new opportunities for therapeutic intervention, for example in inflammatory bowel disease.

more

Discovery of Place Cells in Fish 

2023 Robson, Drew; Li, Jennifer

Cognitive Science Neurosciences

Our brain orients itself in space by creating a cognitive model of its environment. Place cells in the hippocampus play an important role in this process. While behavioural studies suggest that spatial cognition may also be present in fish, previous studies have found no clear evidence for place cells outside of birds and mammals.  Using a tracking microscope, we analysed the brain activity of free-swimming zebrafish larvae at cellular resolution and were able to demonstrate the presence of place cells in fish for the first time.

more

The Science of Beauty

2022 Brielmann, Aenne

Cognitive Science Neurosciences

As soon as we see or hear something, we make a split-second judgement about whether we like it or not. Our research focuses on understanding how these judgements are made and what influence they have on our daily decisions and well-being.

more

Algorithms of exploration in complex video games

2021 Schulz, Eric

Cognitive Science Neurosciences

Computer games are originally designed for entertainment. We use them to research human behavior. This opens up new approaches in psychological research on the one hand, and our results contribute to the improvement of artificially intelligent systems.

more

We look before we see

2020 Zhaoping, Li

Cognitive Science Neurosciences

Although there is a great deal of research on vision and the processing of vision, still little is known about the processing of visual stimuli in higher brain areas. This is because an important research question has not been properly asked: the attentional selection of information. Certain brain areas coordinate where we direct our gaze; others decide what further information to retrieve and report back suggestions for interpreting the visual input. Our hypotheses set a new framework for future understanding of how vision works in our brains.

more
Go to Editor View