Max Planck Institutes and Experts

Early modern agents, key figures in the mediation of cultural and scientific concepts, have come into the focus of research. On the basis of the correspondence of the Roman agent Johann Friedrich Reiffenstein (1719-1793), which for the first time has been reconstructed from German, Italian and foremost Russian archives, an attempt is made to analyse the communicative patterns of the transfer of aesthetic, artistic and scientific concepts from late enlightened Rome to the Northern and Eastern European periphery.

Caravaggio’s cult status is largely based on clichés surrounding the painter’s notoriety as a criminal bohemian. The Bibliotheca Hertziana has embarked on a long-term research project, the first phase of which seeks to re-examine the artist’s life in the light of contemporary sources and the interdisciplinary context of recent historical research. What emerges from this investigation is the picture of an (almost) normal life amidst an ambitious and enterprising middle class.

In the last two decades, the development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) substantially contributed to the progress of human cognitive neuroscience. Because fMRI assesses neuronal activity indirectly, only limited causal statements about brain processes can be made. In the following, it is shown exemplarily by combining fMRI and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) how this limitation can be overcome. Thus, multimodal brain imaging methods offer new opportunities for the exploration of the human brain.

The political and socio-economic transition in Central and Eastern European countries was associated with a notable variation in mortality trends. Russia, Lithuania, and Estonia experienced large fluctuations and increases in mortality. Findings of a research project at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research demonstrate that improvements in population education in these countries counterbalanced the overall mortality increase.

Molecular approaches reveal components and mechanisms of cellular stress sensing and adaptation. In addition, mathematical modeling has proven to foster the understanding of some basic principles of signal transduction and signal processing as well as of sensitivity and robustness of information perception and cellular response. Main modeling principles are exemplified here for a model organism, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.