Göttingen Graduate Center for Neurosciences, Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences

Wilke, Melanie, Prof. Dr.

  • 1997-2001: M.A. in Psycholinguistics, Neuropsychology and Neurobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
  • 2001-2005: PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Advisor: Dr. D.A. Leopold
  • 2005-2008: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Laboratory of Neuropsychology, NIMH, Bethesda, Advisor: Dr. D.A. Leopold
  • 2008-2011: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena; Advisor: Prof. R.A. Andersen
  • 2011-2012: Visiting Associate Faculty at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasaden
  • 2011-2020: Co-Principal Investigator of the 'Decision and Awareness Group' (DAG) at the German Primate Center (DPZ), Göttingen
  • since 2011: Professor (W3), Director of the Department of Cognitive Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), Georg August University, Göttingen
  • since 2021: Group leader (‘Bridge-Professorship’) Cognitive Neurology at the German Primate Center (CNL, DPZ), Göttingen



Major Research Interests
The long-term goal of our research is to understand how neural activity gives rise to spatial awareness and how distributed information is integrated to guide the selection of movement goals. Furthermore we are dedicated to perform translational research from monkey models of cognitive disorders to human patients. Current research focuses on the question how thalamic nuclei and cortical areas interact during visual perception and decision making. Another line of research is concerned with the neural mechanisms underlying spatial neglect, which is a frequent and severe consequence of brain damage in humans. Specifically, we are investigating pathological and compensatory changes in large-scale brain networks in human stroke patients by means of imaging (DTI, fMRI) and stimulation (tACS, tDCS, TMS) methods. We develop and employ monkey models of spatial neglect to study the underlying neural mechanisms by means of fMRI, electrophysiological recordings, inactivation and stimulation techniques with the goal to develop new therapeutic interventions.

Homepage Department/Research Group
https://cognitive-neurology.umg.eu/

ORCID: 0000-0002-2883-6593