BSc theses and MSc theses in BPN

We offer bachelor and master thesis projects on a variety of research topics within the Biological and Neuropsychology Lab. For each topic, you'll find whether it is suitable for a bachelor or master thesis (or both).

If you are interested in a particular project, please contact the responsible person to check if the topic is still available available and to ensure alignment with your proposed timeline. Once availability is confirmed, please submit the following documents to the relevant contact person to apply:

A short motivation letter (one page) outlining your interest and proposed timeline
Your CV
Your Transcript of Records

Multisensory processing

Training induced short term plasticity (multisensory learning)

How eye movement-related eardrum oscillations are linked to audiovisual perception

Suitability

Bachelor and Master students

Background and scope of the thesis

It have been recently shown that the phase and the amplitude of eardrum oscillations depend on the direction and the magnitude of the saccadic eye movement, respectively, a phenomenon that is called eye movement-related eardrum oscillations (EMREOs). EMREOs have been suggested to contribute in audiovisual integration, however, it is not yet clear how they affect human behavior during audio-visual integration. The aim of this project is to investigate the relation between the EMREO characteristics (e.g. amplitude) and audio-visual perception (e.g., point of subjective simultaneity, PSS). Your tasks in this project are reading the relevant literature, participant recruitment, eardrum and eye tracker data collection, data analysis, presenting the results in our science seminars, and writing up your thesis.

Your profile

Basic knowledge in statistical analysis in SPSS or R (t-test and ANOVA) is required
Basic knowledge in MATLAB and Psychtoolbox is required
Interest in participant recruitment and data collection is required
Motivation to learn new methods and research field through literature research

Literature

Abbasi, H., King, C. D., Lovich, S., Röder, B., Groh, J. M., & Bruns, P. (2025). Eye movement-related eardrum oscillations do not require current visual input. Hearing Research, 465, 109346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2025.109346

Gruters, K. G., Murphy, D. L. K., Jenson, C. D., Smith, D. W., Shera, C. A., & Groh, J. M. (2018). The eardrums move when the eyes move: A multisensory effect on the mechanics of hearing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(6), E1309–E1318. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1717948115

Lovich, S. N., King, C. D., Murphy, D. L. K., Abbasi, H., Bruns, P., Shera, C. A., & Groh, J. M. (2023). Conserved features of eye movement related eardrum oscillations (EMREOs) across humans and monkeys. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 378(1886), 20220340. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0340

Supervisor

Dr. Hossein Abbasi (hossein.abbasi@uni-hamburg.de(Hossein.abbasi"AT"uni-hamburg.de))

Impact of anti-saccadic eye movements on eye movement-related eardrum oscillations (EMREOs)

Suitability

Bachelor and Master students

Background and scope of the thesis

Previous studies have suggested strong dependency of the EMREO on eye movement direction. That is the phase of the eardrum oscillation changes by 180° as the direction of the eye movements in the horizontal plane changes. This project aims to investigate how anti-saccadic eye movements affect EMREO characteristics. In a visual task, in half of blocks, participants will move their eye to the visual target appearing on the horizontal plane (saccadic blocks). In the other half of block, participant move their eyes to the opposite side of the visual target referenced to the vertical meridian (anti-saccadic blocks). Your tasks in this project are reading the relevant literature, participant recruitment, eardrum and eye tracker data collection, data analysis, presenting the results in our science seminars, and writing up your thesis.

Your profile:

Basic knowledge in statistical analysis in SPSS or R (t-test and ANOVA) is required
Basic knowledge in MATLAB and Psychtoolbox is required
Interest in participant recruitment and data collection is required
Motivation to learn new methods and research field through literature research

Literature

Abbasi, H., King, C. D., Lovich, S., Röder, B., Groh, J. M., & Bruns, P. (2025). Eye movement-related eardrum oscillations do not require current visual input. Hearing Research, 465, 109346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2025.109346

Gruters, K. G., Murphy, D. L. K., Jenson, C. D., Smith, D. W., Shera, C. A., & Groh, J. M. (2018). The eardrums move when the eyes move: A multisensory effect on the mechanics of hearing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(6), E1309–E1318. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1717948115

Lovich, S. N., King, C. D., Murphy, D. L. K., Abbasi, H., Bruns, P., Shera, C. A., & Groh, J. M. (2023). Conserved features of eye movement related eardrum oscillations (EMREOs) across humans and monkeys. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 378(1886), 20220340. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0340

Supervisor

Dr. Hossein Abbasi (hossein.abbasi@uni-hamburg.de(Hossein.abbasi"AT"uni-hamburg.de))

The variability of infants and children environmental exposure to sights and odors

Suitability

Open to both Bachelor and Master students

Background and scope of the thesis

The "face diet" refers to the variety and frequency of different faces a person is exposed to in their daily life, and strongly relates to how proficient a person is at face perception. Little is known on younger individuals face diets and how it could impact their cognitive development.

In addition, studies have shown that young infants rely particularly on smells while their visual development is protracted over several years, and that they combine olfactory and visual cues to better understand their world. Altogether, this leaves a gap in understanding which factors contribute most to learning of one’s environment.

This project is based on the development of a parent-reported scale to estimate the daily sensory exposure to sights and odors of their child (0-12 yo) and explore individual vs. age-related changes (e.g., entering Kita / school). The thesis can be done on a subset of the preselected items, depending on the advancement of the project. It can be associated with additional EEG or behavioral data.

Your profile

Proficiency in English (required for thesis writing)
Willingness to develop and apply coding skills for data management and analysis
Curiosity and attention to detail to ensure high-quality data analysis
Ability to work independently on data analysis tasks, with guidance as needed
Strong self-management skills, including task and timeline organization
Interest in research and analytical work, particularly in psychology, social sciences, or related fields

Literature

Balas, B., Saville, A., 2015. N170 face specificity and face memory depend on hometown size. Neuropsychologia 69, 211–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.02.005

Cecchetto, C.*, Leleu, A.*, Calce, R.P., Arnhardt, S., Parma, V., de Groot, J.H.B., Freiherr, J., Gentili, C., Zou, L., Thunell, E., Fischmeister, F.P.S., Rekow, D.*, Dal Bò, E.*, 2024. Consistent social odor representation across 7 languages: the Social Odor Scale translation and validation. Chemical Senses 49, bjae035. https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjae035 * equal contributions

Rekow, D., Baudouin, J.-Y., Kiseleva, A., Rossion, B., Durand, K., Schaal, B., Leleu, A., 2024. Olfactory-to-visual facilitation in the infant brain declines gradually from 4 to 12 months. Child Development 95, 1967–1981. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14124

Schaal, B., Saxton, T.K., Loos, H., Soussignan, R., Durand, K., 2020. Olfaction scaffolds the developing human from neonate to adolescent and beyond. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 375, 20190261. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0261

Supervisor

Dr. Diane Rekow (diane.rekow"AT"uni-hamburg.de)

(Correspondence in English)

Visual perception

The development of male and female face perception

Suitability

Open to both Bachelor and Master students (two bachelor theses available)

Background

Previous studies have shown that infants present a spontaneous preference for female faces (longer eye fixation to female vs male face) accompanied by a better individuation ability. This suggests differences in face sex categorization already in the first months of life. However, those data rely only on behavioral measures, therefore, they intrinsically dependent on the infant’s attraction to gaze at specific face stimuli: The female face bias becomes a confound in the paradigm preventing a deeper investigation of the development of male face perception. To tackle this issue, we relied on a sensitive neural measure allowing to elicit face perception response in a very short testing time while using a large number of faces per sex.

Scope of the thesis

We are seeking one or two dedicated and motivated student(s) interested in conducting data analyses and correlational analyses to relate neural markers (EEG) of face sex perception with individual data in young infants. The candidate(s) will work on already collected data of infants aged 2 and 5 months. It comprises EEG data for face perception and questionnaires of face exposure filled out by the caregivers. The project also comprises adult EEG and behavioral data using the same stimuli.

1/ One thesis will investigate the effect of age on the face exposure (derived from questionnaires answers) and its potential relationship with the neural response to female and male faces.

2/ The second thesis will explore more specifically the responses to the most female/most male stimuli (assessed by adult behavioral ranking scores) and objectively characterize the physical profiles of the stimuli. A control adult group can be envisaged.

Your profile

English proficiency is required as the thesis should be written in English.
The candidate(s) should be at ease or eager to develop skills in coding for data management and analyses. They should be curious and able to apply careful attention to detail, ensuring high-quality data analysis.
Data analyses will be done in autonomy (with guidance): the candidate(s) should have the required skills in managing tasks and timelines on their own. This position is ideal for students aiming to pursue a career in psychology, social sciences, or any field where research and analytical skills are paramount.

Literature

de Heering, A., Rossion, B., 2015. Rapid categorization of natural face images in the infant right hemisphere. eLife 4, 14. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06564

Quinn, P.C., Yahr, J., Kuhn, A., Slater, A.M., Pascalis, O., 2002. Representation of the gender of human faces by infants: A preference for female. Perception 31, 1109–1121. https://doi.org/10.1068/p3331

Ramsey-Rennels, J.L., Langlois, J.H., 2006. Infants’ Differential Processing of Female and Male Faces. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 15, 59–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2006.00407.x

Rekow, D., Baudouin, J.-Y., Rossion, B., Leleu, A., 2020. An ecological measure of rapid and automatic face-sex categorization. Cortex 127, 150–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.02.007

Rennels, J.L., Davis, R.E., 2008. Facial experience during the first year. Infant Behavior and Development 31, 665–678. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2008.04.009

Rennels, J.L., Kayl, A.J., Langlois, J.H., Davis, R.E., Orlewicz, M., 2016. Asymmetries in infants’ attention toward and categorization of male faces: The potential role of experience. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 142, 137–157.

Supervisor

Dr. Diane Rekow (diane.rekow"AT"uni-hamburg.de)

Correspondence in English.

Please send your grades, a CV and a short motivation letter describing your interest to the project and your suitability to conduct it.

Quick evaluation of the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) in corrected and incorrected vision

Suitability

Bachelor students only

Background and scope of the thesis

Contrast sensitivity function (CSF) describes how visual sensitivity varies as a function of grating spatial frequency. This function provides a comprehensive measure of the visual system over a wide range of spatial frequencies. The traditional approach to measure CSF requires many trials (e.g., 100 trials) at a fixed spatial frequency while the contrast of the stimulus changes depending on the participant’s performance. This approach detects the threshold contrast sensitivity at a certain spatial frequency. To achieve a complete CSF, participants need to repeat the above-mentioned procedure for several spatial frequencies (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, 36 cycles-per-degree), resulting in a long, time-consuming experimental session. To speed up the CSF measurement, we use a Bayesian adaptive method that estimates the CSF in less than 10 minutes (qCSF). The aim of this project is to validate the accuracy of the qCSF method by comparing the calculated CSFs between the traditional and quick method of the CSF calculation in different groups with different vision. Your tasks in this project are reading the relevant literature, participant recruitment, behavioral data collection, data analysis, presenting the results in our science seminars, and writing up your thesis.

Your profile

Basic knowledge in statistical analysis in SPSS or R (t-test and ANOVA) is required
Basic knowledge in MATLAB and Psychtoolbox is a plus
Interest in participant recruitment and data collection is required
Motivation to learn new methods and research field through literature research

Literature

Kalia, A., Lesmes, L. A., Dorr, M., Gandhi, T., Chatterjee, G., Ganesh, S., Bex, P. J., & Sinha, P. (2014). Development of pattern vision following early and extended blindness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(5), 2035–2039. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1311041111

Leek M. R. (2001). Adaptive procedures in psychophysical research. Perception & Psychophysics, 63(8), 1279–1292. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03194543

Lesmes, L. A., Lu, Z. L., Baek, J., & Albright, T. D. (2010). Bayesian adaptive estimation of the contrast sensitivity function: the quick CSF method. Journal of Vision, 10(3), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1167/10.3.17

Supervisor

Dr. Hossein Abbasi (hossein.abbasi@uni-hamburg.de(Hossein.abbasi"AT"uni-hamburg.de))

Investigating the relation between visual acuity, Vernier acuity, and contrast sensitivity function (CSF)

Suitability

Bachelor students only

Background and scope of the thesis:

Different measure can estimate how good our vision is. Visual acuity quantifies the eye's ability to resolve fine details. Vernier acuity, on the other hand, quantifies the eye’s ability to detect small positional differences between elements. Using the Vernier acuity, one can detect very small resolution which are below the distance between photoreceptors in the eye (e.g., 3-5 arcseconds). While visual acuity measures the basic image processing and resolution at the level of the retina, Vernier acuity involves higher-level neural processing, as it depends on the brain's ability to integrate and interpret small positional differences between visual stimuli. Another measure, namely contrast sensitivity function (CSF), describes how visual sensitivity varies as a function of grating spatial frequency. The aim of this project is to investigate the relationship between these three measures. Your tasks in this project are reading the relevant literature, participant recruitment, behavioral data collection, data analysis, presenting the results in our science seminars, and writing up your thesis.

Your profile

Basic knowledge in statistical analysis in SPSS or R (t-test and ANOVA) is required
Basic knowledge in MATLAB and Psychtoolbox is a plus
Interest in participant recruitment and data collection is required
Motivation to learn new methods and research field through literature research

Literature

Barollo, M., Contemori, G., Battaglini, L., Pavan, A., & Casco, C. (2017). Perceptual learning improves contrast sensitivity, visual acuity, and foveal crowding in amblyopia. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 35(5), 483–496. https://doi.org/10.3233/RNN-170731

Lesmes, L. A., Lu, Z. L., Baek, J., & Albright, T. D. (2010). Bayesian adaptive estimation of the contrast sensitivity function: the quick CSF method. Journal of Vision, 10(3), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1167/10.3.17

Supervisor

Dr. Hossein Abbasi (hossein.abbasi@uni-hamburg.de(Hossein.abbasi"AT"uni-hamburg.de))

Visual surround modualtion after short-term changes in excitatory-inhibitory balance of the brain

Suitability

Master students only (this project can be undertaken by a group of two master students)

Background and scope of the thesis

In the figure below, all three small (central) circles are identical, but the one on the right side appears to have much less contrast, appearing almost washed out compared to the one on the left. This phenomenon, known as surround modualtion, demonstrates that visual processing in the brain depends on context. In this case, a surround with similar orientation (right) decreases the visual response compared to a surround that is oriented orthogonally (left). This decrease in visual response can be o measured non-invasively by electroencephalographic (EEG) methods (Vanegas, Blangero, & Kelly, 2015). The neural mechanisms likely involve increased inhibition (I) as well as reduced excitation (E) (Angelucci et al., 2017). The goal of this master thesis is to further understand the role of E-I balance by evaluating electrophysiological and behavioral measures of surround modualtion after short-term visual deprivation, a manipulation that usually increases the excitability of visual cortex (Boroojerdi, 2000). The work is experimental, involving EEG and behavioral data collection and analysis.

Fig. 1: Surround suppression, caused by a similarly oriented background (on the right side), can decrease the apparent contrast of a visual stimulus. All small (central) circles are identical. Copyright: Sourav/CC-BY-4.0

Surround suppression might have resulted from our brains evolving to process natural stimuli optimally, and might facilitate the segmentation of object boundaries (Angelucci et al., 2017; Coen-Cagli, Dayan, & Schwartz, 2012).

The goal of this master thesis is to uncover neural mechanisms of subjective perception and visual behavior. Thus, you will have the chance to both replicate electrophysiological findings related to surround suppression, and to link it to visual behavioral measures. The work is experimental, involving EEG and behavioral data collection and analysis.

Your profile

Strong interest in quantitative experimental research involving participants
Passion in learning new things
Ability to work independently
Nice to have: Basic programming skills in MATLAB/R.

Literature

Angelucci, A., Bijanzadeh, M., Nurminen, L., Federer, F., Merlin, S., & Bressloff, P. C. (2017). Circuits and mechanisms for surround modulation in visual cortex. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 40(1), 425–451. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-072116-031418

Boroojerdi, B., Bushara, K. O., Corwell, B., Immisch, I., Battaglia, F., Muellbacher, W., & Cohen, L. G. (2000). Enhanced excitability of the human visual cortex induced by short-term light deprivation. Cerebral Cortex, 10(5), 529–534. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/10.5.529

Vanegas, M. I., Blangero, A., & Kelly, S. P. (2015). Electrophysiological indices of surround suppression in humans. Journal of Neurophysiology, 113(4), 1100–1109. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00774.2014

Supversisor

Dr. José Ossandón (jose.ossandon"AT"uni-hamburg.de)

The neural development of face perception in infancy

Suitability

Open to both Bachelor and Master students

Background and scope of the thesis

Face perception is a complex neural function which takes years to fully develop. It has been a core interest in developmental cognitive psychology and neuroscience for decades but recent technical advances allow to tackle deeper into subtle face perception abilities (face gender, face identity, ethnicity), already in young infants.

Several projects are available on this topic, including already collected data in infants aged 2 to 11 months old (over 100 datasets including EEG activity + face exposure questionnaires). Adult data are also available on the same paradigms, and children data is planned. For instance, a thesis could investigate the relation between age and facial exposure with EEG responses, or investigate if generic face perception at 5 months (eg face vs. objects) predicts subtle face perception at 8 months (eg face identity).

Your profile

Proficiency in English (required for thesis writing)
Willingness to develop and apply coding skills for data management and analysis
Curiosity and attention to detail to ensure high-quality data analysis
Ability to work independently on data analysis tasks, with guidance as needed
Strong self-management skills, including task and timeline organization
Interest in research and analytical work, particularly in psychology, social sciences, or related fields

Literature

de Heering, A., Rossion, B., 2015. Rapid categorization of natural face images in the infant right hemisphere. eLife 4, 14. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06564

Rekow, D., Baudouin, J.-Y., Rossion, B., Leleu, A., 2020. An ecological measure of rapid and automatic face-sex categorization. Cortex 127, 150–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.02.007

Rennels, J.L., Kayl, A.J., Langlois, J.H., Davis, R.E., Orlewicz, M., 2016. Asymmetries in infants’ attention toward and categorization of male faces: The potential role of experience. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 142, 137–157.

Supervisor

Dr. Diane Rekow (diane.rekow"AT"uni-hamburg.de)

(Correspondence in English)

Development of visual surround modulation in childhood

Suitability

Master students only (this project can be undertaken by a group of two master students)

Background and scope of the thesis

In the figure below, all three small (central) circles are identical, yet the one on the right appears to have less contrast compared to the one on the left. This illustrates how visual processing of a stimulus depends on context — a phenomenon known as surround modulation (SM). SM can be measured both at the neural level using EEG (Vanegas, Blangero, & Kelly, 2015) and at the perceptual level through contrast detection thresholds.

A key characteristic of SM is that the degree of modulation depends on the relationship between center and surround properties — including distance, orientation (as demonstrated in the figure below), contrast, and their interactions. Mechanistic models have linked these effects to the structure and function of neural circuits (Angelucci et al., 2017).

SM in motion processing has already been observed in infants (Nakashima et al., 2019); however, the underlying neural mechanisms continue to undergo refinement beyond early developmental stages (Doron, Spierer, & Polat, 2015; Li, Hagan, & Kiorpes, 2013).

The goal of this master’s thesis is to better understand how neural mechanisms involved in visual processing develop by investigating various characteristics of SM in elementary school children, using both EEG and behavioral contrast perception tasks.

Fig. 1: Surround suppression, caused by a similarly oriented background (on the right side), can decrease the apparent contrast of a visual stimulus. All small (central) circles are identical. Copyright: Sourav/CC-BY-4.0

Your tasks in this project include reviewing relevant literature, recruiting elementary school children from our database, learning and conducting EEG and behavioral data collection using a pre-established experimental paradigm, performing data analysis with guidance and support from your supervisor, presenting your results in our science seminar, and writing your thesis.

Your profile

Strong interest in experimental neuroscience research (behavioral and EEG)
Confident and friendly in interacting with elementary school children and their parents
Basic programming skills in MATLAB and/or R are a plus, along with a willingness to learn data analysis techniques for EEG and behavioral data
Good English skills (spoken and written), as the thesis will be in English
Passion for learning new skills and the ability to work independently

Literature

Angelucci, A., Bijanzadeh, M., Nurminen, L., Federer, F., Merlin, S., & Bressloff, P. C. (2017). Circuits and mechanisms for surround modulation in visual cortex. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 40(1), 425–451. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-072116-031418

Doron, R., Spierer, A., & Polat, U. (2015). How crowding, masking, and contour interactions are related: A developmental approach. Journal of vision, 15(8), 5. https://doi.org/10.1167/15.8.5

Li, D. P., Hagan, M. A., & Kiorpes, L. (2013). Linking structure and function: development of lateral spatial interactions in macaque monkeys. Visual neuroscience, 30(5-6), 263–270. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0952523813000394

Nakashima, Y., Yamaguchi, M. K., & Kanazawa, S. (2019). Development of Center-Surround Suppression in Infant Motion Processing. Current biology, 29(18), 3059–3064.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.044

Vanegas, M. I., Blangero, A., & Kelly, S. P. (2015). Electrophysiological indices of surround suppression in humans. Journal of Neurophysiology, 113(4), 1100–1109. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00774.2014

Supervisor

Dr. José Ossandón (jose.ossandon"AT"uni-hamburg.de)

Functional and structural recovery after sight restoration following congenital blindness

Resting-state functional connectivity and cortical thickness in sight recovery individuals

Suitability

Open to both Bachelor and Master students

Background and scope of the thesis

The absence of visual experience throughout life or during different periods in life is known to have effects on structural and functional measures of visual cortical processing. Data acquired from sight recovery individuals, who were born blind due to bilateral cataracts and regained sight after receiving surgery early in life, offer the unique opportunity to investigate the concept of a “sensitive period” in relation to these measures. This project will examine how spontaneous neural signals (i.e., acquired during resting-state fMRI) are organized retinotopically and whether this organization is dependent on early visual experience (methods related to Butt et al., 2015). Moreover, the effect of a temporary blindness on structural measures (e.g. Guerreiro et al. 2015, Hölig et al., 2023) will be evaluated in a European sample of congenital cataract individuals.

High-resolution fMRI resting-state data from both sight-restored individuals and normally sighted controls has already been collected and preprocessed. Following a comprehensive literature review, you will be responsible for the analysis of the data for cortical thickness as well the functional connectivity analyses.

Your profile

strong interest in fMRI methods
ability to work independently
motivation to learn about the methods and research field through literature research
at least basic skills in the statistical software

Literature

Butt, O. H., Benson, N. C., Datta, R., & Aguirre, G. K. (2015). Hierarchical and homotopic correlations of spontaneous neural activity within the visual cortex of the sighted and blind. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00025

Guerreiro, M., Erfort, M. V., Henssler, J., Putzar, L., & Röder, B. (2015). Increased visual cortical thickness in sight-recovery individuals. Human Brain Mapping, 36(12), 5265–5274. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.23009

Hölig, C., Guerreiro, M. J. S., Lingareddy, S., Kekunnaya, R., & Röder, B. (2023). Sight restoration in congenitally blind humans does not restore visual brain structure. Cerebral Cortex, 33(5), 2152–2161. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhac197

Supervisor

Carolin Heitmann (carolin.heitmann-2"AT"uni-hamburg.de)

Changes in the functional visual field due to low target visibility

Visual imagery in dreams following congenital blindness and later sight restoration

Suitability

Open to Master‘s students

Background

Vision is the primary modality through which healthy populations experience the world. By extension, our dreams are primarily comprised of visual imagery. The presence of visual imagery in the dreams of congenitally blind individuals however, is highly controversial. While some evidence (mainly anecdotal) would suggest that it is possible through mechanisms of sensory substitution, true visual representations require visual input. Indeed, the dreams of congenitally blind individuals are more prominently comprised of non-visual sensations. However, the restoration of sight in these individuals would almost certainly induce remarkable changes in dream content and modality. Individuals born with dense bilateral cataracts removed later in life present a unique opportunity to investigate how dreams change as a result of visual experience.
Using a comprehensive questionnaire, we will survey groups of permanently congenitally blind individuals, congenital cataract reversal individuals, and individuals with other visual impairments, in order to assess the content, intensity, and qualia of their dreams. This survey will be used in both Germany and India, with the thesis based on the German application.

Your profile

• Native German speaker
• Fluency in English
• Hard working with strong self-management skills, including task and timeline organization
• Ability to work independently on tasks, with guidance as needed
• Interest in research, particularly in neuroscience, psychology, or related fields

Literature

Ilic, K., Bertani, R., Lapteva, N., Drakatos, P., Delogu, A., Raheel, K., Soteriou, M., Mutti, C., Steier, J., Carmichael, D. W., Goadsby, P. J., Ockelford, A., & Rosenzweig, I. (2023). Visuo-spatial imagery in dreams of congenitally and early blind: A systematic review. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2023.1204129

Supervisor

Jordan Hassett, PhD candidate (jordan.hassett"AT"uni-hamburg.de)

(Correspondence in English)

BSc theses and MSc theses in BPN

Multisensory processing

Training induced short term plasticity (multisensory learning)

Suitabilty

Background

Scope of the thesis

Literature

Supervisor

How eye movement-related eardrum oscillations are linked to audiovisual perception

Impact of anti-saccadic eye movements on eye movement-related eardrum oscillations (EMREOs)

The variability of infants and children environmental exposure to sights and odors

Visual perception

The development of male and female face perception

Quick evaluation of the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) in corrected and incorrected vision

Investigating the relation between visual acuity, Vernier acuity, and contrast sensitivity function (CSF)

Visual surround modualtion after short-term changes in excitatory-inhibitory balance of the brain

The neural development of face perception in infancy

Development of visual surround modulation in childhood

Functional and structural recovery after sight restoration following congenital blindness

Resting-state functional connectivity and cortical thickness in sight recovery individuals

Changes in the functional visual field due to low target visibility

Visual imagery in dreams following congenital blindness and later sight restoration

Crossmodal plasticity in blind individuals

Preprocessing and assessment of data quality of auditory/tactile event-related potentials in blind individuals