European Commission proposes EU KIDS Act
Expertise from the Center for Adaptive Rationality contributed to the proposal
Statement by the Berliner Forschungsnetzwerk
Strengthening Academic Freedom – The Max Planck Society supports the joint statement issued by the Berliner Forschungsnetzwerk
Cash transfers to mothers with low income may slow biological aging in children
A study published in Nature Human Behaviour reports that providing cash transfers to mothers with low income during the first four years of their children's lives changed the children's biological aging in ways associated with better health in adulthood.
3Sat NANO Doku: Can game theory save the world?
Why does collaboration often fail, even though everyone involved could benefit from it? Using game theory models, this documentary shows how the decisions of others influence one’s own success. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development also share their insights: Director Iyad Rahwan and research scientist Levin Brinkmann from the Center for Humans and Machines explain how artificial intelligence is changing social decision-making processes (only in German).
Mara Mather Appointed Director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development
On September 1, Neuroscientist Mara Mather is starting as director of the newly established Center for Affective and Autonomic Neuroscience (CAAN) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. As Scientific Member of the Max Planck Society, she will investigate how emotions, physiological regulation processes, and brain aging are connected—and what role these interactions play in the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, and in their prevention.
Freedom of Information as a Safeguard of Liberal Democracies
The planned amendment to the Freedom of Information Act severely restricts the right of access to information and threatens democratic transparency in Germany – An article by Erik Tuchtfeld, Carolyn Moser und Ralph Hertwig.Please note: This page is currently only available in German.
Our Institute in the media
Here you can find links to selected articles, radio- and TV reports about the activities of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in 2026.
Join our research – become part of our studies
The Max Planck Institute for Human Development is always looking for adults and children of all ages, who would like to take part in studies.
About our Institute
Get to know us – our Research Center and Groups, our service structure, and what drives us in our scientific work.
Journal Article
Falkenstein, K., Pauley, C., & Kühn, S. (2026). Investigating effects of day-to-day variations in environmental exposure on the human brain: Study protocol for the Day2Day Environment project. BMC Neuroscience, 27, Article 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12868-026-01052-z
Journal Article
McClary, T. M., Ciranka, S., Buchberger, E. S., Spitzer, B., Lindenberger, U., Ngo, C. T., & Werkle-Bergner, M. (2026). Generalization from early to middle childhood. Scientific Reports, 16, Article 29500. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-69464-9
[These authors shared senior authorship: Chi T. Ngo and Markus Werkle-Bergner.].
Journal Article
Berger, J., Burton, J. W., Hertwig, R., , Kurvers, R. H. J. M., , , , , Thoma, A. I., Wulff, D. U., & Herzog, S. M. (2026). Human learning is an understudied but promising lever for boosting human-AI synergy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 123(39), Article e2536100123. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2536100123
