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Attention!

From 23 January to 25 January, the entire institute will be unavailable by telephone or email.

This picture shows the launch of the mobile MRI of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

Max Planck Institute for Human Development celebrates new mobile MRI

The Max Planck Institute for Human Development’s new mobile MRI scanner brings state-of-the-art imaging directly to the field—without compromising data quality. The highly sensitive 1.5 Tesla enables researchers to study environmental influences on the brain in real conditions; trips into nature and to rural and remote regions are planned.

Digital brain surrounded by glowing dots and lines in a dark room.

When AI “thinks” like us

New research forms a link between human and machine representations. In this regard, scientists from BIFOLD have developed the AligNet approach in collaboration with Google DeepMind and Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

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 2025.

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.

Newsroom

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Helena Nikonole joins Artist & AI Residency

January 22, 2026

Artist Helena Nikonole will participate in the Artist & AI Residency at the Center for Humans and Machines (CHM) from January to March 2026. Her work explores utopian visions of post-human futures and critical reflections on the dystopian present.

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Treasure trove of data on aging accessible

January 12, 2026

Ageing LIP News

The data of the Berlin Aging Study (BASE) are now available to researchers worldwide at the Research Data Center of the Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID)

This picture shows the mobile MRI of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

On the move: MRI goes mobile

CEN News

Max Planck Institute for Human Development celebrates new mobile MRI

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Deutschlandfunk – Aus dem Dunkel erster Erinnerungen

January 01, 2026

Childhood LIP Media Echo

Why can't we remember our earliest childhood memories? The initial findings of some research provide clues as to how childhood memories are formed.

Research highlights 2025

December 22, 2025

ARC Artificial Intelligence CHM News

A look back at a year of research with many highlights

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Inequalities in online discourse

December 10, 2025

ARC News Social Media Society

Researchers conducted a Reddit field experiment to better understand the dynamics of online debates.

Latest Publications

Journal Article

Hall-McMaster, S., Wittkuhn, L., Verra, L., Hedrich, N. L., Irie, K., Dayan, P., Gershman, S. J., & Schuck, N. W. (2026). Entorhinal cortex signals dimensions of past experience that can be generalised in a novel environment. The Journal of Neuroscience. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1492-25.2025

MPG.PuRe

DOI

Journal Article

Stewart, E., Zielke, L. G., de Boer, A. R., Boulaire, G. G., Power, S. D., & Ryan, T. J. (2026). Microglial activity during postnatal development is required for infantile amnesia in mice. PLoS Biology, 24(1), Article e3003538. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003538

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DOI

publisher-version

Journal Article

Ascone, L., Mahlke, C., Tawil, N., Samaan, L., Frisch, M., Nugent, L., Nixdorf, R., Börncke, F., Lüdecke, D., Fischer, R., Bach, N., Hackbarth, C., McCall, T., Gallinat, J., & Kühn, S. (2026). Informing the redesign of psychiatric seclusion rooms: A mixed-methods pre-evaluation with individuals with lived experience. BMC Psychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-026-07780-0

MPG.PuRe

DOI

Latest Events

Exhibition by Elise Garnaut | Concentric Circles in Nature

Nov 20, 2025 06:00 PM (Local Time Germany) - Feb 18, 2026 06:00 PM

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Room: 1. OG, ARC corridor

Helena Nikonole | POWER VECTORS – Ideology embeddings of LLMs

Jan 22, 2026 08:00 PM (Local Time Germany) - Feb 27, 2026 06:30 PM

Art Laboratory Berlin Prinzenallee 34, 13359 Berlin

Christoph Engel

Jan 27, 2026 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Room: Small Conference Room

LIP External Colloquium: Hadas Okon-Singer, University of Haifa, Israel: „Cognitive biases in mental disorders: From evidence to intervention“

Hadas Okon-Singer, University of Haifa, Israel

Jan 28, 2026 01:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Room: Small Conference Room

LIP External Colloquium: Dave Clewett, University of California, Los Angeles, USA - "Title TBA"

Dave Clewett, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

May 20, 2026 01:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Room: 299

LIP External Colloquium: Hadas Okon-Singer, University of Haifa, Israel -„Title TBA“

Viola Störmer, Dartmouth College, USA

May 27, 2026 01:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Room: Small Conference Room

LIP External Colloquium: Steve Boker, University of Virginia, USA - "Title TBA"

Steve Boker, University of Virginia, USA

Jun 10, 2026 01:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Room: Small Conference Room

Further Publications

Further Events

Current Research Results

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Cover of the book "Deliberate Ignorance"

Cover of the book "Classification in the wild"

Cover of the book " The long-term proficiency of early, middle, and late starters learning English als a foreign language at school: A narrative review and empirical stud"

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Cover of the book "Lost dynamics and the dynamics of loss"

Cover of the book "Zur Zukunft der Demokratie"

Cover of the book "Grüne Fahren SUV und Joggen macht unsterblich"

Cover of the book "Jahrbuch Deutsche Einheit 2022"

It shows the Book Cover The Body Unburdened written by Esra Sarioglu. The upper third displays the book title and name, in the lower two thirds is a photo of a woman standing in the midst of police officers and the proud look is led away.

In the center of the picture, an observatory on wheels can be seen, with people standing around it marveling. At the lower left edge, a speaker stands at the lectern and points into the sky.

The title of the book is in the middle in a white box. Outside are many different adjectives in colorful letters.

The title of the book is Does prefrontal connectivity during task switching help or hinder children’s performance

Cover of the Book The integrity of dopaminergic and noradrenergic brain regions is associated with different aspects of late-life memory performance

Cover of the book "The Intelligence of Intuition"

Cover of the book "Elgar Companion to Herbert Simon"

The cover of Smart Management by Gerd Gigerenzer, Jochen Reb, and Shenghua Luan features a simple and modern design. The title is prominently displayed, highlighting the key theme of the book: "How Simple Heuristics Help Leaders Make Good Decisions in an Uncertain World." The overall aesthetic reflects a professional tone, suitable for a leadership and management guide, with clean lines and minimalistic colors that emphasize clarity and strategic thinking, in line with the book's focus on simplifying decision-making in complex environments.

Cover of the book "Geschichte und Gesellschaft. Zeitschrift für Historische Sozialwissenschaften"

Cover of the book "Environmental Neuroscience"

The image shows the dummy from the cover From Animal Models to Human Individuality: Integrative Approaches to the Study of Brain Plasticity

Cover of the book "Verfassungsgefühle. Die Deutschen und ihre Staatsgrundgesetze"

Current Job Openings

We are looking for qualified and motivated professionals to join our Research Center and Services. Here you can find all open positions along with details about responsibilities and requirements.

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Equal Opportunities

The Max Planck Institute for Human Development is committed to promoting equal opportunities for all genders. We take both organizational and personnel measures to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family life and to promote women’s careers. Our aim is to ensure a positive environment that promotes and supports excellence.

Research Schools

The Max Planck Institute for Human Development provides many opportunities for predocs. Among others, the two International Max Planck Research Schools at the Institute as well as the Max Planck School of Cognition provide an excellent training context.