The Research Group

Until now, science has lacked a comparison of the effectiveness of rhythmic principles such as metrics, additivity and divisity, spectrum, proportion, categorisation of distances in different disciplines and contexts. There are also hardly any surveys on similarities.

The RG Rhythm addresses this existing gap and in this context debates the following questions:

  • Rhythms in time and space: What phenomena does the parallelism of rhythms in time and space elicit?
  • Rhythm and sensory perception: How do we perceive rhythms with our senses?
  • Synchronisation: When and why do synchronisation and metrics fascinate us? How does synchronisation develop? Does this phenomenon constitute an evolutionary advantage in nature? How did synchronisation move from nature to culture (for instance applause)?
  • Rhythms and emotions: When do we perceive rhythms as sad, as happy, as beautiful? Why do rhythms elicit emotions? How is the representation of rhythm, dance, language, prosody, breathing and emotion connected in the brain? Is there a connection between the emotional perception of rhythms and the rhythmic perception of emotions?
  • Rhythms and culture: What cultural differences are there for instance in the coding of rhythm or in the perception of rhythm?

Documentation of Events

Interdisciplinary Conferences

The Research Group organised two conferences, one in 2006 and one in 2009.

Junge Akademie Magazin

The proceedings of the conference "Rhythms in the Brain" and the status of the RG's work are documented in the article "The Game of the 'Brain Players'. Rhythms in the Brain" by David Linden.



  • Anke Jentsch


    Anke Jentsch
    Disturbance ecology and vegetation dynamics
    Universität Bayreuth
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  • Barbara Stiebels

    Barbara Stiebels
    General Linguistics
    Universität Leipzig
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  • Julian Klein

    Julian Klein
    IKF - Institut für künstlerische Forschung, Berlin
    Julian Klein more
  • Katja Windt

    Katja Windt
    Engineering / Production Technology
    Jacobs University gGmbH, Bremen
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  • Doris Kolesch

    Doris Kolesch
    Study of Theatre and Literature
    Freie Universität Berlin
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  • David Linden

    David Linden
    Medicine / Philosophy
    Cardiff University (UK)
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  • Ricarda Schubotz

    Ricarda Schubotz
    Cognitive Neurology
    Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
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  • Martin von Koppenfels

    Martin von Koppenfels
    Study of Literature
    Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
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