Martina Piefke

Chair of Neurobiology and Genetics of Behaviour

To the Working Group Security Research and Security Practice (AK Sifo)

Prof Dr Martina Piefke works in the field of cognitive and clinical neuroscience. She is particularly interested in interdisciplinary research into higher cognitive functions in humans and their disorders in neurological and psychiatric patients. Another focus of her scientific work is the investigation of cognitive ageing and possible risk factors for the development of dementia in old age. In her scientific work, she combines neuropsychological and psychophysiological methods with neurofunctional imaging and genetic studies. In her clinical research, Prof Piefke applies these combinations of methods not only for the diagnosis but also for the treatment of cognitive impairments. In the field of neurorehabilitation, she is particularly concerned with the development of new technologies and procedures that enable cognitive disorders to be rehabilitated close to everyday life.

Lena Goldschmidt, M. Sc.
Research assistant

Vincent Nin, M. Sc.
Academic staff member

Daria Olsen, M. Sc.
Research assistant

Dipl.-Psych. Markus Swierczek
Academic staff member

Andrea Trost
Research assistant

since April 2021
Scientific Director of the Working Group on Security Research and Security Practice (AK Sifo) at the UW/H

since 01.09.12
Holder of the Chair of Neurobiology and Genetics of Behaviour in the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Health at the private Witten/Herdecke University

2009 - 2012
Senior Academic Councillor at the Centre of Excellence "Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC; DFG EC 277) and at the Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science at Bielefeld University

2009 - 2010
Representation of the Chair of Physiological Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science at Bielefeld University in research and teaching

2008
Postdoctoral university lecturing qualification at the Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science at Bielefeld University; topic: Episodic memory, social cognition, and mental imagery: aspects of a neurofunctional segregation and integration of frontal, temporal, and parietal regions of the human brain

2007 - 2009
Senior Researcher in Physiological Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science at Bielefeld University

2003 - 2007
Post-Doc Researcher in basic research and interdisciplinary clinical research on neuropsychology, neurobiology and genetics of higher cognitive functions at the Research Centre Jülich and the University Hospital of RWTH Aachen

2003
Dissertation Award of the Westfälisch-Lippische Universitätsgesellschaft

2003
Doctoral studies with "summa cum laude"; topic: Neural correlates and contents of emotional autobiographical memory: Functional neuroimaging results and behavioural perspectives

1999 - 2003
DFG doctoral scholarship in physiological psychology

1992 - 1999
Studied social sciences in Hanover