Bianca Wittmann

Prof. Dr. Bianca Wittmann holds the position of Professor of Psychology at the University of Giessen, Germany, within the Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science and the Department of Psychology. Her research focuses on episodic memory, value-based decision making, novelty processing, and the neural mechanisms underlying motivational events. She has held academic roles since 2003, including postdoctoral fellowships at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (UC Berkeley, USA) and University College London (UK), and a PhD from the University of Magdeburg (2005).

Education

• PhD in Psychology, University of Magdeburg (2003–2005)
• Biology Degree, University of Tübingen (1998–2003)

Research Themes

• Neurobiological basis of reward and punishment processing
• Role of novelty in memory formation
• Interactions between motivation and memory systems
• Neuroimaging studies of striatal and hippocampal activity

Key Contributions

• Developed the Motivational Objects in Natural Scenes (MONS) database
• Explored the impact of dopamine genetics on memory
• Investigated neural correlates of boredom and decision-making

Her teaching includes courses like Neurobiology of Motivation and Memory (PSY-MA-PFM-04) and Biological Psychology (PSY-BA-PM-07). Professional contact details: Office Building F, Room 21a; Email: bianca.wittmann@psychol.uni-giessen.de.