Daniela Sammler

Daniela Sammler is an Adjunct Professor at Goethe University Frankfurt and Research Group Leader of the Neurocognition of Music and Language research group at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt/Main. She has established herself as a leading researcher at the intersection of music cognition, language processing, and neuroscience, with a particular focus on prosody, syntax, and the neural mechanisms underlying both speech and musical processing.

Education

• 2025: Adjunct Professor, Goethe University Frankfurt/M.
• 2022: Venia Legendi, Goethe University Frankfurt/M.
• 2018: Habilitation and Venia Legendi, University of Leipzig (Topic: Intonation in speech and music)
• 2004-2008: Dr. rer. nat. in Psychology, University of Leipzig and MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig (Topic: Syntax in language and music)
• 1997-2004: Psychology studies at University of Leipzig and Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg (Diploma from Leipzig)

Research Interests

Daniela Sammler's research focuses on the neurocognitive foundations of music and language processing, with particular emphasis on how prosody, melody, and syntax are represented and processed in the brain. Her work explores the common neural mechanisms underlying speech and music, investigating how the brain processes intonation patterns in both domains. She has made significant contributions to understanding the dorsal and ventral pathways for prosody and the neuroanatomical overlap of syntax processing in music and language.

Her research employs a variety of methodologies including fMRI, EEG, intracranial ERP studies, and behavioral experiments with both healthy participants and patient populations. She has conducted groundbreaking work on amusia and language disorders, prosodic structure building, and the neural bases of musical joint action. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a growing focus on interpersonal musical interaction, interbrain synchrony, and the cognitive mechanisms underlying collaborative music-making.

Scientific Awards

• Gold Medal for outstanding achievements in the preservation of historic monuments in Europe (2012)
• Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society (2010)
• Otto Hahn Award of the Max Planck Society (2010)
• Poster Award, Organization of Human Brain Mapping (2010)

Research Leadership and Grants

Since 2020, Dr. Sammler has led the Neurocognition of Music and Language research group at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics. Prior to this, she headed the Otto Hahn Group Neural Bases of Intonation in Speech and Music at the MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences from 2013-2020, which was funded through her Otto Hahn Award. Her research has been supported by prestigious grants from the Max Planck Society and other funding bodies, enabling her to establish cutting-edge research programs at the intersection of music, language, and neuroscience.

She currently leads multiple research projects including "Neural Networks for Real-Time Joint Music Performance: Piano duos in the MR-scanner" and "Cognitive drivers of interbrain synchrony during musical interaction," which investigate the complex cognitive and neural processes underlying musical collaboration. Her research group has also explored how vocal tone carries information about emotional state and speaker intention through prosody.

Research Environment

Dr. Sammler's research group operates within the Department of Music at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt. Her lab employs state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques including fMRI, EEG, and intracranial recordings to investigate the neural substrates of music and language processing. The research environment fosters interdisciplinary collaboration between neuroscientists, linguists, musicologists, and cognitive scientists, creating a rich intellectual space for exploring the complex relationships between music and language.