Daniela Sammler

Daniela Sammler is an Adjunct Professor at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and leads the Neurocognition of Music and Language Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics. Her work bridges cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, and musicology to explore shared neural mechanisms in music and language processing.

• PhD in Psychology from the University of Leipzig and Max Planck Institute (2008)
• Habilitation on intonation in speech and music (2018)
• Venia Legendi in Frankfurt (2022)

Her research focuses on neurocognitive overlaps between music and language, including syntax, prosody, and interpersonal interaction. Key findings include cortical tracking of rhythm, neural hubs for melodic processing, and evidence of universal links in speech-song perception despite cultural diversity.

Recent publications analyze audio-motor coordination in duets, prosody-emotion mapping, and dyslexia-related auditory processing deficits. Awards include the Otto Hahn Medal (2010) and European historic preservation recognition (2012).

• Co-led studies with institutions like Western Sydney University and University of Glasgow
• Editor for The Oxford Handbook of Language and Music (under contract)
• Grants from Max Planck Society and Heisenberg Foundation