Elisabeth Wenger

Elisabeth Wenger is a Visiting scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (MPIB) in Berlin, Germany, affiliated with the Developmental Psychology research team. Her work investigates brain plasticity and structural changes across the human lifespan using advanced neuroimaging techniques.

Her educational background includes:

• Dr. rer. nat. (Doctor of Natural Sciences) from Humboldt University of Berlin in 2014
• Dipl.-Psych. (Diplom in Psychology) from Free University of Berlin in 2010

Dr. Wenger's research centers on brain plasticity across the lifespan, specifically examining temporal sequences and functional correlates of anatomical brain changes through structural imaging. Her current project "Plasticity mechanisms and progression" explores non-linear progression of experience-dependent volume changes in the motor cortex during skill acquisition. This work challenges linear models of brain adaptation by demonstrating expansion followed by renormalization of brain tissue, with implications for cognitive development, aging, and neurorehabilitation.

Her 2017 publications in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, and Cerebral Cortex reveal consistent themes: structural brain changes during learning follow non-linear trajectories, motor cortex volume alterations are experience-dependent, and longitudinal imaging captures dynamic plasticity mechanisms. Collectively, these studies establish her expertise in linking behavioral skill acquisition to neuroanatomical changes.

As part of MPIB's Developmental Psychology team, she collaborates with leading researchers including Ulman Lindenberger and Martin Lövdén. Her work integrates psychology, neuroscience, and advanced imaging methodologies to advance understanding of human brain plasticity across the lifespan.