Emiliano Zaccarella

Dr. Emiliano Zaccarella is a cognitive neuroscientist and Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, leading the Merge Computations Group. He holds a Substitute Professor role at Universität Potsdam (2020/21) and has been a Postdoc representative within the Max Planck Society's PostdocNet since 2018. His research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying language combinatorial processes, using techniques like fMRI, EEG, and computational modeling.

Education includes a PhD in Cognitive Sciences (2015) from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, a Master's in Linguistics (2009) from Università di Siena, and a Bachelor's in Communication Sciences (2006), also from Siena. He has conducted research at the University of Edinburgh (2007/2008) and the CISCL in Siena (2009).

Research Interests: The neurobiology of syntax, modality-independent language processing, and the evolution of combinatorial abstraction. Methodologies include neuroimaging (fMRI/EEG), behavioral experiments, and computational modeling. Key topics: Merge mechanism, brain organization of syntax, cross-modal language analysis (spoken, signed, written), and developmental neurocognition.

Awards: Otto Hahn Medal (2018), Mind and Brain Scholarship (2010). Active in postdoctoral advocacy through PostdocNet and historical research on Italian resistance movements.

Labs/Teams: Merge Computations Group at MPI, collaborations in Leipzig and Berlin. Address: Stephanstraße 1A, Leipzig, Germany.