Markus Werkle-Bergner

Markus Werkle-Bergner is a Senior Research Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development's Center for Lifespan Psychology in Berlin. Holding a Habilitation from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (2019) and a PhD in Psychology (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2009), his work bridges lifespan developmental neuroscience and memory mechanisms. He leads research on age-related changes in neural oscillations, neuromodulatory systems, and memory consolidation, particularly focusing on EEG correlates and multivariate statistical models of cognitive change.

His research has been recognized through the Jacobs Foundation Research Fellowship (2017-2019) and extensive publications in top journals like Nature Human Behaviour and Neuron. He supervises students including Eva S. Buchberger (PhD, 2023) and Chikezie M. (Master's, 2024) at Freie Universität Berlin. Current projects like Lifespan Rhythms of Memory and Cognition (RHYME) explore how sleep spindle-oscillation coupling and neuromodulatory integrity affect memory across ages.

Key publications reveal that rostral locus coeruleus integrity predicts memory performance in older adults (Nature Human Behaviour, 2019), and that pre-stimulus alpha-lateralization declines in aging (NeuroImage, 2019). His methodological innovations include single-trial neural rhythm characterization and power estimation for developmental SEM models. Awards and editorial roles in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews emphasize his leadership in cognitive aging and developmental neuroscience.