Stephanie Theves

Dr. Stephanie Theves is a Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics. Her work focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying intelligence, relational reasoning, and concept representation through cognitive neuroscience approaches.

• Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology

Her research explores how the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex encode hierarchical concepts, construct cognitive maps, and support relational memory systems. Key findings demonstrate that neural representations prioritize conceptual relationships over raw feature distances, and that place-cell-like mechanisms in the brain modulate memory organization.

Theves' recent publications examine category abstraction, spatial cognition, and beta-band activity modulation through sensory training. Her methodological approach combines neuroimaging with computational modeling to investigate neural processes.

As part of the Max Planck Society, her work contributes to foundational knowledge in cognitive neuroscience while intersecting with interdisciplinary research themes in music, language, and computational auditory perception.