Zefan Zheng

Zefan Zheng is a Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany, working under Prof. Lucia Melloni. He focuses on the interplay between attention, consciousness, and memory, employing behavioral experiments, eye-tracking, MEG, and fMRI techniques. His PhD project investigates whether the richness of conscious experiences is an illusion or rooted in selective attention and memory retention.

Education:

• Master of Science in Psychology of Language (Distinction), University of Edinburgh (2019–2020)
• Bachelor of Arts in German Language and Literature, Zhejiang University (2014–2018)

Research Interests:

• Neural mechanisms underlying conscious perception
• Temporal dynamics of awareness priming
• Top-down vs. bottom-up cognitive processes

Key Project: The interplay between perception and memory explores how past sensory inputs influence current perceptual experiences. Despite declining the Berlin School of Mind and Brain PhD scholarship, Zheng continues research at the Max Planck Institute, contributing to interdisciplinary studies on aesthetics and cognition.