My research interests are within the field of „Neuroscience of Music Perception and Production“ and my projects aim at investigating the neural basis of musical improvisation, individual differences in piano learning, crossmodal interactions, sensorimotor synchronization, and effects of joint drumming on prosocial behaviour. I am applying a variety of methods ranging from behavioural measurements to different neuroimaging methods (fMRI, DTI). As a postdoctoral researcher I started working in 2008 in the “Music Cognition & Action group” of Dr. Keller at the at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany as well as since September 2009 in the “Social Brain Lab” of Prof. Keysers (now at the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience, Amsterdam, Netherlands).

Articles

Engel, A. & Keller, P.E. (2011) The perception of musical spontaneity in improvised and imitated jazz performances. Frontiers in Psychology 2:83. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00083

Keller, P.E., Weber, A. & Engel, A. (in press) Practice Makes Too Perfect: Fluctuations in Loudness Indicate Spontaneity in Musical Improvisation. Music Perception.

Kokal, I., Engel, A., Kirschner, S., & Keysers, C. (under revision) Synchronized Drumming Enhances Activity in the Caudate and Facilitates Prosocial Commitment - If the Rhythm Comes Easy.

Engel, A., Burke, M., Fiehler, K., Bien, S., & Rösler, F. (2008). How moving objects become animated: The human mirror neuron system assimilates non-biological movement patterns. Social Neuroscience, 3(3-4), 368-387.

Engel, A., Burke, M., Fiehler, K., Bien, S., & Rösler, F. (2008). Motor learning affects visual movement perception. European Journal of Neuroscience, 27(9), 2294-2302.

Engel, A., Burke, M., Fiehler, K., Bien, S., & Rösler, F. (2008). What activates the human mirror neuron system during observation of artificial movements: bottom-up visual features or top-down intentions? Neuropsychologia, 46(7), 2033-2042.

Fiehler, K., Burke, M., Engel, A., Bien, S., & Rösler, F. (2008). Kinesthetic working memory and action control within the dorsal stream. Cerebral Cortex, 18(2), 243-253.

Fiehler, K., Engel, A., & Rösler, F. (2007). And where are somatosensory representations stored and reactivated? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 30(2), 206-207.

Conference Abstracts (selection of recent abstracts)

Hijmans, B.S., Engel, A., Bangert, M., Keller, P.E., Keysers, C. (2010) Crossmodal repetition suppression for auditorily and visually perceived actions. 11th International Multisensory Research Forum, Liverpool, UK, 16-19 June, 2010. p. 43.

Hijmans, B.S., Engel, A., Cerliani, L., Bangert, M., Nanetti, L., Keller, P.E., Keysers, C. (2010) Inter-individual differences in motor learning and white matter fiber tract architecture. International Students Congress of Medical Sciencs, Groningen, Netherlands, 8-11 June, 2010.

Engel, A., Bangert, M., Hijmans, B.S., Horbank, D., Keller, P.E., Keysers, C. (2010) Crossmodal transfer for newly learned finger movements on a piano keyboard. 11th International Multisensory Research Forum, Liverpool, UK, 16-19 June, 2010. p.76.