History

History of the institute

The institute was founded in 1974 as the "Institute of Experimental Music Education". From 1974 to 1993 Prof. Dr. med. Christoph Wagner led the institute. In 1993 he initiated the renaming of the institute to "Institute of Music Physiology". From 1994 to 2023 Prof. Dr. med. Eckart Altenmüller headed the institute. To underline the medical focus of the institution it was again renamed to "Institute of Music Physiology and Musicians' Medicine". Since 2024 Prof. Dr. med. André Lee has been the head of the institute.

Music physiology is not considered a subdiscipline of general physiology. Rather, professional music-making is viewed against a broad neurobiological background as an excellent example of highly developed sensorimotor, auditory and memory performance that can be studied in detail. Furthermore, music performance and music education offer an ideal field of research for gaining fundamental insights into the neuroscientific principles of learning and brain development.

 

Last modified: 2025-09-25

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