Visual perception, perceptual and mental instabilities and their neuronal correlates, altered states of consciousness, consciousness and the psychophysical problem, learning and memory.
Professional career
- Studied biology and mathematics at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg. Magister Scientiarum (M.Sc.) and the 1st state examination in 1998.
- 2002 Doctorate in Neurobiology at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg with the topic: “Perceptual change in ambiguous images – EEG measurements on the time course of neuronal mechanisms”.
- 2002-2008 Postdoc in the Functional Vision Research Section of the University Eye Clinic Freiburg.
- 2004-2008 Deputy Head of the Functional Vision Research Section at the University Eye Clinic Freiburg.
- 2008 Return to IGPP as a research assistant.
- 2013 Habilitation in Neurobiology at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg with the topic: “Ambiguous Figures – What happens in the brain when perception changes but not the stimulus?”.
- Since 2013 private lecturer at the Faculty of Biology at the University of Freiburg and coordinator of the research group “Perception and Cognition”.
- Since 07.2022 Director of IGPP.
Fields of work / research interests
Current research projects
Publications
Journal articles
Wilson, M., Wittmann, M., & Kornmeier, J. (2025). Behavioural and EEG correlates of forward and backward priming—An exploratory study. PLOS One, 20(5), e0322930. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322930
Friedel, E. B. N., Tebartz Van Elst, L., Beringer, M., Endres, D., Runge, K., Maier, S., Kornmeier, J., Bach, M., Domschke, K., Heinrich, S. P., & Nickel, K. (2024). Reduced contrast sensitivity, pattern electroretinogram ratio, and diminished a-wave amplitude in patients with major depressive disorder. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-024-01826-8
Mozhdehfarahbakhsh, A., Hecker, L., Joos, E., & Kornmeier, J. (2024). Visual imagination can influence visual perception – towards an experimental paradigm to measure imagination. Scientific Reports, 14(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-74693-x
Wilson, M., Joos, E., Giersch, A., Bonnefond, A., Tebartz Van Elst, L., Hecker, L., & Kornmeier, J. (2024). Do smaller P300 amplitudes in schizophrenia result from larger variability in temporal processing? Schizophrenia, 10(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41537-024-00519-4
Al-Nosairy, K. O., Quanz, E. V., Eick, C. M., Hoffmann, M. B., & Kornmeier, J. (2023). Altered Perception of the Bistable Motion Quartet in Albinism. Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science, 64(14), Article 14. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.64.14.39
Hecker, L., Tebartz Van Elst, L., & Kornmeier, J. (2023). Source localization using recursively applied and projected MUSIC with flexible extent estimation. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 17, 1170862. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1170862
Knötzele, J., Riemann, D., Frase, L., Feige, B., Van Elst, L. T., & Kornmeier, J. (2023). Presenting rose odor during learning, sleep and retrieval helps to improve memory consolidation: A real-life study. Scientific Reports, 13(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28676-z
Wilson, M., Hecker, L., Joos, E., Aertsen, A., Tebartz Van Elst, L., & Kornmeier, J. (2023). Spontaneous Necker-cube reversals may not be that spontaneous. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 17, 1179081. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1179081
Costa, R. M., Campos, P., Wiborg, M., Rebôlo, C., Wittmann, M., & Kornmeier, J. (2022). Prevalence of visual snow and relation to attentional absorption. PLOS ONE, 17(11), Article 11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276971
Friedel, E. B. N., Hahn, H.-T., Maier, S., Küchlin, S., Reich, M., Runge, K., Bach, M., Heinrich, S. P., Kornmeier, J., Endres, D., Ebert, D., Domschke, K., Tebartz Van Elst, L., & Nickel, K. (2022). Structural and functional retinal alterations in patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Translational Psychiatry, 12(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-02167-7
Friedel, E. B. N., Tebartz Van Elst, L., Schäfer, M., Maier, S., Runge, K., Küchlin, S., Reich, M., Lagrèze, W. A., Kornmeier, J., Ebert, D., Endres, D., Domschke, K., & Nickel, K. (2022). Retinal Thinning in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05882-8
Hecker, L., Wilson, M., Tebartz van Elst, L., & Kornmeier, J. (2022). Altered EEG variability on different time scales in participants with autism spectrum disorder: An exploratory study. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17304-x
Kornmeier, J., Sosic-Vasic, Z., & Joos, E. (2022). Spacing learning units affects both learning and forgetting. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 26, 100173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2022.100173
Friedel, E. B. N., Tebartz Van Elst, L., Schmelz, C., Ebert, D., Maier, S., Endres, D., Runge, K., Domschke, K., Bubl, E., Kornmeier, J., Bach, M., Heinrich, S. P., & Nickel, K. (2021). Replication of Reduced Pattern Electroretinogram Amplitudes in Depression With Improved Recording Parameters. Frontiers in Medicine, 8, 732222. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.732222
Hecker, L., Rupprecht, R., Tebartz Van Elst, L., & Kornmeier, J. (2021). ConvDip: A Convolutional Neural Network for Better EEG Source Imaging. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15, 569918. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.569918
Kornmeier, J., Bhatia, K., & Joos, E. (2021). Top-down resolution of visual ambiguity – knowledge from the future or footprints from the past? PLOS ONE, 16(10), Article 10. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258667
Joos, E., Giersch, A., Bhatia, K., Heinrich, S. P., Tebartz van Elst, L., & Kornmeier, J. (2020). Using the perceptual past to predict the perceptual future influences the perceived present – A novel ERP paradigm. PLOS ONE, 15(9), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237663
Joos, E., Giersch, A., Hecker, L., Schipp, J., Heinrich, S. P., Elst, L. T. van, & Kornmeier, J. (2020). Large EEG amplitude effects are highly similar across Necker cube, smiley, and abstract stimuli. PLOS ONE, 15(5), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232928
Neumann, F., Oberhauser, V., & Kornmeier, J. (2020). How odor cues help to optimize learning during sleep in a real life-setting. Scientific Reports, 10(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-57613-7
Staadt, R., Philipp, S. T., Cremers, J. L., Kornmeier, J., & Jancke, D. (2020). Perception of the difference between past and present stimulus: A rare orientation illusion may indicate incidental access to prediction error-like signals. PLOS ONE, 15(5), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232349
Kornmeier, J., Friedel, Evelyn., Hecker, L., Schmidt, S., & Wittmann, M. (2019). What happens in the brain of meditators when perception changes but not the stimulus? PLOS ONE, 14(10), Article 10. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223843
Liaci, E., Fischer, A., Atmanspacher, H., Heinrichs, M., Tebartz van Elst, L., & Kornmeier, J. (2018). Positive and Negative Hysteresis Effects for the Perception of Geometric and Emotional Ambiguities. PLOS ONE, 13(9), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202398
Sosic-Vasic, Z., Hille, K., Kröner, J., Spitzer, M., & Kornmeier, J. (2018). When Learning Disturbs Memory – Temporal Profile of Retroactive Interference of Learning on Memory Formation. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00082
Kornmeier, J., Friedel, E., Wittmann, M., & Atmanspacher, H. (2017). EEG correlates of cognitive time scales in the Necker-Zeno model for bistable perception. Consciousness and Cognition, 53, 136–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2017.04.011
Kornmeier, J., Wörner, R., Riedel, A., & Tebartz van Elst, L. (2017). A different view on the Necker cube—Differences in multistable perception dynamics between Asperger and non-Asperger observers. PLOS ONE, 12(12), Article 12. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189197
Liaci, E., Fischer, A., Heinrichs, M., Tebartz van Elst, L., & Kornmeier, J. (2017). Mona Lisa is always happy – and only sometimes sad. Scientific Reports, 7, 43511. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep43511
Duval, C. Z., Goumon, Y., Kemmel, V., Kornmeier, J., Dufour, A., Andlauer, O., Vidailhet, P., Poisbeau, P., Salvat, E., Muller, A., Mensah-Nyagan, A. G., Schmidt-Mutter, C., & Giersch, A. (2016). Neurophysiological responses to unpleasant stimuli (acute electrical stimulations and emotional pictures) are increased in patients with schizophrenia. Scientific Reports, 6, 22542. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22542
Kornmeier, J., Wörner, R., & Bach, M. (2016). Can I trust in what I see? – EEG Evidence for a Cognitive Evaluation of Perceptual Constructs. Psychophysiology, 53, 1507–1523. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12702
Liaci, E., Bach, M., Tebartz van Elst, L., Heinrich, S. P., & Kornmeier, J. (2016). Ambiguity in Tactile Apparent Motion Perception. PLOS ONE, 11(5), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152736
Wernery, J., Atmanspacher, H., Kornmeier, J., Candia, V., Folkers, G., & Wittmann, M. (2015). Temporal processing in bistable perception of the Necker cube. Perception, 44(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1068/p7780
Kornmeier, J., & Bach, M. (2014). EEG correlates of perceptual reversals in Boring’s ambiguous old/young woman stimulus. Perception, 43(9), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.1068/p7741
Kornmeier, J., & Mayer, G. (2014). The alien in the forest OR when temporal context dominates perception. Perception, 43(11), Article 11. https://doi.org/10.1068/p7844
Kornmeier, J., Spitzer, M., & Sosic-Vasic, Z. (2014). Very similar spacing-effect patterns in very different learning/practice domains. PLoS One, 9(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0090656
Kornmeier, J., Wörner, R., Riedel, A., Bach, M., & Tebartz van Elst, L. (2014). A Different View on the Checkerboard? Alterations in Early and Late Visually Evoked EEG Potentials in Asperger Observers. PLoS ONE, 9(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0090993
Mayer, G., & Kornmeier, J. (2014). Rätselhafte Objekte auf den Bildern einer Wildkamera oder: Die Tücken der Wahrnehmung. Zeitschrift für Anomalistik, 14, 7–24.
O’Shea, R. P., Kornmeier, J., & Roeber, U. (2013). Predicting visual consciousness electrophysiologically from intermittent binocular rivalry. PLoS ONE, 8(10), Article 10. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0076134
Kornmeier, J., & Bach, M. (2012). Ambiguous figures – what happens in the brain when perception changes but not the stimulus. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6(51), Article 51. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00051
Kornmeier, J., & Sosic-Vasic, Z. (2012). Parallels between spacing effects during behavioral and cellular learning. Front Hum Neurosci, 6, 203. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00203
Ehm, W., Bach, M., & Kornmeier, J. (2011). Ambiguous figures and binding: EEG frequency modulations during multistable perception. Psychophysiology, 48(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01087.x
Kornmeier, J., Pfaffle, M., & Bach, M. (2011). Necker cube: Stimulus-related (low-level) and percept-related (high-level) EEG signatures early in occipital cortex. J Vis, 11(9), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.1167/11.9.12
Kornmeier, J., & Sosic-Vasic, Z. (2011). Hirngymnastik nach Plan – Gibt es ein Trainingsprogramm für effizientes Lernen? Nervenheilkunde, 8, 613–620.
Ehm, W., Kornmeier, J., & Heinrich, S. P. (2010). Multiple testing along a tree. Electronic Journal of Statistics, 4(none), Article none. https://doi.org/10.1214/09-EJS496
Kornmeier, J., & Bach, M. (2009). Object perception: When our brain is impressed but we do not notice it. Journal of Vision, 9(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1167/9.1.7
Kornmeier, J., Hein, C. M., & Bach, M. (2009). Multistable perception: When bottom-up and top-down coincide. Brain and Cognition, 69(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2008.06.005
Atmanspacher, H., Bach, M., Filk, T., Kornmeier, J., & Römer, H. (2008). Cognitive Time Scales in a Necker-Zeno Model for Bistable Perception. The Open Cybernetics and Systemics Journal, 2, 234–251. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874110X00802010234
Kornmeier, J., Ehm, W., Bigalke, H., & Bach, M. (2007). Discontinuous presentation of ambiguous figures: How interstimulus-interval durations affect reversal dynamics and ERPs. Psychophysiology, 44(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2007.00525.x
Kornmeier, J., & Bach, M. (2006). Bistable perception—Along the processing chain from ambiguous visual input to a stable percept. Int J Psychophysiol, 62(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2006.04.007
Kornmeier, J., & Bach, M. (2005). The Necker cube – an ambiguous figure disambiguated in early visual processing. Vision Res, 45, 955–960. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2004.10.006
Kornmeier, J., & Bach, M. (2004). Early neural activity in Necker-cube reversal: Evidence for low-level processing of a gestalt phenomenon. Psychophysiology, 41, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2004.10.006
Kornmeier, J., Bach, M., & Atmanspacher, H. (2004). Correlates of perspective instabilities in visually evoked potentials. Int. J. Bifurcat. Chaos , 14(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218127404009430
Book contributions
Kornmeier, J. (2020). Wahrnehmungsforschung und das psychophysische Problem. In D. Vaitl (Hrsg.), An den Grenzen unseres Wissens: Von der Faszination des Paranormalen (S. 153–173). Herder Verlag.
Ehm, W., Bach, M., & Kornmeier, J. (2010). Variability in gamma activity during observation of ambiguous figures. In A. Bastianelli & G. Vidotto (Hrsg.), Fechner Day 2010 (S. 439–444). International Society for Psychophysics.
Teaching
Lectures and EEG practical course in the Cognitive Neuroscience module of the Master’s programs in Neuroscience and Biology
Contribution to the course: “Consciousness, the psycho-physical problem and exceptional experiences” at University College Freiburg
Memberships
- Board member of the Society for Mind-Matter Research