Home News from the Institute News from the institute List is filtered with: YearAll 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021MonthAll January February March April May June July August September October November December reset filter Making up for lost time: Inhibitory neurons catch up during brain development July 08, 2025 New insights into the emergence of brain cells that keep neural activity in balance more Deciphering a hidden messaging system inside cells June 25, 2025 Tabitha Hees receives the Otto Hahn Medal for pioneering mitochondria research more Birds like it sour! June 19, 2025 Evolution has provided birds with a clever strategy to eat extremely acidic fruit more Hansol Lim and Mekhla Rudra win Young Scientist Award June 18, 2025 Young Scientist Award Annual award presented for outstanding publications by early-career researchers more Multiple sclerosis: Triggers in the gut flora May 07, 2025 Study of twins detects bacteria in the small intestine that play a role in the development of MS more Colourful city birds April 07, 2025 Bird species that do well in urban areas are more colourful and less brown more Too tired to stay alert? A difficult trade-off between sleep and vigilance March 31, 2025 Sleep-deprived European jackdaws trade vigilance for deep sleep – a strategy that could carry risks in the wild. more What drives our cravings for food and drink? March 31, 2025 New research shines light on how the brain interprets nutritional and hydration needs and turns them into action. more Neurons gather together for vision February 25, 2025 As in larger brains, mouse visual cortex neurons with the same function cluster in columns more A Clever Strategy for Getting Rid of Testosterone January 23, 2025 A super enzyme helps male ruffs break down sex hormones more Should I stay or should I go: When do young fish leave their home? January 16, 2025 3D-printed snail shells provide insights into the brood care of cichlids more Questioning Free Will January 07, 2025 Is the idea of free will an illusion created by our brain? more Blue-throated macaws have advanced motor imitation capabilities December 06, 2024 Parrots display automatic imitation of goal-less actions more A surprising link between motor systems control and sleep rhythms November 06, 2024 New work on sleep in a reptile reveals surprising similarities between networks that control motor rhythms and those controlling sleep more ERC Synergy Grant: Cognitive Maps for Intelligent Behavior November 05, 2024 10 million euros awarded to zebrafish researchers more Testosterone: a male and a female sex hormone October 22, 2024 Chickens provide important insights into its complex mode of action more Underestimated female tutors: zebra finch mothers coach their sons to sing better October 17, 2024 New study reveals surprising female influence on song learning in zebra finches more Teaching Old Birds New Tricks September 02, 2024 Zebra Finches Defy Age-Related Learning Limits more Honoring the publications of young scientists July 11, 2024 Young Scientist Award This year's Young Scientist Award goes to Gianina Ungurean and Giacomo Costalunga more Neuronal mechanisms of alarm calling behavior June 17, 2024 Susanne Hoffmann receives ERC Consolidator Grant for her research on alarm calls in birds more About digital swarm partners and neural networks June 12, 2024 Otto Hahn Medal honors Johannes Kappel for outstanding research more Understanding the drivers of biodiversity June 10, 2024 First Max Planck Center in Africa will study how interactions between species lead to coevolution and influence biodiversity more Color variants in cuckoos: the advantages of rareness April 24, 2024 Ancient color variants are encoded specifically in the female DNA more Zebra finch chicks don't babble for no reason April 17, 2024 Their first vocalizations help young zebra finch males to memorize the songs of adults more Why young males have lower mating success April 16, 2024 Young blue tit males can sire offspring with additional females, but only if they do not have to compete with older males more Movements in the fly’s eye April 09, 2024 Lisa Fenk receives ERC Consolidator Grant for her research on retinal movements in fruit flies more A brain circuit that spoils your appetite March 28, 2024 Specialized nerve cells in the brain inhibit food intake during nausea more Maude Baldwin joins as new director March 27, 2024 Eighth department at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence will investigate the evolution of sensory and physiological systems more Developmental crossroads in the brain March 25, 2024 Study reveals how proteins direct nerve cell precursors to turn into specialized neurons more Insulin affects the recycling of cellular power plants March 19, 2024 In nerve cells, the hormone regulates whether mitochondria are shut down or kept running more A new approach to recording cellular activities February 22, 2024 A novel chemical labeling method allows transient events in cells to be recorded for later analysis more Wolfgang Wickler, 1931–2024 January 17, 2024 Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wickler, former director of the Max Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology, Seewiesen (1973–1999) passed away on 12 January more Penguins nesting in a dangerous environment obtain large quantities of sleep via seconds-long microsleeps November 30, 2023 more Visible calcium concentrations October 09, 2023 Indicator molecules make changes in calcium levels outside of cells visible for the first time more Distributed workload in the fly brain October 02, 2023 To distinguish motion patterns, a neuronal computation is performed three times in a row more Vision in the brain – hardwired for action September 27, 2023 Brain circuits for vision develop without any kind of input from the retina in zebrafish more The role of time in neural information processing September 05, 2023 Lukas Groschner receives ERC Starting Grant to study temporal signal processing in the brain of the fruit fly more Thrush Nightingales, Territoriality and Testosterone August 30, 2023 Study highlights the interplay of song development and territorial behavior in winter quarters more Poetic birdsong, precisely tuned July 14, 2023 Nightingales match the pitch of their whistle songs to those of their rivals in real time more Celebrating outstanding publications June 19, 2023 Young Scientist Award Ilaria Vitali and Johannes Kappel receive Young Scientist Award more When pigeons dream June 05, 2023 Birds show remarkably similar sleep patterns to humans and may experience flight in their dreams more Fruit fly's complex symphony of vision May 25, 2023 A neuronal microcircuit leverages the same type of signal for multiple purposes more How tasty is the food? Ask your brain! May 24, 2023 A hormone and specialized brain cells regulate feeding behavior in mice more Two Max Planck Institutes on 13 info panels April 27, 2023 New walkaround at the Campus Martinsried provides exciting insights into research and everyday life at the institutes more Mapping unknown territory February 22, 2023 A detailed atlas of gene expression in the zebrafish brain more Passerine bird takes advantage of human settlements February 22, 2023 Daurian redstarts move closer to humans to protect their nests from brood parasitism more Understanding how nerve cells do the math January 10, 2023 Lukas Groschner receives Schilling Research Award of the German Neuroscience Society 2023 more An expanding life science hub for the scientists of the future December 14, 2022 Two new international programs for doctoral students start at the Max Planck Institutes in Martinsried and Seewiesen more Parrots remember their own actions December 05, 2022 This ability is an important prerequisite for self-representation and episodic memory more Spotlight on cellular power plants November 22, 2022 Angelika Harbauer receives ERC Starting Grant for her research on mitochondria more Do hormone fluctuations increase survival probabilities? November 09, 2022 Great tits reveal how birds cope with changes in environmental temperatures more Three early-stage researchers receive Young Scientist Award October 27, 2022 Young Scientist Award Sandra Reinert, Renée Vieira and Sandra Fendl recognized for outstanding publications more Fruit flies move their retinas much like humans move their eyes October 26, 2022 Fly eyes are less rigid than we thought more How visual information travels from the retina to the midbrain September 12, 2022 New Neuropixels technology provides evidence of mosaic-like neural connections more Sweet sap, savory ants August 18, 2022 Woodpeckers taste sweet, but wrynecks—unusual woodpeckers that specialize on ants—lost the ability to taste sugars more A brain network for social attraction July 13, 2022 Specialized nerve cells in the zebrafish visual system enable recognition of conspecifics more Activating the indicator and performing a shoulder check – essential also for zebra finches June 30, 2022 Zebra finches communicate via eye contact and calls to coordinate their spatial positions during flocking flight more "A parrot as a pet is like a toddler who never grows up" May 30, 2022 Interview with zoologist Auguste of Bavaria on endangered parrots and their suitability as pets more Citizens reveal that pairs of rufous horneros have specific preferences when it comes to nest building May 09, 2022 The breeding pair jointly builds a complex nest with asymmetric architecture more Hitchhiking through the nerve cell April 27, 2022 Cellular power plants carry along blueprints to make new proteins at their destination more The dark matter of the brain April 05, 2022 Omnipresent and yet hardly explored: Electrical synapses more Zebra finch males sing in dialects and females pay attention March 28, 2022 Artificial intelligence succeeds where we struggle more One bird's joy is another bird's sorrow March 16, 2022 A genetic conflict between the sexes promotes intraspecific diversity in ruffs more Asymmetry as a building block of neuronal computations March 10, 2022 Structure and function of neurons are closely linked in the cerebral cortex more The algebra of neurons February 23, 2022 Study deciphers how a single nerve cell can multiply more New Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence December 07, 2021 The MPI of Neurobiology and the MPI for Ornithology will merge to form a new institute as of January 1st 2022 more
