Ass.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Isabella Anderson-Wagner, PhD

Isabella Anderson-Wagner is assistant professor (tenure track) in Cognitive Neuroscience of brain-microbiome interaction at the Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, the Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology and the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science. She is head of the Wagner Lab.

Isabella Wagner is a cognitive neuroscientist and her main research topics revolce around memory and the neural codes underpinning it.

Durable memories

Why are some memories long-lasting, while others fade away with time? How can we predict the ‘fate’ of a memory already when information is being studied? I test these questions in human participants, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multivariate pattern techniques.

Memory training

Participants of the World Memory Championships show exceptional memory performance — being able to memorise large amounts of arbitrary information within short time. I study how initially mnemonics-naïve participants can reach exceptional memory performance using the ‘method of loci’.

Cognitive maps & the human microbiome

Research over the last years revealed a tight connection between the brain and the human gut microbiome. I am interested in how cognitive maps and abilities are linked to gut microbial characteristics, and am currently setting up this new research line.