Sven Braeutigam

Sven played a key role in designing and setting up the Magnetoencephalography (MEG) laboratory purpose built to meet the needs of clinicians and researchers using this technology as an investigative tool. Sven leads the MEG laboratory and manages core IT infrastructure services at OHBA. He is also responsible for teaching and training students and researchers in MEG fundamentals and appropriate scanner use.

Sven received an MSc in Physics from the University of Hamburg, Germany, before moving to the UK and shifting his interest to physics in biology and medicine. He received a PhD in electrophysiological imaging of cognitive processes from the Open University. From early on, Sven was intrigued by the potential clinical applications of MEG, which he pursued in collaboration with the Institute of Psychiatry, London, and the Brain Research Unit at Aalto University, Helsinki.

Sven's research interest focuses on the neural basis of certain aspects of cognition such as the perception of human faces and the processing of language in context. In collaboration with psychologists and psychiatrists at Oxford and overseas, he studies brain responses in typically developing individuals, individuals with autism spectrum disorder and individuals with schizophrenia. He has also a strong interest in the relationship between neural activity and economically relevant behaviours such as brand perception and brand choices. Arguably, he was one of the first researchers in bringing the use of MEG into the young field of neuro-marketing.

Sven has co-supervised several DPhil and MSc students working on MEG projects related to the behavioural genetics of working memory and the neuropathology of autism, respectively.

Sven serves as a scientific reviewer for the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and is a member of the editorial review board of the International Journal of Advertising.