Anna Katharina Braun

Professor Anna Katharina Braun obtained a PhD degree in Zoology at the Technical University in Darmstadt. After several years of postdoctoral research at the University of Washington, Seattle, she was appointed chair of the department “Zoology and Developmenal Neurobiology” at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany. She was visiting professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and at Keio University in Tokyo. She has published more than 140 peer reviewed articles, her research focuses on the ontogeny of emotional and cognitive behavior and the underlying neuronal and molecular mechanisms in prefronto-limbic brain circuits. In a variety of animal models she investigates epigenetic and brain structural plasticity underlying the long-term impact of early life challenges on behavioral and brain functions with focus on sex-specific vulnerability and resilience, respectively. In a novel animal model she investigates the contribution of paternal care to the functional maturation of brain and behavior in the offspring and she also investigates the plasticity of the paternal brain in response to the interaction with his offspring. Another focus of her research lies on long-term consequences of learning in infancy on adult learning competence.