Eckart Altenmüller (born 19 December 1955) is a German physician and musician and one of the leading researchers in the field of

neurophysiology Neurophysiology is a branch of physiology and neuroscience that studies nervous system function rather than nervous system architecture. This area aids in the diagnosis and monitoring of neurological diseases. Historically, it has been dominated b ...

and

neuropsychology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology often focus on how injuries or illnesses of t ...

of musicians.

Life

Born in

Rottweil Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years. Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 in ...

, Altenmüller studied medicine in Eberhard-Karls-Universität and

Hôtel-Dieu In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu ( en, hostel of God) was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris b ...

in Paris from 1974 to 1981 and music at the

Musikhochschule Freiburg A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

from 1979 to 1985 (mainly

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

). After receiving his doctorate in medicine from the Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg, he also trained as a specialist in

neurology Neurology (from el, wikt:νεῦρον, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine), medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of co ...

. Since 1994, Altenmüller has been a university professor and director of the Institute for Music Physiology and at the

Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (german: Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, italics=unset, abbreviated to HMTMH) is a university of performing arts and media in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Dating ...

. Since 2005, Altenmüller has been a full member of the

Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Göttingen Academy of Sciences (german: Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen)Note that the German ''Wissenschaft'' has a wider meaning than the English "Science", and includes Social sciences and Humanities. is the second oldest of the se ...

. In 2013, he was awarded the . From 2005 to 2011, he was president and vice-president from 2011 to 2018, of the .

Awards

* Scholarship of the

Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...

Works

Books

* Edited with and Bernhard Richter: ''MusikerMedizin: Diagnostik, Therapie und Prävention von musikerspezifischen Erkrankungen''. ''MusikerMedizin: Diagnostik, Therapie und Prävention von musikerspezifischen Erkrankungen''
on WorldCat Schattauer, Stuttgart 2010, . * ''Neurologische Erkrankungen bei Musikern''. Springer 2002 . * ''Vom Neandertal in die Philharmonie: Warum der Mensch ohne Musik nicht leben kann'' Springer 2018 .

CDs

* ''Neurobiologie und -psychologie starker Emotionen – Lachen und Weinen in der Musik''. Auditorium Netzwerk Müllheim

DVDs

* ''Warum wir Musik lieben: Zur Neurobiologie der Sprache des Gefühls''. Auditorium Verlag Müllheim

References

External links

Eckart Altenmüller auf der Website der Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover

Interview with Eckart Altenmüller zu seiner Forschung
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altenmuller, Eckart Neurophysiologists German neurologists 20th-century German physicians 21st-century German physicians Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover 1955 births Living people People from Rottweil Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities