Biography

Research Interests

Psychophysiology of human short-term memory

Visual attention

Behavioural and cognitive inhibition; central executive functions

Functional role of oscillatory brain activity

Electroencephalography (EEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

Research Collaborations

Wolfgang Klimesch, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Austria

Friedhelm Hummel and Christian Gerloff, Brain Imaging and NeuroStimulation Lab, University of Hamburg, Germany

Mark Glennon and Mark Elliott, School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

Elisa Holz, Department of Psychology, University of Wuerzburg, Germany

Niels Birbaumer, Institute for Medical Psychology, University of Tuebingen, Germany

Christian Plewnia, Department of Psychiatry, University of Tuebingen, Germany

Publications

Papers in peer reviewed journals

(* PS as senior corresponding author)

2012, in press

Doppelmayr, M., Sauseng, P., Doppelmayr, H., & Mausz, I. (in press). Changes in human alpha EEG during extended physical activity. Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments.

Sauseng, P., Gerloff, C., & Hummel, F.C. (in press). Two brakes are better than one: the neural bases of inhibitory control of motor memory traces. Neuroimage.

Sauseng, P. (2012). Brain oscillations: phase-locked EEG alpha controls perception. Current Biology, 22, R306-R308.

Weiss, D., Breit, S., Hoppe, J., Hauser, A.K., Freudenstein, D., Krueger, R., Sauseng, P., Govindan, R.B., & Gerloff, C. (2012). Subthalamic nucleus stimulation restitutes the efferent cortical drive to muscle in parallel to functional motor improvement. European Journal of Neuroscience, 35, 896-908.

2011

* Hoenegger, C., Atteneder, C., Griesmayr, B., Holz, E.M., Weber, E., & Sauseng, P. (2011). Neural correlates of visuo-spatial working memory encoding – an EEG study. Neuroscience Letters, 500, 118-122.           

Rilk, A., Soekadar, S., Sauseng, P., & Plewnia, C. (2011). Alpha coherence predicts accuracy during a visuomotor tracking task. Neuropsychologia, 49, 3704-3709.           

Sauseng, P., Feldheim, J.F., Freunberger, R., & Hummel, F.C. (2011). Right prefrontal TMS disrupts interregional anticipatory EEG alpha activity during shifting of visuospatial attention. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 241.

2010

* Griesmayr, B., Gruber, W., Klimesch, W., & Sauseng, P. (2010). Human frontal midline theta and its synchronization to gamma and alpha oscillations during verbal working memory. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 93, 208-215.

Heise, K.F., Steven, B., Liuzzi, G., Thomalla, G., Jonas, M., Müller-Vahl, K., Sauseng, P., Münchau, A., Gerloff, C., Hummel, F.C. (2010). Altered modulation of intracortical excitability during movement preparation in Gilles de la Tourette. Brain, 113, 280-290.

*Holz, E.M., Glennon, M., Prendergast, K., & Sauseng, P. (2010). Theta-gamma phase synchronization during memory matching in visual working memory. Neuroimage, 52, 326-335.
Karim, A.A., Schneider, M., Lotze, M., Veit, R., Sauseng, P., Braun, C., & Birbaumer, N. (2010). The truth about lying: Inhibition of the prefrontal cortex improves deceptive behavior. Cerebral Cortex, 20, 205-213.

Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., & Freunberger, R. (2010). Oscillatory mechanisms of process binding in memory. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 34, 1002-1014.          

Sauseng, P., Griesmayr, B., Freunberger, R., & Klimesch, W. (2010). Control Mechanisms in Working Memory: A Possible Function of EEG Theta Oscillations. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 34, 1015-1022.

2009

Freunberger, R., Fellinger, R., Sauseng, P., Gruber, W., & Klimesch, W. (2009). Dissociation between phase-locked and non-phase-locked alpha oscillations in a working memory task. Human Brain Mapping, 30, 3417-3425.

Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., Gruber, W. (2009). The functional relevance of phase reset: A comment to Risner et al. (2009): The visual evoked potential of surface alpha rhythm phase. Neuroimage, 47, 5-7.

Lotze, M., Sauseng, P., Staud, M. (2009). Functional relevance of ipsilateral motor activation in congenital hemiparesis as tested by fMRI-navigated TMS. Experimental Neurology, 217, 440-443.
Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Gerloff, C., & Hummel, F. (2009). Spontaneous locally restriced EEG activity determines excitability in the human motor cortex. Neuropsychologia, 47, 284-288.

Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Heise, K., Gruber, W.R., Holz, E.M., Glennon, M., Karim, A., Gerloff, C., Birbaumer, N., & Hummel, F. (2009). Brain oscillatory substrates of visual short-term memory capacity. Current Biology, 19, 1846-1852.             

2008

Doppelmayr, M., Finkenzeller, T., & Sauseng, P. (2008). Frontal midline theta in the pre shot phase of rifle shooting: differences between experts and novices. Neuropsychologia,46, 1463-1467.

Freunberger, R., Hoeller, Y., Griesmayr, B., Gruber, W., Sauseng, P., & Klimesch, W. (2008). Functional similarities between the P1 and alpha oscillations. European Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 2330-2340.

Freunberger, R., Klimesch, W., Griesmayr, B., Gruber, W., & Sauseng, P. (2008). Alpha phase coupling reflects object encoding. Neuroimage, 42, 928-935.

*Holz, E.M., Doppelmayr, M., Klimesch, W., & Sauseng, P. (2008). EEG correlates of action observation in humans. Brain Topography, 21, 93-99.

Keul, A., Sauseng, P., & Diendorfer, G. (2008). Ball lightning- an electromagnetic hallucination? International Journal of Meteorology, 33, 89-95.

Klimesch, W., Freunberger, R., Sauseng, P., & Gruber, W.R. (2008). A short review of slow phase synchronization and memory: Evidence for control processes in different memory systems? Brain Research, 1235, 31-44.

Plewnia, C., Rilk, A.J., Soekadar, S.J., Arfeller, C., Huber, H.S., Sauseng, P., Hummel, F.C., & Gerloff, C. (2008). Enhancement of long-range EEG coherence by synchronous bifocal transcranial magnetic stimulation. European Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 1577-1583.
Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Gruber, W.R., & Birbaumer, N. (2008). Oscillatory phase synchronization: A brain mechanism of memory matching and attention. Neuroimage, 40, 308-317.
Sauseng, P. & Klimesch, W. (2008). What does phase information of oscillatory brain activity tell us about cognitive processes? Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 32, 1001-1013.

2007

Doppelmayr, M., Sauseng, P., & Doppelmayr, H. (2007). Modifications in the Human EEG during Extra Long Physical Exercise. Neurophysiology, 39, 81-87.

Freunberger, R., Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., Griesmayr, B., Hoeller, Y., Pecherstorfer, T., & Hanslmayr, S. (2007). Gamma oscillatory activity in a visual discrimination task. Brain Research Bulletin, 71, 593-600.

Hanslmayr, S., Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., Gruber, W., Doppelmayr, M., Freunberger, R., Pecherstorfer, T., & Birbaumer, N. (2007). Alpha phase reset contributes to the generation of ERPs. Cerebral Cortex, 17, 1-8.

Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., & Hanslmayr, S. (2007). EEG alpha oscillations: the inhibition/timing hypothesis. Brain Research Reviews, 53, 63-88.

Klimesch, W., Hanslmayr, S., Sauseng, P., Gruber, W., & Doppelmayr, M. (2007). The P1 and travelling alpha waves: evidence for evoked oscillations. Journal of Neurophysiology, 97, 1311-1318.
Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., Hanslmayr, S., Gruber, W.R., & Freunberger, R. (2007). Event-related phase reorganization may explain evoked neural dynamics. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 31, 1003-1016.

Sauseng, P., Hoppe, J., Klimesch, W., Gerloff, C., & Hummel, F. (2007). Dissociation of sustained attention from central executive functions: Local activity and interregional connectivity in the theta range. European Journal of Neuroscience, 25, 587-593.

Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Gruber, W.R., Hanslmayr, S., Freunberger, R., & Doppelmayr, M. (2007). Are ERP components generated by phase resetting of brain oscillations? A critical discussion. Neuroscience, 146, 1435-1444.

2006

Klimesch, W., Hanslmayr, S., Sauseng, P., Gruber, W., Brozinsky, C., Kroll, N.E.A., Yonelinas, A.P., & Doppelmayr, M. (2006). Oscillatory EEG correlates of episodic trace decay. Cerebral Cortex, 16, 280-290.

Klimesch, W., Hanslmayr, S., Sauseng, P., & Gruber, W. (2006). Distinguishing the evoked response from phase reset: A comment to Mäkinen et al. Neuroimage, 29, 808-811.

Lotze, M., Markert, J., Sauseng, P., Hoppe, J., Plewnia, C., & Gerloff, C. (2006). Contralesional hemisphere and restitution of complex hand movements after stroke. Journal of Neuroscience, 26, 6096-6102.

Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Freunberger, R., Pecherstorfer, T., Hanslmayr, S., & Doppelmayr, M. (2006). Relevance of EEG alpha and theta oscillations during task switching. Experimental Brain Research, 170, 295-301.

2005

Doppelmayr, M., Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., Hödlmoser, K., Stadler, W., & Hanslmayr, S. (2005). Intelligence related differences in EEG-bandpower. Neuroscience Letters, 381, 309-313.

Doppelmayr, M., Klimesch, W., Hödlmoser, K., Sauseng, P., & Gruber, W. (2005). Intelligence related upper alpha desynchronization in a semantic memory task. Brain Research Bulletin, 66, 171-177.
Gruber, W., Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., & Doppelmayr, M. (2005). Alpha phase synchronization predicts P1 and N1 latency and amplitude size. Cerebral Cortex, 15, 371-377.
Hanslmayr, S., Sauseng, P., Doppelmayr, M., Schabus, M., & Klimesch, W. (2005). Increasing individual upper alpha power by neurofeedback improves cognitive performance. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 30, 1-10.

Hanslmayr, S., Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., Gruber, W., Doppelmayr, M., Freunberger, R., & Pecherstorfer, T. (2005). Visual discrimination performance is related to decreased alpha amplitude but increased phase locking. Neuroscience Letters, 375, 64-68.

Klimesch, W., Schack, B., & Sauseng, P. (2005). The functional significance of theta and upper alpha oscillations for working memory: a review. Experimental Psychology, 52, 99-108.
Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Schabus, M., & Doppelmayr, M. (2005). Fronto-parietal coherence in theta and upper alpha reflect central executive functions of working memory. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 57, 97-103.

Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Doppelmayr, M., Pecherstorfer, T., Freunberger, R., & Hanslmayr, S. (2005). EEG alpha synchronization and functional coupling during top-down processing in a working memory task. Human Brain Mapping, 26, 148-155.

Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Stadler, W., Schabus, M., Doppelmayr, M., Hanslmayr, S., Gruber, W.R., & Birbaumer, N. (2005). A shift of visual spatial attention is selectively associated with human EEG alpha activity. European Journal of Neuroscience, 22, 2917-2926.

Schack, B., Klimesch, W., & Sauseng, P. (2005). Phase synchronization between theta and upper alpha oscillations in a working memory task. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 57, 105-114.

2004

Klimesch, W., Schabus, M., Doppelmayr, M., Gruber, W., & Sauseng, P. (2004). Evoked oscillations and early components of event-related potentials: An analysis. International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos, 14, 705-718.

Klimesch, W., Schack, B., Schabus, M., Doppelmayr, M., Gruber, W., & Sauseng, P. (2004). Phase locked alpha and theta oscillations generate the P1-N1 complex and are related to memory performance. Cognitive Brain Research, 19, 302-316.

Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Doppelmayr, M., Hanslmayr, S., Schabus, M., & Gruber, W.R. (2004). Theta coupling in the human electroencephalogram during a working memory task. Neuroscience Letters, 354, 123-126.

Sauseng, P., Bergmann, J., & Wimmer, H. (2004). When does the brain register deviances from standard word spellings? – An ERP study. Cognitive Brain Research, 20, 529-532.

2003 and before

Doppelmayr, M., Stadler, W., Sauseng, P., Rachbauer, D., & Klimesch, W. (2003). Gender-related differences in theta bandpower changes of the EEG during the presentation of erotic and child-related stimuli. Brain and Cognition, 51,166-168.

Klimesch, W., Doppelmayr, M., Stadler, W., Pöllhuber, D., Sauseng, P. & Röhm, D. (2001). Episodic retrieval is reflected by a process specific increase in human theta activity. Neuroscience Letters, 302, 49-52.                                                                                     
Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., & Gerloff, Ch. (2003). Enhancing cognitive performance with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation at human individual alpha frequency. European Journal of Neuroscience, 17, 1129-1133.

Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Gruber, W., Doppelmayr, M., Stadler, W., & Schabus, M. (2002). The interplay between theta and alpha oscillations in the human electroencephalogram reflects the transfer of information between memory systems. Neuroscience Letters, 324, 121-124.

Book chapters

Birbaumer, N. & Sauseng, P. (2010). Brain-computer interface in neurorehabilitation. In: B. Graimann, B. Allison, G. Pfurtscheller (eds.). Brain-computer interfaces. Heidelberg: Springer. pp 155-169.

Monographies

Sauseng, P. (2007). What does phase information of oscillatory brain activity tell us about cognitive processes? Habilitation, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.

Sauseng, P. (2005). The role of human EEG-theta oscillations in large-scale integration of brain activity during working memory processes. Dissertation, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.

Sauseng, P. (2002). Improving cognitive performance with transcranial magnetic stimulation of the human brain. Master’s thesis, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.

Teaching

PSY1016 Biological Bases of Psychology with Research Methods 1

PSY2013 Biological Bases of Psychology with Research Methods 2

PSY3092 Neural Bases of Information Processing Limits

PSYM058 Psychological Neuroscience: Electrophysiology