Dr. phil. Maximilian Bruchmann

Head of the working group:
The scope of unconscious information processing

Von-Esmarch-Str. 52
D-48149 Muenster

phone:   +49 (0) 251 / 83 - 52 787
fax:   +49 (0) 251 / 83 - 55 494
maximilian.bruchmann@uni-muenster.de
 

Research interests

  • Non-conscious emotional processing
  • Neural correlates of consciousness
  • Visual masking
  • EEG & MEG
  • EEG-fMRI integration

Publications

  1. Schlossmacher, I., Protmann, I., Dilly, J., Hofmann, D., Dellert, T., Peters, A., Roth-Paysen, M.-L., Moeck, R., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2025). Underlying mechanisms of visual mismatch responses – An EEG-fMRI study. iScience, 28(12), 114039. doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.114039
  2. Dellert, T., Balster, H., Schlossmacher, I., Bruchmann, M., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2025). Neural correlates of consciousness in an auditory no-report fMRI study. Current Biology, 35(23), 5721-5733.e3. doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.10.026
  3. Bruchmann, M.*, Lüß, A.-M.*, Gragnolati, G., Schlossmacher, I., Dellert, T., Schindler, S., & Straube, T. (2025). Investigating electrophysiological correlates of nonconscious processing of facial expressions using dichoptic forward masking. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2025(1), niaf040. doi.org/10.1093/nc/niaf040
  4. Bruchmann, M.*, Schindler, S.*, Breitwieser, P., Tilly, L., Boelte, J., Dellert, T., & Straube, T. (2025). Nonconscious processing of fearful and neutral faces modulates the N170. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 20(1), nsaf095. doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaf095
  5. Helming, H., Peters, A., Arkun, S., Bruchmann, M., Moeck, R., Straube, T., & Schindler, S. (2025). Differential effects of social feedback valence and self-relevance on brain responses and behavior. Social Cognitive And Affective Neuroscience, nsaf062. doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaf062
  6. Bruchmann, M.*, Skutta, J.*, Schindler, S., Schlossmacher, I., Dellert, T., & Straube, T. (2025). Early ERPs dissociate subjectively nonconscious low- and high-level face processing. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2025(1), niaf025. doi.org/10.1093/nc/niaf025
  7. Schlossmacher, I.*, Herbig, M.*, Dellert, T., Straube, T., & Bruchmann, M. (2025). The influence of signal strength on conscious and nonconscious neural processing of emotional faces. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2025(1), niaf001. doi.org/10.1093/nc/niaf001
  8. Lin, H., Bruchmann, M., Schindler, S., & Straube, T. (2024). Acquisition and generalization of emotional and neural responses to faces associated with negative and positive feedback behaviours. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 18. doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2024.1399948
  9. Peters, A., Helming, H., Bruchmann, M., Wiegandt, A., Straube, T., & Schindler, S. (2024). How and when social evaluative feedback is processed in the brain: A systematic review on ERP studies. Cortex, 173, 187-207. doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2024.02.003
  10. Hense, A.*, Peters, A.*, Bruchmann, M., Dellert, T., & Straube, T. (2024). Electrophysiological correlates of sustained conscious perception.Scientific Reports, 14(1), 10593. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-61281-2
  11. Peters, A., Bruchmann, M., Dellert, T., Moeck, R., Schlossmacher, I., & Straube, T. (2023). Stimulus awareness is associated with secondary somatosensory cortex activation in an inattentional numbness paradigm. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 22575. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49857-w
  12. Schindler, S., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2023). Beyond facial expressions: A systematic review on effects of emotional relevance of faces on the N170. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 153, 105399. doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105399
  13. Schindler, S., Meyer, S., Bruchmann, M., Busch, N.A., & Straube, T. (2023). Fearful faces straight ahead or in the periphery: Early neuronal responses independently of trait anxiety. Emotion, 23(6), 1687-1701. doi.org/10.1037/emo0001184
  14. Lin, H., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2023). Altered Putamen Activation for Social Comparison-Related Feedback in Social Anxiety Disorder: A Pilot Study. Neuropsychobiology, 82(6), 359-372. doi.org/10.1159/000531762
  15. Brockhoff, L., Elias, E.A., Bruchmann, M., Schindler, S., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2023). The effects of visual perceptual load on detection performance and event-related potentials to auditory stimuli. Neuroimage, 273, 120080. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120080
  16. Peters, A., Brockhoff, L., Bruchmann, M., Dellert, T., Moeck, R., Schlossmacher, I., & Straube, T. (2023). Visual perceptual load and processing of somatosensory stimuli in primary and secondary somatosensory cortices. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 7005. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-34225-5
  17. Bruchmann, M.*, Mertens, L.*, Schindler, S., & Straube, T. (2023). Potentiated early neural responses to fearful faces are not driven by specific face parts. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 4613. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31752-z
  18. Vormbrock, R., Bruchmann, M., Wolf, M.-I., Straube, T., & Schindler, S. (2023). Effects of emotion on auditory ERPs are independent of manipulated target relevance. Emotion. doi.org/10.1037/emo0001244
  19. Brockhoff, L., Vetter, L., Bruchmann, M., Schindler, S., Moeck, R., & Straube T. (2023). The effects of visual working memory load on detection and neural processing of task-unrelated auditory stimuli. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 4342. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31132-7
  20. Vormbrock, R., Bruchmann, M., Menne, L., Straube, T., & Schindler, S. (2023). Testing stimulus exposure time as the critical factor of increased EPN and LPP amplitudes for fearful faces during perceptual distraction tasks. Cortex, 160, 9-23. doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2022.12.011
  21. Bruchmann, M., Fahnemann, K., Schindler, S., Busch, N.A., & Straube, T. (2023). Early neural potentiation to centrally and peripherally presented fear-conditioned faces. Psychophysiology, 60, e14215. doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14215
  22. Holtmann, O., Schloßmacher, I., Franz, M., Moenig, C., Tenberge, J.G., Preul, C., Schwindt, W., Bruchmann, M., Melzer, N., Miltner, W.H.R., & Straube, T. (2023). Effects of emotional valence and intensity on cognitive and affective empathy after insula lesions. Cerebral Cortex, 33(8), 4562-4573. doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhac362
  23. Schindler, S., Richter, T.S., Bruchmann, M., Busch, N.A., & Straube, T. (2022). Effects of task load, spatial attention, and trait anxiety on neuronal responses to fearful and neutral faces. Psychophysiology, 59(11), e14114. doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14114
  24. Dellert, T., Krebs, S., Bruchmann, M., Schindler, S., Peters, A., & Straube, T. (2022). Neural correlates of consciousness in an attentional blink paradigm with uncertain target relevance. NeuroImage, 264, 119679. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119679
  25. Schlossmacher, I., Lucka, F., Peters, A., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2022). Effects of awareness and task relevance on neurocomputational models of mismatch negativity generation. Neuroimage, 262, 119530. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119530
  26. Schlossmacher, I., Dilly, J., Protmann, I., Hofmann, D., Dellert, T., Roth-Paysen, M.-L., Moeck, R., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2022). Differential effects of prediction error and adaptation along the auditory cortical hierarchy during deviance processing. NeuroImage, 259, 119445. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119445
  27. Roth-Paysen, M.-L., Bröcker, A., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2022). Early and late electrophysiological correlates of gradual perceptual awareness in- and outside the Attentional Blink window. Neuroimage, 263, 119652. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119652
  28. Wolf, M.I., Bruchmann, M., Pourtois, G., Schindler, S., & Straube, T. (2022). Top-Down Modulation of Early Visual Processing in V1: Dissociable Neurophysiological Effects of Spatial Attention, Attentional Load and Task-Relevance. Cerebral Cortex, 32(10), 2112-2128. doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab342
  29. Schindler, S., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2022). Feature-based attention interacts with emotional picture content during mid-latency and late ERP processing stages. Biological Psychology, 170, 108310. doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108310
  30. Brockhoff, L., Schindler, S., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2022). Effects of perceptual and working memory load on brain responses to task-irrelevant stimuli: Review and implications for future research. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 135, 104580. doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104580
  31. Bruchmann, M., Schindler, S., Dinyarian, M., & Straube, T. (2022). The role of phase and orientation for ERP modulations of spectrum-manipulated fearful and neutral faces. Psychophysiology, 59(3), e13974. doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13974
  32. Schindler, S., Busch, N., Bruchmann, M., Wolf, M.I., & Straube, T. (2022). Early ERP functions are indexed by lateralized effects to peripherally presented emotional faces and scrambles. Psychophysiology, 59(2), e13959. doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13959
  33. Schindler, S., Tirloni, C., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2021). Face and emotional expression processing under continuous perceptual load tasks: An ERP study. Biological Psychology, 161, 108056. doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108056
  34. Schindler, S., Wolf, M.I., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2021). Fearful face scrambles increase early visual sensory processing in the absence of face information. European Journal of Neuroscience, 53(8), 2703-2712. doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15111
  35. Schindler, S.*, Querengässer, J.*, Bruchmann, M., Bögemann, N.J., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2021). Bayes Factors show evidence against systematic relationships between the anchoring effect and the Big Five personality traits. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 7021. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86429-2
  36. Bruchmann, M., Schindler, S., Heinemann, J., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2021). Increased early and late neuronal responses to aversively conditioned faces across different attentional conditions. Cortex, 142, 332-341. doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2021.07.003
  37. Schindler, S., Bruchmann, M., Krasowski, C., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2021). Charged With a Crime: The Neuronal Signature of Processing Negatively Evaluated Faces Under Different Attentional Conditions. Psychological Science, 32(8), 1311-1324. doi.org/10.1177/0956797621996667
  38. Dellert, T., Müller-Bardorff, M., Schlossmacher, I., Pitts, M., Hofmann, D., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2021). Dissociating the neural correlates of consciousness and task relevance in face perception using simultaneous EEG-fMRI. Journal of Neuroscience, 41(37), 7864-7875. doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2799-20.2021
  39. Schindler, S., Höhner, A., Moeck, R., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2021). Let's Talk About Each Other: Neural Responses to Dissenting Personality Evaluations Based on Real Dyadic Interactions. Psychological Science, 32(7), 1058-1072. doi.org/10.1177/0956797621995197
  40. Steinweg, A.L., Schindler, S., Bruchmann, M., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2021). Reduced early fearful face processing during perceptual distraction in high trait anxious participants. Psychophysiology, 58(6), e13819. doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13819
  41. Krasowski, C., Schindler, S., Bruchmann, M., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2021). Electrophysiological responses to negative evaluative person-knowledge: Effects of individual differences. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 21(4), 822-836. doi.org/10.3758/s13415-021-00894-w
  42. Schlossmacher, I.*, Dellert, T.*, Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2021). Dissociating neural correlates of consciousness and task relevance during auditory processing. NeuroImage, 228, 117712. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117712
  43. Schindler, S., Bruchmann, M., Gathmann, B., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2021). Effects of low-level visual information and perceptual load on P1 and N170 responses to emotional expressions. Cortex, 136, 14-27. doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.12.011
  44. Schindler, S., Gutewort, L., Bruchmann, M., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2020). Nonlinear effects of linearly increasing perceptual load on ERPs to emotional pictures. Cerebral Cortex Communications, 1(1), tgaa040. doi.org/10.1093/texcom/tgaa040
  45. Schindler, S., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2020). Imagined veridicality of social feedback amplifies early and late brain responses. Social Neuroscience, 15(6), 678-687. doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2020.1857303
  46. Schindler, S.*, Bruchmann, M.*, Steinweg, A.-L., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2020). Attentional conditions differentially affect early, intermediate and late neural responses to fearful and neutral faces. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 15(7), 765-774. doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa098
  47. Holtmann, O., Bruchmann, M., Mönig, C., Schwindt, W., Melzer, N., Miltner, W.H.R., & Straube, T. (2020). Lateralized deficits of disgust processing after insula-basal ganglia damage. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1429. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01429
  48. Schindler, S., Caldarone, F., Bruchmann, M., Moeck, R., & Straube, T. (2020). Time-dependent effects of perceptual load on processing fearful and neutral faces. Neuropsychologia, 146, 107529. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107529
  49. Bruchmann, M.*, Schindler, S.*, & Straube, T. (2020). The spatial frequency spectrum of fearful faces modulates early and mid‐latency ERPs but not the N170. Psychophysiology, 57(9),e13597. doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13597
  50. Schlossmacher, I., Dellert, T., Pitts, M., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2020). Differential effects of awareness and task relevance on early and late ERPs in a no-report visual oddball paradigm. Journal of Neuroscience, 40(14), 2906-2913. doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2077-19.2020
  51. Lin, H., Müller-Bardorff, M., Gathmann, B., Brieke, J., Mothes-Lasch, M., Bruchmann, M., Miltner, W. H. R., & Straube, T. (2020). Stimulus arousal drives amygdalar responses to emotional expressions across sensory modalities. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 1898. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58839-1
  52. Schindler, S., Bruchmann, M., Bublatzky, F., & Straube, T. (2019). Modulation of face- and emotion-selective ERPs by the three most common types of face image manipulations. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 14(5), 493-503. doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsz027
  53. Figel, B., Brinkmann, L., Buff, C., Heitmann, C.Y., Hofmann, D., Bruchmann, M., Becker, M.P.I., Herrmann, M.J., & Straube, T. (2019). Phasic amygdala and BNST activation during the anticipation of temporally unpredictable social observation in social anxiety disorder patients. NeuroImage: Clinical, 22, 101735. doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101735
  54. Holtmann, O., Schlossmacher, I., Moenig, C., Johnen, A., Rutter, L.-M., Tenberge, J.-G., Schiffler, P., Everding, J., Golombeck, K.S., Strippel, C., Dik, A., Schwindt, W., Wiendl, H., Meuth, S.G., Bruchmann, M., Melzer, N., & Straube, T. (2018). Amygdala enlargement and emotional responses in (autoimmune) temporal lobe epilepsy. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 9561. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27914-z
  55. Müller-Bardorff, M., Bruchmann, M., Mothes-Lasch, M., Zwitserlood, P., Schlossmacher, I., Hofmann, D., Miltner, W., & Straube, T. (2018). Early brain responses to affective faces: A simultaneous EEG-fMRI study. NeuroImage, 178, 660-667. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.05.081
  56. Feldker, K., Heitmann, C.Y., Neumeister, P., Brinkmann, L., Bruchmann, M., Zwitserlood, P., & Straube, T. (2018). Cardiorespiratory concerns shape brain responses during automatic panic-related scene processing in patients with panic disorder. J Psychiatry Neurosci, 43(1), 26-36. doi.org/10.1503/jpn.160226
  57. Brinkmann, L., Buff, C., Feldker, K., Neumeister, P., Heitmann, C.Y., Hofmann, D., Bruchmann, M., Herrmann, M.J., & Straube, T. (2018). Inter-individual differences in trait anxiety shape the functional connectivity between the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the amygdala during brief threat processing.Neuroimage, 166, 110-116. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.10.054
  58. Schlossmacher, I., Junghöfer, M., Straube, T., & Bruchmann, M. (2017). No differential effects to facial expressions under continuous flash suppression: An event-related potentials study. NeuroImage, 163(Supplement C), 276-285. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.09.034
  59. Neumeister, P., Feldker, K., Heitmann, C.Y., Buff, C., Brinkmann, L., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2017). Specific amygdala response to masked fearful faces in post-traumatic stress relative to other anxiety disorders. Psychological Medicine, 48(7), 1209-1217. doi.org/10.1017/S0033291717002513
  60. Feldker, K., Heitmann, C.Y., Neumeister, P., Tupak, S.V., Schrammen, E., Moeck, R., Zwitserlood, P., Bruchmann, M., & Straube, T. (2017). Transdiagnostic brain responses to disorder-related threat across four psychiatric disorders. Psychological Medicine, 47(4), 730-743. doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716002634
  61. Buff, C., Brinkmann, L., Bruchmann, M., Becker, M.P.I., Tupak, S., Herrmann, M. J., & Straube, T. (2017). Activity alterations in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and amygdala during threat anticipation in generalized anxiety disorder. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12(11), 1766-1774. doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsx103
  62. Bruchmann, M., Korsukewitz, C., Krämer, J., Wiendl, H., & Meuth, S.G. (2016). Dichoptic Metacontrast Masking Functions to Infer Transmission Delay in Optic Neuritis. PLOS ONE, 11(10), e0163375. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0163375
  63. Feldker, K., Heitmann, C.Y., Neumeister, P., Bruchmann, M., Vibrans, L., Zwitserlood, P., & Straube, T. (2016). Brain responses to disorder-related visual threat in panic disorder. Human Brain Mapping, 37(12), 4439-4453. doi.org/10.1002/hbm.23320
  64. Müller-Bardorff, M., Schulz, C., Peterburs, J., Bruchmann, M., Mothes-Lasch, M., Miltner, W., & Straube, T. (2016). Effects of emotional intensity under perceptual load: An event-related potentials (ERPs) study. Biological Psychology, 117, 141-149. doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.03.006
  65. Schröder, O., Schriewer, E., Golombeck, K.S., Kürten, J., Lohmann, H., Schwindt, W., Wiendl, H., Bruchmann, M., Melzer, N.,Straube, T. (2015). Impaired Autonomic Responses to Emotional Stimuli in Autoimmune Limbic Encephalitis. Frontiers in Neurology: Epilepsy, 6, 250. doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2015.00250
  66. Bruchmann, M., Thaler, K., & Vorberg, D. (2015). Visible Persistence of Single-Transient Random Dot Patterns: Spatial Parameters Affect the Duration of Fading Percepts. PLoS ONE, 10(9), e0137091. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137091
  67. Stein, A., Engell, A., Lau, P., Wunderlich, R., Junghoefer, M., Wollbrink, A., Bruchmann, M., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2015). Enhancing Inhibition-Induced Plasticity in Tinnitus–Spectral Energy Contrasts in Tailor-Made Notched Music Matter. PLoS One, 10(5), e0126494. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126494
  68. Pape, J., Paraskevopoulos, E., Bruchmann, M., Wollbrink, A., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2014). Playing and listening to tailor-made notched music: The effectiveness of multimodal and unimodal music training in tinnitus therapy. Neural Plasticity, 2014, e516163. doi.org/10.1155/2014/516163
  69. Hintze, P., Junghöfer, M., & Bruchmann, M. (2014). Evidence for rapid prefrontal emotional evaluation from visual evoked responses to conditioned gratings. Biological Psychology, 99, 125-136. doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.03.010
  70. Bruchmann, M., Hintze, P. & Vorwerk, J. (2012). The time course of feature integration in plaid patterns revealed by meta- and paracontrast masking. Journal of Vision, 12(13), 13. doi.org/10.1167/12.13.13
  71. Huster, R.J., Enriquez-Geppert, S., Pantev, C., & Bruchmann, M. (2012). Variations in midcingulate morphology are related to ERP indices of cognitive control. Brain Structure and Function, 219(1), 49-60. doi.org/10.1007/s00429-012-0483-5.
  72. Bruchmann, M., Hintze, P., & Mota, S. (2011). The effects of spatial and temporal cueing on metacontrast masking. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 7, 132-141. doi.org/10.2478/v10053-008-0093-1.
  73. Bruchmann, M., Breitmeyer, B.G., & Pantev, C. (2010). Metacontrast masking within and between visual channels: Effects of orientation and spatial frequency contrasts. Journal of Vision, 10(6). doi.org/10.1167/10.6.12
  74. Bruchmann, M., Herper, K., Konrad, C., Pantev, C., & Huster, R.J. (2010). Individualized EEG source reconstruction of Stroop-interference with masked color words. NeuroImage, 49(2), 1800-1809. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.09.032
  75. Knecht, S., Wersching, H., Lohmann, H., Bruchmann, M., Duning, T., Dziewas, R., Berger, K. & Ringelstein, E.B. (2008). High-normal blood pressure is associated with poor cognitive performance. Hypertension, 51(3), 663-668. doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.105577
  76. Dobel, C., Geiger, L., Bruchmann, M., Putsche, C., Schweinberger, S.R. & Junghöfer, M. (2008). On the interplay between familiarity and emotional expression in face perception. Psychological Research, 72(5), 580-586. doi.org/10.1007/s00426-007-0132-4
  77. Meinhardt, G., Schmidt, M., Persike, M. & Röers, B. (2004). Feature synergy depends on feature contrast and objecthood. Vision Research, 44(16), 1843-1850. doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2004.04.002
  78. * co-first authors