Born studied psychology, mathematics, and medicine at the University of Tübingen and the University of Ulm from 1976-1980. He was a research fellow from 1980-1981 in the Department of Biological Psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He attended the University of Tübingen where he obtained his Ph.D. in Psychology in 1985. As a graduate student, Born investigated the use of potential-related events in studying brain function in humans. After completing his doctorate, Born completed his habilitation in psychology at the University of Ulm. Born was Professor of Physiological Psychology at the Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg and Professor of Neuroendocrinology at the University of Lübeck before joining the faculty of the University of Tübingen as Chair of Medical Psychology in 2010. Born's work has been supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Research
Born researches and publishes in the field of memory formation during sleep. He was one of the first researchers to show that sleep was causally related to memory. He showed that procedural memories are not consolidated by REM sleep, as has been previously assumed. Instead, he showed that procedural memories are improved when REM sleep is pharmacologically suppressed. Born found that slow-wave sleep reactivates recently encoded memories while REM sleep stabilizes them. As well, his research demonstrated that slow-wave sleep actually consolidates immunological memories as well as psychological memories. He also found that sleep especially assists in consolidating memories that involve a promise of reward. His other work focuses on the metabolic and behavioral control of body weight.
Representative Publications
Born, J., Lange, T., Kern, W., McGregor, G. P., Bickel, U., & Fehm, H. L.. Sniffing neuropeptides: A transnasal approach to the human brain. Nature Neuroscience, 5, 514-516.
Diekelmann, S. & Born, J.. The memory function of sleep. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11, 114-126.
Rasch, B., Pommer, J., Diekelmann, S., & Born, J.. Pharmacological REM sleep suppression paradoxically improves rather than impairs skill memory. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 396-397.
Westermann, J., Lange, T., Textor, J., & Born, J.. System consolidation during sleep – a common principle underlying psychological and immunological memory formation. Trends in Neurosciences, 38, 585-597.
