Neuroscientist and pianist Fredrik Ullén awarded the Mensa Foundation Prize
KI researcher Fredrik Ullén has been awarded the fifth Mensa Foundation Prize for his pioneering work in neuroscience, with a particular focus on the neuropsychology of expertise and creativity, i.e. the mechanisms in the brain that allow us to perform at a high level in a particular field after many years of focused training. The prize recognises individuals whose research helps us better understand human intelligence.
Fredrik Ullén, Professor at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Germany, is also internationally active as a concert pianist.
He leads a research group that explores how complex skills like music performance are linked to brain function and structure. His work combines psychology, genetics, and brain imaging to study how people learn and what makes some individuals more creative or cognitively flexible than others.
What musical talent reveals about the brain
The Mensa Foundation highlighted Fredrik Ullén’s unique approach, which bridges science and the arts, as a key reason for the award. His research has shown, for example, how musical training can influence brain development and how traits like persistence and curiosity relate to both musical and intellectual achievement.
What does this recognition mean to you?
"Naturally, I am very happy and honoured. We use music as a model to understand mechanisms of learning, expertise, and creativity, and this award feels like a major recognition for our entire interdisciplinary team."
What do you hope to contribute to going forward?
"Our new 7 Tesla MR scanner in Frankfurt is just about ready to start, which gives us entirely new opportunities to study the human brain at high resolution. In an exciting new research line, we will use such ultra-high-field MRI for a comprehensive mapping of how musicians’ brains are specialized, structurally and functionally, for processing music. We will also combine this with genetic analyses."
"Our hope is, of course, that this will give us a better understanding of general mechanisms of brain plasticity, which are relevant for many other fields than music, as well as for recovery of function after diseases or damage to the brain."
The Mensa Foundation Prize is awarded every other year and includes a 10,000 USD award. This year’s award will be presented on 2 July 2025 at American Mensa’s Annual Gathering in Chicago.