News, media & conversations
Selected coverage, talks and contributions to science communication—from the Aha! moment to imaging brain stimulation.
THE AHA! MOMENT · RESEARCH & COVERAGE · 2018
You can spend a long time looking at a problem, and then suddenly the answer is there. I wanted to understand what changes in the brain at that moment of insight.
In our 2018 study, we used ultra-high-field functional MRI while participants solved word puzzles. We investigated the brain activity associated with solutions experienced as an Aha! moment, including responses in reward-related regions such as the nucleus accumbens.
The work brought questions about insight and reward to a much wider audience. It remains an important part of my scientific background: connecting a subjective experience with measurable brain activity.
Today, my research adds an intervention to that picture. With TMS-fMRI, we ask how networks respond when we stimulate them, and how that response depends on timing and brain state.
Read the original study · Human Brain Mapping
Insight research in the Tik GroupSELECTED REPORTING
Original reporting and institutional coverage from 2018. Some publisher content requires a subscription.
My press archive also records coverage in Der Standard, Die Presse, Kurier, Corriere della Sera and Psychology Today, alongside interviews on Radio Wien and Bayerischer Rundfunk. The selection above links to accessible original article pages.
TV · DAS WUNDER DU · 2023
I contributed to “Das Wunder DU”, the children’s science series with Omar Sarsam and Melanie Flicker. Explaining neuroscience beyond a specialist audience is an important part of sharing what we do—and why it is fascinating.
Explore the series on ORF KiDSWEBINAR · NORDICNEUROLAB · 2025
In a NordicNeuroLab webinar, I discuss how brain imaging can inform stimulation targets and help investigate responses during and after TMS. The conversation covers the scientific questions as well as the practical challenges of combining the methods.
Webinar announcement & recording link
TMS-fMRI in the Tik GroupCONTACT
For scientific collaborations, talks and research enquiries, the best way to reach me is by email.
martin.tik@meduniwien.ac.atMedical University of Vienna
Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering
MR Physics Division
These downloadable documents are older versions. For my current research and roles, see this page and my institutional profiles.
CV · archive, 2024 file NIH biosketch · January 2023