Rate My Professor Michael Hornberger

Professor Michael Hornberger serves as Professor of Applied Dementia Research in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, part of Clinical and Experimental Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton, a role he assumed in 2025. Originally from Germany but based in the UK since early in his career, he earned his PhD from University College London. His professional trajectory includes research positions at the University of Cambridge, the University of New South Wales, and the University of East Anglia's Norwich Medical School, where he held a professorship prior to joining Southampton. Hornberger's research specializes in cognition, neuroimaging, and devices applied to preclinical and clinical dementia populations. His primary interests encompass personalised cognition in dementia, cortical and subcortical neuroimaging alterations, and sensors or wearables for capturing real-world changes in dementia.

With over 236 publications to his name, Hornberger has made substantial contributions to dementia research, including studies on spatial navigation deficits, thalamic and deep gray matter atrophy patterns in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia, and the reliability of online remote neuropsychological assessments. Key recent works include 'Atrophy patterns of deep gray matter nuclei in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia' (2025, Journal of Alzheimer's Disease), 'Spatial navigation deficits in early Alzheimer's disease' (2025, Journal of Neurology), 'A standardised saffron extract improves subjective and objective sleep quality in healthy older adults with sleep complaints' (2025, Food & Function), and 'A roadmap towards standardized neuroimaging approaches for human thalamic nuclei' (2024). He directs active projects such as 'Spatial Navigation - Australia' and 'Introduction of an oNline cognitive battery for fitness to Drive In mild Cognitive impAirmenT and dEmentia,' and accepts PhD applications. His work advances translational applications in dementia diagnostics and monitoring through innovative technologies.