Ralf Schmälzle

Ralf Schmälzle

Associate Professor of Communication Science

Department
  • Communication
schmaelz@msu.edu
(517) 353-6629

Bio

Ralf Schmälzle ("SHMAL-ts-lee", also known as 拉尔夫·舍马尔兹勒, राल्फ श्मेल्ज़ले, シュマルツレ, شمالتسلي, Шмальцле, Σμαλτσλε, שמלצלה, ช์มาเลทซเล) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University, where he also serves as Graduate Director of the M.A. in  Health and Risk Communication programm.

Dr. Schmälzle is uniquely cross-trained in communication science, health psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. His research seeks to unravel the biological foundations of human communication by investigating how the brain — our most social but also most private organ — perceives, processes, and responds to persuasive messages in health, media, and interpersonal contexts.

At the core of his work is a passion for understanding how communication shapes the mind and behavior. Using cutting-edge tools such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG/ERP), and computational modeling, he studies how people engage with messages and how these messages can impact health, decision-making, and social behavior. He complements brain-based approaches with linguistic analyses, self-report data, and behavioral experiments.

As founder of the  Neuroscience of Messages Lab and Co-Director of the CARISMA-lab (Center for Avatar Research and Immersive Social Media Applications) he creates an interdisciplinary learning environment for students and scholars interested in bridging communication research with neuroscience, psychology, and emerging technologies. His recent work explores the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and immersive environments to study message reception and social interaction in more naturalistic and dynamic ways.

Driven by both scientific curiosity and a commitment to advancing communication for public good, Schmälzle’s work contributes to a new frontier where communication science, neuroscience, and AI intersect — helping us better understand not only how we communicate, but how it feels, works, and changes us from the inside out.

Roles

Associate Professor: Department of Communication, Neuroscience of Messages Lab (NOM) nom.cas.msu.edu 

Director of the Health and Risk Communication M.A. program comartsci.msu.edu/hrcma

Core Leader: Health and Risk Communication Center (HRCC) hrcc.cas.msu.edu

Co-Director: Center for Avatar Research and Immersive Social Media Applications (CARISMA) carismalab.com

Personal Website: ralfschmaelzle.net

 

Thematic Research Areas

Neurocognitive Communication
Computational Communication
Media Psychology

Research Centers and Labs

Neuroscience of Messages Lab

Center for Avatar Research and Immersive Social Media Applications (CARISMALAB)
Health and Risk Communication Center

Research and Teaching

Research Topics:
- Media Neuroscience: Motivational Response to Media
- Neuroimaging of Health and Risk Communication 
- Neurocognitive Foundations of Mass Communication Campaigns  

Courses:
- Introduction to Cognitive Science (CAS/LIN/PHL/PSY 463)
- Neurocognitive Communication (CAS 992)
- Media Neuroscience (CAS892)
- Special Topics Neurocognitive Communication (COM399)
- Public Communication Campaigns - Design and Analysis (COM475)
- Mass Communication and Public Health (CAS825)
- Special Topics: Formative Research for Health Communication: From time-proven methods to neuroscience and AI (COM399)
- Think Tank: Communication as a Dynamic Process (CAS892)
- Social Influence and Conflict (COM325)

 

Thematic Research Areas

Neurocognitive Communication - Communication Neuroscience
Media Psychology
 

Research Centers and Labs

Health and Risk Communication Center
Neuroscience of Messages Lab
Carismalab (Center for Avatar Research and Immersive Social Media Applications)

Related Work

Sync Conference Event
ComArtSci Hosts Third Annual International Summer School Conference
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ComArtSci Faculty and Students to Present Research at International Conference
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professor
Using Neuroimaging to Find Out What Makes a Good Story
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How Social Networks Affect Our Brains
How Social Networks Affect Our Brains
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Ralf Schmaelzle, assistant professor of communication, poses on Tuesday April 14, 2017.
The Link Between Brain Activity and Social Networks
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National Communication Association logo
NCA 108th Annual Convention lineup for ComArtSci researchers
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A person in a motion capture suit moves their arms. Text reads: Shaping the future of XR research.
MSU Researchers Use XR to Study Social-Communicative Processes
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Links

Associate Professor: Department of Communication, Neuroscience of Messages Lab (NOM) nomcomm.github.io

Director of the Health and Risk Communication M.A. program comartsci.msu.edu/hrcma

Core Leader: Health and Risk Communication Center (HRCC) hrcc.cas.msu.edu

Co-Director: Center for Avatar Research and Immersive Social Media Applications (CARISMA) carismalab.com

Personal Website: ralfschmaelzle.net

Media Coverage & Recent Publications

Recent mentions

Washington Post: Why human brains are bad at assessing the risks of pandemics

National Geographic: Struggling to assess pandemic risks? You’re not alone

LATimes: Op-Ed: Why storytelling is an important tool for social change

New European Bauhaus (video): Fictional narrative & the meaning factory

StoryTank, European Film Lab (video): Audience brain responses to films

Newsweek: Scientists Connect Three People's Minds So They Can Communicate Using Brainwaves Alone

MSUToday: The link between brain activity and social networks
 

Recent research articles

2025/in press
Cho, H. J., Lim, S., Turner, M., Bente, G., & Schmälzle, R.. (2025). Eyes on VR: Unpacking the causal chain between exposure, reception, and retention for emotional billboard messages. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies.

Huskey, R., & Schmälzle, R.. (2025). Finding middle ground In cognitive media psychology. In. N. Bowman & N.D. Shackleford (Eds). Oxford Handbook of Media Psychology, 1.

Cho, H. J., Lim, S., Saenz, M., & Schmälzle, R.. (2025). Memory inception through gaze-contingent message exposure: Using Virtual Reality to study media influence. bioRxiv.

Hussain, A., Schmälzle, R., Lim, S., & Bouali, N.. (2025). Comparing AI and Human-Generated Health Messages in an Arabic Cultural Context. Global Health Action.

Pena, J., Huskey, R., Gong, X., Andrews, M., Weisman, W., Kee, R., Klein, V., Sarieva S Kang, R., Schmälzle, R., & Hancock, J.. (2025). Media Neuroscience on a shoestring 2.0: Using AR and mobile EEG hyperscanning to study cooperation. Journal of Media Psychology.

Schmälzle, R., Wilcox, S., & Huskey, R. (2025). Brain imaging as a window into the biological basis of social cognition and communication. In. T. Reimer, L. van Swol, & A. Florack (Eds.). Handbook of Communication and Social Cognition.

2024
Jeon, M., Lim, S., and Lapinski, M., Spates, S., Bente, G., & Schmälzle, R.. (2024). Attention and Retention Effects of Culturally Targeted Billboard Messages: An Eye-Tracking Study using Immersive Virtual Reality. bioRxiv.

Schmälzle, R., Jahn, N., & Bente, G.. (2024). Charting the Silent Signals of Social Gaze: Automating Eye Contact Assessment in Face-to-Face Conversations. bioRxiv.

Lim, S., Cho, H. J., Jeon, m., Cui, X., & Schmälzle, R.. (2024). Using VR and eye-tracking to study attention to and retention of AI-generated ads in outdoor advertising environments. bioRxiv. link

Cho, H.-J., Lim, S., Turner, M., Bente, G., & Schmälzle, R. (2024). Eyes on VR: Unpacking the Causal Chain Between Exposure, Reception, and Retention for Emotional Billboard Messages. bioRxiv. link|code

Lim, S., Schmälzle, R., & Bente, G.. (2024). Artificial social influence via human-embodied AI agent interaction in immersive virtual reality (VR): Effects of similarity-matching during health conversations. arXiv. link

Lim, S., & Schmälzle, R. (2024). The effect of source disclosure on evaluation of AI-generated messages: A two-part study. Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans. link | pdf | code

Schmälzle, R., Wu, J., Lim, S., & Bente, G.. (2024). The eyes have it: Inter-subject correlations of pupillary responses for audience response measurement in VR. bioRxiv. link

Schmälzle, R., Lim, S., Wu, J., Bezbaruah, S., & Hussain, A. (2024). Converging crowds and tied twins: Audience brain responses to the same movie are consistent across continents and enhanced among twins. Journal of Media Psychology. link

Huskey, R., & Schmälzle, R.. (2024). Finding Middle Ground In Cognitive Media Psychology. In. N. Bowman & N.D. Shackleford (Eds). De Gruyter Handbook Entertainment Media and Communication. link

Tamborini, R., Schmälzle, R., & Bowman, N. D.. (2024). The role of theory in media entertainment research. In. N. Bowman & N.D. Shackleford (Eds). Degruyter Handbook Entertainment Media and Communication, link

 

2023

Lim, S., & Schmälzle, R. (2023). The effect of source disclosure on evaluation of AI-generated messages: A two-part study. arRxiv. link

Lim, S., & Schmälzle, R. (2023). Exploring the mechanisms of AI message generation: A chatbot development activity for students. Communication Teacher. link|code

Schmälzle, R., Liu, H., Delle, F., Lewin, K., Jahn, N. T., Zhang, Y., Yoon, H., & Long, J. (2023). Moment-by-moment tracking of audience brain responses to an engaging public speech: Replicating the reverse-message engineering approach. Communication Monographs. link|code

Schmälzle, R., Lim, S., Cho, H. J., Wu, J., & Bente, G. (2023). The VR Billboard Paradigm: Using VR and eye-tracking to examine the Exposure-Reception-Retention link in realistic communication environments. bioRxiv. link|code

Schmälzle, R., & Huskey, R. (2023). Skyhooks, Cranes, and the Construct Dump: A Comment on and Extension of Boster (2023). Asian Communication Research. link

Schmälzle, R., & Huskey, R. (2023). Integrating Media Content Analysis, Reception Analysis, and Media Effects Studies. Frontiers in Neuroscience (Neuroscience and the Media). link

Lim, S., & Schmälzle, R.. (2023). Artificial intelligence for health message generation: Theory, method, and an empirical study using prompt engineering. Frontiers in Communication: Health Communication. link

Holmstrom, A., Dorrance-Hall, E., Wilcox, S., & Schmälzle, R.. (2023). Confirmation, Disconfirmation, and Communal Coping for Joint Physical Activity in Romantic Dyads. Health Communication. link

Bente, G., Schmälzle, R., Jahn, N. T., & Schaaf, A. (2023). Measuring the Effects of Co-Location on Emotion Perception in Shared Virtual Environments: An Ecological Perspective. Frontiers in Virtual Reality. link|code

2022

Lim, S., & Schmälzle, R. (2022). Artificial intelligence for health message generation: Theory, method, and an empirical study using prompt engineering. arXiv, 2212.07507.

Schmälzle, R. (2022). Theory and method for studying how messages prompt shared brain responses along the sensation-to-cognition continuum. Communication Theory, 32(4), 450-460.

Schmälzle, R., & Wilcox, S. (2022). Harnessing artificial intelligence for health message generation: The folic acid message engine. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(1), e28858.

Schmälzle, R., Wilcox, S., & Jahn, N. T. (2022). Identifying moments of peak audience engagement from brain responses during story listening. Communication Monographs, 89(4), 515-538.

Jahn, N., Bente, G., & Schmälzle, R. (2022). Media neuroscience on a shoestring: Examining electrocortical responses to visual stimuli via mobile EEG. Journal of Media Psychology.

Grady, S. M., Schmälzle, R., & Baldwin, J. A. (2022). Examining the relationship between story structure and audience response: How shared brain activity varies over the course of a narrative. Projections – Journal for Movies and Mind, 16(3), 1-28.

Bente, G., Schmälzle, R., Kryston, K., & Jahn, N. (2022). Building blocks of suspense. Subjective and physiological effects of narrative content and film music.. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9, 449.

2021

Baldwin, J. A., & Schmälzle, R. (2021). A Character Recognition Tool for Automatic Detection of Social Characters in Visual Media Content. Computational Communication Research.

Schmälzle, R., Wilcox, S., & Grall, C. (2021). Neuroimaging in Environmental Communication Research. In. Takahashi, B., Metag, J., Thaker, C. & Evans-Comfort, A.: ICA-Routledge Handbook of International Trends in Environmental Communication. 437-448.

Dorrance-Hall, E., Wilcox, S., Holmstrom, A., McGraw, J. & Schmälzle, R. (2021). Reactance to Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Messages: Face Threat and Face Management Strategies in Memorable Daily Conversations Among Couples. Health Communication.

Anderson, J., Lapinski, M., Turner, M., Peng, T., & Schmälzle, R. (2021). Speaking of Values: Value-Expressive Communication and Exercise Intentions. Health Communication. 

Grall, C., Weber, R., Tamborini, R., & Schmälzle, R.. (2021). Stories collectively engage listeners’ brains: Enhanced intersubject correlations during reception of personal narratives. Journal of Communication, 71(2), 332-355. 

2020

Schmälzle, R., & Meshi, D.. (2020). Communication Neuroscience: Theory, methodology, and experimental approaches. Communication Methods and Measures, 1(1), 1-16. [+Shared first authorship]

Imhof, M. A., Schmälzle, R., Renner, B., & Schupp, H. T.. (2020). Strong health messages increase audience brain coupling. NeuroImage.

Schmälzle, R., & Grall, C.. (2020). Mediated messages and synchronized brains. In. Floyd & Weber: Handbook of Communication Science and Biology.

Wilcox, S., Holmstrom, A., Dorrance-Hall, E., & and Schmälzle, R.. (2020). The emerging frontier of interpersonal communication and neuroscience: Scanning the social synapse. Annals of the International Communication Association, 44(4), 368-384.

Schmälzle, R., & Grall, C.. (2020). Psychophysiological methods: Options, uses, and validity. In. J. VanDenBulck & M.-L. Mares: The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology.

Grall, C., & Schmälzle, R.. (2020). Neurocinematics. In. J. VanDenBulck & M.-L. Mares: The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology.

Schmälzle, R., & Grall, C.. (2020). The coupled brains of captivated audiences: An investigation of the collective brain dynamics of an audience watching a suspenseful film. Journal of Media Psychology, (Online First). [+Shared first authorship]

Huskey, R., Eden, A., Grall, C., Meshi, D., Prena, K., Schmälzle, R., Scholz, C., Turner, B., & Wilcox, S.. (2020). Marr’s tri-level framework integrates biology with communication science. Journal of Communication, 1(1), 1-20.

Schmälzle, R., Cooper, N., O’Donnell, B. M., Tompson, S., Lee, S., Cantrell, J., Vettel, J. M., & Falk, E. B.. (2020). The effectiveness of online messages for promoting smoking cessation resources: Predicting nationwide campaign effects from neural responses in the EX campaign. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, [Shared frist authorship].

Contact Information

404 Wilson Rd, Room 569
Communication Arts and Sciences Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824