Research Projects
Current Research projects:
Project leader: Prof. Dr. Jan Richter
Project staff: Edgar Nazarenus
Funding period: 2021 - 2024
Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Sachbeihilfe)
Project description:
According to the inhibitory learning model, extinction learning is a central mechanism of action in the exposure-based behavioral therapy of anxiety disorders. As part of extinction learning, a stimulus previously associated with threat is re-established as safe through corrective learning experiences. In this process, those affected convince themselves that the expected aversive consequence will not occur. As a process of active relearning, extinction learning is subject to the general mechanisms of memory formation. In addition to formation, (re-)consolidation and retrieval, processes of generalization of extinction memory are also assumed, i.e. learning experiences are transferred to stimuli that have similarities with an original learning stimulus but were not present during active learning. Despite the theoretical concept, basic research is only just beginning to systematically investigate this specific process and possible limitations in patients with anxiety disorders have not yet been investigated. However, detailed knowledge would make it possible to formulate recommendations for the necessary optimization of exposure therapy The research project transfers an established research paradigm from the investigation of the generalization of fear learning to the process of extinction generalization. Here, the generalization performance of extinction memory from an extinction fear stimulus to a non-extinction fear stimulus with visual
Projekt staff: Dr. Sinha Engel, Prof. Dr. Jan Richter, Jana Langer
Master theses: Paula Simon, Charlotte Marré
Project description:
The influence of hormonal processes on our experience and behavior is well documented. Studies also suggest that hormonal changes, e.g. in the menstrual cycle, through the use of hormonal contraceptives, through medical interventions during fertility treatments, in pregnancies that are carried to term or terminated, in (miscarriages) and during the menopause, increase the risk of developing psychological symptoms. This in turn suggests that these factors relating to reproductive health should be addressed in psychotherapeutic treatments.
This project includes a survey aimed at psychotherapists and one aimed at patients. We want to bring the two perspectives together to find out to what extent these factors are discussed, how relevant they are considered to be, and what the reasons are for or against addressing them in psychotherapeutic treatments.
Participation:
Further information and the opportunity to participate:
Patient survey:
Therapist survey:
Support from:
We would like to thank the German Psychotherapists' Association (DPtV) and the following patient organizations:
and many other supporters
Project leaders: Prof. Dr. Christine Knaevelsrud (Freie Universität Berlin); Prof. Dr. Sarah Schumacher (Health and Medical University Potsdam)
Project staff: Dr. Sinha Engel (Universität Hildesheim); Dr. Hannah Klusmann (Freie Universität Berlin); Caroline Meyer, M.Sc. (Freie Universität Berlin); Stephanie Häring, M.Sc. (Freie Universität Berlin); Meike Blecker, M.Sc. (Freie Universität Berlin)
Funding period: 2020 - 2024
Funding: Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (Federal Ministry for Health)
Projekt description:
The ELSA research network consists of the Social Science Research Institute for Gender Issues | FIVE Freiburg (SoFFIF.), Merseburg University of Applied Sciences, the Free University of Berlin, Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences and the University of Ulm. The sub-project at the Free University of Berlin, in which Dr. Sinha Engel (now at the University of Hildesheim) is involved, is investigating the interplay between traumatic experiences, the regulation of the psychobiological stress system (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, HHNA) and the mental health of women after an unwanted pregnancy. Specifically, we are interested in whether traumatic experiences increase the risk of mental illness after a biographical event such as an unintended pregnancy. Clinical-psychological diagnostics are carried out using questionnaires and standardized clinical interviews conducted by trained psychologists. To investigate the biological processes, we use the hair cortisol analysis method, which gives us information about the activity of the HHNA during and after the unwanted pregnancy. Further information: elsa-studie.de
Project staff: Dr. Sinha Engel (Universität Hildesheim); Meike Blecker, M.Sc.
(Freie Universität Berlin); Daria Dähn, M.Sc. (Freie Universität Berlin)
Funding period: 2022-2023
Funding: internal funding of the Freie Universität Berlin
Project description:
Stressful birth experiences can have a negative impact on postpartum mental health. Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most common mental health disorder associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Women can also develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a stressful birth experience. In order to record birth experiences more precisely, the Hotspot Scale was developed in our own preliminary work. This identifies which aspects of births are experienced as particularly stressful or even traumatic (hotspots). It also records which interpersonal experiences during these hotspots are perceived as relieving or stressful. The first aim of the project is to investigate the connection between birth experiences and PPD as well as attachment to the child. In addition, potential protective effects of social support are to be investigated (Daria Dähn, M.Sc.).
The second aim is to investigate the relationship between birth-related hotspots and birth-related PTSD. In addition, it will be investigated whether traumatic experiences in childhood increase the risk of birth-related PTSD and whether this association is mediated by interpersonally stressful birth experiences (Meike Blecker, M.Sc.). The third aim is to uncover intersectional effects of experiences of discrimination on mental health after childbirth. To this end, the interactive predictive effects of various aspects of demographic di
Projekt leader: Dr. Sinha Engel
Project staff: Prof. Dr. Jan Richter, Dr. Yunbo Yang
Funding period: 2024
Funding: start-up financing by the Universität Hildesheim
Project description:
The trauma film paradigm is an established experimental paradigm in which mentally and physically healthy test subjects are presented with film material depicting content that meets the trauma criterion (e.g. sexual violence). Many respondents then report temporary, involuntary and distressing memories (intrusions). The paradigm is the best approach to investigate risk factors for maladaptive processing of traumatic events independent of the confounding influence of uncontrollable confounding variables. In previous research, intrusions were mainly assessed via subjective reports. However, this entails several limitations: the intrusions must be verbally accessible to the respondents, the measurement is dependent on their compliance and in everyday life there is no control over possible triggers that, according to the cognitive model of PTSD, trigger intrusive experiences. In the pilot study, a new laboratory paradigm will be tested that measures psychophysiological reactivity (heart rate, startle reflex potentiation, skin conductance) to potential trigger stimuli after watching a trauma movie. Thus, intrusive experience is operationalized psychophysiologically, non-verbally and under control of triggers. The new paradigm will be used to investigate the influence of hormonal fluctuations in the menstrual cycle on the development of intrusions.
If you are interested in participating, you can check here in a first step whether you meet the inclusion criteria: ww3.unipark.de/uc/Engel_Studie/0197/
Project leader: Dr. Yunbo Yang
Project staff: Cindy Gerberding, Franziska Germscheid
Funding period: 2023 - 2024
Funding: Universität Hildesheim
Project description: Affective flexibility (AF), the ability to regulate one's own affects flexibly and adaptively, plays a decisive role in adapting to our dynamic environment and thus changing behavioral requirements as well as regulating internal (affective) allostasis. The capacity for AF therefore also influences our mental health. To objectively assess affective expressive flexibility (AEF), an innovative experimental task was developed in which expressed emotions are elicited and regulated on demand. This task consists of the following steps: First, an emotional face (happy, fearful, sad and neutral) is presented for 1 second, followed by instructions to independently produce an emotional facial expression (white printed words “happiness”, “fear” or “sadness” in the nose area) either corresponding to or deviating from the presented emotion. This 3 (happiness, fear or sadness) x 3 (neutral vs. congruent vs. incongruent) design allows the quantification of recall (congruent vs. neutral) and inhibition (incongruent vs. neutral) of the emotions fear, happiness or sadness, as measured by the response latency and intensity of the facial expressions produced. During the performance of the AEF task, the production of the emotional facial expressions is visually recorded and the heart rate (ECG), skin conductance (EDA) and electrical activity in the muscles are measured.
A pilot study with N=40 healthy volunteers is planned to test the feasibility, reliability and validity of the AEF task. In addition, machine learning (ML) will be trained with the algorithms for emotion recognition of the video recordings and EMG data of the healthy subjects and their accuracy tested.
The data collection for this pilot study is currently complete. We are actively evaluating the data. We are looking forward to research cooperation in the field of ML of emotion recognition in video recordings. In total, we have over 7000 labeled videos with emotional expressions.
Project leader: Dr. Yunbo Yang
Project co-leader: Dr. Martina Wernicke
Associated principal investigators: Prof. Jan Richter, Prof. Kristian Folta-Schoofs und Prof. Andreas Mojzisch
Cooperation partners: PD Dr. Ann-Christine Ehlis und Dr. Thomas Dresler an der Universität Tübingen
Project staff: Magnus von Behren, Sofia Giakoumakis
Funding period: 2023 - 2024
Funding: interne Fördermittel der Universität Hildesheim; beteiligte AGs
Projektbeschreibung:
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a new but already established non-invasive imaging technique for investigating the neurofunctional basis of mental processes. The Neurodidactics working group (headed by Prof. Dr. Kristian Folta-Schoofs), the Social, Organizational and Economic Psychology working group (headed by Prof. Dr. Andreas Mojzisch) and the Experimental Psychopathology working group (headed by Prof. Dr. Jan Richter) have jointly acquired the state-of-the-art fNIRS measuring device NIRSport2 from the company NIRx Medical Technologies, LLC (https://nirx.net/). We have designed and planned this pilot study to test the performance of experiments with this device and the quality of the research data collected with it. We used the common research paradigm N-Back, a short-term memory task. In this task, one series of letters is presented after another. The subject is asked to memorize the letters and recall the presentation of a letter identical to the previous n-step. In our experiment, 3-back (e.g. A-B-C-A, repeated “A” after identifying 3 letters), 1-back (letters coming after each other) and 0-back (identifying the letter “O”) conditions are tested. During the performance of the N-back task, both neuronal activation by fNIRS or NIRSport2 and psychophysiological arousal by electrocardiogram (ECG) and electrodermal activity (EDA) are measured.
The preliminary results showed that the 3-back condition generally exhibited significantly higher brain activation in the bilateral ventral and dorsal prefrontal areas than 0-back. Higher activation in 3-back vs. 1-back condition was only observed in the ventral prefrontal cortex.
fNIRS data can be influenced by multiple sources of noise, e.g. head movement, systemic physiological changes (such as heartbeat, respiratory rate) and instrumental drift. These sources of interference can now be recorded using supplementary short channels. A significant improvement in data quality can be achieved by statistically controlling the short-channel signals. However, this assumed improvement in data quality has not yet been tested and confirmed in cognitive tasks. In our pilot study, 17 subjects without and 17 subjects with short channels were measured. We will compare the results of these two groups and generate practical application recommendations.
Project leader: Dr. Yunbo Yang
Main study and data source: Protect-AD
Project description:
Life charts, in which patients visualize the development and fluctuation of their individual psychological complaints in a severity (Y)-time (X) diagram, are a very common tool in research and practice in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. In psychotherapeutic practice, life charts can be used to help patients reflect on the development of the mental disorder and to clarify the essential contributions of life events (or stressors) and their individual learning history to the development. In research, life charts could be used for both retrospective and prospective recording of fluctuations in psychological complaints. From this, for example, the number of illness episodes and their duration can be quantified and used as supplementary research data. However, a development curve on a life chart contains much more than these two indicators. Multiple dynamic properties can be extracted from this visual curve, e.g. maximum, total and average disease burden, exacerbation and improvement rates, recurrence tendency of disease episodes, chronification of disease burden, etc. These characteristics have so far been largely ignored in research.
We have developed a statistical-mathematical pipeline for a script-based readout of life chart development curves and applied it for the first time in practice to digitize the life charts from the multicenter psychotherapy research “Protect-AD”. Extensive dynamic properties were extracted from each curve and these are used to investigate the following research topics:
1. congruent or divergent validity of the dynamic properties of the developmental curves compared to information from clinical interview procedures and questionnaires in the clinical characterization of mental disorders.
2. disorder-specific properties of the development curves (social phobia vs. panic disorder)
3. relevant properties for the prediction of therapy success and training of classification algorithms through machine learning.
We are currently looking forward to cooperating with clinical institutions, especially psychotherapeutic university outpatient clinics, in order to integrate the data collection through life charts into everyday practices and to expand the valuable data set.
Project leader: Dr. Yunbo Yang
Cooperation partners: Prof. Andrea Horbach (Professor for Digital Humanities, Universität Hildesheim), Dr. Silvan Hornstein (HU Berlin)
Project staff: Finn Lennart Brodmann
Project description:
In the context of clinical psychology and psychotherapy, countless text materials can be generated, e.g. through interviews, psychotherapeutic conversations and the completion of exercise protocols in therapeutic work. Thanks to the technical breakthrough in natural language processing (NLP), such texts can be understood by machines. A very good example is ChatGPT 4, a new program that can automatically analyze various lexical, semantic, syntactic and content aspects of texts, e.g. positivism, negative tones, first person, abstractness, analysis, authenticity, cognitive processes, social words. Nowadays, the latest developments in computational linguistics enable data mining of texts in the context of clinical psychology and psychotherapy. Together with our cooperation partners in the digital humanities, Prof. Horbach and Dr. Silvan Hornstein, we are researching various topics and possible applications.
Example project 1: Semantic network of anxiety triggers and fears in anxiety disorders
As part of the multicenter psychotherapy study “PROTECT-AD”, a total of 13,963 exposures were carried out in vivo and recorded in detail, with patients stating their fears and describing the trigger situations. Under the supervision of Prof. Horbach, Mr. Brodmann developed an algorithm to classify the fears and situational features. This was successfully validated and has a very high unanimity with classification by raters. We will soon apply this algorithm to extract the key categories of fears and situations. From this it will become clear how the fears are linked to each other and to situations (network-like). Furthermore, we can compare the semantic networks under different diagnoses (social phobia vs. panic disorder vs. agoraphobia vs. specific phobia) in order to examine possible differences or similarities. We assume that psychotherapy will change or reduce the complexity of fear-relevant semantic networks. Finally, we will test whether the features of the anxiety-relevant semantic networks can moderate the individual therapy effect in terms of their centrality and density.
We assign thesis topics to students with a corresponding research interest: NLP or network analysis
Example project 2: Prediction of the therapy effect through verbalized learning experience
After the in vivo exposure, the psychotherapists conducted a debriefing with the patients to summarize and crystallize the key learning experiences. Verbalizing the learning experience is one of the most important learning moments. If the outcome is positive, the verbalization will make the patients aware of the positive learning experience and enable them to consolidate it declaratively. In the case of an undesired outcome (e.g. panic attack re-experienced), psychotherapists can use various techniques such as reflection and prevention of dysfunctional post-event processing or cognitive immunization, validation, clarification and reinterpretation/reframing to support the patient's positive reflection of the learning experience and reduce frustration and humiliation. In the “Protect-AD” project, over 13,000 texts were written about the learning experiences. For example, one patient wrote: “I can drive without fear and go shopping in a relaxed manner. I can walk, I don't have to run away. I have the freedom to decide.” and ”It's getting better + reducing avoidance makes a lot of sense and nothing happens!” We intend to analyze the lexical, semantic, syntactic and content-related aspects of the texts in order to identify features that predict a positive therapeutic effect. Methods of machine
Project leader: Dr. Yunbo Yang
Cooperation partners: Prof. Benjamin Straube (Universität Marburg), Prof. Jochen Triesch (Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies)
Project description:
Animal and human studies have consistently demonstrated that the amygdala plays a central role in threat detection, fear associative learning, fear expression, and defensive responses. Regarding abnormal fear processing in patients with anxiety disorders, theoretical etiological models postulated, in line, aberrant amygdala functionality as its underpinning causal mechanism. However, studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) revealed inconsistent findings of abnormal amygdala activities in anxiety patients compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, the neural plastic changes of the amygdala underlining the clinical improvement of patients after treatment remain largely undiscovered. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funded three large multicenter psychotherapy studies (2006-2019) applying overall 10 experimental paradigms during fMRI scanning and measured patients before and after a manualized exposure-based psychotherapy. These paradigms used various disorder-related visual, auditory, interoceptive, semantic, subliminal, somatosensory stimuli and involved diverse cognitive processes including passive viewing, associative and extinction learning, counting, matching, expecting, rating, and decision making. From these experiments we extracted over 46,000 neural responses in the amygdala from 676 patients and 526 healthy controls and are going to conduct a mega-analysis, which would answer the following research questions: which quality of experimental stimuli and cognitive tasks 1) trigger reliably amygdala activities; 2) differentiate patients with healthy controls; 3) demonstrate sufficient test-retest reliability and 4) detect psychotherapy related changes in amygdala responsiveness.
We will also expand this investigation to the other core limbic brain regions such as hippocampus, thalamus, anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex.
Wir vergeben hierzu Abschlussarbeitsthemen an Student*innen mit entsprechenden Forschungsinteresse: fMRT oder maschinelles Lernen.
Abgeschlossene Projekte:
Project leaders: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hoyer/Prof. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Wittchen (TU Dresden)
Project staff: Prof. Dr. Jan Richter
Funding period: 2015 - 2021
Funding: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Forschungsnetzwerk für psychische Erkrankungen (Federal Ministry for Education and Research, research network for mental disorders)
Project description:
According to new results from preclinical studies, extinction learning is the central mechanism of action in exposure-based therapies. Additionally, the procedure offers the possibility to increase the effectiveness of treatment through optimized extinction. The project investigates whether elements of the extinction learning optimized in preclinical studies can improve therapy outcomes when incorporated into an "intensified" psychological intervention (treatment). A multi-center, randomized controlled clinical trial with n = 700 patients with primary anxiety disorder will examine whether, considering comorbidity, intensified psychological interventions (IPI) based on optimized extinction learning lead to faster, stronger, and more enduring results on subjective, clinical, behavioral, physiological, and neural levels of impact compared to the (otherwise identical) standard intervention without optimized extinction learning (TAU). It is expected that the elements of optimized extinction learning will lead to (a) greater effect sizes and faster recovery and (b) more pronounced changes in various efficacy factors, including extinction learning and objective, behavioral measures of exposure sessions. Additionally, moderators of the outcomes and the relationship between IPI and healthcare cost savings will be examined. The work steps are: 1) Development of manuals and recruitment and training of therapists and diagnosticians; 2) Recruitment, screening, and inclusion of patients with anxiety disorders; 3) Conducting therapy, follow-up, and assessments; 4) Data analysis; 5) International publication.
Project leader: Prof. Dr. Alfons Hamm (Universität Greifswald)
Project staff: Prof. Dr. Jan Richter, Kezia-Lara Droste
Funding period: 2015 - 2021
Funding: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Forschungsnetz für psychische Erkrankungen (Federal Ministry for Education and Research, research network for mental disorders)
Project description:
Extinction learning is postulated to be the central mechanism of action in exposure therapy. The aim of the project is to investigate extinction learning on multiple levels (cognitive, physiological, reflexive motor) in a large group of patients with anxiety disorders in the laboratory and to relate it to the clinical outcomes of exposure therapy. Extinction learning can be divided into several subprocesses. First, the patient learns that a particular stimulus or context is no longer associated with an expected undesirable consequence. When this experience is repeated several times, the extinction memory is consolidated. After that, this extinction memory must also be retrieved in critical phases. This final process is measured in the laboratory by checking whether the extinguished fear response to a stimulus or context re-emerges when the aversive consequence is experienced again.
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The "delayed extinction" paradigm with adult patients before and after exposure therapy. Patients first learn that one of two stimuli is associated with a pain stimulus. On the second day, both stimuli are presented again several times, but this time the experience is made that the aversive consequence does not occur. Expectations regarding the occurrence of aversive consequences, autonomic arousal, and modulation of motor brainstem reflexes are measured. After extinction learning, the aversive consequences are presented again, and it is checked whether the fear response re-emerges.
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The "VR-context conditioning" paradigm with children. Different contexts are presented in virtual reality, in one context aversive pain experiences occur, in the other they do not. Here too, no more pain experiences are made during extinction, and it is checked whether expectations, autonomic arousal levels, and avoidance behavior change.
Project leader: Prof. Dr. Carsten Konrad (Universität Marburg)
Project staff: Dr. Yunbo Yang
Funding period: 2015 - 2021
Funding: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Forschungsnetz für psychische Erkrankungen (Federal Ministry for Education and Research, research network for mental disorders)
Project description:
Subproject P4 investigates the neural correlates of fear extinction, the reappearance of the conditioned response, and emotion processing before and after exposure-based therapy using MRI, in parallel with Subproject P3. Neuroanatomically, this study focuses on the amygdala, the (para-)hippocampus, and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The hypotheses are that impaired extinction learning and enhanced emotion processing in anxiety patients compared to healthy subjects are based on increased amygdala activation and reduced ACC activation, while increased reappearance of the conditioned response is associated with (para-)hippocampal function. Enhanced extinction learning with intensified exposure-based therapy (ITI) is expected to be associated with a stronger reduction in amygdala activation and increased ACC activation compared to usual therapy (TAU). All patients of the therapy study P1 available for MRI measurement, who are treated with IPI or TAU, will be examined before and after therapy. A total of n = 300 anxiety patients and 100 healthy subjects are planned to be included. To maximize synergies, identical fear conditioning and extinction tasks will be used in P3 and P4. While fear conditioning takes place on the first day in P3, extinction and reappearance of the conditioned response will be measured on the second day in the MRI scanner (including autonomic markers of conditioning and expectation parameters), allowing for the consolidation of fear memory. Amygdala reactivity will be investigated using an emotional faces paradigm. For normalization and exploratory morphometric analysis, anatomical T1- and DTI-weighted images will be taken. Established quality procedures, phantom, and reliability measurements will be applied in the panic network.
Project leaders: Prof. Dr. Jan Richter & Prof Dr. Eva-Lotta Brakemeier (Universität Greifswald) als presidents of the scientific congress
Project staff: Dr. Nora Lessing
Funding period: 2022 - 2023
Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Jahrestagungen wissenschaftlicher Fachgesellschaften (German Research Foundation, annual meetings of scientific societies)
Project description:
The congress took place from May 10th to 13th, 2023, at the Estrel Congress Center in Berlin, following the tradition of the meetings of the Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy section of the German Psychological Society, and it was the largest scientific conference for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy to date. A total of 1,342 participants attended the congress. Additionally, there were 550 participations in 37 practice workshops. The congress facilitated intensive exchanges between scientists from all qualification levels (students, doctoral candidates, habilitation candidates, and professors) in keynote lectures and numerous scientific symposia. Additionally, the exchange continued in a large poster session. A broad program for young scientists complemented the specific program for students and doctoral candidates. As planned, the continuous exchange between clinical psychological science, psychotherapeutic practice, and professional-relevant politics was intensified with various invited personalities from the respective fields. The patron of our congress, the Minister of Health Prof. Dr. Karl Lauterbach, enriched the congress significantly with his keynote during the opening event. Current topics for the field were discussed in professional policy discussion forums and practice symposia, problem areas were characterized, and possible solutions were discussed.
