Research

Resting-state Dynamics and their changes in depressed patients

Interrelation of resting state dynamics of connectivity and other state markers of the autonomous nervous system. Exploration of these markers for relevant disease related information

(Collaboration with Catherine E. Chang, Stanford, CA, USA)

Influence of structural network variability on affect regulation in healthy subjects and depression

Usage of DTI and cortical thickness measurements, including longitudinal observations at different field strengths, to generate a link of abnormal structural, histological, functional and metabolic evidence in depression

Metabolism-BOLD-interaction during task- and resting state fMRI

Combinations of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and fMRI from 3T to 7T for comparison of the inter-individual variation in classical fMRI markers with changes in concentrations of GABA, Glutamate or Glutamine

Non-invasive interventions and Neurofeedback

Usage of parallel real-time EEG-fMRI for the induction of altered brain states by specific manipulation of subnetworks; Training of focussed attention or mindfulness, self monitoring such as during meditation and inclusion of EMG signatures of mimic expressions as alternative treatment options next to psychotherapy and neuropsychopharmacology

Abnormal brain network behavior in major depression

Investigation of the pathological processing of internal and external stimuli in affective disorders based on alterations of the functional brain network
(Collaboration with Michael Breakspear, Brisbane, Queensland, Australien)

Network alterations under oral antidepressant treatment

Analyses of functional activations and connectivity of data containing pharmacological challenges for the investigation of neurobiological differences on a circuit level
(Collaboration with Birgit Abler und Heiko Graf, University of Ulm)

Investigation of pharmacological side effects and their prediction by passive MRI assessment

Identification of brain biomarkers from resting state fMRI which can reveal information about a patients individual vulnerability to develop certain side effects even before initiation of pharmacotherapy

Expectancy, recollection and perception of affective stimuli in major depression

Investigation on which brain networks, either by integration or in interaction with other functional systems, are involved in generating and shaping stable concepts about the internal and external world as well the integration of such information on the subjective level

Resting-state alterations by visual salient stimulation in fMRI and EEG

Application of parallel EEG-fMRI to discern sub-processes of mutual cognitive-affective regulation using erotic stimuli
(Collaboration with Harold Mouras, Amiens, France)

High-field fMRI of thalamo-cortical circuits

Measurement of task specific activations at the level of nuclear subunits in thalamus and basal ganglia; Investigation of the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loop relevant for cognitive and affective processing

Ketamine in treatment resistant depression

We try to reveal markers of clinical change as well as predictors of treatment outcome on the basis of glutamatergic modulation of learning processes and plasticity by NMDA antagonists like Ketamin which might, in the future guide clinical decisions in these severely affected patients

Optimisation of image acquisition and processing for large scale data

Determination of optimized and standardized imaging protocols for sufficient data quality and robust control of potential confounders; Development of methods especially for large scale data initiatives and current work focussed on the rescue of large data which had been acquired with suboptimal or incomplete datasets, including estimation of physiological noise contributions