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A) Experimental psychopathological research on psychiatric disease patterns
In the field of experimental psychopathology, we apply various neuroscientific methods (behavioral experiments, fMRI, EEG, TMS), in order to investigate neurofunctional and neurobiological models regarding the emergence of different symptoms of mental disorders. A main focus of our research lies in the investigation of so-called Ich-Störungen (ego-disturbances), in which patients, suffering from schizophrenic psychosis experience a disintegration of the borders between "self" and "other". For example, in the symptom of "thought insertion", patients experience their thoughts as being externally controlled and also "made" from outside (Jaspers, 1920). Dealing with this symptom does not only provide valuable considerations for the understanding of schizophrenic psychosis, but is also of substantial importance with regard to philosophical and neurocognitive questions in the context of research on consciousness. Research on the symptom-complex of "thought insertion" is subject of a collaborative research project of the Volkswagen-foundation.
B) Neurocognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia, depression, dementia and delirium
- Test development
- Neuropsychological investigation procedures and experiments with a focus on memory deficits
- Neuropsychological longitudinal- and interventional studies investigating plasticity of neurocognitive functions
- Studies involving defined risk populations with respect to the development of certain psychopathologies