Participation from LOEWE-DYNAMIC Researchers in the Psychology and Brain Conference 2026

Abstract. Understanding one another in daily communication depends on predicting language from prior discourse context and visual signals, such as co-speech gestures. However, it remains unclear how d...

Scientific Reports - Disrupted neural response timing and duration during hand movement preparation in schizophrenia spectrum disorder: An fMRI study

Abstract. Introduction: Negative expectations about treatment outcomes are associated with poorer recovery in anxiety disorders. However, it remains unclear whether (1) patients’ expectations about how effective the treatment will be (treatment-specific expectations) mediate the link between generalized negative expectations (i.e. unspecific pessimistic beliefs) and treatment outcomes, and (2) these expectations affect outcomes via the learning rate during exposure therapy, that is, the extent to which patients update their fear-related beliefs based on corrective experiences. Since treatment-specific expectations may be more modifiable, clarifying these mechanisms could improve interventions. This study investigated whether treatment-specific expectations and learning rate mediate the effect of generalized negative expectations on treatment outcomes. Methods: Data from 605 patients with various anxiety disorders undergoing 12 sessions of manualized exposure therapy were analyzed. Generalized negative expectations at baseline (session 0) were hypothesized to predict treatment outcomes (i.e., symptom severity at post treatment) via expectations about treatment success measured at session 4 and learning rate during exposure. Depression and anxiety at baseline were covariates. Mediation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro with bootstrap confidence intervals. Results: Generalized negative expectations predicted poorer treatment outcomes (higher symptom severity), mediated by lower expectations about treatment success (β = 0.0375; 95% CI: 0.0088–0.0730). A sequential mediation via these treatment-specific expectations and learning rate was also significant (β = 0.0059; 95% CI: 0.0008–0.0134), even after accounting for baseline symptom levels (R² = 0.3375). Conclusion: Targeting both generalized and treatment-specific expectations early in treatment may enhance exposure-based learning and improve clinical outcomes in anxiety disorders.

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Although low-grade inflammatory processes have traditionally been studied in affective disorders, they are increasingly recognized as relevant across …

Mit der Entwicklung der zentralen, fakultätsübergreifenden Core Facility MR Imaging baut die Universität Bielefeld unter Beteiligung der Naturwisse...

deepmriprep leverages neural networks to enable voxel-based morphometry preprocessing of MRI data that is 37× faster than existing methods while achieving comparable accuracy in segmentation, registra...

The efficacy of exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (eCBT) for panic disorder and agoraphobia (PD/AG) is well established, but the mechanisms …

Background Although affective disorders are a major driver of disability worldwide, there is a lack of understanding of the mechanisms and modulating factors involved in the long-term disease trajecto...

Molecular Psychiatry - Regional brain morphology and current antidepressant use: findings from 32 international cohorts from the ENIGMA major depressive disorder working group

Translational Psychiatry - Transdiagnostic alterations in white matter microstructure associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours in the ENIGMA Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviours consortium

A large brain imaging study of over 2000 people worldwide shows that fear conditioning engages brain regions linked to emotion and attention, with differences in individuals with anxiety or depression...

Schizophrenia - Temporal characteristics of hemodynamic responses during active and passive hand movements in schizophrenia spectrum disorder

Read the latest articles of Neuropsychologia at ScienceDirect.com, Elsevier’s leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature

When interacting with technology, humans often deal with delays between an action and the desired action outcome. Through delay adaptation these delays will bec...

Abstract. Social exclusion impairs decision-making, affecting social functioning. This study examines how social exclusion, in both immediate, experimental

It's funded! 🎉 YES! Our proposal for an Excellence Cluster, "The Adaptive Mind" (TAM) is among 70 projects across all Germany and all disciplines that will receive funding for 7 years, ...

Rashid et al. investigated preparatory neural processes in schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) during active and passive hand movements using functional

Molecular Psychiatry - Epigenetic markers of disease risk and psychotherapy response in anxiety disorders – a longitudinal analysis of the DNA methylome

Schizophrenia - Choice- and trial-history effects on causality perception in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder

Translational Psychiatry - Predictive neural processing of self-generated hand and tool actions in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and healthy individuals

Schmitter, C.V., Pazen, M., Uhlmann, U., van Kemenade, B.M., Kircher, T., & Straube, B. (accepted). Predictive neural processing of self-generated hand and tool actions in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and healthy individuals. Translational Psychiatry Abstract: Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) have been linked to dysfunctions in the predictive neural suppression of sensory input elicited by one’s own actions. Such motor predictions become particularly challenging during tool use and when feedback from multiple sensory modalities is present.

Introduction To interact with the environment, it is crucial to distinguish between sensory information that is externally generated and inputs that are self-generated. The sensory consequences of one...