Neuromarker
Dr. Laura Schäfer and her team spent a great time investigating neural markers of mental health. They apply psychophysical methods as well as functional and structural imaging techniques in order to get to the bottom of the sound mind. So far, their research showed for instance, that the so called primitive senses – the sense of smell and the sense of affective touch – are important sensory channels for interpersonal interactions and convey important information for interactions between parents and children, between peers and – of course - for sexual occasions. However, in multiple mental disorders, those sensations are dramatically altered. Some examples of their work include the reduced olfactory function and structure in depression, the distorted affective touch processing in posttraumatic stress disorder or the reduced mother-child interaction in mothers with postnatal depression. The work is generously supported by public funding.
Interested persons who are not timid about answering intimate questions, smelling body odors or being stroked by robots are welcome to participate any time!
Head of research group
Dr. rer. medic. Laura Schäfer
Head of research group
E-Mail
Publications
Laura Schäfer studied psychology in Leipzig and Dresden, is currently training to become a psychological psychotherapist and has been working as a research assistant at Dresden University Hospital since November 2016. She is interested in the relationship between odour perception, neural correlates and psychological variables. As part of her doctorate thesis, she investigated the influence of body odours on parent-child bonding. She is currently working on a collaborative project with the University of Erlangen on the chemosensory profile analysis of children's body odours.
Team
Prof. Dr. habil. Ilona Croy
Publications
Ilona Croy studied psychology and completed her training in psychodynamic psychotherapy in Dresden, where she also did her doctoral degree. Afterwards, Ilona spent three years as a post-doc in Gothenburg and continued working as Associate Senior Lecturer in Linköping, Sweden. However, as Dresden is a wonderful place to live and work, she returned to the department of psychosomatic medicine where she now leads the research union. Her research focuses on neural markers of psychological disorders and she is fascinated by the human brain as well as by large data sets. 2017, she has been awarded for outstanding Support of PhD students. Ilona Croy has become head of the Department of Clinical Psychology at Friedrich Schiller University Jena in April 2021. But she remains a committed member of our Neuromarker research group.
Katharina Hierl
Student Assistent
Katharina Hierl has been studying psychology at the Technische Universität Dresden since 2017 and has been part of the Neuromarker research group since 2019. Since then, she has been involved in research on body odours: On the one hand, their methodical implementation and, on the other hand, the development of body odours during adolescence.
Lydia Richter
Student Assistent
Lydia Richter has been studying psychology at TU Dresden since 2018. Fascinated by the elective “Neurology and psychosomatics” she joined the PSO as a student assistant in march 2021 in the area of teaching. She supports the implementation of digital (video) formats for online teaching in all disciplines.
M.Sc. Antonie Bierling
Doctoral candidate
Antonie studied “Psychology - Cognitive Affective Neuroscience” at the Technical University of Dresden. Fascinated by a lecture on the relation between olfaction and depression Antonie joined the Neuromarker team in early 2018 to write her Bachelor thesis. Since then she is interested in the mechanisms, how odors can influence emotional reactions and supported the team as a student assistant. She started her Doctorate on the topic of “Perceptronics” in June 2020 in a collaboration with the Chair of Materials Science and Nanotechnology and the Smell and Taste Center, Dresden. In her spare time she is a passionate photographer, enjoys cooking and travelling or dedicates her time working on the student newspaper “Psycho-Path”.
Nicolas Wilzok
Doctoral candidate
After passing the first state examination in human medicine at the Mannheim Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, Nicolas Wilzok moved to Dresden in October 2018. Since then he has been in the clinical phase of his medical studies at the Carl Gustav Carus Medical Faculty of the TU Dresden. In October 2019, Nicolas found his way to the neuromarker team. As a doctoral student, he is working on the development of a test procedure to measure the ability to perceive internal bodily signals, the Interoception.
Isabella Püschel
Doctoral candidate
Isabella Püschel has been studying medicine in Dresden and has been part of the Neuromarker research group since 2019. Previously, two years of studying psychology raised her curiosity for interpersonal relationships and their physiological correlates. As part of her doctoral studies, she is now investigating the autonomic and behavioral response of preterm born infants to their mothers‘ gentle, caressing touch.
Alumni
Johanna Bendas, PhD
Dr. med. dent. Anika Bytomski
Dr. med. Anne Cornelia Friedrich
Dr. rer. medic. Dipl.-Psych. Fabian Rottstädt
Dr. med. Theresa Mohr
Dr. rer. medic. Dipl.-Psych. Luise Pabel
Supreet Saluja, PhD
Dr. med. Sarah Schwerdtfeger
Dr. med. dent. Elisabeth Sennhenn
Dr. med. Timmy Strauß
Dr. med. Paulina Suhle
Dr. med. Patricia Wienert