Contact: Gregor Domes
In cooperation with the University of Tübingen, Jenifer Svaldi

The undue influence of shape and weight on self-evaluation and the corresponding body dissatisfaction are a core feature of binge eating disorder (BED) and a predictor of poor treatment outcome. Empirical evidence suggests that schema-driven processes seem to maintain overvaluation of shape and weight in BED. However, the underlying functional neuroanatomy of overvaluation of shape and weight and the corresponding body dissatisfaction in BED is yet to be understood. In fact, no study directly tested whether overvaluation of shape and weight in BED is based on dysfunctional body-image-processing brain circuits. The characterization of these neural underpinnings might help to broaden our understanding of the etiology of BED, and in terms of a biomarker might further help to improve the diagnostic differentiation between disorders of the same cluster or between subgroups within the same disorder.

• Press, S. A., Biehl, S. C., Domes, G., & Svaldi, J. (2022). Increased insula and amygdala activity during selective attention for negatively valenced body parts in binge eating disorder. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000788
• Press, S. A., Biehl, S. C., Vatheuer, C. C., Domes, G., & Svaldi, J. (2022). Neural correlates of body image processing in binge eating disorder. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, 131(4), 350–364. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000750

Contact: Gregor Domes
In cooperation with the Universities of Maastricht, Amsterdam, Freiburg and Lübeck, Arnoud Arntz

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder that is characterized by emotional dysregulation and impulsivity. Recent neuroimaging findings have helped to improve understanding of the neurobiology underlying BPD, with structural and functional abnormalities identified in a fronto-limbic network. However, evidence for structural alterations in emotional processing regions is inconsistent, and may be due to the heterogeneity of BPD. BPD is commonly accompanied by other disorders and it is yet to be clarified whether particular findings are specific to BPD or are related to comorbid disorders. Due to the high prevalence of co-occuring disorders, excluding those with comorbidity would result samples that are non-representative of the population. One alternative approach that has potential to offer more insight into what is specific to BPD, is to include other clinical groups as controls. Therefore, in a multicenter study, structural brain images from BPD patients and non-clinical controls were examined in order to gain insight into the specifics of volumetric abnormalities and cortical thinning patterns. A more detailed understanding of the specifics of BPD will be valuable for improving treatment of this complex disorder. This project is in its final stages.

Publications

• Cremers, H., van Zutphen, L., Duken, S., Domes, G., Sprenger, A., Waldorp, L., & Arntz, A. (2020). Borderline personality disorder classification based on brain network measures during emotion regulation. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-020-01201-3
• van Zutphen, L., Siep, N., Jacob, G. A., Domes, G., Sprenger, A., Willenborg, B., Goebel, R., Tuescher, O., & Arntz, A. (2020). Impulse control under emotion processing: An fMRI investigation in borderline personality disorder compared to non-patients and cluster-C personality disorder patients. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 14(6), 2107–2121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00161-0
• Vatheuer, C. C., Dzionsko, I., Maier, S., Näher, T., van Zutphen, L., Sprenger, A., Jacob, G. A., Arntz, A., & Domes, G. (2021). Looking at the bigger picture: Cortical volume, thickness and surface area characteristics in borderline personality disorder with and without posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 311, 111283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2021.111283
• Kaiser, D., Jacob, G. A., Domes, G., & Arntz, A. (2016). Attentional Bias for Emotional Stimuli in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Meta-Analysis. Psychopathology, 49(6), 383–396. https://doi.org/10.1159/000448624
• Kaiser, D., Jacob, G. A., van Zutphen, L., Siep, N., Sprenger, A., Tuschen-Caffier, B., Senft, A., Arntz, A., & Domes, G. (2019). Biased attention to facial expressions of ambiguous emotions in borderline personality disorder: An eye-tracking study. Journal of Personality Disorders, 33(5), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi_2019_33_363
• Kaiser, D., Jacob, G. A., van Zutphen, L., Siep, N., Sprenger, A., Tuschen-Caffier, B., Senft, A., Arntz, A., & Domes, G. (2020). Patients with borderline personality disorder and comorbid PTSD show biased attention for threat in the facial dot-probe task. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 101437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.11.005
• van Zutphen, L., Siep, N., Jacob, G. A., Domes, G., Sprenger, A., Willenborg, B., Goebel, R., & Arntz, A. (2018). Always on guard: Emotion regulation in women with borderline personality disorder compared to nonpatient controls and patients with cluster-C personality disorder. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, 43(1), 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.170008

Contact person: Julia Strojny

Although there are many studies on various situational and qualitatively different aspects of stressors, the underlying biological mechanisms are not yet fully understood. This is particularly true for the stress hormone cortisol. In this current study, a pharmacological strategy to increase cortisol levels should help to clarify these questions, as it can control for a wide range of situational influences that usually accompany psychosocial stress tests (e.g., such as the TSST). Behavioral economics paradigms for measuring trust, trustworthiness, sharing, punishment and risk (von Dawans et al., 2012) are used to study social behavior.

von Dawans, B., Strojny, J., & Domes, G. (2021). The effects of acute stress and stress hormones on social cognition and behavior: Current state of research and future directions. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 121, 75–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.11.026

contact persons: Bernadette von Dawans, Laura Bastgen

All children experience stress in their everyday lives. Sometimes children experience this stress as a burden, they feel under pressure, may have trouble sleeping or develop other symptoms. Sometimes this can also lead to children no longer being able to perform at their level at school. For adults, there are already a number of factors that have been shown to be significant in dealing with stress. We would like to use this study to find out whether these factors also apply to children. The answer to this question may have significant implications for the support offered to children with high levels of stress in the future. In this project, children in 3rd and 4th grade can learn in a group how to deal better with everyday and school stress.

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contact person: Gregor Domes

In animal models, it has been shown that prolonged fasting is associated with a reduction in the release of cortisol in response to a stressor. Initial studies in humans were able to show that the administration of a larger amount of glucose after a period of fasting restores the cortisol response to a psychosocial stressor. In a follow-up study, the researchers found this effect specifically only for glucose, but not for other potential energy sources such as fat or proteins.

The aim of this research project is to replicate the previous findings in a larger sample and to investigate their generalizability to different types of stressors (social-evaluative & physiological). As an extension of the research results of the research group, the effect of the application of synthetic sweeteners, as they are increasingly used in food production, on the stress response will be examined.

• von Dawans, B., Zimmer, P., & Domes, G. (2021). Effects of glucose intake on stress reactivity in young, healthy men. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 126, 105062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.105062

Stress-related determinants for the perseverance of chronic headaches in children and adolescents (KISS study)
Funding: DFG

Stress-induced changes in eating behavior in obesity (SVEA)
Research field: Clinical nutrition psychology; Funding: DFG

Is prenatal stress related to HPA axis dysregulations and increased vulnerability for stress disorders in adulthood?
Research field: Prenatal programming of stress vulnerability; Epigenetics; Funding: DFG

Maltreatment and transgenerational transmission of hypocortisolism
(jointly with PD Dr. Eva Möhler, Center of Psychosocial Med.,  Uni-clinic Heidelberg); Funding: DFG

Epigenetic programming of estrogen receptors alpha and beta in patients with endometriosis: a pilot study
Research field: Early programming of stress vulnerability; Funding: Own funds

Emotion-induced eating behavior in overweight children and adolescents
Research field: Childhood obesity, Further development of specific therapy modules; Funding: DFG

Effectiveness of an outpatient sports program to optimize multimodal group therapy in overweight children
Research field: Childhood obesity, Further development of specific therapy modules; Funding: DFG