Publications
“About half of patients suffering from mental disorders receiving psychotherapy do not substantially reduce their symptoms [70]. Disturbed sleep which is highly prevalent in mental disorders might be one factor limiting psychotherapeutic success [71]. Previous research indeed indicates that poor sleep quality is related to lower benefits of psychotherapy [72]. Our findings encourage future research considering and testing sleep augmentation as a novel treatment component to enhance established psychotherapeutic interventions.”
Sleep to remember, sleep to protect: Increased sleep spindle and theta activity predict fewer intrusive memories after analogue trauma
Recent evidence shows a strong correlative link between sleep disturbances and intrusive memories after traumatic events, presumably due to insufficient (nocturnal) memory integration. However, the
Time-of-day related fluctuations of self-belief formation
Time of day influences a variety of human cognitive processes, including attention, executive functions and memory formation, as well as affective experiences and mood. However,
Reactivating a relaxation exercise during sleep to influence cortical hyperarousal in people with frequent nightmares: A randomized crossover trial
Study Objectives High-frequency EEG activity during sleep (cortical hyperarousal), is a transdiagnostic feature across psychiatric disorders, including nightmare disorder. It is discussed as a target
Imagery rehearsal therapy for the treatment of nightmares in individuals with borderline personality disorder – A pilot study
Insomnia and nightmares are present in up to 45 % of individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and can contribute to challenges with emotion regulation,
Targeting sleep quality in acutely traumatized individuals to reduce the risk for PTSD: study protocol for a multicentre randomized clinical trial.
Background: There is a great need for feasible interventions in the initial period after a trauma that minimize the risk of developing a clinically relevant
Cortical hyperarousal in individuals with frequent nightmares
Nightmares are common among the general population and psychiatric patients and have been associated with signs of nocturnal arousal such as increased heart rate or
Sleep’s role in updating aversive autobiographical memories
Aversive autobiographical memories play a key role in the development and maintenance of many mental disorders. Imagery rescripting is a well-established psychotherapeutic intervention aiming to
Investigating the effect of a nap following experimental trauma on analogue PTSD symptoms
Cognitive models assume that the incomplete integration of a traumatic experience into the autobiographical memory results in typical symptoms associated with post‑traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Sleep Early After Trauma A Target for Prevention and Early Intervention for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by intrusive re-experiencing of emotional memories of a traumatic event. Such memories are formed after exposure to trauma in
Targeted Reactivation during Sleep Differentially Affects Negative Memories in Socially Anxious and Healthy Children and Adolescents
Cognitive models propose a negative memory bias as one key factor contributing to the emergence and maintenance of social anxiety disorder (SAD). The long-term consolidation
Widespread reduction in sleep spindle activity in socially anxious children and adolescents
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most prevalent psychiatric diseases typically emerging during childhood and adolescence. Biological vulnerabilities such as a protracted maturation
Memory cueing during sleep modifies the interpretation of ambiguous scenes in adolescents and adults
The individual tendency to interpret ambiguous situations negatively is associated with mental disorders.Interpretation biases are already evident during adolescence and due to the greater plasticity