All posts tagged: Brain Research

Great News: ERC Consolidator Grant for the DCP Lab

Prof. Tobias Hauser has been awarded a prestigious Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The highly competitive funding provides €2 million over five years to support his research project CoNbI-OCD (Computational Neuroscience-based Interventions for OCD).  Only 349 out of 3,121 applications were approved in this funding round, highlighting the significance of this achievement and Hauser’s success in a highly competitive European selection process.  Rethinking treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is among the most common mental illnesses and can severely affect daily life. However, existing therapies do not work equally well for all patients. Hauser’s project aims to fundamentally improve treatment by combining psychotherapy with advanced technologies such as brain imaging, computational models of cognition, and generative artificial intelligence.  By integrating insights from neuroscience and AI, the project seeks to develop more effective and personalized therapies tailored to individual needs. Translating research into practical care A central element of CoNbI-OCD is close collaboration with people affected by OCD and mental health professionals. This ensures that new treatment approaches are not only scientifically robust …

Innovative Online Toolkit Makes OCD Research Accessible

The “National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement” has highlighted our “OCD and the Brain” project that developed an online toolkit to make OCD brain research more accessible. The initiative, led by University College London (UCL) and University of Tübingen, brought together researchers, OCD charities, and people with lived experience. Through co-production workshops, participants shaped a user-friendly resource addressing the gap between scientific research and practical experiences. The toolkit, now available in multiple languages, not only informs the public but also guides future research by prioritizing community input. For the case study published in NCCPE please visit tps://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/learn-others/case-studies/ocd-and-brain-co-producing-online-toolkit)

Professor Tobias Hauser Awarded FENS EJN Young Investigator Prize 2024

We are proud to announce that Professor Tobias Hauser has been honored with the prestigious FENS EJN Young Investigator Prize for 2024. This esteemed award, presented by the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) and the European Journal of Neuroscience (EJN), recognizes outstanding contributions to neuroscience research by early-career scientists. This accolade is a testament to Professor Hauser’s hard work and the impactful research conducted within the Developmental Computational Psychiatry lab. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to him for this well-deserved recognition and look forward to his continued contributions to the field of neuroscience!

Q&A with Lead Researcher Tobias Hauser Featured on Nature Mental Health

We are thrilled to announce that a compelling Q&A session with Tobias Hauser, head of the Developmental Computational Psychiatry lab, has been published on the Nature Mental Health website. In this exclusive interview, Tobias delves into his groundbreaking research in the advancing field of Computational Psychiatry and discusses innovative approaches to understanding and addressing mental health challenges. To read the full Q&A with Tobias Hauser, please visit: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-024-00231-3

In the News

Our study, led by Johanna Habicht on optimism bias in childhood has been covered in the widely read German science magazine Bild der Wissenschaft. You can read the article here: https://www.wissenschaft.de/gesellschaft-psychologie/kleine-optimisten/

Brain Explorer Research App released

Why do most mental health illnesses first manifest before adulthood? Our group has launched a new smartphone app to investigate how brain development is linked to mental health in a new citizen science project. The Brain Explorer app (www.brainexplorer.net) uses the latest state-of-the-art insights from neuroscience research to investigate brain functions in fun and entertaining games for young and old. By playing these games, people can learn about their own brain functions, and at the same time help the researchers to better understand how brain functions are related to the emergence of mental health problems. “We know that the brain changes substantially during adolescence”, says Dr Tobias Hauser, lead scientist on the project, “but we do not know how impaired brain development causes mental health problems. This app will help us understand why mental health problems arise during adolescence.” A better understanding of how abnormal brain development leads to mental health problems will allow researchers to build new models to predict emerging psychiatric illnesses and can help develop novel interventions. Everyone can contribute to research …