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Chair of Social and Preventive Medicine

Structural area of Cognitive Sciences – Department of Sport and Health Sciences

Research Priorities

Plasticity in old age

"Plasticity in old age" focusses on the development and evaluation of cognitive and senso-motoric training programs for older people as well as the investigation of neurobiological correlates, mechanisms and predictors of cognitive and senso-motoric plasticity.

Psychosocial, movement and psychotherapeutic interventions for mental illness

In the project "Sports therapy and psychotherapy - an evaluation study with depression patients (SPeED)" the aim is to investigate the effect of an endurance sports intervention in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy on depression symptoms and to gain new insights into the underlying neural and cognitive mechanisms.

Prevention of mental illness over the life span

The aim of the research focus "Prevention of mental illnesses over the lifespan" is to identify risk factors for the development and progression of mental illness and to develop corresponding concepts for health promotion. Prevention and prevention programs are specifically designed to meet the requirements of standard care in terms of feasibility, practicability and resource economy.

Lifespan Risk Profiles - Phenotypic, Diagnostic and Clinical Domain Assessment Network Germany (PD-CAN)

The aim of the PD-CAN study, which is part of the German research network for mental health, is to establish a cross-diagnosis phenotyping according to the principle of "research domain criteria" (RDoC) developed by NIMH. PD-CAN is based on the hypothesis that cross-domain psychological-behavioral constructs support the combined phenotypic and biological identification of bio-behavioral mechanisms of disease.