Translational Neuroimaging

Welcome to the Translational Neuroimaging Marburg Lab (TNM-Lab). The TNM-Lab is an interdisciplinary workgroup linking experimental psychology, neuroimaging, and the clinical neurosciences at the Philipps-University Marburg (UMR). The TNM-Lab was founded in September 2016 by Benjamin Straube, who received a Heisenberg-Professorship for Translational Neuroimaging, at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Philipps-University Marburg. The aim of the TNM-Lab is to fill the need for translating basic research from experimental psychology and neuroimaging to clinical investigations in patients with mental disorders, in particular schizophrenia and anxiety disorders. The Heisenberg Professorship is focused on three overarching themes, namely: the neural correlates of action-perception circuits, dysfunctional multisensory integration, and the aberrant functional connectivity as the general pathophysiological mechanism.

The specific focus of the TNM-Lab is on predictive neural mechanisms in a multisensory environment as well as adaptive behavior reflected in learning, memory, and neuro-functional plasticity (e.g., in the context of psychotherapy). Additionally, the TNM-Lab is concerned with interdisciplinary research questions about how the human brain gives rise to complex processes such as ToM, social interactions, and communication. In this sense, the TNM-Lab combines multidisciplinary fields such as speech science, social, cognitive, and clinical psychology with experimental neurosciences.

The main method used in the TNM-Lab is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Complementary to fMRI we also apply electroencephalography (EEG), brain stimulation techniques (tDCS) as well as behavioral experiments. The TNM-Lab is part of the Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB) and collaborates with different research consortia as well as national and international researchers. In particular, the TNM-Lab is part of the LOEWE center “DYNAMIC” (https://www.dynamic-center.net/) and the “The Adaptive Mind” cluster project and is affiliated to current DFG consortia in Marburg and Gießen regarding the neuroscientific investigation of action and perception (SFB/TRR 135; Title: Cardinal Mechanisms of Perception) and related dysfunctions in mental disorders (FOR 2107; Title: Neurobiology of Affective Disorders; CRC 393; Titel: Trajectories of mental disorders).