↪These findings suggest that hormonal dynamics and emotion regulation jointly shape brain structure

Research on women’s brain health and hormonal influences remains underrepresented — and understanding these mechanisms is key for more individualized approaches to mental health.

In a randomised, placebo-controlled trial, she found that:
• A rapid increase in oestradiol was associated with reduced gray matter volume (GMV) in the right striatum
• Emotion regulation played a role, greater use of reappraisal was linked to lower striatal GMV

📣 Congratulations to our PhD-Researcher Anna Denninger on the publication of her new paper on estradiol and brain structure:

"Estradiol, Emotion Regulation, and the Limbic System: Effects on Gray Matter Volume"

📄 doi.org/10.1016/j.bp...

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this work! 🤍

We had many engaging discussions about how research can inform everyday school practice and policy 🗣️

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and contributed thoughtful questions and experiences, we enjoyed it a lot and look forward to continuing these dialogues 🙌🏻

Highlights💡
↪ Birgit Derntl and Zoé Bürger led a practical workshop on stress management for educators and school staff
↪ Thomas Dresler ran an interactive session on anxiety among students, exploring identification and classroom strategies.

The event’s focus on empirical educational research and its practical relevance made for rich, varied conversations with practitioners who bring diverse needs and perspectives.

We were delighted to take part in the LEAD “Tag der Wissenschaft” last Friday in Tübingen, introducing our IRTG 2804 (International Research Training Group 2804) and the Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit (DZPG) to school leaders, teachers, and partners from the education administration!

🙏 Thanks to Elise's supervisors, Manon Dubol, Birgit Derntl, Andreas Fallgatter, Inger Sundström Poromaa and Erika Comasco for all of their support!

She highlights that personality traits may be relevant when identifying vulnerability factors and developing more personalized approaches to PMDD.

Research on women’s mental health and the menstrual cycle remains critically underrepresented in neuroscience — and there is still much to uncover.

• PMDD was associated with higher neuroticism and aggressiveness
• Aggressiveness related to irritability/anger symptoms
• Aggressiveness was linked to reduced cortical complexity in the parahippocampal gyrus

📣 Congratulations to our PhD researcher Elise Bücklein-Ehlers on the publication of her new paper:

"Personality and cortical architecture in premenstrual dysphoric disorder"

Thank you to the City of Tübingen, all partner organisations, speakers, contributors and participants for making this International Women’s Day event so thoughtful, engaging and fun 🤍

The event also featured a keynote on the influence of natural and synthetic sex hormones on mental health, information stands and a shared breakfast that created space for interesting conversations.

We were especially glad to contribute to the discussion tables on puberty, the menstrual cycle, hormonal contraceptives, pregnancy and menopause, and to be part of an exchange that connected science with lived experience and public dialogue 🙌🏻

The programme brought researchers, practitioners, initiatives and community organisations together to discuss an important topic: how health and healthcare are shaped by gender, discrimination, life circumstances and access to support.

Today, on 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲, we were proud to co-organise the event “𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘍𝘰𝘳?! 𝘍𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩” together with the City of Tübingen.

In spite of so many fantastic, excellent & brilliant #women in #neuroscience research who drive forward the field on a cutting edge there still seems to be a long way to go Data are from #chatgpt (hope AI is wrong this time) #InternationalWomensDay

A flyer containing some brain art, the date (16th to 18th of September, 2026) and the location of the event (Würzburg)

🧠 𝗦𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘!

The 𝟮𝟳𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗲𝗡𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 is coming to Würzburg!

Three days of student talks, posters, and meeting fellow neuroscience enthusiasts — plus our legendary karaoke evenings 🎤

Mark your calendar and stay tuned for registration & abstract submission!

#NeNa2026 #neuroscience #conference

An important milestone for Gloria and for the IRTG, marking a strong start for our doctoral program. Congratulations on this excellent achievement, and thank you to everyone who contributed to and supported this work, especially her PIs Tobias Kaufmann and Erika Comasco! 🤍

We warmly congratulate Gloria on the successful defense of her PhD thesis entitled:
“Machine learning based classification of sex differences in the brain: investigating female-specific processes across the lifespan.”

🎓 𝐏𝐡𝐃 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 | 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, Gloria Matte Bon @gloriamattebon.bsky.social!

Today, we celebrated the first PhD defense of the IRTG 🎉

We’re especially happy that our IRTG2804 could connect closely with DZPG.

A big thank you to the Berlin ECS for the excellent organization! 🤍

We had a fantastic time presenting our work at the Early Career Scientist Congress of the Germany Center for Mental Health (DZPG-ECS) in Berlin 🧠

It was an inspiring meeting with ECRs, full of exciting talks, great networking, and lots of fun!

We are looking forward to the next wave of research, collaborations, and conversations to come 🙌🏻

We are particularly delighted to see that women’s mental health is gaining real scientific momentum across disciplines. The growing recognition of hormonal transitions as key windows for brain and mental health research is both encouraging and long overdue.

🧠🇮🇹 Greetings from sunny Torino and the 13th International Meeting on Steroids and the Nervous System!

We truly enjoyed the translational exchange, engaging discussions, and reconnecting with long-standing as well as new colleagues in the field – and of course, the amazing Italian food 🍕

A big thank you to Zsófia Karlócai (@kzsofia.bsky.social), who came up with the concept and organized the event 🤍 It was a great way to connect and start the new year together!

The event encouraged teamwork, creativity, and lots of laughter as the first and second cohorts joined forces across different games and tasks 🎯🏅

On the second day of our Welcome Event, both PhD cohorts came together for the 𝗣𝗵𝗗‑𝗢𝗹𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀 🏆, a series of fun challenges inspired by the ups and downs of PhD life.