From Expectation to Learning: A Mediational Model of Exposure Therapy Outcome in Anxiety Disorders Abstract. Introduction: Negative expectations about treatment outcomes are associated with poorer recovery in anxiety disorders. However, it remains unclear whether (1) patients’ expectations about how effective the treatment will be (treatment-specific expectations) mediate the link between generalized negative expectations (i.e. unspecific pessimistic beliefs) and treatment outcomes, and (2) these expectations affect outcomes via the learning rate during exposure therapy, that is, the extent to which patients update their fear-related beliefs based on corrective experiences. Since treatment-specific expectations may be more modifiable, clarifying these mechanisms could improve interventions. This study investigated whether treatment-specific expectations and learning rate mediate the effect of generalized negative expectations on treatment outcomes. Methods: Data from 605 patients with various anxiety disorders undergoing 12 sessions of manualized exposure therapy were analyzed. Generalized negative expectations at baseline (session 0) were hypothesized to predict treatment outcomes (i.e., symptom severity at post treatment) via expectations about treatment success measured at session 4 and learning rate during exposure. Depression and anxiety at baseline were covariates. Mediation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro with bootstrap confidence intervals. Results: Generalized negative expectations predicted poorer treatment outcomes (higher symptom severity), mediated by lower expectations about treatment success (β = 0.0375; 95% CI: 0.0088–0.0730). A sequential mediation via these treatment-specific expectations and learning rate was also significant (β = 0.0059; 95% CI: 0.0008–0.0134), even after accounting for baseline symptom levels (R² = 0.3375). Conclusion: Targeting both generalized and treatment-specific expectations early in treatment may enhance exposure-based learning and improve clinical outcomes in anxiety disorders.

New manuscript:

From Expectation to Learning: A Mediational Model of Exposure Therapy Outcome in Anxiety Disorders

We propose a hierarchical pathway: generalized expectations → treatment-specific expectations → learning rate during exposure → clinical outcome. doi.org/10.1159/0005...
#Expectation

New work from the lab led by @fatatai.bsky.social together with Dimitris Voudouris, @dominikstrb.bsky.social, Katja Fiehler as part of 'The Adaptive Mind' cluster

We're looking for a student assisten (HIWI) in the TNM Lab!!! www.uni-marburg.de/de/universit...

📣📣📣Job alert Multimodal Language Department Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics MAX PLANCK RESEARCH GROUP LEADER POSITION (W2 BBESG) lnkd.in/eaq5MW9a

Deadline extended!
Submit your work by 31 March 2026 to our Special Issue: Language in psychosis: a multidisciplinary approach
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

We look forward to your contributions.

Genetic predisposition to inflammation and psychopathology: A transdiagnostic network analysis Although low-grade inflammatory processes have traditionally been studied in affective disorders, they are increasingly recognized as relevant across …

How is genetic risk for inflammation linked to mental disorders?
Our new study applies transdiagnostic network analysis to uncover symptom-level associations beyond categorical diagnoses. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Leiter*in (m/w/d) der zentralen Core Facility MR I... Mit der Entwicklung der zentralen, fakultätsübergreifenden Core Facility MR Imaging baut die Universität Bielefeld unter Beteiligung der Naturwisse...

I’m excited to announce that Bielefeld will soon (in 2026) be home to a research-dedicated 3-T MRI The scanner will be run as a central research core facility, and we’re seeking a scientific leader (TV-L E15, permanent) to help build and shape it. MR physicist ads to follow. tinyurl.com/mryhaxed

deepmriprep: voxel-based morphometry preprocessing via deep neural networks - Nature Computational Science deepmriprep leverages neural networks to enable voxel-based morphometry preprocessing of MRI data that is 37× faster than existing methods while achieving comparable accuracy in segmentation, registra...

📢Out now! @codingfisch.bsky.social and colleagues present deepmriprep, a tool that leverages neural networks to enable 37x faster Voxel-based Morphometry preprocessing of MRI data than existing methods. www.nature.com/articles/s43... #compneurosky

"deepmriprep: VBM preprocessing via deep neural networks" is published in Nature Computational Science 🧠💻

🔗 Paper: rdcu.be/e1t4N

VBM preprocessing in ~10 seconds per #brain image 🚀

🔗 GitHub: github.com/wwu-mmll/deepm…

Install via "pip install deepmriprep"

How are mental representations formed, structured, and updated?👉 www.inlibra.com/de/document/...

Dimensions of mental representations in psychiatry: An example from speech and gesture processing in schizophrenia
doi.org/10.5771/0072-1492-2025-2-235

#CognitiveNeuroscience #MentalRepresentation

Investigating individual-specific topographic organization has traditionally been a resource-intensive and time-consuming process. But what if we could map visual cortex organization in thousands of brains? Here we offer the community with a toolbox that can do just that! tinyurl.com/deepretinotopy

During last week's retreat, we awarded #posterprizes to the best 3 of ~70 excellent #ECR posters.

🎉 Congratulations to winners Vera Ludwig, Alina Nostadt, Claudia Förster Ribet, Tung Anh Nguyen & Theresa Kolb - thank you to all ECRs for presenting your research and engaging in lively discussions!

New fMRI evidence shows altered neural dynamics in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: temporal recalibration of action-outcome predictions engages the middle frontal gyrus and cerebellum differently in patients vs controls. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Instructed increase in fear activation during exposure exercises does not enhance treatment effects of cognitive behavioral therapy for panic disorder and agoraphobia The efficacy of exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (eCBT) for panic disorder and agoraphobia (PD/AG) is well established, but the mechanisms …

New evidence challenges a usual assumption of exposure therapy: instructed increases in fear activation during exposure did not enhance treatment outcomes for anxiety disorders (e.g., social anxiety/panic) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Key mechanisms of affective disorders - Der Nervenarzt Background Although affective disorders are a major driver of disability worldwide, there is a lack of understanding of the mechanisms and modulating factors involved in the long-term disease trajecto...

🧠 Our CRC/TRR 393 consortium outlines key mechanisms of affective disorders — focusing on emotion regulation, expectation, social cognition, and cognitive-behavioral rhythms.

Read here 👉 doi.org/10.1007/s001...
@kanske.bsky.social @markuswohr.bsky.social @lisaleehr.bsky.social @trr393.bsky.social

Regional brain morphology and current antidepressant use: findings from 32 international cohorts from the ENIGMA major depressive disorder working group - Molecular Psychiatry Molecular Psychiatry - Regional brain morphology and current antidepressant use: findings from 32 international cohorts from the ENIGMA major depressive disorder working group

📣 The ENIGMA study “Regional brain morphology and current antidepressant use” explores how antidepressant medication correlates with structural brain differences in Major Depressive Disorder across age and sex, drawing on data from 32 international cohorts. 🧠
🔗 Read it here: doi.org/10.1038/s413...

A new publication, “Transdiagnostic alterations in white-matter microstructure associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours in the ENIGMA Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviours consortium”, by ENIGMA Suicidal Thoughts & Behaviours Consortium (Translational Psychiatry www.nature.com/articles/s41...)

🧠 New paper investigated how childhood maltreatment shapes structural brain connectivity across affective and psychotic disorders.

Now out in European Neuropsychopharmacology:
🔗 authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

#Neuroscience #Psychiatry #BrainConnectivity #ChildhoodMaltreatment

😊 New publication!
Joy Beyond Fear: Positive Emotions After Exposure in Patients with Anxiety Disorders and Their Link to Threat Expectancy and Treatment Outcome

Now out in Behaviour Research and Therapy:
🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.br...

#AnxietyDisorders #ExposureTherapy #PositiveEmotions #Expectancy

🧩 New article!
Same same but different: Threat expectancy change and fear reduction as readouts of exposure rationales are only weakly associated to treatment outcome in anxiety disorders

Now published in Behaviour Research and Therapy:
🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.br...

#AnxietyDisorders #Expectancy

🧠Out now @natcomms.nature.com !
Brain changes linked to childhood maltreatment are among the field's most published findings. Yet, we find extensive replication failure of gray matter correlates in three large cohorts (N=3225), consistent across subsamples, models and operationalizations🧵

The CRC/TRR 393 aims to unravel trajectories of depression & bipolar disorder by combining mobile assessments, neuroimaging, -omics & interventions in >1500 participants.

A 12-year effort to decode mechanisms of recurrence & remission.

Overview:
🔗 rdcu.be/eGtBy

🥳 Our study led by @edwardody.bsky.social from the @tnm-lab.bsky.social is published in the European Journal of Neuroscience. Take a look if you are interested in action-perception transition, readiness potential, and voluntariness of action!

📍https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ejn.70236

Neural correlates of human fear conditioning and sources of variability in 2199 individuals - Nature Communications A large brain imaging study of over 2000 people worldwide shows that fear conditioning engages brain regions linked to emotion and attention, with differences in individuals with anxiety or depression...

Neural correlates of human fear conditioning and sources of variability in 2199 individuals
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Temporal characteristics of hemodynamic responses during active and passive hand movements in schizophrenia spectrum disorder - Schizophrenia Schizophrenia - Temporal characteristics of hemodynamic responses during active and passive hand movements in schizophrenia spectrum disorder

🧠 New paper out!
Rashid, Kircher & Straube (2025) investigate temporal characteristics of hemodynamic responses during active vs. passive hand movements in schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

📄 Schizophrenia:
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Kausalitätswahrnehmung, Erwartungen & psychische Gesundheit begeistern dich?
Bewirb dich auf die Promotionsstelle (3 Jahre, 75%) in Marburg (www.theadaptivemind.de) bis zum 17.08.:
stellenangebote.uni-marburg.de/jobposting/1...
#Job #Promotion #fMRI #Psychologie

🧠🗣️ I’m co-editing a Neuropsychologia Special Issue:
“Language in Psychosis – A Multidisciplinary Approach”

We welcome contributions on:
• neural mechanisms
• predictive processing
• cognitive, computational & clinical perspectives

📅 Deadline: Sept 30, 2025 www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

Delay adaptation does not transfer between discrete button press actions and continuous control - Loes CJ van Dam, Svenja Kernig, Karina Lazarova, Melisa Ünal, Nicole Gappa, Benjamin Straube, Thomas S... When interacting with technology, humans often deal with delays between an action and the desired action outcome. Through delay adaptation these delays will bec...

Delay adaptation does not transfer between discrete button press actions and continuous control - Loes CJ van Dam, Svenja Kernig, Karina Lazarova, Melisa Ünal, Nicole Gappa, Benjamin Straube, Thomas SA Wallis, 2025 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... @tsawallis.bsky.social

Transcranial direct current stimulation alleviates the negative impact of immediate and chronic social exclusion on intertemporal decision-making Abstract. Social exclusion impairs decision-making, affecting social functioning. This study examines how social exclusion, in both immediate, experimental

Feeling excluded can distort your decisions!

New study shows tDCS can buffer against the effects of social exclusion on decision-making.

🔗 academic.oup.com/scan/advance...
#neuroscience #tDCS #socialexclusion #mentalhealth

New manuscript! Together with Junqing Huang & @straubeb.bsky.social, we used an innovative paradigm & DDM to show that gesture's processing hierarchy from a behavioral perspective!

Gestures are visual—but they’re also layered, structured, and unfold like language. 🧠🖐️

👇👇👇
osf.io/r5nb9_v1