CogPT-lab

In order to function well in the world and to respond successfully to its challenges, we have to rapidly make sense of our ever-changing environment. We perceive what is going on around us and within ourselves. We attend to these stimuli and connect them to previous experiences in order to categorize, evaluate, interpret and remember them. These cognitive processes, whether automatic or controlled, have been identified as important causal and maintaining factors for many psychopathological disorders and reduced emotional wellbeing. These processes are often impaired or systematically biased, thereby becoming a burden instead of helping us. This makes them important targets for evaluating existing interventions and developing new therapies. CogPT aims at a better understanding of psychopathology by specifically investigating controlled and automatic (biased) cognitive processes and their neural, physiological and behavioral correlates. These processes are studied to advance our knowledge of psychopathology, predict treatment success and relapse, and improve the prevention of psychological dysfunctions in individuals at risk. We target a broad range of psychopathological and medical disorders, including anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, as well as transdiagnostic phenomena such as repetitive negative thinking and coping behaviors. In our studies, we use various methods and research techniques, including reaction time paradigms, behavioral tasks, questionnaires, eye-tracking, fMRI, and EEG. Moreover, we use TMS/tDCS, neurofeedback, hormone administration, and physiology (e.g., heart rate variability, skin conductance) in our studies. These methods are used to conduct experimental studies, randomized controlled trials of treatments in clinical settings, and tests in immersive virtual environments.