University Hospitals

University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

Clinical Research Support

Considering the increasing complexity both regarding technologies, methods, and regulatory affairs it is necessary to bring the specialist in the respectively fields together to provide the clinical scientist in close cooperation with other specialist at the University of Bern, with highly qualified competences to support scientific projects. In the center of translational psychiatry at the University Hospital of Psychiatry we have focused on neuroimaging, electrophysiology, non-invasive brain stimulation technologies, network analysis of brain function and experimental psychology.

Head of Division: Prof. Dr. med. Thomas Dierks

 

The Experimental Psychology Unit offers methodological and theoretical support in the fields of clinical psychology and psychotherapy research.

Clinical psychology provides an important access to understanding psychiatric problems. Psychotherapy, in turn, represents a main pillar of effective treatments for alleviating them. Thus, clinical psychology and psychotherapy research are pivotal branches of the scientific study of mental illness and recovery.

Brain stimulation is increasing its importance in psychiatry. It is widely used in basic and clinical research to understand the pathophysiology of the brain by directly modulating brain activity. In clinical settings, TMS treatment for major depressive disorders is acquiring popularity. However, its neurophysiological mechanisms to achieve treatment effects are still elusive. Several groups of TRC investigate how brain stimulation modulates brain activity at the site of stimulation as well as how it affects other brain areas (remote effects). They also aim to develop new approaches to modulate brain activity more effectively by combining electronic and magnetic stimulations. As a methodological support team, we offer training in brain stimulation methods including theory and practice, and support in designing stimulation protocols including optimization of electronic stimulation with model simulations.

The EEG Unit offers support for the design, measurement, analysis, and interpretation of all studies releated to resting state EEG and event-releated potentials. We also have extensive experience in the programming of stimulation protocols, have developed internationally recognized and applied tools for the analysis of the obtained data, and contributed essentially to a large list of papers on system-level electrophysiology in a psychiatric context. In addition, we regularly teach EEG and event-related potential methodology at the University of Bern and at international conferences.

 

Neuroimaging is a fundamental approach to studying brain functions. Since the development of functional magnetic resonance imaging, three decades of research have hugely advanced our understanding of brain functions, including pathophysiological alteration in psychiatric disorders. However, we are still the way to search reliable neurophysiological biomarkers relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. Several groups of TRC investigate how brain networks are functionally integrated for our adaptive behaviour and how functional integrity is altered in psychiatric illness. As a methodological support team, we offer training in neuroimaging methods and support in optimizing MRI sequences and cognitive tasks adapted for fMRI settings.

Sleep and mental health are bidirectionally related - disrupted sleep is often a core feature of many psychiatric disorders and sleep difficulties exacerbate psychiatric symptoms. The overarching aim of our research is to gain new insight into the pathophysiology of mental health disorders by investigating and modulating sleep. To achieve this, we take a multimodal approach using high-density sleep EEG, auditory closed loop stimulation and actigraphy coupled with in-depth behavioral phenotyping. Furthermore, translating our findings into clinical practice is a priority of our research activities.