We suggest that several major mental disorders can be understood as maladaptation of mechanisms controlling stability and transition. Understanding the transitions between episodes and the processes that cause healthy or disordered states to persist is the key to explaining and diagnosing such disorders.
Mechanisms of stability and transition are central to effective action and interaction. We must constantly adjust our motor system to achieve stable, goal-directed interactions with the outside world. Here, we use motor control as a particularly rich system for probing adaptation processes.
The adaptive Mind
One of the most critical challenges facing any organism is to maintain stability in the face of a dynamic and uncertain world. At the same time, successful behavior also rests crucially on our ability to adapt when circumstances fundamentally change.
The Adaptive Mind is a research cluster that brings together scientists from Experimental Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Artificial Intelligence in order to understand how the human mind successfully adapts to changing conditions, and what happens when these adaptive processes fail.
The TNM Lab is specifically involved in
People
Prof. Dr. Benjamin Straube (PI)
Dr. Yifei He (staff)
Lennart Müller (staff)
Christina Schmitter (associate)
Lydia Riedl (associate)
Dr. Yunbo Yang (alumni)
Dr. Adrian Wroblewski (alumni)
TAM related publications
Hermann, A., Benke, C., Blecker, C.R., de Haas, B., He, Y., Hofmann, S.G., Iffland, J.R., Jengert-Stahl, J., Kircher, T., Leinweber, K., Linka, M., Mulert, C., Neudert, M.K., Noll, A.-K., Melzig, C.A., Rief, W., Rothkopf, C., Schäfer, A., Schmitter, C.V., Schuster, V., Stark, R., Straube, B., Zimmer, R.I., Kirchner, L. (2024). Study protocol TransTAM: Transdiagnostic research into emotional disorders and cognitive-behavioral therapy of the adaptive mind. BMC Psychiatry 2024 241 24, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1186/S12888-024-06108-0
Eckert, A.-L., Fuehrer, E., Schmitter, C.V., Straube, B., Fiehler, K., Endres, D. (2025). Modelling sensory attenuation as Bayesian causal inference across two datasets. PLoS One 20, e0317924. https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0317924
Kirchner, L., Kube, T., Berg, M., Eckert, A.-L., Straube, B., Endres, D., Rief, W. (2024). Social expectations in depression. Nat. Rev. Psychol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-024-00386-x
Ridderbusch, I. C., Wroblewski, A., Yang, Y., Richter, J., Hollandt, M., Hamm, A. O., … Kircher, T. … Straube, B. (2021). Neural adaptation of cingulate and insular activity during delayed fear extinction: A replicable pattern across assessment sites and repeated measurements. NeuroImage, 118157. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118157
Streiling, K., Schülke, R., Straube, B., van Dam, L. (2024). Choice- and trial-history effects on causality perception in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder. Preprint https://doi.org/10.31234/OSF.IO/8GHAB
Kirchner, L., Eckert, A.-L., Berg, M., Endres, D., Straube, B., Rief, W., (2024). An Active Inference Approach to interpersonal differences in depression. New Ideas Psychol. 74, 101092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2024.101092
Schmitter, C.V. & Straube, B. (2024) Facilitation of sensorimotor temporal recalibration mechanisms by cerebellar tDCS in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and healthy individuals. Scientific Reports Preprint
Kufer, K., Schmitter, C.V., Kircher, T. & Straube, B. (accepted). Temporal recalibration in response to delayed visual feedback of active versus passive actions: An fMRI study. Scientific Reports. IF = 4.6 PrePrint
Schmitter, C.V., Kufer, K., Steinsträter, O., Sommer, J., Kircher, T., Straube, B. (accepted). Neural correlates of temporal recalibration to delayed auditory feedback of active and passive movements. Human Brain Mapping
Wroblewski, A., Hollandt, M., Yang, Y., Ridderbusch, I.C., Pietzner, A., Szeska, C., Lotze, M., Wittchen, H.-U., Heinig, I., Pittig, A., Arolt, V., Koelkebeck, K., Rothkopf, C.A., Adolph, D., Margraf, J., Lueken, U., Pauli, P., Herrmann, M.J., Winkler, M.H., Ströhle, A., Dannlowski, U., Kircher, T., Hamm, A.O., Straube, B.*, Richter, J.*, (accepted). Sometimes I feel the fear of uncertainty: How Intolerance of Uncertainty and Trait Anxiety impact fear acquisition, extinction and the return of fear. International Journal of Psychophysiology; preprint. https://doi.org/10.31234/OSF.IO/PM9Z5 *contributed equally IF: 2.903
Ody, E., Kircher, T., Straube, B., He, Y., (accepted). Pre-movement event-related potentials and multivariate pattern of EEG encode action outcome prediction. Human Brain Mapping. See preprint: https://doi.org/10.31234/OSF.IO/FJK4R IF: 4.8
Ody, E., Straube, B., He, Y., Kircher, T., (2023). Perception of self- and externally-generated visual stimuli: Evidence from EEG and behaviour. Psychophysiology 60. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14295
Straube, B., Kuehne, H., van Dam, L., Frey, K., van Kemenade, B.M., Kircher, T., & Ried, L. (accepted conference contribution). Speech-gesture mismatch detection in individuals with high vs. low schizotypal traits. International Consortium on Schizotypy Research, ICSR 2022.
Arikan, B. E., Kemenade, B. M. Van, Fiehler, K., Kircher, T., Straube, B., & Drewing, K. (2021). Different contributions of efferent and reafferent feedback to sensorimotor temporal recalibration. Scientific Reports, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02016-5
Cuevas, P.*, He, Y.*, Steines, M. & Straube, B. (2022). The processing of semantic complexity and co-speech gestures in schizophrenia: a naturalistic, multimodal fMRI study. Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, https://doi.org/10.1093/schizbullopen/sgac026 *contributed equally
Uhlmann, L., Pazen, M., van Kemenade, B., Kircher, T., & Straube, B. (2021). Neural Correlates of Self-other Distinction in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: The Roles of Agency and Hand Identity. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbaa186
Schmitter, C.V. & Straube, B. (accepted). The impact of cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on sensorimotor and inter-sensory temporal recalibration. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, section Brain Imaging and Stimulation. IF: 3.473
O’Leary, A., Fernàndez-Castillo, N., Gan, G., Yang, Y., Yotova, A. Y., Kranz, T. M., … Kircher, T. …, Straube, B., … Reif, A. (2022). Behavioural and functional evidence revealing the role of RBFOX1 variation in multiple psychiatric disorders and traits. Molecular Psychiatry, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038
Kavroulakis, E., van Kemenade, B. M., Arikan, B. E., Kircher, T., & Straube, B. (2022). The effect of self-generated versus externally generated actions on timing, duration, and amplitude of blood oxygen level dependent response for visual feedback processing. Human brain mapping, 10.1002/hbm.26053. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26053 IF: 5.399
Riedl, L., Nagels, A., Sammer, G., Choudhury, M., Nonnenmann, A., Sütterlin, A., Feise, C., Haslach, M., Bitsch, F., & Straube, B. (2022). A Novel Multimodal Speech-Gesture Training and Its Impact on Quality of Life and Neural Processing in Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder. A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Schizophrenia Research, 246, 112–125
Lubinus, C., Einhäuser, W., Schiller, F., Kircher, T., Straube, B.* & van Kemenade, B.M.* (2022). Action-based predictions affect visual perception, neural processing, and pupil size, regardless of temporal predictability. NeuroImage, in press. IF: 7.400
Translational Neuroimaging Marburg 