The head of the department General Psychology: Cognition at the University of Duisburg-Essen is Prof. Dr. Matthias Brand. General Psychology: Cognition is a part of the division of Human-Centered Computing and Cognitive Science (HCCS) at the Faculty of Computer Science.

During his visit to the congress of the World Association on Dual Disorders (WADD), Prof. Dr. Matthias Brand gave an interview alongside his symposium on the I-PACE model for describing the development and persistence of addictions. Find out more about the exciting insights Prof. Dr. Matthias Brand shared on current developments and research priorities. The interview is now available on the first page of the Mallorca newspaper.

For Girls' Day 2024, the Erwin L. Hahn Institute in Essen opened its doors to schoolgirls in eighth and ninth grade who wanted to gain an insight into MRI research. Interest was high and the limited places were quickly filled.

The students learned about the functionality and special features of the 7-Tesla MRI scanner.  In addition, Dr Stephanie Antons presented the structure and function of the brain as well as scientific questions by setting up, proving and disproving hypotheses. They were also informed about the important role of 3D printing at the institute, which is associated with the specific requirements of the various research projects. The students were also able to see a functional brain scan.

The ELH hopes that this day has raised the students' interest in research and encourages them all on their way into science.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has extended the research group (FOR 2974) "Affective and Cognitive Mechanisms of Specific Internet-use Disorders" (ACSID). A further funding period of three years with a volume of around five million euros has been approved.

Prof. Matthias Brand is the spokesperson for the transregional research group, in which we have been investigating the psychological and neurobiological processes that underlie specific forms of addictive Internet use for the past three years. In addition to gaming disorder, which is already recognized as a mental disorder by the World Health Organization (WHO), excessive shopping, pornography consumption and the problematic use of social networks are also being addressed in ten different sub-projects. Researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen are working together with colleagues from the Universities of Bochum, Bamberg, Giessen, Mainz, Lübeck and Hannover Medical School.

Press article:

https://www.dfg.de/de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2024/pressemitteilung-nr-11  

https://www.uni-due.de/2024-03-25-dfg-foerdert-forschung-zu-internetsucht-weiter

Homepage of the research group:

https://www.uni-due.de/for2974/  

Be it World of Warcraft or pornography: it's easy to get lost in the digital world. Dr Stephanie Antons is researching how problematic addictive behaviour can develop from media consumption. Her work leads the UDE psychologist to the 7 Tesla MRI of the Erwin L. Hahn Institute in Essen. Here she uses high-resolution brain scans to gain deeper insights into the activities of various brain areas and their connection to addictive behaviour.

Further information on the research group can be found on the homepage.