Description

The Institute of Psychology belongs to the Human Sciences Faculty and has 13 professors, each leading a research group (www.psy.unibe.ch). The Institute hosts a Graduate School on Learning, Memory and Cognition (CCLM) and currently 5 SNF Professorships. The Institute is equipped with research laboratories, including EEG, NIRS, Motion platform, Social interaction lab, Virtual reality and several Eye tracking facilities. The Institute also provides high-performance computers, programming software and image analysis software as well as server space for data backup.

The groups of Prof. Knoch, Prof. Henke and Prof. Mast are involved in various collaborations with researchers of the University Hospital Bern at the Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry, Neuroradiology, and Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. Their research concerns mind-brain interactions at large. They measure grey matter densities, axonal connectivity, and brain oxygenation using high-resolution structural MRI, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Arterial Spin Labelling, and functional (BOLD) MRI. The ideal magnetic field strength for their mindbrain studies is 3T.

Psychological tasks are presented during BOLD fMRI using acoustic, visual or vestibular stimulation. The groups are also using TMS and multi-channel tDCS. Subjects deliver their responses with voluntary button presses or involuntary eye movements – a subtle measure of cognitive behavior. These groups’ MRI experiments reveal the neural basis of mental processes, which is a precondition for the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in neurology and psychiatry.