RG Developmental Clinical Neurophysiology in Childhood and Adolescence

The research group (RG, established 2009) focuses on multimodal imaging of developing brain functions and structures in children and adolescents, their impairment in disorders such as ADHD (Attention Deficit-/ Hyperactivity Disorder ), and their modulation through neurofeedback treatment, childhood risks, or gene x environment interactions.

Advanced imaging tools are used to study plasticity induced by development, stress, and treatment in brain systems implicated in child psychiatric disorders or risk factors. To this end, multimodal functional neuroimaging (simultaneous EEG- fMRI for high temporal and spatial resolution) was implemented in cooperation with other research groups (ADHD; Child and Adolescent Neuropsychology) and Departments at the CIMH (Neuroimaging, Neuropsychology, Clinical Psychology and Adult Psychiatry) and in Switzerland (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zurich), and introduced into neurodevelopmental research. This approach has allowed us to characterize the typical maturation of resting state regulation at high temporal and spatial resolution. It is now translated to understand disorders in child and adolescent psychiatry, where temporal aspects (speed and variability) as well as the localisation and connectivity of brain functions is often compromised, and undergoes systematic development. These ongoing EEG-fMRI projects compare disorder-specific mechanisms with developmental delays, identify different mechanisms of functional impairment in ADHD, and measure how nonpharmacological neurofeedback- or biofeedback-based ADHD treatment improves functional deficits. In the „Mannheim study of children at risk“, the combination with genetic imaging captures gene x environment interactions in circuits susceptible to risks such as childhood stress.

Future projects in European and international networks will extend this approach to additional disorders (Autism Spectrum Disorders, Conduct Disorder, and aggression) and clarify mechanisms of individualized, disorder-specific treatment.