Main research interests

The mHealth and lifestyle modifications group investigates the impact of long-term habits (e.g. dietary habits, physical activity) on psychological well-being and the brain. We use Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) methods to allow repeated sampling of subjects‘ current behaviours and experiences in real-time. A large array of neuroimaging methods (spectroscopic magnetic resonance imaging, quantitative MRI, fMRI, DTI) and biosamples (i.e. blood and gut microbiome samples) allows us to study the effect of lifestyle factors on (brain) metabolism, structure and function. Our primary goal is to gain a better understanding of the impact lifestyle modifications can have on various psychological outcomes. Ultimately, we hope to improve behaviour-based methods to complement pharmacological treatment of psychiatric conditions.

Our group is associated with the EU Eat2beNice and the EU PRIME Consortia.

Particular focus areas include

  • Effects of diet and physical activity on psychological well-being
  • Ecological Momentary Assessment to capture real-life data
  • Interplay between the gut microbiome and the brain
  • Leveraging omics for precision medicine in psychiatry

Current Projects

  • Impact of diet and physical activity on impulsivity (part of the H2020 Eat2beNice Consortium)
    • APPetite Study: App-based assessment of effects of diet and exercise on impulsivity and resilience (Read more about the study here)
    • PROBIA Study: Treating impulsivity with a synbiotic dietary intervention
  • Association between altered insulin signaling and cognitive function (part of the H2020 PRIME consortium)
  • Smartphone based detection of early warning signs in bipolar disorders (part of the BipoLife consortium)

Group Members

Current group members

  • Silke Matura (Group Leader)
  • Carmen Schiweck (PostDoc)
  • Alea Ruf (PostDoc)
  • Judith Gruber (PhD student)
  • Marion Gekle (PhD student)
  • Hendrik Friedrichsen (MD student)
  • Hiba El Jomaa (MD student)
  • Annebirth Steinmann (MD student)
  • Söri Wenz (MD student)
  • Isabel Schnorr (MD student)
  • Jeanne Julia Flemming (MD student)
  • Philipp Japtok (MD student)
  • Julia Christensen (student assistant)
  • Maren Ballhausen (student assistant)
  • Julia Kiefer (student assistant)

Former group members

  • Anne Siegl (PostDoc)
  • Mandy Raddatz (MD student)
  • Luise Wortmann (MSc student)
  • Krystyna Kotthaus (MSc student)
  • Lara Hamzhepour (MSc student)
  • Maryam Golzarnia (MSc student)
  • Simone Demmel (MSc student)
  • Emina Ricciardi (student assistant)
  • Luisa Brümmel (student assistant)
  • Kevin Amaral (student assistant)
  • Luisa Lambert (student assistant)
  • Björn Siepe (student assistant)
  • Kristiyana Petrova (student assistant)
  • Maike Wisker (student assistant)
  • Johanna Roithner (student assistant)

Collaborations

  • Prof. Monika Knopf (Goethe University, Frankfurt)
  • Prof. Johannes Pantel (Goethe University, Frankfurt)
  • Dr. Alejandro Arias-Vasquez (Radboudumc, Nijmegen)
  • Dr. Christopher Rowley (McGill University, Montreal, Kanada)
  • Prof. Gunter Eckert (Justus-Liebig University, Gießen)
  • Prof. Jaanus Harro (University of Tartu, Estonia)
  • Prof. Ulrich Ebner-Priemer (KIT, Karlsruhe)

Funding Sources

  • European Union (H2020 Grant for Eat2beNice from 2017 – 2022)
  • European Union (H2020 Grant for PRIME from 2020 – 2024)
  • BMBF (BipoLife Grant from 2015 – 2021)

Selected Publications

  • Ruf, A., Neubauer, A. B., Koch, E. D., Ebner-Priemer, U., Reif, A., & Matura, S. (2023). Microtemporal Dynamics of Dietary Intake, Physical Activity, and Impulsivity in Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Ecological Momentary Assessment Study Within Nutritional Psychiatry. JMIR Ment Health, 10, e46550. doi.org/10.2196/46550
  • Ruf, A., Neubauer, A. B., Koch, E. D., Ebner-Priemer, U., Reif, A., & Matura, S. (2022). Individual differences in the dietary response to stress in ecological momentary assessment: Does the individual-difference model need expansion? Applied Psychology: Health And Well-Being, 1– 21. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12400 
  • Steinmann, A., Ruf, A., Ahrens, K. F., Reif, A., & Matura, S. (2022). Bacon, Brownie, or Broccoli? Beliefs about Stress-Relieving Foods and Their Relationship to Orthorexia Nervosa. Nutrients14(18), 3673. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14183673 
  • Ruf, A., Neubauer, A.B., Ebner-Priemer, U., Reif, A., & Matura, S. (2021). Studying dietary intake in daily life through multilevel two-part modelling: a novel analytical approach and its practical application. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 18(130). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-021-01187-8
  • Ruf, A., Koch, E.D., Ebner-Priemer, U., Knopf, M., Reif, A., & Matura, S. (2021). Studying Microtemporal, Within-Person Processes of Diet, Physical Activity, and Related Factors Using the APPetite-Mobile-App: Feasibility, Usability, and Validation Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(7), e25850. https://doi.org/10.2196/25850
  • Schiweck, C., Claes, S., Van Oudenhove, L., Lafit, G., Vaessen, T., Müller, N., Arolt, V., Drexhage, HA. Vrieze, E. (2020). Childhood trauma, suicide risk and inflammatory phenotypes of depression: Insights from monocyte gene expression. TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY 10, 296 doi:10.1038/s41398-020-00979-z2
  • Rowley, C. D., Bock, N. A., Deichmann, R., Engeroff, T., Hattingen, E., Hellweg, R., Pilatus, U., Fuzeki, E., Gerten, S., Vogt, L., Banzer, W., Pantel, J., Fleckenstein, J., & Matura, S. (2019). Exercise and microstructural changes in the motor cortex of older adults. Eur J Neurosci. doi:10.1111/ejn.14585
  • Oertel, V. & Matura, S. (Hrsg.) (2017). Bewegung und Sport gegen Burnout, Depressionen und Ängste. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag
  • Matura, S., Fleckenstein, J., Deichmann, R., Engeroff, T., Fuzeki, E., Hattingen, E., Hellweg, R., Lienerth, B., Pilatus, U., Schwarz, S., Tesky, V. A., Vogt, L., Banzer, W., & Pantel, J. (2017). Effects of aerobic exercise on brain metabolism and grey matter volume in older adults: results of the randomised controlled SMART trial. Transl Psychiatry, 7(7), e1172. doi:10.1038/tp.2017.135
  • Matura, S., Carvalho, A. F., Alves, G. S., & Pantel, J. (2016). Physical Exercise for the Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disturbances in Alzheimer's Dementia: Possible Mechanisms, Current Evidence and Future Directions. Curr Alzheimer Res, 13(10), 1112-1123. Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27137219