Forschung

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.

• Metabolic dysregulation in Bipolar Disorders and ADHD
• App-based assessment of effects of diet and exercise on mood and cognition
• Association between altered insulin signaling and cognitive function
• Effects of intermittent fasting on stress reactivity
• Associations between continuously measured blood glucose levels, stress and cognition in insulin resistance
• Risk factors contributing to Orthorexia Nervosa
• Inflammatory profiles in insulin resistance and their predictive value for cognitive decline
• Association between the gut microbiome and resilience

• Silke Matura (Group Leader)
• Carmen Schiweck (PostDoc)
• Mirjam Bloemendaal (PostDoc)
• Annika Roth (PhD student)
• Söri Wenz (MD student)
• Jeanne Julia Flemming (MD student)
• Philipp Japtok (MD student)
• Franz Bruckner (MD student)
• Lisanne Schunicht (MD student)
• Constanze Czuprin (MD student)
• Marie Schulz (MD student)
• Verena Grimm (MD student)
• Johanna Wulf (MD student)
• Jessica Plantic (MD student)

• 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)

• RMU-Initiativfonds Forschung
• Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft (Grant awarded to Silke Matura)
• European Union (H2020 Grant for Eat2beNice)
• European Union (H2020 Grant for PRIME)
• BMBF (BipoLife Grant)

Fanelli, G., Raschi, E., Hafez, G., Matura, S., Schiweck, C., Poluzzi, E., & Lunghi, C. (2025). The interface of depression and diabetes: treatment considerations. Transl Psychiatry, 15(1), 22. doi:10.1038/s41398-025-03234-5

Ruf, A., Ahrens, K. F., Gruber, J. R., Neumann, R. J., Kollmann B, Kalisch R, Lieb K., Tüscher O., Plichta, M.M., Nöthlings U., Ebner-Priemer U., Reif, A., Matura, S. (2025). Move past adversity or bite through it? Diet quality, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in relation to resilience. Am Psychol, 80(2), 180‑192. doi:10.1037/amp0001423 

Gruber, J. R., Ruf, A., Suss, E. D., Tariverdian, S., Ahrens, K. F., Schiweck, C., Ebner-Priemer, U., Edwin Thanarajah, S., Reif, A., & Matura, S. (2024). Impact of blood glucose on cognitive function in insulin resistance: novel insights from ambulatory assessment. NutrDiabetes, 14(1), 74. doi:10.1038/s41387-024-00331-0 

Caserman, P., Yum, S., Gobel, S., Reif, A., & Matura, S. (2024). Assessing the Accuracy of Smartwatch-Based Estimation of Maximum Oxygen Uptake Using the Apple Watch Series 7: Validation Study. JMIR Biomed Eng, 9, e59459. doi.org/10.2196/59459 

Roth, A. M., Gruber, J. R., Reif, A., Schultze, M., & Matura, S. (2024). Exploring Weight-Related Self-Monitoring as a Potential Risk Factor for Eating Disorder Symptoms in Adults - A systematic review and meta-analysis. Appetite, 107610. doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2024.107610 

Arteaga-Henriquez, G., Ramos-Sayalero, C., Ibanez-Jimenez, P., Karina Rosales-Ortiz, S., Kilencz, T., Schiweck, C., Schnorr, I., Siegl, A., Arias-Vasquez, A., Bitter, I., Fadeuilhe, C., Ferrer, M., Lavebratt, C., Matura, S., Reif, A., Rethelyi, J. M., Richarte, V., Rommelse, N., & Antoni Ramos-Quiroga, J. (2024). Efficacy of a synbiotic in the management of adults with Attention-Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and/or Borderline Personality Disorder and high levels of irritability: Results from a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, "basket" trial. Brain Behav Immun, 120, 360-371. doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2024.06.012 

Bruckner, F., Gruber, J. R., Ruf, A., Edwin Thanarajah, S., Reif, A., & Matura, S. (2024). Exploring the Link between Lifestyle, Inflammation, and Insulin Resistance through an Improved Healthy Living Index. Nutrients, 16(3). doi.org/10.3390/nu16030388

Schnorr, I., Siegl, A., Luckhardt, S., Wenz, S., Friedrichsen, H., El Jomaa, H., Steinmann, A., Kilencz, T., Arteaga-Henriquez, G., Ramos-Sayalero, C., Ibanez-Jimenez, P., Rosales-Ortiz, S. K., Bitter, I., Fadeuilhe, C., Ferrer, M., Lavebratt, C., Rethelyi, J. M., Richarte, V., Rommelse, N., . . . Schiweck, C. (2024). Inflammatory biotype of ADHD is linked to chronic stress: a data-driven analysis of the inflammatory proteome. Transl Psychiatry, 14(1), 37. doi.org/10.1038/s41398-023-02729-3 

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

Silaidos, C. V., Reutzel, M., Wachter, L., Dieter, F., Ludin, N., Blum, W. F., Wudy, S. A., Matura, S., Pilatus, U., Hattingen, E., Pantel, J., & Eckert, G. P. (2024). Age-related changes in energy metabolism in peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMCs) and the brains of cognitively healthy seniors. Geroscience, 46(1), 981-998. doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00810-9 

Gruber, J., Hanssen, R., Qubad, M., Bouzouina, A., Schack, V., Sochor, H., Schiweck, C., Aichholzer, M., Matura, S., Slattery, D. A., Zopf, Y., Borgland, S. L., Reif, A., & Thanarajah, S. E. (2023). Impact of insulin and insulin resistance on brain dopamine signalling and reward processing - An underexplored mechanism in the pathophysiology of depression? Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 149, 105179. doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105179 

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. Nutrients, 14(18). doi.org/10.3390/nu14183673 

Ruf, A., Neubauer, A. B., Koch, E. D., Ebner-Priemer, U., Reif, A., & Matura, S. (2023). Individual differences in the dietary response to stress in ecological momentary assessment: Does the individual-difference model need expansion? Appl Psychol Health Well Being, 15(2), 629-649. doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12400 

Neumann, R. J., Ahrens, K. F., Kollmann, B., Goldbach, N., Chmitorz, A., Weichert, D., Fiebach, C. J., Wessa, M., Kalisch, R., Lieb, K., Tuscher, O., Plichta, M. M., Reif, A., & Matura, S. (2022). The impact of physical fitness on resilience to modern life stress and the mediating role of general self-efficacy. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 272(4), 679-692. doi.org/10.1007/s00406-021-01338-9 

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. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act, 18(1), 130. 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. J Med Internet Res, 23(7), e25850. doi.org/10.2196/25850 

Schiweck, C., Arteaga-Henriquez, G., Aichholzer, M., Edwin Thanarajah, S., Vargas-Caceres, S., Matura, S., Grimm, O., Haavik, J., Kittel-Schneider, S., Ramos-Quiroga, J. A., Faraone, S. V., & Reif, A. (2021). Comorbidity of ADHD and adult bipolar disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 124, 100-123. doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.017 

Matura, S., Prvulovic, D., Mohadjer, N., Fusser, F., Oertel, V., Reif, A., Pantel, J., & Karakaya, T. (2021). Association of dietary fat composition with cognitive performance and brain morphology in cognitively healthy individuals. Acta Neuropsychiatr, 33(3), 134-140. doi.org/10.1017/neu.2021.1 

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. (2020). Exercise and microstructural changes in the motor cortex of older adults. Eur J Neurosci, 51(7), 1711-1722. doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14585 

Silaidos, C., Pilatus, U., Grewal, R., Matura, S., Lienerth, B., Pantel, J., & Eckert, G. P. (2018). Sex-associated differences in mitochondrial function in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and brain. Biol Sex Differ, 9(1), 34. doi.org/10.1186/s13293-018-0193-7 

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.org/10.1038/tp.2017.135