Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie
Research
mHealth and Lifestyle Modifications
The Research Group mHealth and Lifestyle Modifications investigates how nutrition, physical activity and other lifestyle factors shape mental health, cognition and brain function. To this end, it combines app-based real-time data, neuroimaging and biomarkers to further develop behavior-based approaches for psychiatry.
About the Research Group
The Research Group mHealth and Lifestyle Modifications at the Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy of University Hospital Frankfurt investigates how nutrition, physical activity and other lifestyle factors are linked to mental well-being, cognition and brain function. The group focuses on ecologically valid digital assessment methods such as Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), combined with neuropsychological methods, neuroimaging and biomarker analyses from blood and microbiome samples. In this way, the group examines the interactions between behavior, metabolism, the gut-brain axis, stress and mental health. Its aim is to better understand how lifestyle modifications influence psychological outcomes and how behavior-based, preventive and complementary approaches can expand psychiatric care in an evidence-based way.
Key Topics
• Effects of nutrition and physical activity on mental health
• Ecological Momentary Assessment for collecting real-time data in everyday life
• Interplay between the gut microbiome and the brain
• Omics and precision medicine in psychiatry
• Lifestyle, stress, cognition and metabolic health
• Insulin resistance, inflammation and cognitive decline
• Eating behavior and risk factors for orthorexia nervosa
Methods
• Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)
• Neuroimaging: spectroscopic MRI, quantitative MRI, fMRI, DTI
• Analysis of biomarkers from blood and the gut microbiome
• Continuous glucose monitoring
• App-based data collection and ambulatory assessment
Current Projects and Studies
BIPCOM: Medical comorbidties in bipolar disorder
The BIPCOM project investigates the prevalence, characteristics, risk and protective factors, and course of metabolic syndrome in people with bipolar disorder, using registry data, biobanks, existing patient data and a clinical study with 400 participants.
Collaborations: BIPCOM is an ERA PerMed project with an international consortium. Consortium partners include Ole Andreassen (Norway), Giovanni de Girolamo (Italy), Michael Bauer (Dresden, Germany), Marion Leboyer (France), and Rosa Corcoy (Spain).
More Information? See here.
Fasting Study
In the fasting study, we investigate how short-term food deprivation affects stress reactivity. We are particularly interested in whether people respond differently to acute stress after 16 hours of fasting (water and unsweetened tea only) compared with a fed state.
Collaborations: Prof. Dr. Schmidt-Kassow (PI); Prof. Dr. Michael Plichta; Prof. Dr. Jasmin Hefendehl
More informations? See here.
Risk Factors for Orthorexia Nervosa
This project investigates which risk factors contribute to the development and maintenance of orthorexia nervosa.
Collaborations: Prof. Regina Vollmeyer, Annika Roth (M.Sc.)
Team
Group Leader
PD Dr. Dipl.-Psych. Silke Matura
simatura@med.uni-frankfurt.de
Telefon: 069/6301-84501
Team Members
Carmen Schiweck - PostDoc
Mirjam Bloemendaal - PostDoc
Annika Roth - PhD student
Lisanne Schunicht - MD student
Constanze Czuprin - MD student
Marie Schulz - MD student
Verena Grimm - MD student
Johanna Wulf - MD student
Evangelios Pardalis – MD student
Hazal Küpeli – MD student
Antonia Kerner – MD student
Funding
Third-party funding: RMU Initiative Fund for Research; European Union (H2020 Grant for PRIME)
Fulbright IIE Scholarship
Main-Campus-Educator Scholarship of the Polytechnic Society Foundation
Current PhD and Master's Theses
Doctoral theses
Faculty 16 (Medicine):
Exploring the Link between Lifestyle, Inflammation, and Insulin
Resistance through an Improved Healthy Living Index. Supervisor: Silke Matura & Judith Gruber / PRIME project
Faculty 16 (Medicine): Genetic and epigenetic modifications of the FKBP5 gene:
associations with resilience, emotion processing and
childhood trauma. Supervisor: Silke Matura / LORA project
Faculty 16 (Medicine): The influence of nutrition-related behaviors on energy intake, macronutrient intake and BMI / Supervisor: Silke Matura & Alea Ruf / Eat2beNice project
Faculty 16 (Medicine): The protein leverage theory: An analysis of dietary intake
within the APPetite observational study under the assumption of
protein prioritization. Supervisor: Silke Matura & Alea Ruf / Eat2beNice project
Faculty 16 (Medicine): Investigation of neuroanatomical correlates of depression and ADHD, taking chronic stress into account. Supervisor: Silke Matura / BipoLife project
Faculty 16 (Medicine): Beliefs about stress-relieving foods and their relationship to Orthorexia Nervosa. Supervisor: Silke Matura & Alea Ruf / Eat2beNice project
Faculty 16 (Medicine): Effects of ADHD medication on inflammatory proteins in adults:
A systematic review, meta-analysis, and experimental proteomic analysis. Supervisor: Carmen Schiweck & Silke Matura / Eat2beNice project
Faculty 16 (Medicine): Relationship between the degree of impulsivity and snack behavior and their influence on body weight in adults. Supervisor: Silke Matura & Alea Ruf
Faculty 5 (Psychology): Risk factors for orthorexia nervosa. Supervisor: Silke Matura & Regina Vollmeyer
Master's these
Faculty 5 (Psychology): Blood Glucose Level, Affect and Stress in Insulin Resistant Persons. Supervisor: Silke Matura & Judith Gruber. PRIME project
Faculty 5 (Psychology): Markers of cellular function in PBMCs and their association with cognition in
healthy adults and adults with mild cognitive impairment. Supervisor: Silke Matura
Faculty 5 (Psychology):
Influence of diet quality and blood glucose fluctuations on cognitive performance in insulin resistance. Supervisor: Silke Matura & Judith Gruber
Interdisciplinary Neuroscience: The Effects of Dietary Habits and Physical Activity on Cerebral Structures. Supervisor: Silke Matura
Faculty 5 (Psychology): Is there a correlation between weight-related self-monitoring and eating disorder symptoms in adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis
Publications
Full list: Google Scholar. Selected puclications:
1. Gruber JR, Schiweck C, Ruf A, Süß ED, Japtok P, Schouler N, Edwin Thanarajah S, Reif A, Matura S. (2025) The moderating role of diet and physical activity in insulin resistance and immunometabolic depression. Sci Rep. 2025 Dec 23;15(1):44417. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-32454-4. PMID: 41436766; PMCID: PMC12738732.
2. Ruf, A., Ahrens, K. F., Gruber, J. R., Neumann, R. J., Kollmann, B., Kalisch, R., et al. (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
3. Gruber, J. R., Ruf, A., Suss, E. D., Tariverdian, S., Ahrens, K. F., Schiweck, C., et al. (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
4. Schrems E, Gruber JR, Schiweck C, Ruf A, Reif A, Goldbach R, Edwin Thanarajah S, Matura S. (2025) Daily life stress is linked to increased glucose levels in individuals with insulin resistance: a real-world assessment. Diabetologia. 2025 Dec;68(12):2709-2718. doi: 10.1007/s00125-025-06552-x. Epub 2025 Oct 11. PMID: 41076451; PMCID: PMC12594686.
5. 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. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2024.107610