Fellow-Klasse 2017/18Prof. Dr. Sabine Herpertz
Arbeitsvorhaben am Marsilius-Kolleg
Understanding Brain Mechanisms That Mediate Culturally Imbedded Moral Values
Prof. Nüssel and I plan to perform a functional neuroimaging study using magnet resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate brain mechanisms that underlie the processing of narratives mediating culturally deeply imbedded moral values. In addition to elucidating the brain mechanisms that mediate these processes in normal volunteers we aim to detect the abnormal processing of moral values in psychopaths who are known to habitually break the moral code of society. The study will be performed in three steps: (1) We will develop narratives or modify existing narratives on moral values, respectively, in the way that they meet with the experimental conditions of a fMRI scanner environment. (2) The experiment has to be designed in details and has to enter a small pilot study. (3) The actual study including data analyses has to be conducted. We will recruit subjects from the general population scoring high vs. low on the three traits of the Dark Triad (DT) - machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy – based on a questionnaire, that is the Short Dark Triad (SD3). According to their DT-scores based on the SD3, the 25 subjects who score highest and those 25 subjects who score lowest will participate in the fMRI study. Within the fMRI environment, participants listen to narratives which are based on either protected moral values or on conventional values. Data analyses comparing both conditions will be connected using SPM and then published in a journal of neuroscience (other aspects may be published in a journal of humanities).
FORSCHUNGSGEBIETE
- Persönlichkeitsstörungen und ihre Vorläufer in der Adoleszenz: v.a. Borderline- und antisoziale Persönlichkeitsstörung
- Emotionsforschung: Neurobiologische Grundlagen von Emotionen, Interaktion Emotion und soziale Kognition, Emotion, Handlungskontrolle und Aggression, soziale Interaktion
- Methodenschwerpunkte: Experimentelle Psychopathologie, Funktionelle Bildgebung, Neuropsychologie, Psychophysiologie, Psychoendokrinologie
Lebenslauf
- 1978-1985: Studium der Humanmedizin, Universität Bonn
- 1985: Approbation als Ärztin
- 1986: Promotion an der Medizinischen Fakultät der Universität Frankfurt a.M.
- 1990-1996: Anerkennung als Ärztin für Neurologie, Psychiatrie sowie Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Anerkennung zum Führen der Zusatzbezeichnung Psychoanalyse
- 1997: Erwerb der Venia legendi für das Fach Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie an der RWTH Aachen
- 1998: Anerkennung als Ärztin für Psychotherapeutische Medizin
- 2001: Professur für Experimentelle Psychopathologie am Universitätsklinikum Aachen
- 2002: Professur für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie an der Universität Rostock
- 2008-heute: Professur für Allgemeine Psychiatrie der Universität Heidelberg
Ausgewählte Publikationen
Tabelle
Herpertz SC, Bertsch K (2015) A New Perspective on the Pathophysiology of Borderline Personality Disorder: a Model of the Role of Oxytocin. American Journal of Psychiatry,172(9):840-51. |
Bertsch K, Gamer M, Schmidt B, Schmidinger I, Walther S, Kaestel T, Schnell K, Büchel C, Domes G, Herpertz SC (2013) Oxytocin reduces social threat hypersensitivity in females with borderline personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 170(10):1169-1177 3 / 9 |
Herpertz SC, Werth U, Lukas G, Qunaibi BS, Schuerkens A, HJ Kunert, R Freese, M Flesch, R Mueller-Isberner, M Osterheider, Sass H (2001) Emotion in criminal offenders with psychopathy and borderline personality disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry 58:737-745 |
Domes G, Heinrichs M, Kumbier E, Grossmann A, Hauenstein KH, Herpertz SC (2013) Effects of intranasal oxytocin on the neural basis of face processing in autism spectrum disorder. Biol Psychiatry 74(3):164-71 |
Herpertz SC, Mueller B, Wenning B, Qunaibi M, Lichterfeld C, Konrad K, Herpertz-Dahlmann B (2005): Response to emotional stimuli in boys with conduct disorder. Am J Psychiatry 162:1100-1107 |
Herpertz SC, Kunert HJ, Schwenger UB, Sass H (1999) Affective responsivity in borderline personality disorder - a psychophysiological approach. Am J Psychiatry 156:1550-1556 |
Müller LE, Schulz A, Andermann M, Gäbel A, Gescher DM, Spohn A, Herpertz SC, Bertsch K. (2015) Cortical representation of afferent bodily signals in borderline personality disorder: neural correlates and relationship to emotional dysregulation. JAMA Psychiatry 72(11):1077-86 |
Schulze L, Domes G, Krueger A, Berger C, Fleischer M, Prehn K, Schmahl C, Grossmann A, Hauenstein K, Herpertz SC. (2011) Neuronal correlates of explicit emotion regulation in borderline personality disorder. Biol Psychiatry 69(6):564-73 |
Kuhlmann A*, Bertsch K*, Schmidinger I, Thomann P, Herpertz SC.(2013) Morphometric differences in central stress-regulating structures between women with and without borderline personality disorder. J Psychiatr & Neurosci 38:129-37 |
Mielke E, Neukel C, Bertsch K, Reck C, Möhler E & Herpertz SC. (2016) Maternal sensitivity and the empathic brain: influences of early life maltreatment. J Psychiatr Res. 77:59-66 |
KONTAKT
Prof. Dr. Sabine herperzt
Klinik für Allgemeine Psychiatrie
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
E-Mail:sabine.herpertz@uni-heidelberg.de