Research Profile
My research examines how metabolic, psychological, and developmental factors shape stress and relaxation responses, and how these processes relate to behaviour and health across the lifespan.
Metabolic factors, stress and relaxation
Glucose and insulin modulate stress and relaxation responses and may shape behaviour and memory.
Stress-buffering and relaxation-promoting interventions
Everyday activity, fitness and psychological interventions may help buffer stress reactions and promote relaxation.
Long-term health consequences of stress in early life
Childhood trauma, abuse and neglect can shape long-term health and increase the risk of psychopathology in adulthood.
Effect of metabolic factors on stress and relaxation
One focus of my research lies on the modulating role of glucose in stress and relaxation responses. In line with previous work, we found that glucose can amplify the cortisol stress response, while the mechanisms underlying this effect and its behavioural consequences remain insufficiently understood. More broadly, this line of research examines how metabolic factors such as glucose and insulin shape endocrine, cardiovascular, and neural responses to stress and relaxation.
Published study
In a recently published study, we investigated whether glucose-related amplification of the cortisol stress response also affects long-term memory. Participants consumed either glucose or water before being exposed to a psychosocial stressor or a non-stressful control condition. While glucose increased cortisol reactivity, it did not alter the effect of stress on memory. Overall, the findings suggest that glucose increases the cortisol stress response without changing how stressful episodes are remembered.
Sweet Stress
Sweet Stress investigates the modulating role of glucose and insulin in neural, endocrine, and cardiovascular stress responses, as well as in risk taking. In this ongoing project, healthy fasted adults consume either glucose or water before being exposed to acute stress and completing the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). The study combines endocrine, cardiovascular, and neural measures, including salivary cortisol, capillary and venous blood samples, electrocardiography, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy, to better understand the mechanisms through which metabolic factors shape stress responsivity. The project is funded by the Messmer Foundation, data collection is ongoing, and a preregistration has been published. Several Bachelor’s and Master’s students are currently involved in the project.
Illustration by Dr. Sophie Elschner
Illustration by Dr. Sophie Elschner
Sweet Memories
Sweet Memories focuses on the role of glucose-related insulin release in stress responsivity and long-term memory. In an initial study, we examined whether glucose alters memory for stressful and non-stressful material. Although glucose amplified the cortisol stress response, it did not modulate the effect of stress on long-term memory. A second ongoing study follows up on this work and investigates insulin more directly as a potential mediator in this context. The follow-up study is funded by the Young Scholar Fund of the University of Konstanz.
Stress-buffering and relaxation-promoting interventions
Another focus of my work is the effect of psychological interventions that buffer stress reactions and/or promote relaxation. In this line of research, we have investigated whether everyday activity and fitness can have a stress-buffering effect, and whether interventions such as energy priming (»This drink contains sugar and gives you energy«) or laughter yoga change the psychophysiological stress response. I have also used mindfulness- and relaxation-based methods such as massages and breathing exercises to induce psychophysiological relaxation responses in the laboratory. In future projects, I would like to further investigate the mechanisms, determinants, and consequences of such stress-buffering and relaxation effects.
Both massage protocols increased physiological relaxation compared to rest, as measured by heart rate variability.
Massage and relaxation
This study investigated whether standardized massage protocols can reliably induce psychophysiological relaxation in the laboratory. Both massage interventions increased physiological relaxation markers compared to rest, suggesting that touch-based protocols can be useful tools for studying relaxation responses.
Laughter yoga as a stress buffer
This study examined whether a single laughter yoga session can buffer the physiological response to acute stress. While subjective stress ratings did not differ between groups, laughter yoga reduced the cortisol response, suggesting that brief, low-threshold interventions may help modulate endocrine stress reactivity.
A single laughter yoga session attenuated the cortisol response to stress, while subjective stress ratings remained unchanged.
Glucose changed the body’s cardiac response during massage, mainly through increased sympathetic activation.
Glucose and massage-induced relaxation
Relaxation is not only shaped by the intervention itself, but also by the body’s metabolic state. In this study, healthy adults consumed either glucose or water before receiving a standardized massage or resting treatment. Both massage and rest increased parasympathetic activity, but glucose increased sympathetic activation and prevented sympathetic withdrawal during massage. The findings suggest that glucose may shape the body’s physiological relaxation response, even when relaxation interventions are applied.
Long-term health consequences of stress in early life
A third focus of my research lies on the long-term health consequences of stress in early life. In longitudinal high-risk samples, I investigate how childhood trauma, abuse, and neglect may shape stress- and relaxation-responsive systems, mental health, and biological markers such as epigenetic aging in adulthood.
Current preprint
In a current preregistered replication study, we examine whether different types of childhood maltreatment are associated with shared or type-specific DNA methylation patterns in a high-risk sample of formerly out-of-home placed young adults. The project builds on previous findings and investigates whether epigenetic signatures of maltreatment can be replicated in another vulnerable population.
Higher childhood trauma exposure was linked to decelerated epigenetic aging in this high-risk sample.
Childhood trauma and epigenetic age deceleration
Childhood trauma may leave traces in biological aging processes. In a sample of young adults with previous youth residential care placements, epigenetic age was estimated from DNA methylation data using Horvath’s and Hannum’s epigenetic clocks. Childhood trauma, particularly physical neglect, was associated with decelerated epigenetic aging, while lifetime trauma exposure did not significantly predict epigenetic age residuals.
Timing and type of childhood maltreatment
This study investigated how different types and developmental timing of childhood maltreatment predict psychopathology in young adults with previous out-of-home care placements. Using conditional random forest regression, the study found that global maltreatment measures were stronger predictors of internalizing problems, while abuse in early childhood was particularly relevant for externalizing problems.
Different types and timing of childhood maltreatment showed distinct predictive patterns for internalizing and externalizing problems.