Prof. Dr. Ulrike Ehlert

 

Main Goals, Keywords

• Interaction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hormones, immune functions, and autonomic nervous system (ANS).
• Etiological models for effects of acute and chronic stress as well as psychosocial protective and risk factors on endocrine-immune interplay.
• Role of psycho-neuro-endocrine and –immunological processes for the progression of stress related disorders.

Group Members

The group consists of researchers from the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy University Zurich (1 professor, 2 senior research fellows, 3 postdoctoral fellows, 10 PhD students).

Previous and Current Research

The following studies have been conducted by individual members of the group:

• Longitudinal psychoneuroendocrine monitoring of high risk populations for chronic and/or traumatic stress
• Cross-sectional studies on endocrine and psychophysiological reactivity in stress-exposed populations
• Studies of dysfunctions of endocrine-immunological processes in stress-related disorders
• Testing of HPA axis and SAM functioning using pharmacological and non-pharmacological stimulation

Further current studies:

• Longitudinal studies to investigate the relation between immune and endocrine reactivity and long term health outcomes in pregnancy, early childhood, and adulthood
• Studies on the interplay of HPA and SAM in healthy subjects and selected populations of patienrs
• Effects of stress exposure on gene expression

Future Projects

• Association between protective and risk-enhancing psychosocial factors and the progression of stress related disorders
• Prospective cohort studies to elucidate possible pathways: a) chronic activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis b) chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system c) related alterations in functions of immune parameters
• Evaluation of psychophysiological methods for the measurement of parasympathetic activation
• Evaluation of different standardized laboratory human stress tests

Techniques and Equipment

• Ambulatory physiological monitoring and activity monitoring systems
• Cell cultures, fluorescence microscopy
• Event related potentials and psychophysiological biofeed-back methods

Selected Publications

• Marca, R.L., Waldvogel, P., Thörn, H., Tripod, M., Wirtz, P.H., Pruessner, J.C., Ehlert, U. Association between Cold Face Test-induced vagal inhibition and cortisol response to acute stress. Psychophysiology Jul 26 (2010).
  
• Nater, U.M., Bohus, M., Abbruzzese, E., Ditzen, B., Gaab, J., Kleindienst, N., Ebner-Priemer, U., Mauchnik, J., Ehlert, U. Increased psychological and attenuated cortisol and alpha-amylase responses to acute psychosocial stress in female patients with borderline personality disorder. Psychoneuroendocrinology Jul 12 (2010).
  
• Setz, C., Arnrich, B., Schumm, J., La Marca, R., Tröster, G., Ehlert, U. I.Discriminating stress from cognitive load using a wearable EDA device. EEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed. Mar; 14(2): 410-7 (2010). Epub 2009 Nov 10.

Selected Lectures, Seminars or Colloquia

• Einführung in die Verhaltensmedizin
• Psychophysiologie und ihr Bezug zur Klinischen Psychologie
• Research colloquium of the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy

Funding

Swiss Science Foundation, Jacobs Foundation, Forschungskredit University of Zurich

URL

http://www.psychologie.uzh.ch/fachrichtungen/klipsypt.html