Personality Disorders

Sabine Herpertz General Psychiatry Centre of Psychosocial Medicine Voßstr. 2 69115 Heidelberg   Phone:  +49-6221-5622751 Fax.:  +49-6221-565998 Email:  sabine.herpertz@med.uni-heidelberg.de Website:  www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/zentrum-fuer-psychosoziale-medizin-zpm/klinik-fuer-allgemeine-psychiatrie/forschung/ag-persoenlichkeitsstoerungen

Research Summary:

We study neurobiological underpinnings of disorders of social interaction as they are particularly characteristic of personality disorders. We are interested how basic psychological functions such as social cognitive capabilities, affect regulation, and impulse control contribute to adaptive and maladaptive social interaction, i.e. approach and attachment on the one hand and avoidance and aggression on the other. We use a translational approach that focuses on multimodal imaging and neuropeptides with neurobiological research being based on phenomenological psychopathology and the development of suitable experimental paradigms found in psychology and psychopathology. Our aim is to better understand the mechanisms that underlie psychic disorders and that could be the target of novel treatment strategies, in the realm of psychotherapy in particular.

Structure of the Group: