Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry

Circadian rhythm, cortisol and dopamine play an important role in schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder

FKBP51 plays a crucial role in stress resistance

On Sunday, March 30, 2025, the clocks in Germany will spring forward for daylight saving time. As we all adjust our watches, phones, and computers, what does this shift really do to our bodies? Experts from three different Max Planck Institutes shed light on this question.

Stress hormones, often prescribed before premature delivery, affect the brain development of the embryo

The Digital Health Program Actiself supports prevention and treatment of stress-related conditions

When the human body is exposed to stress, it goes into the very same emergency mode that it used in the Stone Age. However, that reaction is not nearly as well suited to our way of life today. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry and the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences are studying what happens in the body during stress, who is particularly susceptible to stress, as well as when it is an especially bad time to have to deal with a large amount of stress.

People who run away screaming from tiny spiders are often ridiculed by their peers. But a pronounced fear of spiders is anything but funny if you’re the person affected. Florian Binder, a member of Victor Spoormaker’s research group at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, is using virtual reality to gain a better understanding of anxiety disorders and to develop a standard therapy. The author tried it out on herself to find out how it works.

Just tired? Or depressed? Introverted or autistic? Imaginative or schizophrenic? The symptoms of psychiatric illnesses are not always clear. Therefore, Nikolaos Koutsouleris, a fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, also relies on artificial intelligence for early detection. Algorithms are designed to supplement the doctor’s expertise by detecting patterns in patients’ genetic and physiological data.

Silvia Cappello’s life is all about movement: at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, she performs research into the way in which different types of neurons migrate to the correct position in the cerebral cortex, during embryonic development of the brain. In her free time, the passionate athlete rarely stands still either.

People who haven’t gotten enough sleep often see the world as a fairly sad place. If their tiredness lasts for weeks or even months, their dark mood may become chronic and develop into depression. Conversely, depression is frequently also associated with severe sleep disorders. Axel Steiger and his team at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich are studying the connection between disturbed sleep and depression. To do this, they measure human brain activity in the sleep lab.

To date, there are no laboratory tests or biomarkers to diagnose depression; diagnosis is based on a clinical interview. This descriptive diagnosis says little about the biological causes and ignores the neurobiology of the symptoms. Pupillometry, a window into the brainstem, could help identify subtypes for personalized treatment. Apps for mobile pupillometric devices are now being tested and would pose easy-to-use solutions for the clinic.

Our research shows a correlation between higher levels of inflammation and depressive symptoms. In our study we identified immune-related depression subgroups using extensive AI analyses. Our findings highlight the complexity of immune involvement in depression and the importance of different molecular markers.

The neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is a central regulator of the stress response. Alterations in the CRH system have repeatedly been observed in depressed patients. Our group at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry identified CRH-related circuits shaping anxiety, arousal and locomotion. The detailed comprehension of CRH-dependent neural circuits is a prerequisite to establish the CRH system as a potential alternative therapeutic target beyond classical antidepressants.

The World Health Organization estimates that around 300 million people worldwide are affected by depression. Affective disorders represent one of the most significant causes for the loss of healthy life years and result in a reduced life expectancy compared to the general population. Psychotropic drugs approved for the treatment of depression do not result in disease improvement or even remission in all affected patients. The identification of specific biomarkers that provide each patient with the optimal drug would be an important milestone in personalized psychiatric medicine.

Stress-induced diseases are among the most common health problems worldwide and include both mental disorders such as depression and physical conditions such as diabetes. These diseases are causally related to each other and the mechanisms of stress regulation could be a common cause of both physical and mental disorders. We have identified a central mechanism that is decisively involved in the development of stress-induced diseases and represents a novel treatment option.