Publications & Reports
We have exciting scientific publications and reports that you can read about in this section.
Purpose of review Environmental factors such as climate, urbanicity, and exposure to nature are becoming increasingly important influencers of mental health. Incorporating data gathered from real-life contexts holds promise to substantially enhance laboratory experiments by providing a more comprehensive understanding of everyday behaviors in natural environments. We provide an up-to-date review of current technological and methodological developments in mental health assessments, neuroimaging and environmental sensing. Recent findings Mental health research progressed in recent years towards integrating tools, such as smartphone based mental health assessments or mobile neuroimaging, allowing just-in-time daily assessments. Moreover, they are increasingly enriched by dynamic measurements of the environment, which are already being integrated with mental health assessments. To ensure ecological validity and accuracy it is crucial to capture environmental data with a high spatio-temporal granularity. Simultaneously, as a supplement to experimentally controlled conditions, there is a need for a better understanding of cognition in daily life, particularly regarding our brain's responses in natural settings. Summary The presented overview on the developments and feasibility of “real-life” approaches for mental health and brain research and their potential to identify relationships along the mental health-environment-brain axis informs strategies for real-life individual and dynamic assessments. Read more here in Current Opinion in Psychiatry.
Summary This comment explores new approaches to enrich large-scale population data, including incorporating macro-environmental and digital health measures. Large population cohorts have transformed biomedical research by providing data for a wide range of physical and mental health conditions. Mental health investigations analyzing population data are often limited by restricted behavioral and psychopathological assessments, a necessary consequence of the broad coverage of large cohorts. Here we propose ways to enrich existing large cohort datasets with macro-environmental information and enhance them using digital health tools. This strategy enables refined mental health investigations in real life conditions, taking the effects of global environmental challenges on brain and behavior into acount. Read more here in Nature Mental Health.
Summary Nature connection and biodiversity play an essential role in mental health and overall well-being. Integrating these elements into therapeutic approaches shows promise for enhancing mental health. This chapter presents theories that emphasize the significance of nature experiences and biodiversity for mental health and provides current data sources on environmental factors relevant to clinical practice. Deteriorating mental health, now the leading cause of disease burden in high-income countries, appears linked to increased urbanization and separation from nature. Studies indicate that living near or frequently accessing natural areas positively impacts mental health, with biodiversity playing a key role. Research on "green spaces" (urban parks) and "blue spaces" (waterfront areas, such as wetlands and coasts) reveals psychological health benefits, like stress reduction. A growing body of studies also explores nature-based activities like gardening and walking in therapeutic interventions for anxiety and depression, suggesting that incorporating biodiversity into mental health treatment may be beneficial. These insights offer innovative therapeutic strategies, potentially reducing the need for medication and its side effects. The chapter explores how to translate these findings into clinical practice, especially given the current climate crisis, which exacerbates mental health issues and diminishes biodiversity. Expanding nature-based interventions, even as climate change progresses, is increasingly vital for both treatment and preventive care. However, more research is needed to deepen theoretical understanding and refine clinical applications. Read more here in the book "Psychiatrie in Zeiten globaler Krisen".
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