Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie

Research focus

It is our aim to better understand the relationships between sleep, insomnia and mental disorders, especially depression. Ultimately it is our vision to unravel the links and describe the mechanisms between disordered sleep and altered emotionality, as for example is very evident in affective disorders.
The multidisciplinary team combines expertise from psychology, medicine, psychiatry and physics to experimentally study sleep with a broad armamentarium of methods in good sleepers and people suffering from mental disorders and insomnia. Besides striving to understand the pathopyhsiology/etiology of disturbed sleep in insomnia and mental disorders, we hope thereby to develop and refine current therapeutic avenues and reduce the burden of suffering from mental illness.

Research projects

Project descriptions can be found in the the Research data bank of UKL-FR

a) Ongoing:

1. Psychometric and polysomnographic characterization of patients with chronic primary insomnia

Investigators: D. Riemann, K. Spiegelhalder
Duration: 01.05.2009 – 30.06.2012
Funding: Sanofi-Aventis

2. Sleep in partnerships [Schlaf in Partnerschaften: der Einfluss von Bettpartnern auf subjektive und objektive Schlafparameter]

Investigators: K. Spiegelhalder, D. Riemann
Duration: 01.06.2011 – 30.06.2012
Funding: Intramural

3. OPEN – online portal for restorative sleep [OPEN – Das Online Portal für Erholsamen Nachtschlaf]

Investigators: M. Prem, K. Spiegelhalder
Duration: 01.07.2011 - 30.06.2012
Funding: BMBF

4. Attentional bias and sleep maintenance insomnia

Investigators: K. Spiegelhalder
Duration: 01.01.2011 - 31.12.2012
Funding: Sanofi/ Aventis & ESRS

5. OPTIMI - Online predictive tools for intervention in mental illness

Investigators: D. Riemann
Duration: 01.01.2010 - 31.12.2012
Funding: EU (FP7-ICT-2009; 5.1 Mental Health, GAN 248544)

6. Systematic review of complimentary and alternative interventions for insomnia

Investigators: D. Riemann, C. Baglioni, K. Spiegelhalder
Duration: 01.02.2012 – 31.01.2013
Funding: BMBF FKZ 01KG1111

7. Habilitation stipend [Habilitationsstipendium]

Investigators: K. Spiegelhalder
Duration: 01.01.2012 – 31.12.2012
Funding: Kalkhof-Rose Stiftung

8. The Default Mode Network in Primary Insomnia [Das „default mode network“ bei Patienten mit Primärer Insomnie]

Investigators: K. Spiegelhalder, D. Riemann
Duration: 01.07.2012 – 30.06.2013
Funding: Freseniusstiftung

9. Sleep and stroke

Investigators: A. Sterr, B. Feige, D. Riemann
Duration: 01.07.2012 – 31. 12.2013
Funding: Intramural

10. Chemistry gone wrong when sleeping [Wenn die Chemie beim Schlafen nicht mehr stimmt]

Investigators: K. Spiegelhalder, T. Lange
Duration: 01.10.2012 – 30.06.2013
Funding: FRIAS

11. Perception of sleep in good sleepers and patients with Primary Insomnia

Investigators: D. Riemann, B. Feige
Duration: 01.01.2013 – 31.12.2014
Funding: DFG

12. Insomnia – an independent predictor and early symptom for mental disorders as target for preventive measures [Schlaflosigkeit – ein unabhängiger Risikofaktor und frühes Symptom psychischer Erkrankungen – als Ziel präventiver Massnahmen]

Investigators: D. Riemann, K. Spiegelhalder
Duration: 01.10.2012 – 30.09.2014
Funding: Land Ba-Wü (Teilprojekt Kompetenzzentren in der Medizin:
               Stressbedingte Erkrankungen)

b) Planned/submitted:

1. Agomelatine: Impact on nocturnal memory consolidation

Investigators: C. Nissen, D. Riemann
Duration: 01.01.2013 – 31.12.2014
Funding:Servier (IIT)

2. GoodNight

Investigators: Consortium (D. Riemann for Freiburg)
Duration: 01.01.2014 – 31.12.2016
Funding: EU

3. ECHO

Investigators: Consortium (D. Riemann for Freiburg)
Duration: 01.01.2014 – 31.12.2016
Funding: EU

4. Preventing Postraumatic Stress Disorder through early intervention

Investigators: Consortium (C. Nissen for Freiburg)
Duration: 01.01.2014 – 31.12.2016
Funding: ERA-Net Neuron

Selected publications

• Feige, B., Al-Shajlawi, A., Nissen, C., Voderholzer, U., Hornyak, M., Spiegelhalder, K., Klöpfer, C., Perlis, M., Riemann, D.: Does REM sleep contribute to subjective wake time in primary insomnia? A comparison of polysomnographic and subjective sleep in 100 patients. Journal of Sleep Research, 17, 180-190, 2008.
• Riemann, D, Spiegelhalder, K, Feige, B, Voderholzer, U, Berger, M, Perlis, ML, Nissen, C: The hyperarousal concept of insomnia: a review of the concept and its evidence. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 2010; 14: 19-31.
• Nissen, C, Klöpfer, C, Feige, B, Piosczyk, H, Spiegelhalder, K, Voderholzer, U, Riemann, D: Sleep-related memory consolidation in insomnia. Journal of Sleep Research, 2011, 20: 129-136.
• Baglioni, C, Battagliese, G, Feige, B, Spiegelhalder, K, Nissen, C, Voderholzer, U, Lombardo, C, Riemann, D: Insomnia is a predictor of depression: a meta-analytic evaluation of longitudinal epidemiological studies. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2011, 135, 10-19.
• Riemann, D, Spiegelhalder, K, Nissen, C, Hirscher, V., Baglioni, C, Feige, B. REM sleep instability – a new pathway for insomnia? Pharmacopsychiatry, 2012, 45, 167 – 176.
• Spiegelhalder, K., Regen, W., Feige, B., Holz, J., PIosczyk, H., Baglioni, C., Riemann, D., Nissen, C.: Increased EEG sigma and beta power during NREM sleep in primary insomnia. Biological Psychology. 2012, 91, 329-333.

Publication List

Funding

BMBF, DFG, EU, Kalkhof Rose Stiftung, FRIAS, Freseniusstiftung, Sanofi Aventis