Prof. Dr. Frauke Nees

Research focus: The scientific focus of our research group is on basic research in the fields of neuropsychobiology and behavioral medicine, particularly with regard to learning and memory processes as well as information processing in the brain. Key research areas include pain, addiction, psychotraumatology, and development across the lifespan. A further central focus lies in integrating these findings into the development and empirical evaluation of behavioral medicine-based prevention and rehabilitation programs for various psychiatric, somatic, and neurological disorders.

Keywords: Neuropsychobiology; Behavioral Medicine; Learning and Memory Processes; Pain Research; Addiction; Psychotraumatology; Lifespan Development; Evidence-based Interventions

Selected publications:
1. Nees, F., Witt, S.H., & Flor, H. (2018). Neurogenetic approaches to stress and fear in humans as pathophysiological mechanisms for posttraumatic stress disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 83(10), 810-820.
2. Heukamp, N. J., Moliadze, V., Mišić, M., Usai, K., Löffler, M., Flor, H., & Nees, F. (2024). Beyond the chronic pain stage: default mode network perturbation depends on years lived with back pain. Pain, 166(1), 160-170.
3. Gottfried, K., Janson, K., Holz, N. E., Reis, O., Kornhuber, J., Eichler, A., Banaschewski, T., Nees, F., & IMAC-Mind Consortium (2025). Semantic search helper: A tool based on the use of embeddings in multi-item questionnaires as a harmonization opportunity for merging large datasets - A feasibility study. European Psychiatry: The journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 68(1), e8.
4. Ruchay, Z.*, Pape, J.*, Cordt, J.-S., Kerres, C., Siehl, S., Jansone, K., Ackermann, J., Guenther, V., Mettler, L., Allahqoli, L., Maass, N., Nees, F.*, & Alkatout, I.* (2024). Does an aptitude for surgery exist and can we predict it? An experimental study. International Journal of Surgery, 110(8), 4727-4735. *joint authorship
5. Heukamp, N. J., Banaschewski, T., Bokde, A. L. W., Desrivières, S., Grigis, A., Garavan, H., Gowland, P., Heinz, A., Kandić, M., Brühl, R., Martinot, J.-L., Paillère-Martinot, M.-L., Artiges, E., Papadopoulos Orfanos, D., Lemaitre, H., Löffler, M., Poustka, L., Hohmann, S., Millenet, S., Fröhner, J. H., Smolka, M. N., Usai, K., Vaidya, N., Walter, H., Whelan, R., Schumann, G., Flor, H.*, Nees, F.*; IMAGEN Consortium (2024). Adolescents’ pain-related ontogeny shares a neural basis with adults’ chronic pain in basothalamo-cortical organization. IScience, 27(2), 108954.
6. Nees, F., Janson, K., Lehmler, S., Böttger, S.J., Tschorn, M., Hummer, P., Schumann, G., Rapp, M., Siehl, S.*, & Holz, N.* (2025). Comprehensive perceptions at the interface between health and environment: Applications models with a Citizen Science Tool. European Psychiatry, 68(1), e165
Nees, F., Renner, P., Holz, N. E., Polemiti, E., Siehl, S., Hese, S., Schepanski, K., Schumann, G., & the environMENTAL Consortium (2024). Large-scale population data enrichment in mental health research. Nature Mental Health, 2(10), 1124–1127.
7. Nees, F., Tzschoppe, J., Patrick, C.J., Vollstädt-Klein, S., Steiner, S., Poustka, S., Banaschewski, T., Barker, G., Büchel, C., Conrod, P.J., Garavan, H., Heinz, A., Lathrop, M., Mann, K., Artiges, E., Paus, T., Poline, J.-B., Robbins, T.W., Rietschel, M., Smolka, M., Spanagel, R., Ströhle, A., Struve, M., Loth, E., Schumann, G. & Flor, H., the IMAGEN consortium (2012). Determinants of early alcohol use in healthy adolescents: the differential contribution of neuroimaging and psychological factors. Neuropsychopharmacology, 37(4), 986-995.
8. Schumann, G., Andreassen, O. A., Banaschewski, T., Calhoun, V. D., Clinton, N., Desrivieres, S., Brandlistuen, R. E., Feng, J., Hese, S., Hitchen, E., Hoffmann, P., Jia, T., Jirsa, V., Marquand, A. F., Nees, F., Nöthen, M. M., Novarino, G., Polemiti, E., Ralser, M., Rapp, M., Schepanski, K., Schikowski, T., Slater, M., Sommer, P., Stahl, B. C., Thompson, P. M., Twardziok, S., van der Meer, D., Walter, H., Westlye, L. & environMENTAL Consortium (2023). Addressing Global Environmental Challenges to Mental Health Using Population Neuroscience: A Review. JAMA Psychiatry, 80(10), 1066-1074.
9. Holz, N. E., Zabihi, M., Kia, S. M., Monninger, M., Aggensteiner, P. M., Siehl, S., Floris, D. L., Bokde, A. L. W., Desrivières, S., Flor, H., Grigis, A., Garavan, H., Gowland, P., Heinz, A., Brühl, R., Martinot, J. L., Martinot, M. P., Orfanos, D. P., Paus, T., Poustka, L., Fröhner, J. H., Smolka, M. N., Vaidya, N., Walter, H., Whelan, R., Schumann, G., Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Brandeis, D., Buitelaar, J. K., Nees, F., Beckmann, C., IMAGEN Consortium, Banaschweski, T. & Marquand, A. F. (2023). A stable and replicable neural signature of lifespan adversity in the adult brain. Nature Neuroscience, 26(9), 1603–1612.
10. Nees, F., Ditzen, B., & Flor, H. (2022). When shared pain is not half the pain: enhanced central nervous system processing and verbal reports of pain in the presence of a solicitous spouse. PAIN, 163(9), e1006-e1012.