Research

The BIU serves as a shared research environment for:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Affective Neuroscience
  • Biological Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Sports Science

Through this interdisciplinary integration, the unit supports research on emotion regulation, cognitive control, development, psychopathology, and performance optimization.

Research Areas

Affective Neuro Lab

The Affective Neuro Lab explores the cognitive and neural mechanisms of human emotions — from how emotions are generated in the brain, to how they are experienced, regulated, and how they interact with behavior and well-being. Their research is inherently interdisciplinary, combining neuroimaging, physiological measures, experimental psychology, behavior, and computational modeling to map the brain’s functional architecture as it relates to emotion, cognition, and social interaction.

Core Scientific Themes

  • Neural Basis of Emotion Regulation: Understanding how the brain adjusts emotional responses and the factors that shape effective regulation — including personality traits, age, gender, and social context. Emotion regulation is vital for mental health and resilience; disruptions in regulation are implicated in conditions such as anxiety and depression. 

  • Large-Scale Brain Networks in Emotion Processing: The lab investigates how distributed neural networks interact during emotional processing, identifying brain circuitries that coordinate emotional responses, cognitive control, and adaptive behavior.

  • Social and Interpersonal Influences on Emotion: Projects consider how social connections and social context influence emotional experience and control, including work on how support from others can enhance regulation success. 

  • Decision-Making in Emotional Contexts: Examining how emotions influence decisions and how cognitive and affective processes intertwine during value-based choices. 

  • Emotion in High-Risk and Everyday Contexts: Research ranges from understanding emotions under stress or risk (e.g., in sports) to sleep-related emotional phenomena such as sleep paralysis. 

  • Digital and Applied Affective Science: Some projects focus on digital tools and assessments (e.g., AI-supported assessments), linking physiological and neuroimaging data with real-world emotional dynamics. 

Key Funded Projects

  • Decoding Affective Control: Using neuroimaging to identify brain features underlying effective emotion regulation strategies (FWF). 

  • IMPROVER – Improving Emotion Regulation: A project to enhance regulatory capacity with neuroscience-informed training programs (TWF). 

  • Enhancing Emotional Resilience in Adolescents: Using AI-supported digital assessments and micro-interventions to strengthen adolescent well-being (FFG). 

  • Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence: Investigating neural and daily life mechanisms that underlie social attitudes associated with violence against women, with preventive intervention goals (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions). 

Developmental Psychology Lab

The Developmental Psychology Lab at the University of Innsbruck investigates how cognition, emotion, and brain function change across the human lifespan, from young adulthood to aging and neurodegenerative conditions. The lab’s work is grounded in cognitive neuroscience and uses advanced brain imaging and physiological methods to understand how neural systems support lifelong changes in behavior and mental health.

Core Scientific Themes

  • Neural and Cognitive Aging: A central theme of the lab’s research is to uncover how ageing affects large-scale brain systems and cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, flexible behavior, and physiological regulation. The lab places particular emphasis on neuromodulatory systems — such as the noradrenergic locus coeruleus and dopaminergic pathways — that are crucial for cognitive control and are among the first affected in age-related neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

  • Functional Brain Networks & Mild Cognitive Impairment: The lab investigates altered functional connectivity patterns in older adults and clinical populations (e.g., people with mild cognitive impairment) using resting-state and task-based fMRI. By applying analysis methods that capture dynamic network changes, they seek to reveal how communication between brain regions evolves in ageing and early dementia.

  • Role of Neuromodulatory Systems in Learning & Behavior: Projects explore how noradrenergic and dopaminergic systems contribute to cognitive flexibility, learning, and memory. Using simultaneous pupillometry and fMRI, the lab examines how arousal signals interact with latent neural states to shape adaptive behavior and how this may be disrupted in psychiatric illness or ageing.

  • Sleep-Wake Regulation in Aging: The lab uses EEG-fMRI to study how sleep architecture and underlying neural dynamics change with age and how such alterations relate to cognitive decline and neuropathology.

  • Neurobiological Markers & Intervention Studies: Ongoing studies assess functional and structural changes in the locus coeruleus in early Alzheimer’s, investigate whether neuromodulatory enhancement (e.g., via pharmacological agents or vagus nerve stimulation) can improve cognition in older adults, and probe dopaminergic modulation of memory consolidation.

  • Metacognitive Monitoring & Autonomic Processes: Another project focuses on understanding how physiological markers (e.g., pupil responses) relate to metacognitive monitoring across cognitive domains, advancing models of how the brain monitors its own performance.

Key Funded Projects

  • Cost Action Imaging Brainstem Health – COST is a European funding framework that supports international research networks and scientific collaboration. This COST Action brings together researchers and clinicians to advance and standardise brainstem MRI for research and clinical applications. The first General COST Meeting (Year 1) will take place on 7–8 September 2026 in Innsbruck at the Grillhof. Participation will be possible both in person and online. https://www.uibk.ac.at/en/projects/eu-cost imagingbrainstemhealth/events/meetings/

How you can take part in our research

Biological Psychology

The Department of Biological Psychology, led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Olga Klimecki, investigates the biological foundations of psychological and social processes. The central research question is how well‑being, health, and social interactions can be influenced through various non‑pharmacological interventions.

The interventions studied include, for example, mindfulness meditation, compassion meditation, health management, learning new languages, memory training, and socio‑emotional learning.

Core Scientific Themes

  • Bio Happy Life Austria: Aims at understanding how socio-emotional learning interventions can promote resilience and associated brain functions in adolescents and their teachers in Austria.

  • Age‑Well study of the Medit‑Ageing project: Can the health and emotional well‑being of older adults be improved through mindfulness meditation or by learning new languages.

  • SCD‑Well study of the Medit‑Ageing project: Can the risk factors for dementia in older adults be reduced across several European countries.

  • REMINDer study: Can healthy ageing be promoted through interventions that combine dance, movement, music, and mindfulness.

Key Funded Projects

  • PISA Bio Happy Life Project is an international research collaboration led by the University of Geneva, PISA, the Happy Schools programme, and the IFRC Education Center.

    The project addresses two main challenges:

    • Developing reliable cross‑country measures of adolescents’ socio‑emotional learning, including psychological well‑being, resilience, openness to diversity, quality of relationships, and biological and behavioural markers.

    • Creating scalable, evidence‑based socio‑emotional learning interventions. This includes the scientific evaluation of the Happy Schools Programme, which helps educators foster socio‑emotional competences such as self‑awareness, self‑management, social awareness, harmonious relationships, and ethical and responsible decision‑making.

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