Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene

Antarctica is a vital component of Earth’s climate system, influencing global sea level, ocean circulation, and planetary albedo. Major knowledge gaps in critical processes—spanning the atmosphere, ocean, ice sheets, underlying beds, ice shelves, and sea ice—create uncertainties in future projections, hindering climate adaptation and risk assessments of ice intervention strategies. Antarctica’s ice sheet could contribute 28 centimeters to sea level by 2100, and potentially more if we surpass warming thresholds that trigger instabilities and rapid retreat. We review recent advances in understanding the changing stability of the ice sheet margins and identify key processes that require further research. Progress requires high-resolution satellite data, targeted field campaigns, improved modeling, and refined theory. Increased investment and interdisciplinary collaboration are essential to uncovering Antarctica’s hidden processes and reducing uncertainties in future projections.

The Antarctic ice sheet is integral to Earth's climate system, influencing global energy and water cycles, and ecosystems. Enough ice is stored in regions most vulnerable to rapid retreat to cause sea levels to rise by ∼15 m if they completely melted, making their stability a key concern. As global temperatures approach and look to surpass 1.5°C (Box 1) above pre-industrial levels, Antarctic ice loss is accelerating, with the potential to trigger significant climatic shifts. Yet, the complex processes governing its stability in a warming climate remain insufficiently understood, limiting society's preparedness. Given the accelerating rate of ice loss and its profound implications, urgent and coordinated efforts to reduce uncertainties around future Antarctic ice changes are essential for policymakers and society, as the resulting melt will have global consequences, especially for coastal areas already facing rising flood risks.

Zusammenfassung: Die Relevanz von Spiritualität als gesundheitsbezogene Variable ist in Theorie, Forschung und Anwendung innerhalb der akademischen Psychologie und weiterer gesundheitsbezogener Disziplinen etwa mit Beginn der 1990er-Jahre zunehmend in den Fokus der Aufmerksamkeit gerückt. Dabei liegt es in der Natur der Sache, dass dem möglichen Einbezug der spirituellen Dimension menschlicher Erfahrung speziell bei lebensverkürzenden und schweren Erkrankungsverläufen ein besonderer Stellenwert gebührt. Für die psychologische Begleitung solcher Verläufe entwickelten sich die klinischen Ansätze der Psychoonkologie und Palliativpsychologie. Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt zunächst einen orientierenden Überblick über wesentliche Entwicklungsschritte auf dem Weg zu einem professionellen und spiritualitätssensiblen Vorgehen in den Bereichen Psychologie, Psychotherapie und Psychiatrie. Sodann wird herausgearbeitet, welche Behandlungspotenziale das Ansetzen am individuellen Spiritualitätsverständnis für die psychoonkologische und palliativpsychologische Praxis birgt. Schließlich werden spezifisch für diese Anwendungsfelder hilfreiche Leitaspekte zur Adressierung der Spiritualität Betroffener abgeleitet. Abstract: The relevance of spirituality as a health-related variable has increasingly become the focus of attention in theory, research and application within academic psychology and other health-related disciplines since around the beginning of the 1990s. In line with the nature of the subject, the possible inclusion of the spiritual dimension of human experience is particularly important in the case of life-shortening and serious illnesses. The clinical approaches of psycho-oncology and palliative psychology have been developed for the psychological support of such courses. This article provides an overview of the key developmental steps on the way to a professional and spiritually sensitive approach in the fields of psychology, psychotherapy and psychiatry. It then goes on to identify the treatment potential that an approach based on the individual’s understanding of spirituality holds for psycho-oncological and palliative psychology practice. Finally, helpful guidelines for addressing the spirituality of those affected are derived specifically for these fields of application.

Spätestens seit der Corona-Pandemie werden Verschwörungstheorien zunehmend als gesellschaftspolitisches Problem wahrgenommen und sind zum Politikum geworden. Wohl noch nie zuvor gab es im öffentlichen Diskurs eine derart hohe Sensibilität für das Thema. Ängste vor Verschwörungen einerseits und Ängste vor Verschwörungstheorien andererseits schaukeln sich offenbar gegenseitig hoch. Dies führt zu einer anwachsenden gesellschaftlichen Polarisierung und zu einem Klima von Misstrauen, Empörung und Gereiztheit. Zehn Jahre nach der Erstauflage des vorliegenden Bandes erscheint die Analyse des gegenwärtigen Verschwörungsdenkens dringender denn je. Im Rahmen von sechs neuen Beiträgen nimmt die erweiterte Neuauflage aktuelle Entwicklungen in den Blick. In Kombination mit den ursprünglichen Aufsätzen soll so zu einem umfassenden und differenzierten Bild des sozialen Phänomens Verschwörungstheorien beigetragen werden.

Zusammenfassung Ein stetig wachsendes Angebot an religiösen und spirituellen (r/s) Weganleitungen und Praktiken wird von einer zunehmenden Zahl von Individuen in den westlichen Gesellschaften rege in Anspruch genommen. Während r/s Glaubensüberzeugungen, Gruppenzugehörigkeiten und Praktiken vielfältige salutogene Wirkungen haben können, so kann unter diversen abträglichen Kontextbedingungen auch ein breites Spektrum an problematischen und krisenhaften psychischen Reaktionen daraus erwachsen. Derartige Probleme und Krisen im Kontext der r/s Entwicklung, Orientierung und Praxis sind in den vergangenen drei Jahrzehnten zunehmend in den Fokus des klinisch-psychotherapeutischen Interesses gerückt. Der Beitrag gibt einen orientierenden Überblick über wesentliche Entwicklungen auf diesem Forschungsgebiet. Es werden prominente Typologien psychischer Probleme im Kontext von Religiosität und Spiritualität (R/S) vorgestellt und deren jeweilige Schwerpunktsetzungen diskutiert. Der Beitrag schließt mit einer Reflexion der Faktoren, die zu einer angemessenen und effektiven Begleitung von Menschen in problematischen psycho-religiösen oder psycho-spirituellen Prozessen beitragen.

During the observation of an ambiguous figure, our perception becomes unstable and alternates repeatedly between mutual exclusive interpretations. Tiny changes of the stimulus features can disambiguate the figure and stabilize percepts. Recent EEG studies found much smaller amplitudes of two event-related potentials (ERPs), an anterior P200, 200 ms after stimulus onset and a posterior P400, 200 ms later, when participants observed an ambiguous stimulus compared to disambiguated stimulus variants. Interestingly, this pattern of results was found across stimuli differing in ambiguity (geometry, motion and gestalt) and in visibility. We postulate a meta-perceptual / meta-cognitive evaluation instance that rates the reliability of perceptual constructs at a high processing level generalized beyond sensory details. We further postulate that the above described ERP effects reflect the outcome of this evaluation process. According to these hypotheses, the distributions of these ERP effects on the scalp across three different stimulus categories, should originate from the same neural structures in the sensor and source space. This was tested by calculating EEG inverse solutions using a novel artificial neural network-based approach.We found very similar sources across stimulus categories, both on the level of individual participants and on the group level. Regions involved in the earlier processing steps (P200) encompass lateral occipital cortex, inferior parietal cortex and medial cingulate cortex. Later processes (P400) originated mostly from the right inferior temporal cortex. Our findings were consistent with comparable studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging and EEG source imaging. In summary, we found highly coherent neural sources of the ERP Uncertainty Effects. The underlying processes may be related to a common uncertainty resolution at a higher processing level beyond sensory details.

This paper examines the relationship between time and motion perception in virtual environments. Previous work has shown that the perception of motion can affect the perception of time. We developed a virtual environment that simulates motion in a tunnel and measured its effects on the estimation of the duration of time, the speed at which perceived time passes, and the illusion of self-motion, also known as vection. When large areas of the visual field move in the same direction, vection can occur; observers often perceive this as self-motion rather than motion of the environment. To generate different levels of vection and investigate its effects on time perception, we developed an abstract procedural tunnel generator. The generator can simulate different speeds and densities of tunnel sections (visibly distinguishable sections that form the virtual tunnel), as well as the degree of embodiment of the user avatar (with or without virtual hands). We exposed participants to various tunnel simulations with different durations, speeds, and densities in a remote desktop and a virtual reality (VR) laboratory study. Time passed subjectively faster under high-speed and high-density conditions in both studies. The experience of self-motion was also stronger under high-speed and high-density conditions. Both studies revealed a significant correlation between the perceived passage of time and perceived self-motion. Subjects in the virtual reality study reported a stronger self-motion experience, a faster perceived passage of time, and shorter time estimates than subjects in the desktop study. Our results suggest that a virtual tunnel simulation can manipulate time perception in virtual reality. We will explore these results for the development of virtual reality applications for therapeutic approaches in our future work. This could be particularly useful in treating disorders like depression, autism, and schizophrenia, which are known to be associated with distortions in time perception. For example, the tunnel could be therapeutically applied by resetting patients’ time perceptions by exposing them to the tunnel under different conditions, such as increasing or decreasing perceived time.

Since the retina shares its embryological origin with the central nervous system, optical coherence tomography (OCT), an imaging technique frequently employed in ophthalmology to analyze the macula and intraretinal layer thicknesses and volumes, has recently become increasingly important in psychiatric research. We examined 34 autistic and 31 neurotypical adults (NT) using OCT. Autistic adults had reduced overall macular and outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness and volume compared to NT. Both macular and ONL thickness showed significant inverse associations with the severity of autistic symptoms measured with the Social Responsiveness Scale 2 (SRS-2). Longitudinal studies across different age groups are required to clarify whether retinal changes may represent a possible trait marker.

Temporal metacognition (TMC) is defined as the ability to consciously self-regulate cognitive focus on the past, the present, and the future by utilizing metacognitive skills, emotions, knowledge, and experience. TMC stems conceptually from the idea of a balanced time perspective — the ability to switch between time horizons — and it builds upon the major theories of metacognition. We validated the German version of the Temporal Metacognition Scale (TMCS) translated from the Polish original with n = 226 native German speakers. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the three-factor model obtained in the original Polish version with the following subscales: Metacognitive Temporal Control, Cognitive Reconstruction of the Past, and Goal-Oriented Metatemporal Interconnectedness. All three scales yielded acceptable internal consistency. Their correlations with the subscales of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, Deviation from the Balanced Time Perspective, and other conceptually related psychological constructs, such as personality traits, well-being, experiencing emotions, and other features of metacognition, provide evidence for the validity of the German version of the TMCS.

The passage of time pertains to the dynamic happening of anticipated future events merging into a present actuality and subsequently becoming the past. Philosophers and scientists alike often endorse the view that the passage of time is an illusion. Here we instead account for the phenomenology of time passage as a real psycho-biological phenomenon. We argue that the experience of time passage has a real and measurable basis as it arises from an internal generative model for anticipating upcoming events. The experience of passage is not merely a representation by a passive recipient of sensory stimulation but is generated by predictive processes of the brain and proactive sensorimotor activity of the whole body. Although some philosophical approaches to time consider some psycho-biological evidence, the biological basis of the passage of time has not been examined in detail from a thorough scientific perspective. This paper proposes to remedy this omission.

Visual snow is a condition of unclear prevalence characterized by tiny flickering dots throughout the entire visual field. It appears to result from visual cortex hyperactivity and possibly correlates with propensity to be engrossed in sensory and imaginary experiences (absorption). The prevalence and correlates of visual snow, and emotional reactions to it, were explored in the general Portuguese population with three studies with online surveys. In Study 1, 564 participants were shown an animated graphic simulation of visual snow and asked to rate how frequently they have similar percepts on a scale anchored by 0% and 100% of their waking time. They also reported their degree of distress and fascination resulting from visual snow. Absorption was measured with the Modified Tellegen Absorption Scale. 44% of respondents reported they see visual snow at least 10% of the time, and 20% reported seeing it between 80% and 100% of the time. Similar to findings in clinical samples, the frequency of visual snow correlated with tinnitus frequency and entoptic phenomena, but not with ophthalmologic problems. It was confirmed that visual snow is related to absorption. Although distress caused by visual snow was generally absent or minimal in our samples, a substantial minority (28%) reported moderate to high levels of distress. High fascination with visual snow was reported by 9%. In Studies 2 and 3, visual snow was measured by means of verbal descriptions without graphic simulation (“visual field full of tiny dots of light” and “world seen with many dots of light”, respectively). The results were similar to those in Study 1, but seeing visual snow 80%-100% of the time was less frequent (6.5% in Study 2 and 3.6% in Study 3). Visual snow has been insufficiently investigated. More research is needed to uncover underlying neurophysiological mechanisms and psychological and behavioral correlates.

The problem of how biochemical processes in the brain give rise to conscious experience is still unanswered. This paper aims at stimulating the debate surrounding this enigma by advocating the study of unusual and anomalous aspects of consciousness. For this purpose, the contents of this paper are organized in three parts. In the first part, I provide a brief overview on unsolved riddles of the mind. These include unusual episodes of lucidity that have been termed terminal lucidity and paradoxical lucidity. Because the use of these terms has sometimes been inappropriate in recent literature, I clarify the basic meanings of these two concepts in the second part. The third part contains suggestions for future research. Specifically, I argue that the field of studies into episodes of lucidity in dementias and the field of studies into end-of-life experiences, such as near-death visions, should engage in an active dialogue in order to build bridges between these disciplines. Such a dialogue will enable a better understanding of the whole spectrum, and thus, possible circumstances, causes and underpinnings of lucid episodes. In sum, this paper argues that the study of lucid episodes such as terminal lucidity, paradoxical lucidity, and related occurrences holds enormous significance for improving our understanding of brain functions and accompanying states of consciousness – from a practice-orientated perspective in the contexts of the dementias and dealing with end-of-life experiences, and from a theoretical perspective in the context of the scientific debate about the nature of consciousness.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated measures have affected routines and mental well-being of people around the world. Research also shows distorted time perception during lockdowns which can partially be explained by compromised well-being. The present study investigates Canadians’ temporal experience and mental well-being at two periods of national lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic (spring 2020: n = 66; beginning of 2021: n = 100). As results indicate, the only difference between these periods on the investigated variables was the strictness of lockdown measures. Our findings show associations between anxiety, depression, confinement indicators, and time perception (future temporal distance, passage of time judgments). Stepwise regression models indicated that depression and strictness of measures predicted the impression that the next week appeared farther away; one’s loneliness appraisal was associated with a perceived slower time flow. Our findings give a preliminary idea about time perception and mental well-being in the Canadian lockdowns.

The COVID-19 outbreak and governmental measures to keep the population safe had a great impact on many aspects of society, including well-being. Using data from N = 1281 participants from six countries (Argentina, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, and Turkey), we first explored differences in anxiety, depression (measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS), and time perspectives (Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory; ZTPI), between these countries during the first weeks of the pandemic. We observed that Turkish participants reported the highest levels of anxiety, and Japanese and Greek the lowest. For depression symptoms, the Japanese scored highest and Italians lowest. Next, for each country, we investigated how well the relatively time-stable personality traits of time perspectives, chronotype (reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire; rMEQ), and Big Five personality traits (short Big Five Inventory; BFI) predicted the levels of anxiety and depression (HADS). The regression analyses showed that negative attitudes towards the past predicted the levels of both anxiety and depression in most of the countries we analyzed. Additionally, in many countries, a Past Positive orientation negatively predicted depression whereas the Present Fatalistic subscale predicted anxiety and depression. The chronotype did not contribute additionally to the models. The Big Five traits (and particularly neuroticism) showed substantial incremental explanatory power for anxiety in some countries but did not consistently predict anxiety levels. For depression, the additional variance accounted for by including the BFI as predictors was rather small. Importantly, the ZTPI subscales were retained as significant predictors in the model still when the BFI and rMEQ were considered as potential predictors. Our results yield evidence that the ZTPI time perspectives are valuable predictors for anxiety and depression levels during the first period of the pandemic.

Ophthalmological methods have increasingly raised the interest of neuropsychiatric specialists. While the integrity of the retinal cell functions can be evaluated with the electroretinogram (ERG), optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows a structural investigation of retinal layer thicknesses. Previous studies indicate possible functional and structural retinal alterations in patients with schizophrenia. Twenty-five patients with paranoid schizophrenia and 25 healthy controls (HC) matched for age, sex, and smoking status participated in this study. Both, ERG and OCT were applied to obtain further insights into functional and structural retinal alterations. A significantly reduced a-wave amplitude and thickness of the corresponding para- and perifoveal outer nuclear layer (ONL) was detected in patients with paranoid schizophrenia with a positive correlation between both measurement parameters. Amplitude and peak time of the photopic negative response (PhNR) and thickness of the parafoveal ganglion cell layer (GCL) were decreased in patients with schizophrenia compared to HC. Our results show both structural and functional retinal differences between patients with paranoid schizophrenia and HC. We therefore recommend the comprehensive assessment of the visual system of patients with schizophrenia, especially to further investigate the effect of antipsychotic medication, the duration of illness, or other factors such as inflammatory or neurodegenerative processes. Moreover, longitudinal studies are required to investigate whether the functional alterations precede the structural changes.

Nachdem Nahtoderfahrungen (NTE) im Diskurs westlicher Gesellschaften inzwischen kein Nischenthema mehr sind, sondern bereits vielfach medial rezipiert und verbreitet wurden und werden, sind die Potentiale der wissenschaftlichen Erforschung des Themas noch bei Weitem nicht ausgeschöpft. Dies mag nicht zuletzt etwas damit zu tun haben, dass die Auseinandersetzung mit NTE vielleicht mehr als andere Themen etablierte Wissenschaftsverständnisse herausfordert. Der vorliegende Band macht daher drei Vorschläge zur Neuperspektivierung des Themas und zur Fortsetzung der begonnenen Diskussion: Gefragt werden soll nach der Aushandlung von Grenzen, nach ›Nahtoderfahrungen‹ als einem wissenschaftlichen Konzept und nach den Potentialen interdisziplinärer Arbeit. Hierzu werden Beiträge aus unterschiedlichen wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen wie etwa der Religionswissenschaft, der Theologie, der Soziologie und der Medizin versammelt, die sich aus ihrer je fachspezifischen Sicht mit dem Thema auseinandersetzen. Since near-death experiences (NDEs) are no longer a niche topic in the discourse of Western societies, but have already been and are being widely received and disseminated in the media, the potentials of scientific research on the topic are far from being exhausted. This may have something to do, not least, with the fact that dealing with NDEs challenges established understandings of science perhaps more than other topics. The present anthology therefore makes three proposals for a new perspective on the topic and for continuing the discussion that has already begun: It will ask about the negotiation of boundaries, about ›near-death experiences‹ as a scientific concept, and about the potentials of interdisciplinary work. For this purpose, contributions from different scientific disciplines such as religious studies, theology, sociology, and medicine will be gathered, each of them dealing with the topic from their own specific view.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns triggered worldwide changes in the daily routines of human experience. The Blursday database provides repeated measures of subjective time and related processes from participants in nine countries tested on 14 questionnaires and 15 behavioural tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 2,840 participants completed at least one task, and 439 participants completed all tasks in the first session. The database and all data collection tools are accessible to researchers for studying the effects of social isolation on temporal information processing, time perspective, decision-making, sleep, metacognition, attention, memory, self-perception and mindfulness. Blursday includes quantitative statistics such as sleep patterns, personality traits, psychological well-being and lockdown indices. The database provides quantitative insights on the effects of lockdown (stringency and mobility) and subjective confinement on time perception (duration, passage of time and temporal distances). Perceived isolation affects time perception, and we report an inter-individual central tendency effect in retrospective duration estimation.