Publikationen

Under review/Preregistrations

·       Theilig, W.C., Stietz, J., Musso, L., Voigt, P., Surrey, C., Kanske, P., & Förster, K. (2023). The correlation of empathy and Theory Of Mind in children - a systematic review and meta-analysis. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/D9FSE (under review)

·       Gosch, S., Jauk, E., Lehman, K., (…) & Förster, K. (2025) The relationship between brain structural correlates of hypomanic personality and everyday life affect lability. doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/A3QDW (under review)

·       Esser, L., Schrammen, E., Mekelburg, A., (…) & Förster, K. (2025) Changes in neural activity in major depressive disorder associated with cognitive behavioral therapy – a meta-analysis of longitudinal fMRI studies. Link to PRISMA-protocol: https://osf.io/cykw4

·       Förster, K., Stiller, M., Grotegerd, D. (…) & Leehr, E.J. (2023). Relationship between ruminative emotion regulation and implicit processing of sad facial expressions in adolescents and young adults with major depressive disorder – A longitudinal fMRI Study. doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/9EC24

2025/in press

1.     Förster, K.*, Winter, N.*, Ernsting, J., [& 15 others]. (in press). MRI-derived estimation of biological aging in patients with affective disorders in a 9-year follow-up - a prospective marker of future recurrence. Molecular Psychiatry.

2.     Mekelburg, A., Kanske, P., Kirby, J., & Förster, K. (2025). Functional neural plasticity after compassion-based interventions: A systematic review of longitudinal neuroimaging studies

3.     Thiel, K., Flinkenflügel, K., Grotegerd, D., [& 23 others including Förster, K.]. (2025). Disease progression in bipolar disorder in relation to white matter microstructure: A comprehensive approach based on staging models. European Psychiatry, 68(1), e148. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2025.10105

2024

1.     Borgers, T., Rinck, A., Enneking. V.,[& 13 others including K. Förster]. (2024) Interaction of perceived social support and childhood maltreatment on limbic responsivity towards negative emotional stimuli in healthy individuals Neuropsychopharmacology, 49(11), 1775- 1782. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01910-6 3.

2.     Choi, D., Förster, K., Alexander, N., & Kanske, P. (2024). Downsides to the empathic brain? A review of neural correlates of empathy in major depressive disorder. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 18, 1456570. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1456570 4.

3.     Konrad, A. C., Förster, K., Stretton, J., Dalgleish, T., Böckler-Raettig, A., Trautwein, F.-M., Singer, T.,& Kanske, P. (2024). Risk factors for internalizing symptoms: The influence of empathy, theory of mind, and negative thinking processes. Human Brain Mapping, 45(3), e26576.https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.

4.     Thiel, K., Lemke, H., Winter, A., [& 30 others including K. Förster] (2024). White and gray matter alterations in bipolar I and bipolar II disorder subtypes compared with healthy controls–exploring associations with disease course and polygenic risk. Neuropsychopharmacology. 49(5), 814-823. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01812-7

5.     Wekenborg, M. K., Förster, K., Schweden F., Weidemann, R.R., v. Bechtolsheim, F., Kirschbaum, C., Weitz, J., Ditzen, B. (2024). Differences in physicians’ ratings of work stressors and resources associated with digital transformation. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26, e49581. https://doi.org/10.2196/49581

2023

6.     Förster K.*, Maliske L.Z.*, Schurz M., Henneberg P.M., Dannlowski U., Kanske P. (2023) How do bipolar disease states affect positive and negative emotion processing? Insights from a meta-analysis on the neural fingerprints of emotional processing. Bipolar Disorders, 25(7), 540-553. https://doi.org/10.1111/bdi.13341

7.     Förster, K.*, Horstmann, R. H.*, Dannlowski, U., Houenou, J., & Kanske, P. (2023). Progressive grey matter alterations in bipolar disorder across the life span–a systematic review. Bipolar Disorders, 25(6). 443-456. https://doi.org/10.1111/bdi.13318

8.     Förster, K.*, Grotegerd, D.*, Dohm, K., [& 17 others] (2023). Association of hospitalization with structural brain alterations in patients with affective disorders over nine years. Translational Psychiatry, 13(1), 170. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-023-02452-z 

2022

9.     Förster, K., Kurtz, M., Konrad, A., & Kanske, P. (2022). Emotional reactivity, emotion regulation and social emotions in affective disorders: Neural models informing treatment approaches. Zeitschrift für klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie, 51, 11-25. https://doi.org/10.1026/1616-3443/a000648

10.  Förster, K., & Kanske, P. (2022). Upregulating positive affect through compassion: Psychological and physiological evidence. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 176, 100-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.03.009

11.  Konrad, A. C., Förster, K., Kurtz, M., Endrass, T., Jauk, E., & Kanske, P. (2022). Social factors predict distress development in adults with pre-existing mental disorders during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Frontiers in psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.849650

12.  Lemke, H., Romankiewicz, L., Förster, K., [& 21 others] (2022). Association of disease course and brain structural alterations in major depressive disorder. Depression and Anxiety. 39, 441–451. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.23260

2021

13.  Kurtz, M., Mohring, P., Förster, K., Bauer, M., & Kanske, P. (2021). Deficits in explicit emotion regulation in bipolar disorder: a systematic review. International Journal of Bipolar Disorders, 9(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-021-00221-9.

14.  Förster, K.*, Danzer, L.*, Redlich, R. [& 26 others] (2021). Social support and hippocampal volume are negatively associated in adults with previous experience of childhood maltreatment. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 46(3):E328-E336. https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.200162

15.  Förster, K. & Kanske, P. (2021). Exploiting the plasticity of compassion to improve psychotherapy. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 39, 64-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.01.010

2020

16.  Flint, C.*, Förster, K.*, Koser, S. A. [& 16 others] (2020). Biological sex classification with structural MRI data shows increased misclassification in transgender women. Neuropsychopharmacology, 45(10), 1758–1765. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-020-0666-3

17.  Förster, K., Enneking, V., Dohm, K., [& 10 others] (2020). Brain structural correlates of alexithymia in patients with major depressive disorder. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 45(2), 117–124. https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.190044

18.  Repple, J., Karliczek, G., Meinert, S. L., Förster, K. [& 7 others] (2020). Correction: Variation of HbA1c affects cognition and white matter microstructure in healthy, young adults. Molecular Psychiatry, 26(4), 1409. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-020-0710-z

2019

19.  Enneking, V.*, Krüssel, P.*, Zaremba, D., Dohm, K., Grotegerd, D., Förster K., [& 11 others] (2019). Social anhedonia in major depressive disorder: a symptom-specific neuroimaging approach. Neuropsychopharmacology, 44(5), 883–889. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-018-0283-6

20.  Repple, J., Karliczek, G., Meinert, S. L., Förster, K. [& 7 others] (2019). Variation of HbA1c affects cognition and white matter microstructure in healthy, young adults. Molecular Psychiatry, 26(4), 1399–1408. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-019-0504-3

21.  Zaremba, D.*, Schulze Kalthoff, I.*, Förster, K. [& 21 others] (2019). The effects of processing speed on memory impairment in patients with major depressive disorder. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, 92, 494–500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2019.02.015

2018

22.  Zaremba, D.*, Dohm, K.*, Redlich, R. [& 14 others, including Förster, K.] (2018). Association of brain cortical changes with relapse in patients with major depressive disorder. JAMA Psychiatry, 75(5), 484–492. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.0123

23.  Förster, K., Jörgens, S., Air, T. M. [& 16 others] (2018). The relationship between social cognition and executive function in Major Depressive Disorder in high-functioning adolescents and young adults. Psychiatry Research, 263, 139–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.02.046

24.  Zaremba, D., Enneking, V., Meinert, S. L., Förster, K., [& 12 others] (2018). Effects of cumulative illness severity on hippocampal gray matter volume in major depression: a voxel-based morphometry study. Psychological Medicine, 48(14), 2391–2398. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291718000016

25.  Redlich, R., Opel, N., Bürger, C., Dohm, K., Grotegerd, D., Förster, K. [& 16 others] (2018). The Limbic System in Youth Depression: Brain Structural and Functional Alterations in Adolescent In-patients with Severe Depression. Neuropsychopharmacology, 43(3), 546–554. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2017.246

2017

26.  Bürger, C., Redlich, R., Grotegerd, D. [& 11 others, including Förster, K.] (2017). Differential Abnormal Pattern of Anterior Cingulate Gyrus Activation in Unipolar and Bipolar Depression: an fMRI and Pattern Classification Approach. Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(7), 1399–1408. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2017.36

27.  Cardwell, B. A., Lindsay, D. S., Förster, K. & Garry, M. (2017). Uninformative Photos Can Increase People's Perceived Knowledge of Complicated Processes. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(3), 244–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.05.002

Consortia and Research Group Activities

DFG Research Group FOR 2107

2024/in press

28.  Thiel K., Lemke H., Winter A., [& 30 others including Förster, K.] (in press) White and gray matter alterations in bipolar I and bipolar II disorder subtypes compared with healthy controls - exploring associations with disease course and polygenic risk. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41386-024-01812-7.

2022

29.  Meller, T., Schmitt, S., Ettinger, U., [& 10 others including Förster, K.] (2022). Brain structural correlates of schizotypal signs and subclinical schizophrenia nuclear symptoms in healthy individuals. Psychological Medicine, 52(2), 342-351. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S0033291720002044

2021

30.  Schmitt, S., Meller, T., Stein, F. [& 24 others, including Förster, K.] (2021). Effects of polygenic risk for major mental disorders and cross-disorder on cortical complexity. Psychological Medicine. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721001082

2020

31.  h Redlich, C., Dlugos, A., Hill, M. N., Patel., S., Korn, D., Enneking, V., Förster, K. [& 4 others] (2020). The endocannabinoid system in humans: significant associations between anandamide, brain function during reward feedback and a personality measure of reward dependence. Neuropsychopharmacology, 46(5), 1020–1027. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-020-00870-x

32.  Enneking, V., Dzvonyar, F., Dück, K. [& 19 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). Brain functional effects of electroconvulsive therapy during emotional processing in major depressive disorder. Brain Stimulation, 13(4), 1051–1058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2020.03.018

33.  Goltermann, J., Opel, N., Redlich, R. [& 26 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). Replication of a hippocampus specific effect of the tescalcin regulating variant rs7294919 on gray matter structure. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 36, 10–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.03.021

34.  Goltermann, J., Redlich, R., Grotegerd, D. [& 27 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). Childhood maltreatment and cognitive functioning: the role of depression, parental education, and polygenic predisposition. Neuropsychopharmacology, 46(5), 891–899. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-020-00794-6

35.  Meinert, S. L., Leehr, E. J., Grotegerd, D. [& 22 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). White matter fiber microstructure is associated with prior hospitalizations rather than acute symptomatology in major depressive disorder. Psychological Medicine, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720002950

36.  Nenadić, I., Meller, T., Schmitt, S. [& 26 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). Polygenic risk for schizophrenia and schizotypal traits in non-clinical subjects. Psychological Medicine, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720002822

37.  Opel, N., Amare, A. T., Redlich, R. [& 30 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). Cortical surface area alterations shaped by genetic load for neuroticism. Molecular Psychiatry, 25(12), 3422–3431. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0236-9

38.  Redlich, R., Schneider, I., Kerkenberg, N. [& 21 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). The role of BDNF methylation and Val66 Met in amygdala reactivity during emotion processing. Human Brain Mapping, 41(3), 594–604. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24825

39.  Repple, J., Mauritz, M., Meinert, S. L. [& 25 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). Severity of current depression and remission status are associated with structural connectome alterations in major depressive disorder. Molecular Psychiatry, 25(7), 1550–1558. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-019-0603-1

40.  Repple, J., Meinert, S. L., Bollettini, I. [& 22 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). Influence of electroconvulsive therapy on white matter structure in a diffusion tensor imaging study. Psychological Medicine, 50(5), 849–856. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291719000758

41.  Stein, F., Lemmer, G., Schmitt, S. [& 20 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). Factor analyses of multidimensional symptoms in a large group of patients with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 218, 38–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2020.03.011

2019

42.  Goltermann, J., Redlich, R., Dohm, K. [& 29 others, including Förster, K.] (2019). Apolipoprotein E Homozygous ε4 Allele Status: A Deteriorating Effect on Visuospatial Working Memory and Global Brain Structure. Frontiers in Neurology, 10, 552. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2019.00552

43.  Leehr, E. J., Opel, N., Werner, J. [& 15 others, including Förster, K.] (2019). Evidence for a sex-specific contribution of polygenic load for anorexia nervosa to body weight and prefrontal brain structure in nonclinical individuals. Neuropsychopharmacology, 44(13), 2212–2219. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-019-0461-1

44.  Leehr, E. J., Redlich, R., Zaremba, D. [& 16 others, including Förster, K.] (2019). Structural and functional neural correlates of vigilant and avoidant regulation style. Journal of Affective Disorders, 258, 96–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.08.001

45.  Meinert, S. L., Repple, J., Nenadić, I. [& 22 others, including Förster, K.] (2019). Reduced fractional anisotropy in depressed patients due to childhood maltreatment rather than diagnosis. Neuropsychopharmacology, 44(12), 2065–2072. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-019-0472-y

46.  Meller, T., Schmitt, S., Stein, F. [& 25 others, including Förster, K.] (2019). Associations of schizophrenia risk genes ZNF804A and CACNA1C with schizotypy and modulation of attention in healthy subjects. Schizophrenia Research, 208, 67–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2019.04.018

47.  Opel, N., Redlich, R., Repple, J. [& 23 others, including Förster, K.] (2019). Childhood maltreatment moderates the influence of genetic load for obesity on reward related brain structure and function in major depression. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 100, 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.09.027

48.  Opel, N., Redlich, R., Dohm, K. [& 22 others, including Förster, K.] (2019). Mediation of the influence of childhood maltreatment on depression relapse by cortical structure: a 2-year longitudinal observational study. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(4), 318–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30044-6

49.  Repple, J., Zaremba, D., Meinert, S. L. [& 18 others, including Förster, K.] (2019). Time heals all wounds? A 2-year longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging study in major depressive disorder. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 44(6), 407–413. https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.180243

2018

50.  Repple, J., Opel, N., Meinert, S. L. [& 20 others, including Förster, K.] (2018). Elevated body-mass index is associated with reduced white matter integrity in two large independent cohorts. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 91, 179–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.03.007

51.  Redlich, R., Bürger, C., Dohm, K. [& 16 others, including Förster, K.] (2017). Effects of electroconvulsive therapy on amygdala function in major depression - a longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Psychological Medicine, 47(12), 2166–2176. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291717000605

52.  Repple, J., Meinert, S. L., Grotegerd, D. [& 12 others, including Förster, K.] (2017). A voxel-based diffusion tensor imaging study in unipolar and bipolar depression. Bipolar Disorders, 19(1), 23–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/bdi.12465

53.  Stacey, D., Redlich, R., Büschel, A. [& 14 others, including Förster, K.]  (2017). TNF receptors 1 and 2 exert distinct region-specific effects on striatal and hippocampal grey matter volumes (VBM) in healthy adults. Genes, Brain, and Behavior, 16(3), 352–360. https://doi.org/10.1111/gbb.12318

ENIGMA Working Groups

54.  Haukvik, U. K., Gurholt, T. P. & ENIGMA Bipolar Disorder Working Group [95 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). In vivo hippocampal subfield volumes in bipolar disorder-A mega-analysis from The Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis Bipolar Disorder Working Group. Human Brain Mapping. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25249

55.  Ho, T. C., Gutman, B. & ENIGMA MDD Working Group [61 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). Subcortical shape alterations in major depressive disorder: Findings from the ENIGMA Major Depressive Disorder Working Group. Human Brain Mapping. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24988

56.  Kong, X.-Z., Francks, C. & ENIGMA Laterality Working Group [267 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). Reproducibility in the absence of selective reporting: An illustration from large-scale brain asymmetry research. Human Brain Mapping. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25154

57.  Van Velzen, L. S., Kelly, S. & ENIGMA MDD Working Group [69 others, including Förster, K.] (2020). White matter disturbances in major depressive disorder: a coordinated analysis across 20 international cohorts in the ENIGMA MDD working group. Molecular Psychiatry, 25(7), 1511–1525. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-019-0477-2

58.  Kong, X.-Z., Mathias, S. R. & ENIGMA Laterality Working Group [272 others, including Förster, K.] (2018). Mapping cortical brain asymmetry in 17,141 healthy individuals worldwide via the ENIGMA Consortium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(22), E5154-E5163. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718418115

Book Chapters

1.     Förster, K., Jörgens, S. & Baune, B. T. (2019). Clinical Characteristics of Social Cognitive Processes in Major Depressive Disorder. In B. T. Baune & C. Harmer (Hrsg.), Cognitive Dimensions of Major Depressive Disorder (p. 183–195). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2.     Redlich, R., Opel, N., Förster, K., Engelen, J. & Dannlowski, U. (2018). Structural Neuroimaging of Maltreatment and Inflammation in Depression. In B. T. Baune (Hrsg.), Inflammation and Immunity in Depression: Basic Science and Clinical Applications (S. 287–300). London: Elsevier Science & Technology. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-811073-7.00016