Maimu Rehbein Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis Malmedyweg 15 D-48149 Münster Phone: +49 (0) 251/83 52057 Fax.: +49 (0) 251/83 56874 E-mail: maimu.rehbein@uni-muenster.de → Website

Finished her PhD in 2016

Research Project

Effects of individual differences on emotional perception and affective associative learning

Emotional as compared to neutral events receive prioritized attention and show preferential sensory processing (Vuilleumier, 2005). Differential processing has consistently been found during mid-latency and late processing stages, indicated by modulation of certain event-related potentials, such as the EPN and the LPP (e.g., Junghöfer et al., 2001). However, recent findings indicate that enhanced sensory responses to emotional stimuli may be present at much earlier processing stages. Indeed, significant emotional modulation in response to olfactorily conditioned and shock-conditioned faces was found between 60 and 80 ms in the absence of contingency awareness (Steinberg et al., 2010; Rehbein et al., 2010). Moreover, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) seems to play an important role in early differential processing of emotional events.

The project at hand aims at further investigating early correlates of emotional processing using both visual and auditory stimuli. The main focus will lie on the mechanisms with which individual differences, such as gender, anxiety sensitivity, and social group membership influence early emotional perception and differential PFC activation. This research is founded by the German National Merit Foundation.

PhD Committee

PD Dr. M. Junghöfer
Prof. Dr. P. Zwitserlood
Prof. Margaret Bradley, Ph.D.

Publications

Rehbein MA, Wessing I, Zwitserlood P, Steinberg C, Eden AS, Dobel C, Junghöfer M (2015) Rapid prefrontal cortex activation towards aversively paired faces and enhanced contingency detection are observed in highly trait-anxious women under challenging conditions. Front Behav Neurosci 9:155. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00155.

Pastor MC*, Rehbein MA*, Junghöfer M, Poy R, López R, Moltó J (2015) Facing challenges in differential classical conditioning research: benefits of a hybrid design for simultaneous electrodermal and electroencephalographic recording. Front Hum Neurosci 9:336. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2015.00336.
*equal contribution

Rehbein MA, Steinberg C, Wessing I, Pastor MC, Zwitserlood P, Keuper K, Junghöfer M (2014) Rapid plasticity in the prefrontal cortex during affective associative learning. PLoS One 9:e110720. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110720.

Burgmer M*, Rehbein MA*, Wrenger M, Kandil J, Heuft G, Steinberg C, Pfleiderer B, Junghöfer M (2013) Early affective processing in patients with acute posttraumatic stress disorder: magnetoencephalographic correlates. PLoS One 8:e71289. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071289.
*equal contribution

Steinberg, C., Bröckelmann, A.K., Rehbein, M., & Junghöfer, M. (2011, invited) Rapid and highly resolving associative affective learning: convergent magnetoencephalographic evidence from vision and audition, Biological Psychology, Special Issue: “Emotional Attention”

Conference Contributions

Rehbein, M., Steinberg, C., Dobel, C., Zwitserlood, P., & Junghöfer, M. (2010)
Magnetoencephalographic Correlates of Multiple, Shock-Conditioned Faces.
Psychophysiology, 47, 25 [poster abstract]

CV