In their lives, one person in three will suffer from a mental disorder that requires treatment. Worldwide, depression, addiction, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia are among the most common conditions. The faster and better current research results are combined with clinical diagnostics and therapy, the more targeted and precise the treatment of those affected can be. This goal has been set by the Goethe University Frankfurt, the Philipps University Marburg, the Justus Liebig University Giessen, and the Technical University Darmstadt, as well as the Leibniz Institute for Human Development and Educational Information (DIPF) and the Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience (ESI) in Frankfurt. They want to achieve this objective with the joint research project “Dynamic Network Approach for Mental Health to Stimulate Innovations for Change”, DYNAMIC in short. The state of Hesse has now included DYNAMIC in its program to promote cutting-edge research, also known as LOEWE (Landes-Offensive zur Entwicklung wissenschaftlich-ökonomischer Exzellenz). In an initial funding period from 2024 to 2027, 14.7 million euros have been approved for this purpose.

Optimized and individually tailored treatment plans

Basic research on mental disorders has already made significant progress, but therapeutic application is lagging behind. One reason is that current clinical diagnostic systems are not adapted sufficiently to the disease processes. A new way to describe and classify mental illness would be to view it as a dysfunction of the dynamic activity of networks, which, in turn, can be represented by artificial intelligence methods. By taking this approach, treatment plans and combinations could be optimized and tailored to each patient’s individual condition. To achieve these objectives, the LOEWE Center DYNAMIC brings together the major Hessian treatment centers for mental disorders with institutes for cutting-edge AI analysis methods to form a unique research and treatment center focusing on a new approach.

Neural dynamics are foundational to psychiatric health and disease

“Being a core member of this important funding initiative in Hessen positions the ESI as a significant contributor not just to basic research in neuroscience but also to the possibilities of clinical research – at least interacting with colleagues on important clinical topics,” David Poeppel, chief executive officer, highlights the role and importance of his institute. “The DYNAMIC center has as its underlying motivation the hypothesis that neural dynamics are foundational to psychiatric health and disease. Because so many researchers at the ESI have deep knowledge of dynamics and active research programs in the field, we can make impactful contributions to these collaborative projects that we plan to design and execute with the clinical colleagues in Frankfurt, Marburg, Giessen, and Darmstadt.”